I'll be watching it on television, so I guess the World Cup qualifies for a thread. The other thread on Fox soccer is too limited for those of us who will be scrambling to find any channel that shows the games.

Squad lists have to be submitted during the next couple of days, so it's not too early to start discussions. June 9 to July 9! Can't wait.

I'm an Italy supporter. Expressions of sympathy are welcome.

Hooray for the world cup. Here's a link to the broadcast schedule.

http://www.worldcup2006ontv.com/tv-stations

I haven't picked a team yet, but at least the games are on at reasonable hours. That 2am/5am thing was fun last time but I don't think I could do it again.

Those pre-dawn games during Japan-Korea got really old. I ended up watching the tournament on a taped basis, which takes a lot of the fun out of it. Of course, the weird officiating had already dampened much of my enthusiasm. Let's hope FIFA is being a bit more careful, since Germany has just emerged from a refereeing scandal and a major corruption investigation is going on in Italy (about time, too!).

Thanks for the link, beethousand. I didn't even realize ABC was going to broadcast some of the games. It stands to reason it would, now that I've gone digital and am paying for all sorts of sports channels!

I just hope the ratings are decent, I still don't get it, why football(or soccer whatever way you like it) isn't as popular in the US as it is in the rest of the world? Maybe a good performance by the US will wake up some interest, which will be hard considering the group they are in. ABC should try with some publicity(at least I have seen none) too, it wouldn't hurt.
Anyways I support Costa Rica and Italy, and Ukraine.

That one is crazy! And the worst part is, I believe Italy's is not the only league with that problem. Although it was pretty obvious the deal going on with Juventus( I hope they go to Serie B).

I've seen some commercials on ESPN. They're narrated by Bono and all about how the ball causes wars to stop and businesses to shut down and all that.

Nice and all but I don't know if painting the sport as this mystical thing is the way to bring in the US audience. There are lots of speculation from various people as to why football isn't popular here. They range from being unable to pronounce the names of the players (yeah... okay whatever) to low scores aren't interesting to there's too much diving!

I don't know. All I know is that World Cup games are fabulous to go to and to watch. Cannot wait until June.

The scheduling is much better this time, can't wait for June.
On another note though, I just saw the squad selections and was kind of surprised about some of the choices. Since I'm a BIG Argentina fan I'm just going to talk about them. Scaloni over Zanetti? WTF??!!!??? What was Pekerman smoking? How can you leave out one of the top defenders in the world who has been having an extremely consistent season and is known for his leadership. The young squad could definitely have used him.
Still, hopefully Argentina will have a better run than 2002, can't wait for the Argentina vs Netherlands game. It's going to be exciting, although I'm also surprised that Huntelaar was left off the Netherlands squad, I mean didn't he score like 34 goals or something for Ajax?

That's just extraordinary. Zanetti's one of the best defenders in the world, and Scaloni has been a laughing stock since West Ham brought him over here on loan in the transfer window (they've already said they're not going to take up the option-to-buy). But then I've been bitching about Eriksson's England squad for weeks now, so maybe I shouldn't get into this...

Oh God. Theo Walcott over Jermain Defoe and Owen Hargreaves over Reo-Coker or Nolan or practically anyone are just two of the questionable calls that i saw. If Rooney isn't healthy by the middle of the knockout stages i'm going to be a sad England supporter.

I'll really only feel sympathy for an Italy supporter if they live in the US and have to put up with our incredibly awful broadcasting. If ESPN keeps the same announcing crew they had for the Champions League final i'll have to find something lower than mute. It's hard to define the worst moment between Marcelo Balboa defending the merits of diving and Anthony LaPaglia (???) as a guest analyst.

Fortunately, I now have (expensivish) alternatives to ESPN. I've got to say the Gol TV announcers are pretty bad, though. They know nothing about football and can't even pronounce the names. I'm thinking I should have gotten the Spanish version, since I can't speak the language and the commentators wouldn't have bothered me!

Since it seems we're heading that way, I thought I'd post Italy's squad list, with comments pitched to people who know nothing about the team. Italy are in Group E. They'll kick off their campaign against Ghana on June 12, play a team now ahead of us in FIFA's rankings, the U.S., on June 17, and finish the group phase on June 22 against the Czech Republic. Neither Italy nor the Czech Republic want to go into that game needing points.

