Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Games & Gameplay >

Football football. Football football.

Page: 1 ... 7 8 9 10 11(12)

07:49 / 15.06.08

Good result there - 3-1. I think Qatar suffer from what the iraqi national team seems to be suffering from at present, forgetting the tactics and the defending in the hope of showboating and getting spotted. When it works, it's great, when it doesn't, they aren't much to behold.

Back in the Euro's - well, Germany's hiccup was interesting, and Holland have been producing some of the most attractive counter attacking football I've seen since Forest in the 80's! Long may it continue. Spain showed some good fight to get a result.

Can't help but think that England would have struggled against any team but the host nations, Poland and Greece. Glad we aren't there.

16:32 / 15.06.08

I don't know if what happened to Germany was a hiccup or not. They may not have been at top form, but Croatia was on fire. I'm interested to see how far they go. I agree about the Netherlands play, their offense was relentless. It seems Portugal is still the strongest, though.
So, being hopelessly uninformed on the current state of national teams (or club teams, mls, anything really— I usually can't watch anything, and I'm only watching these games on crappy, jerky, streaming espn), why did England not even qualify?

19:46 / 15.06.08

Turkey played lights out soccer against the Czechs in the 2nd half today. Great finish, even if it was against the team I was rooting for...

Poke it with a stick

19:49 / 15.06.08

That was glorious.

And, I'm not at all ashamed to say, that was my team that just won that. (Well, my brother in law's Turkish, so I can claim that, can't I?)

02:21 / 16.06.08

i set my alarm to get up this morning at half four to watch the turks, but decided i'd be better with the extra kip. d'oh!

i wonder if the dutch are maybe not peaking too soon? italy always seem to struggle to get out of the group phase, then whammo! spain and portugal look good and an all iberian final would be glorious. that said, i tipped a portugal/italy final and still stand by that - maybe to be revised after tomorrow!

s'been some good football played, damn television rights costing so much - our free-to-air runs out of coverage for the 1/4s and semis, though i did score today an invitation jointly from the ambassadors for switzerland and austria to rock up to the swiss residence at 4am to watch the final!

aussies, 3-1. yay! some fine football played, from all accounts and what i saw of the goals (though harry's was at the expense of some of the worst defending i've seen at int'l level for some time!) sounds like they're stil up for the challenge next week in the dead rubber against china, so i'll see a bit of a goal fest, or at least a lot of goal thrusts, and with a few out and others likely rested i'll get to see some of the new breed - i hope nicky carle gets a gig.

but we're through to the next phase, a game in hand, and as top ranked asia team, get to be top seeds for the june 27 draw, so won't meet korea, probly nor japan in our group. noice.

02:23 / 16.06.08

oh, and tsuga, england didn't qualify because they played boring, unimaginative football without inventive or attacking directives from a dull manager and only looked vaguely lively when capello took over, sadly too late.

with some serious work on their creative ethic they might do ok at the next world cup. or not.

05:41 / 18.06.08

italy emerge from the group. danger signs for the rest of the competition.

four teams get to rest their players ahead of the quarters; i rekkun not more than three will triumph in that game. the dutch and portuguese will, croatia and spain may struggle - esp spain! be acracker of a game, but. wish we could see it but free-to-air runs out with the group games.

Sjaak at the Shoe Shop

07:08 / 18.06.08

Well, it was a bit of a disappointment I must say.

Sat down to watch France-Italy, fully prepared, and when Ribery was injured in the 10th minute the match was more or less over. Then, with the red card & penalty in the 21st, that was it.

What a shame, could have been the fight of the tournament. But when you're 10 and 1-0 down against Italy, that usually means the match dies a slow death on the Italy defense.

Switched over to Holland-Rumania, where the Rumanians looked like they never believed they even had a chance, and Holland started off a bit nervous. Then, with the 1-0 that game was over as well, but at least the Dutch kept playing.

Looking forward to Spain-Italy, that will be a telling match for the rest of the tournament.

