World Cup Discussion Thread

[Kylearan]

Hi,

it's the third day of the Soccer World Cup, and there's still no discussion thread about it? Guess there's really no reason to make such a thread sticky then... :P

I have the luck (:blink:) to be ill since Friday, which has the definitive advantage that I did have the time to watch all matches so far. Disadvantage: No beer while watching! :angry:

Anyway, my first impressions:

• Germany vs. Costa Rica: Six goals in an opening match of a world cup! And we won! What more can one expect? :P Definately an entertaining game, although it leaves me worried how we should win against the stronger nations later. This philosophy of always shooting more goals than the opponent might work against Costa Rica, but against, say, England...? I hope we'll be able to improve on our defenses a lot during these first easy matches. Although of course I wouldn't object against winning 7-5 vs. Brazil in the finals... :ph34r:
  
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• Argentina vs. Ivory Coast: Best match so far. Highly entertaining, high-speed soccer on a very high level. I think a 2:2 or 3:3 would have been fairer, as both teams played on a similar level. I wouldn't have believed the Ivory Coast so strong! Definately looking forward to the rest of the matches in this "killer group" with the Dutch and Serbia & Montenegro.
  
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• Netherlands vs. Serbia and Montenegro: Arjen Robben was fun to watch. Congrats to the Dutch for winning this; I think these 3 points have been a must, given the two teams they have to play next.:ph34r:I know, I'm German and so I'm expected to mock the Dutch and hope that they will not reach the next round, but actually I really like their team this time. My dream final of course is Germany vs. Brazil, but if either of these two teams drop out before, I hope the Dutch make it into the finals.
  
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• England vs. Paraguay: Sheesh, after listening to England before the tournament, I had expected a much better match than this. Looks like England's ego is bigger than their real playing skills, or was it just the nervousness of the first game? We'll see, but they have definately to improve. Solid defense, but apart maybe from Beckham, nothing spectacular or innovative in their offense.
  
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• Trinidad & Tobago vs. Sweden: Yay T&T! Well done! I have a weakness for underdogs, and the Swedes got hyped a lot before the tournament, so I found the result of that game quite funny. :)And I've heard T&T have a lot of motivation for the match against England... :whistling:Go Trinidad and Tobago!<>
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  I will skip the next two matches, Mexico vs. Iran and Portugal vs. Angola. I think the events around these two matches will be more interesting than the games themselves. There's a demonstration against the visit of Iran's vice president, lots of police has been summoned. And considering what happened during the last match between Portugal vs. Angola, I hope nobody gets hurt this time. Funny (or not...) how politics play into sport events so often. :( At least the atmosphere here in the country is simply great! The summer has arrived in time, thousands of fans are watching the matches on big screens outdoor, having a good time, and beer consumption looks to be spectacular so far as well. Definately time for me to get better; I've missed two BBQs with friends watching the matches already...
  
  -Kylearan