Manager: Lippi.

He looks good, but he does it his way and keeps on doing so even when it's not working. Still, we have to look on the bright side: he's much better than Italy's former C.T., Trapattoni.

Lippi has just been questioned as a witness by Italian prosecutors concerning Moggi's influence over his callups and lineups. Moggi is his former boss at Juventus, now at the center of a ginormous, all-pervasive match-fixing, influence-peddling, bribery etc. scandal; practically the only crime that hasn't been mentioned is murder. Well, not yet anyway. I won't get into it any more except insofar as it affects the Azzurri.

Goalkeepers: Buffon (Juventus), Peruzzi (Lazio), Amelia (Livorno)

Buffon is one of the best in the world, but he has recently been questioned with respect to a betting investigation (players aren't allowed to bet in Italy), so who knows if he can put that distraction aside. Peruzzi is steady and Amelia is a promising young keeper.

Defenders: Zambrotta (Juventus), Nesta (Milan), Cannavaro (Juventus), Grosso (Palermo), Zaccardo (Palermo), Barzagli (Palermo), Materazzi (Inter), Oddo (Lazio)

Nesta and Cannavaro are also among the best in the world too, but if one of them gets injured, Italy are finished, because the replacement is Materazzi. Nesta might be able to cover for Materazzi's many flaws, but Cannavaro couldn't. Zambrotta is world-class and versatile; he can play on either flank as a fullback and in midfield. Oddo is reliable. The others are generally OK but untried at this level.

Cannavaro is the Italy captain; his residence was just searched by the carabinieri as part of Moggi-gate, although he's not considered a suspect. Sweden supporters probably already know that Zlatan Ibrahimovic's residence was also searched. Personally, I'd find it hard to concentrate on the game after that, but maybe Cannavaro is tougher than I am.

Midfielders: Camoranesi (Juventus), Pirlo (Milan), Gattuso (Milan), De Rossi (Roma), Perrotta (Roma), Barone (Palermo)

Camoranesi is the only winger. When he's on he's great, but he blows hot and cold, which means he's often seriously useless. Marchionni, another winger and one who has had a great season, should have been called up instead of just listed as a reserve. I guess Lippi expects to play Milan-style with attacking fullbacks.

Pirlo is a deep-lying playmaker; he's been playing like crap for Milan during the past few months, but if he gets it together for the tournament he can be incredible, because he has great vision and pinpoint passes. Gattuso and De Rossi are solid, hard-working defensive midfielders. Perrotta has done well for Roma this year, although I've never really rated him. Barone shouldn't have been called up.

It's not a very adventurous midfield, and it relies for creativily a lot on Pirlo, who has been off-form, and Totti, who has been injured.

Attackers: Totti (Roma), Toni (Fiorentina), Gilardino (Milan), Del Piero (Juventus), Inzaghi (Milan), Iaquinta (Udinese)

Totti is an incredible player who has never done well on the international stage because of his temperament. That's shorthand for spitting at Poulsen, arguing with the refs, whining about bad tackles -- to be fair, he does get hacked down a lot -- and throwing tantrums right and left. He's recovering from a terrible ankle fracture that also ripped out his ligaments and has barely played in the last couple of months. He swears he's fit; whether he's match-fit is another question. He plays as what the Italians call a trequartista, a playmaker just behind the strikers. If he plays at his best, he can give Ronaldinho a run for his money, no kidding. It's a big if, though.

Toni is 6'4 and the top scorer in Serie A. He's been great for the last couple of seasons. Even though he's in his late 20s, this is his first major tournament (he really should have been called up for Euro 2004). Gilardino is also a newbie, a young talent who has done well for Milan except in the Champions League, and who seems to work well off Toni. Inzaghi spent almost two years out of the game with ankle and other injuries, but came back so strongly for Milan that Lippi had to call him up, particularly after his favorite Christian Vieri got injured playing for Monaco.

Iaquinta shouldn't have been called up. He hasn't been playing well and has been named in the betting investigation, as have Marek Jankulovksi of the Czech Republic and Zeljko Kalac, Australia's second (I think) goalkeeper. Del Piero chokes on the big scene when all the pressure is on him, but he's been playing very well as a substitute under Capello. He shouldn't start, though.