03:37 / 24.06.08

you're right sjaak, the spain/italy encounter was telling (in a rave to my sis i tipped italy, but in extra time, noting if it went to penalties spain would get through...) but now, i'm none so sure how telling. i rekkun the winner of spain/russia will prevail against germany (i don't imagine the turks can keep on doing it; can they??), though funnily i rekkun russia more likely to beat the germans than the spanish...

great football though - the whole tournament has been a delight to watch. we are in a new era of fusbol style, i think, and the hold and punch tactics of a new way of counter-attack will dominate world fusbol for some time to come. total football in a new style.

and the dutch were giving master classes - yet failed to prevail - how cruel.

Sjaak at the Shoe Shop

07:32 / 24.06.08

Having watched some World and Euro Cups I have come to some statistical conclusions:
*No team from a Group of Death will become champion: they have to peak to early.
*Almost all teams to become champion need a loss in their group stage to get them going.
*it is not the best team wthat wins, but the most efficient

If Spain wins the Euro Cup they will have won six games in a row, that would be a magnificent achievement. But, of course, the Germans will take it again, as usual....

03:05 / 26.06.08

don't rule out guus' russia... arshavin is almost capable of winning it alone. the germans were entirely ordinary today except for three occasions - and got three goals, but were lucky things didn't go better for the turks who may well have been two or even three up before klose hit the first decent german pass to podolski who centred for buster's equaliser.

i still think the winner tonight will win it...

Sjaak at the Shoe Shop

07:24 / 26.06.08

yes, Germany - Turkey was fun to watch because of the excitement, not because of the football. The German team is definitely mediocre, and had they been in the C/D groups would not have survived the group stage. But, they are in the Finals! Somehow they always manage.
Tonight may give us some good football I hope (unless we get a France-Italy scenario, with Arshavin being sent off after 10 minutes and a penalty to Spain for example). Let's hope not.

01:33 / 29.06.08

a dull game nonetheless. rekkun spain will conquer the title.

asian last phase qualifier groups drawn friday night - australia got japan, uzbekistan (my quiet dark horse for some time, so not sure if i'm happy about that - go uzbekistan!), qatar [again] and bahrain. i don't think bahrain will get through to the third-place play-offs this time round (some may recall dwight yorke's trinidad and tobago went to germany at their expense).

two koreas in the other group, with the saudis should battle it out for the honours. top two in each group go to sth africa. japan will be stiff competition in our side, but we start with a date in tashkent and finish with the japanese at home, so a reasonable run - we just have to have players like tim cahill, josh kennedy, scott mcdonald and the like fit and in form to make qualification a formality. we should be looking for six points against both qatar and bahrain, with a target of home wins and a point away at least in tashkent and tokyo.

fun looms!

02:55 / 30.06.08

spain richly deserved their win - the best side of the night, the best side of the tournament; eternally surprising how they made diagonal through balls and made their opposition look ordinary. except against the defending genius of the italians, but they held on there for a shoot-out win. senna was one of the players of the tournament for mine, with iniesta and torres. haven't heard yet who took out that title - if they give it at euro?

now mebbe i can get some extended sleep, not getting up at 4am...

04:36 / 08.08.08

olyroos, aussie olympic lads, made an average start to their campaign in beijing - particularly stunning start as it was in shanghai! - but escaped from a mainly lackluster performance to take a point from serbia, and hit the post to narrowly miss taking the bikkies. messi inspired argentina to a win in the other side of the group, so we need a win over cote d'ivoire at least, though a point against argentina would also help.

cross ya fingers!

02:45 / 07.09.08

second and final phase of the world cup qaulifiers began overnight - in asia, australia's group began without them, with a great result for us from qatar, who hit three past the fancied uzbeks without reply. we beat qatar twice in the previous phase, and travel to tashken to meet uzbekistan ourselves for our opening game, after knocking off the world's fourth ranked team, holland, on their own patch!

harry kewell is back in touch and even without scott mcdonald we managed goals. with him, and vince grella and tim cahill to come back in to this side, i am working on the assumption now we'll be playing in south africa come 2010. gotta be happy right now.

and mark bosnich has made a return to professional football, in the a-league's mariners side. a great start saw him keep a clean sheet in his first game and he has a few more on contract until the errant danny vukovic, who is still finishing his suspension accrued for man-handling the ref in the grand final defeat last year, which also saw him miss beijing. unfortunately, sydney hit three past him in the real deal and he has let one and two in past him in the other games (though both wins). he looks up for it after more than six years since he turned out for chelsea prior to his coke bust.