Reserves: De Sanctis (Udinese), Bonera (Parma), Marchionni (Parma), Semioli (Chievo)

Italy are listed among the favorites, in a group with other big names, behind Brazil and probably Argentina. What usually happens in these tournaments is they under-achieve woefully and get kicked out ignominiously. (Love those adverbs!) With Moggi-gate hanging over them, they'll either sink without a trace or do much better than anyone could reasonably expect. Personally, I'm expecting a miserable World Cup.

The guys took a week off after the end of Serie A. The team starts training at Coverciano on Monday.

Hey cheer up, at least the commentators you have aren't near as bad as having to hear the british one's, they are completly bias, and if you are an Italy's fan, you better not even hear them(btw, there are some commentators in ESPN Deportes who are also awful to hear in case you support Italian football).
BTW Andreanne, any chance you are a Milan fan? Considering I only know Milan fans who are aware of Pirlo's poor condition lately(hopefully this week's rest has done good for him).

Guilty as charged, amyaf! I was an Azzurri fan first, though.

As for British commentators, some of them (Sky?) aren't bad. I'm a big fan of Paddy Agnew, because he knows what he's talking about. I just started reading his book -- so far, so good.

I actually don't mind the British commentary despite the bias. I saw the 1990 world cup with the British crew. Good lord they were biased. Especially against my favorite team, Argentina. Though, to be fair, Argentina played like crap that year and still made it to the final thanks to multiple penalty shootouts.

I kind of like them sometimes because of their bias. It's kind of nice that they have a point a view, and they're pretty obvious about it. I saw the 94 World Cup here in the U.S., and the ESPN commentators kind of grew on me too. The 98 Cup, again on ESPN was with the same crew, and so was the 2002 cup.

Boy, I am so charged up right now. Quite frankly, I don't even care anymore whether or not most of the US viewing public ever embraces soccer/football, or not. I did care back in 94. It was all very exciting, being here, sometimes being in the same city as a World Cup match when it was going on. I remember going to both New York and Washington that summer, and it was just teeming with fans from all over the world. Lots of Brazilian fans, Mexican fans, and quite a few Dutch fans too.

I remember wishing so often back then that the game would catch on here. And at least there was enough interest to start the MLS. Though, I will also admit that I'm guilty of never having watched a single MLS game. Still, the 2002 US Squad really showed the dividends of having a professional league here. The US team had lots of players from the MLS, and they performed incredibly well.

Starting a first division league was a condition of awarding World Cup 1994 to the United States, not a consequence of it.

I have tickets to all three US first round games. Leaving three weeks from today. :)

I've decided I'm going to watch the matches on Setanta (Ch. 615 on Directv)... Even if the commentary is in German, to me it'll be better than enduring ESPN's commentators (the exceptions are Ian Darke from England if he works for them like he did in 94 and Derek Rae).

I saw the 1998 World Cup with the British commentary and didn't mind it too much either, despite some bias. I was living in NZ at the time where everyone is basically an England fan so the famous Argentina vs England game (when Beckham got the red card for kicking Simeone) was interesting to say the least. I like the Hispanic commentators though like Andres Cantor just for their impressive lung capacity, GGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!
It's hilarious but it gets you into the game.

Woo-hoo! I live for the World Cup. When I was growing up in Singapore it just seemed so much easier to keep up and be obsessed by football. I've found it harder here for some reason. But I plan to turn Mr. Shimi into a football widower in June. I have some catching up to do, I see, so any recommended links to assessments of the teams ( both serious and silly) would be a help. Am relieved to see that the schedule is kinder to my bodyclock this time.

GOOOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!!

Here's a start: you'll get both silly and serious at The Times.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! (No, no "A"; it's in Italian!)

I'm so jealous flg8or! I tried to get tickets but had no luck in the lottery. I suppose it's just as well since I got scheduled to teach summer school during June/July and it would be difficult to do that from Germany.

I caught the end of the US v. Morocco match that was on the other day and was not at all surprised to hear that Reyna injured his hamstring. Has he ever made it through a World Cup without injury? Fah, I wish they'd left him off the team and put Cobi on instead. Sure he doesn't have the speed he used to but he is such a workhorse and is great off the bench.

Hey! There's already a World Cup thread here! I'm psyched to see this - will be traveling during most of the group matches but I'm looking forward to the later rounds. The only problem is...how do I decide between watching football and tennis (Wimby's on at the same times!)?

That's easy ruach. I remember facing the same dilemma 8 years ago. And really, it's a no-brainer. You watch the World Cup. Wimbledon happens every year, as does the French Open (which is my personal fav tennis tournament of the year), whereas the World Cup memories are a lot more scarce.

Besides, you can always watch the highlights for Tennis.

I totally agree with you, Kalahari. As much as I love Wimbledom and Roland Garros, when the World Cup is on, nothing else matters. Brazilian TV coverage has already started, every day we get to watch the training sessions of the Brazilian team, in addition to all the friendly matches taking place this weekend.

For people in the US, do you get to watch the matches live? Are all the matches shown on TV or just the US matches?

We're going to get all 64 matches live (and people will actually be awake to see them this time- kickoffs range from 9 AM to 3 PM Central).

Rooting interests? Obviously the States- as usual, the hope that a strong showing will increase popularity- and barring that, like in any sport, I root for absolute chaos. I want Cote d'Ivoire advancing out of a group containing Argentina and Holland. I want Trinidad and Tobago winning the England/Sweden/Paraguay group. If not the US, I want Australia vs. Togo in the final. (Hey, if George Mason can make the Final Four by going through Michigan St., North Carolina and UConn; if the NHL playoffs can see the Western 1, 2, 3 and 4 seeds all go down in the first round; if the Clippers can win a playoff series, why not?)

*Laughing*. That's awesome mtvcdm. Total Chaos. I love it.

The real drama in 2002 was the teams that didn't even make it to the second round, and the new teams that did make it. Defending Champions France were out, as was Argentina. But teams like the U.S., Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Turkey and Senegal made it.

South Korea and Turkey even made it to the Semi-finals, and lost in a couple of nail-biters.

So I think the really awesome message coming out of the 2002 World Cup was this: The World has caught up to the Europeans and South Americans. They're still underdogs, but teams from North America, Asia, Africa, and this year (hopefully), Oceania, are real contendors for the big prize.

Plus, since I started watching soccer because of Diego Maradona, and his displays of brilliance with Jeventus and the Argentina team in 1986, Argentina will always be a sentimental favorite for me. And just like I love rooting for Argentina, I love rooting against Germany. This has set up an interesting dilemma for me this year, since I usually always want the home team to advance, because I love watching the crowd get into the game. And there's almost no parallel to the excitement of a home team doing well as far as the reaction and adoration of the crowd coming through our television sets.

But this year, the home team is Germany. I've always rooted against Germany! Even in the 94 Cup, when I liked Klinsmann. It's tradition!

So yeah, overall, I'm with mtvcdm. I love rooting for chaos and for the underdog. And until the 2002 cup, it was only the rare team that fulfilled that potential. Cameroon in 1990. (The Cameroon-England quaterfinal when they lost to England is, in my opinion, the best match in that World Cup). Bulgaria in 1994 (Remember that incredible free kick by Stoichkov). And I can't for the life of me remember any underdog teams doing well in 1998. The only match I really remember vividly from 1998 was the Argentina-England match that went to overtime and then penalties. An all time classic. I still have that one on tape, but the tape quality has severely degraded over time. (Stupid VHS).

ETA:



Bela1812, I realize that this has already been addressed, but I just wanted to add an observation of mine: In my experience, the question of whether a sporting event is covered live works in reverse here in the United States than what most people would expect.

If an event is popular enough to get good ratings, but it is being held at a time when its not prime time for TV watching, then it is actually less likely to be shown live. On the other hand, if you've got a sport that's only enjoyed by a small audience, like Football/Soccer, then it is usually covered live in all time zones.

For a great example of this, remember how 4 years ago, the Winter Olympics were held in Salt Lake City? Well, I live on the west coast, which is much closer to Salt Lake City than most of the Eastern and even Central Time Zones. And yet, NBC showed nearly all of its coverage of the Salt Lake Olympics by tape delay on the West Coast. We got to see things 3 hours after the east coast, so it would be more convenient for people to watch after they came home from work. Which, if you think about it, actually makes a lot of sense.

So the more popular Soccer gets here, the less likely that in years to come we will still get to see upcoming World Cups Live.

Haha...good advice, Kalahari and Bela1812, especially on the only once in four years thing. However, unless it's an attacking team playing, I'd almost rather just watch the highlights of two defensive *ahemdullahem* teams playing and watch some fast tennis instead.