10:25 / 07.09.08

I watched some of last nights match between the US and Cuba, in Havana. The field was soaking wet, and the lights in the stadium were so dim and dingy-looking it was hard to see. I've honestly seen grammar school stadiums here with much better lighting.
Play was a little sloppy with all the water, but still, not too bad. Cuba was on, for Cuba. I felt a little bad for them losing 1-0 on their home turf (the first time the US team had been there in 61 years), but really, 1-0 is not bad for Cuba.

03:04 / 11.09.08

would have thought the pitch would be a squidge damp, what with all those hurricanes lashing idly about...

the remarkable socceroos bounce on and on - inflicting a 0-1 reverse against their uzbek hosts in tashkent this morning, basel-based scotty chipperfield nodding in a luke wilkshire cross before the half hour and defending resiliently thereafter. i like luke - i also like nicky carle, who doesn't seem to get much of a look in with verbeek and i'm yet to work out why... be nice to see cahill, grella and culina all back in the side in brisbane for our next outing - can we possibly hope for a goal-fest and place us firmly in pole qualifying position?

this result leaves uzbekistan on zero points from two matches and at the foot of the table, us in third on the table after uzbek-beating qatar and bahrain drew without troubling the scorers; and the japanese didn't play, so leaving us behind japan on goal difference - but i suspect a trip to tashkent won't yield many visiting points, so a priceless three for us, with qatar at home next up. looking good, looking very good.

luxembourg visited defeat on the swiss, who were obviously perturbed at being swallowed whole by the large hadron collider being switched on while they switched off - talk about embarrassing! the germans lucky to get a draw in finland but a walcott hat-trick helping england to a thrashing of croatia, 1-4 on the road. capello was right!

talk about shocks, bolivia travelled to brasil and came away with a point from a 0-0 encounter. are we seeing the demise of the brasilians in fusbol?

be champions!

05:26 / 16.10.08

socceroo machine rolls nicely on. 4-0 against qatar on a sodden pitch in brisbane last night propelled us to the top of the table, aided by the uzbeks holding a lacklustre japanese outfit to a goal apiece draw in saitama.

timmy cahill marked his return to the national side with the opener. brett emerton scored a brace and one of the best afield, the beanpole josh kennedy nodded home the sealer for a well deserved appearance on the score sheet. i thought our middle men luke wilkshire and jason culina did a sterling job and frankly qatar never looked in the game.

happy days.

Closed for Business Time

03:27 / 27.10.08

86 games. Eighty-six without losing. I positively creamed my pants today. Maybe, just maybe this will be the season we get one.

02:27 / 02.11.08

do tell more... who are 'we'?

and you know there's a 'we won!' thread for the expected outcome...

Closed for Business Time

22:55 / 02.11.08

Oh, I meant LFC v Chelsea the other day. Consider my elation deflated by yesterday's unbelievable loss v Spurs...

09:31 / 03.11.08

who'd a thunk it possible - when just a week or so ago we could ask what the difference might be between spurs and a triangle - a triangle, of course, having three points...

it couldn't last, but against liverspots!

(must admit, my mersey side team is in blue and has timmy cahill banging 'em in when he's allowed... though i had a great night at a sydney club several years back with craig johnston and his dad, and some friendly banter against a few sydney league thugs. both he and da were a hoot!)

19:08 / 22.11.08

well, the socceroos are well on their way to south africa, learning how to be the 'big' team and winning ugly - they purloined a result against bahrain on wed night, mark bresciano nicking the only goal of the game in the third minute of extra time, the hosts having made most of the running all night. schwarzer was a bit of hero, from all accounts. puts us three from three and, with three more home games to come, and needing only six or seven points to make us mathematically certain of qualifying, i feel quietly confident (though a few more performances like that might see us capitulate)

japan knocked over qatar to solidify their runner-up - and so also step right into wc finals - status, with the qataris now looking to hold on to their slender grip on the third spot, which would see them have to battle the third place team from the other group (dominated by sth korea and iran, so poss nth korea in third?) to see who takes on new zealand for the half-spot and berth in serth [africa]...

epl looking like a two horse race, though none of the big four found the net last night. man city look on a hot streak and could wind up challenging the europe slots this year and going better beyond, if they keep robinho and get buffon and kaka, as they look to be planning.

btw, does anyone else see the setanta sports puppets with jose, sven and the boy? am i the only one to find it brilliant?