I'll be watching it from Asia, though, so it'll be interesting to see who we have commentating on the matches.

That's really interesting, Kalahari. I had no idea TV stations worked like this in the US when it came to the Olympics and the World Cup.


The ref had his eyes clogged when South Korea played against Italy in the quarter finals, according to the many conspiration theories around, the only reason why Soth Korea got to the semi-final was because it was one of the home teams. But yeah in 2002, France and Argentina were an embarrassment. I loved that since I was still bitter about France beating Brazil in the 1998 finals (I know that the French deserved but still...) and the rivalry between Brazil and Argentina when it comes to soccer is out of this world.

But I love total chaos too...I would love to see an African team make it to the final.

I remember that I had to go to school shortly after Beckham got kicked out the game (game was in the morning in the southern hemisphere) and so I listened to the rest of it on the radio with my walkman. After the penalty kicks....wow my math teacher was shocked to hear all my shrieking for joy.

This of course means that I'm cheering for a favorite, Argentina (my homeland) of course. I want to see them redeem themselves for 2002 and kick ass. Italy is my backup team, and if they don't make it either then I'll probably go for the Netherlands because they have all that technical talent but have never actually won a World Cup. I figure they have it coming.

My first time watching the World Cup was in 1994. All I can remember was that poor guy from Colombia kicking the ball into his own net causing his team lose 2-1 to the US. Then his team lost again & was eliminated. Then, when he got home to Colombia, he got murdered for it.

I also remember the US losing to Brazil & Brazil winning the World Cup. Andres Cantor went crazy over it.

I love Andres Cantor. He's like Stuart Scott, but much more fun & likeable than Stuart Scott.

Who will be announcing the games on ESPN & ABC? I can't remember who usually does soccer games for ESPN & ABC, but he really sucks. He's really boring, has no enthusiasm when somebody gets a goal (He just says score really fast.) & he is the complete opposite of Andres Cantor.

I will be rooting for England. They have a lot of passion for their team & their newspapers (The Mirror & The Sun) don't take losing very lightly.

Has anyone seen that Simpsons episode where Mexico and the US are playing (I think) and they do the comparison for the different commentators, the Mexican one and the ESPN commentator? Funniest thing ever but so true. But I agree with everyone on the board, I hope ESPN steps it up for those of us in the US for the World Cup. Maybe have a couple of cups of coffee or something stronger. Whatever gets the excitment level up

ETA: Sorry, it was Mexico vs Portugal. Here is the link for anyone who wants to see it. It's good for a giggle.

Simpsons Mexico vs Portugal

This is from USA Today

The lead team for ESPN/ABC, calling all the US matches, and presumably the final, will be Dave O'Brien with Marcello Balboa. This is getting a LOT of debate on more soccer-specific boards (bigsoccer.com is the one I visit). O'Brien comes from a baseball background, and probably would have been the lead play-by-play voice for the New York Mets new in-house channel, except they had issues with him calling other events (he also does the US Open tennis tournament, as well as soccer.) He is a big soccer fan however, but a lot of people are unimpressed with his work thus far, and Marcello Balboa (ex US national teamer) is considered an average color man, at best. I like O'Brien on baseball, and he's OK at soccer, though I'm not sure I would have made him lead play-by-play.

The other announce teams in Germany will be JP Dellacamera/John Harkes, and Rob Stone/Robin Fraser. I like Dellacamera, and Stone has been doing a bunch of soccer over the years. Harkes is ok, and I haven't heard enough from Fraser.

Two teams will also call some matches off monitors at ESPN studios in Bristol: Glenn Davis/Shep Messing, and Adrian Healey/Tommy Smyth. Smyth is probably my favorite of the ESPN analyists.

The studio analyists will be Eric Wynalda, Alexi Lalas and Judy Foudy.

zespri, when Mexico and Portugal play on June 21, I will be milking that joke for the full 90 minutes. The first time the ball stalls in the middle, I plan to scream "Back to center, center to back, to the center, center holds it, holds it, HOLDS IT!"

Thanks for the link, zespri. I haven't seen it before, it was really funny.

Tommy Smyth is also one of my favorites, and I loved it when him and JP Dellacamera used to announced the Serie A games in ESPN(latinamerica at least), they were really good. "Hasta la vista baby!" each time someone got the red card always made my day(even if the red card affected my team).



But they handle winning so badly, suddenly Owen is Pele, Rooney is Pele, whoever is the youngester that scores in a big tournament is the next Pele(Theo Walcott will be Pele this year), and England is the best team in the world. Actually this happens in every country(well, not in every country they compare their youngsters with Pele, but they do overrated everything and everyone).

If Theo Walcott appears on the pitch doing anything other than warming up before a match during this World Cup, then something has gone seriously wrong. Of course with the Swedish meatball in charge, nothing would surprise me any more. Horrify me, yes; surprise me, no.

Carragher in midfield?!? Ugh. McLaren's actually going to be an upgrade. If England achieve anything in this World Cup it's going to be despite Eriksson rather than due to anything he's brought to the table. Muppet.

Hey I don't know if someone else posted this but Univision and related channels are also going to be showing the games live (for those of us in the US). I don't know who the commentators are (sorry, does anyone know?) but I assume that they will be a more lively bunch (although will be commentating in Spanish).
I'm in St Louis and it's included in the basic cable package and it's channel 17. I don't know if that helps much people in other states (I used to live in Indiana and I don't remember every having Univision). the other thing is that I'm not sure if the games are actually live on ESPN etc because there is a half hour discrepancy in some cases. Of course this could be pre-game commentaries on Univision's part so I wouldn't put much stock in that. Here are the listings for those of you in the US who are interested:

Univision World Cup Listings

I'm re-thinking my support for Ukraine, cause their main player just stab me and millions of AC Milan fans in the back. I'm in a love him-hate him deal. Well, maybe I'll support him just for the WC, but I will root anything against the team of Mr. I'll destroy soccer or it'll destroy me Abramovich, even if it means rooting for one of my ex-favorite player getting injured or failing badly in EPL.


Well, since it's not hard to assume they are going to be latin americans, they will certainly be lively. I have no idea who they are, but maybe they are the same of the last World Cup(I didn't know who they are, but I have the video of the famous Totti red card and it is taken from Univision's broadcasting, not bad by the way).

Hey! There's a World Cup thread here! Awesome!

You guys, I'm so excited for this, I'm all fit to burst. Total chaos? Absolutely! (Even though everyone knows Brazil will get to the finals). I was raised as an England fan (fondest WC memory, 1998: screaming so loudly at Beckham when he got the infamous red card that my mother thought I was getting attacked by an intruder), got very sympathetic towards Les Bleus (I admire the Brazilians as much as everyone else, but sometimes its good to see others win) and in 2002, was rooting pretty heavily for Germany. Oh, Oliver Kahn...

So, yeah, my national loyalty is shifty, to say the least, but honestly, I just love the game and watching all these different and extraordinary teams compete, regardless of my personal attachments. You just can't help but get caught up in the emotion and all the excitement. For me, its truly the best game in the world.

As for network coverage, I basically wasted an hour of my life watching the "10 Best American Soccer Moments" on abc today; a lot of them were really obscure matches and the concept of the show wasn't very well thought out. I do feel hopeful about the USA's prospects this year, though its a shame they get to start out with a tough group...

Aside from the show, the commercials they ran for the WC were interesting, and I learned that ABC will broadcast its first match, England v. Paraguay next Saturday at 9 am eastern.

Wow, just found this on youtube.com and am surprised no one commented on it yet. A clip from the friendly Colombia vs Poland which was on May 30th.

Poland vs Colombian goalkeeper

Have to say that the Polish fans have everyone beat when it comes to sucky squad selections. They should have taken Dudek instead, Pawal Janas has to be the most hated person in Poland right now.

That goal was awesome, I don't think I've ever seen anything like this before, too bad it happened in a friendly match or else it would become one of those classic World Cup goals.
I've watched a couple of friendlies this weekend and I was really impressed by Australia tying with Holland, the Australians really gave it all they had. On the other hand, Italy x Ukraine was really dull. Even the commentators were bored by the match.