02:30 / 22.12.08

was chuffed to see nicky carle knock in a super volley in stoppage time to secure my beloved palace a point against promotion rivals sheffield united on the weekend - he is a pre-eminent exemplar of the skill of dribbling and it is great for the socceroos that he is finding it almost impossible to break into a midfield that boasts tim cahill, mark bresciano, harry kewell, jason culina and brett holman, among others all contending for spots. yay.

so man u won the world club cup - this is a contrived event that doesn't ever really say much about anything. that said, sth american football was underrepresented by a quito side that meanwhile (since winning the copa libertadores) lost its cut and thrust. a fascinating tussle underway in argentina, btw for anyone interested - a three way play-off to determine the league champions. san lorenzo beat tigre in the first leg, then boca won heroically away at san lorenzo and have now to host tigre where a win or a draw will see them victorious, and a loss would see all three evenly matched once again! a bizarre thing - but how would you run a three way play-off?

go boca! one of my favourite players, juan riquelme, is in their heart, feeding palermo, one of the most lethal strikers in the game at the moment. awesome!

03:55 / 22.02.09

sigh. boca won, but. good huh? and the socceroos eeked out a clever 0-0 in yokohama to stay top of the wc qualifier group, two clear of japan and a couple games ahead of third, so with three of the remaining four fixtures at home and the top two automatically qualifying, i think we can almost smell the boarding passes to sth africa.

the a-league here is also at the very pointiest of ends - adelaide, after a 0-6 shellacking in a two leg preliminary final, will again meet their nemesis melbourne victory at the docklands stadium next saturday in the finale to an intriguing season; also notable because the aussie rules (afl) had sought to have docklands for a semi final in their pre-season but the world game, in a bit of a coup, won out and the afl shifted. noice. these two teams met at this stage two years ago and lost the one game 0-6, archie thompson managing some other sort of record, banging in the first five before his replacement added the icing - thompson once scored 13 in national colours when we beat poor american samoa 31 - nil!

the tie has been made all the spicier for the adelaide coach to have come out bollocking the club and the town (called it a 'pissant' town, which endeared him to the locals no end...) in a rant that cleared the air enough for them to get past a resurgent queensland roar last night to set up the g/f re-match. victory have had five from five wins in their recent seasons against the reds, but this is a grand final and after adelaide got to the asian champions league final they had a horror run of catch-up matches and a loss of form. who knows, rekkun it'll be a tighter affair than last time and i tip an upset. reds 2-1.

don't mention crystal palace but.

04:45 / 12.05.09

ok, was wrong on the a-league result. victory won one nil. and chelsea were comprehensively robbed by appalling refereeing, so barcelona will win the big cup. and shaktar donetsk will win the slightly smaller cup. but chelsea will win the fa cup; poor timmy cahill and his everton, but there ya go.

anyone?

22:03 / 23.05.09

one tip down, two to go.

last week of the premier league and all to play for for a number of clubs.

and still talking to myself.

Closed for Business Time

16:39 / 24.05.09

So the scum won it, of course, but whodathunkit ere the start of the season that Newcastle would be relegated? My word what a shower they've been, yet I can't help but feel sorry for the fans. Liverpool has been class this year - almost got teary when Sami H trotted out for this final match today. End of an era.

00:08 / 25.05.09

It was another close but not close enough call - Liverpool drew too many, but have made real leaps in closing the gap between them and Man U. Sadly, with a possible Euro Cup in the offering, the gap could widen considerably. Until Liverpool get some players in some positions that are lacking, they won't be able to match Man U for squad rotation/experience...

My own Forest managed to stay up with a game in hand, and closed the gap on Derby to a point and a position. We're building for a decent season down in the championship, I think, but are still 5 or so players short of a strong first 11 (we had about 7 loanees last season!)

So, the Champ playoffs, the FA cup and the Euro Cup still to play...

Page: 1 ... 7 8 9 10 11(12)