It was a really good goal, right over all the players...hehe. If you see some of the other videos of the same goal on youtube.com where they have commentary and the commentators didn't even expect it, infact right after it happens the commentators are silent for a few seconds before saying something (the other video I saw was in Polish so I didn't understand anything). But yeah, I remember when I was in JV soccer our goalie did the same thing (scoring against the opposing team) and we went crazy (that one goal gave her a 100% scoring average, MUCH better than mine and I was a midfielder hehe). I agree that it would have made a good World Cup goal but then at the same time, for a goalie at World Cup level to mess that up is pretty bad....
The Australia vs Netherlands was intense, and 3 Dutch players injured! Sucks for them but nice from the other teams in Group C (yay Argentina!) if they don't recover in time and don't manage to replace everyone. Good for the Australians too because it gives them some credibility.

Thanks for that link, I laughed my ass off. That's just classic. I surely hope this year's World Cup produces some jaw-dropping moments like that. I lost interest in most of the friendlies I've seen so far. Bring on the Cup!

Woot! World Cup. I have always loved it. My husband and I are already planning on what days we will try to take early (and long) lunches so we can watch some of the matches. Sports Illustrated has a quite good issue about the WC out this week, for those who may be interested.

I am loving the commercials for WC- I hope that it attracks some fans here in the US. I read something somewhere that only 10% of the US plans on watching the WC. That frustrates me- it is such a neat and fun event. I was visiting my brother in London for a portion of the 2002 WC and it was so much fun to be in a country where people cared so much for the event. Though I guess with caring comes dispair. My brother said that after England was knocked out- folks in his office were very grouchy for days. I can't imagine that happening here at all.

I am rooting for the US, England, fellow group B-er Sweden, Spain, Mexico and unfortunately three members of group C: Ivory Coast, Netherlands and Argentina. I went to the 1996 Olympic gold medal match between Nigeria and Argentina (Nigeria won). Both sets of fans were so fantastic and friendly (and I got a jersey from a very cute Argentine boy) that I always root for the countries now in world competition.

Awesome! I remembered my login info! Truly it took the WC to shake me from my non-posting slump since Angel was cancelled.

I have my dvr set for as many games as it can hold. Plus fortunately Summer school ends 3:00 p.m. EST so I can zip home and start salivating. This is the only tv event I kno that I'll get up at 4 in the am to watch.

Oh yeah, I'm a big US, Brazil, and any underdog nation fan. I too would love to see the total chaos, just somewhat removed from the US's results. As for being a fan of the favorites? Ronaldo was why I first became interested in soccer/football. That and the Nike commercial from the 90's vs. the demons with Cantona et al. *coughnikewhorecough* So yeah thats about it.

Hahaha...great goal!

I'll throw my weight behind Argentina to challenge Brazil, from a practical point of view, and Germany, for sentimental value. It would be great if they could win at home, like France did.

Ooooh awesome goal!

I know Brazil will get to the finals, as for the opposing side, it'd be great if it was Germany (though that would be a rematch of the last WC) and maybe even Czech Republic.

Anyone else scouring YouTube for old WC clips like me? It's just for something to hold me over until the game starts. I personally love finding old Zidane clips (oh, Les Bleus)...

What's cool on youtube.com is that they have an official guide to each of the teams participating (at least I think so, I saw one for most of the teams). They have past performances in WC's as well as interviews with some of the players, I checked out a couple and they were pretty good.
YouTube also has a few parodies which were funny. One was of a secret camera filming the Italian team 'practicing' (a bunch of guys diving and dropping to the ground, hehe) and another one was of some guy recreating Maradona's golden goal against the English with the original Spanish commentary in the background.

Italian diving practice

Maradona goal parody

Eriksson talks about English team (puppets)

But yeah YouTube is a perfect distractor school work.

ETA Thought I would add the links since I've been doing that a lot and wanted to include the real Maradona goal

Maradona scores

Thanks for the links zespri.

It's great for procrastinating. I don't think I'm going to get a lot of work done between now and July 8th.
The 10 best 2002 World Cup Goals

I can't wait for the Cup to begin, at least the media here will start talking about the matches and stuff. It seems that whenever Ronaldinhos sneezes, it becomes one of the headlines of the 8 o'clock news. As much as I love soccer, there's a limit to everything.

I am starting to get that feeling in the pit of my stomach. That tight knot of anxiety. Last time around I couldn't watch the whole US-Poland game; I had to take a shower and watch from around the corner. I had hoped to avoid that stress this time. I managed put it off until now. Mr.Foci admitted to the same feeling tonight.

I am relatively new to the sport. My daughter started to play at 5. We got into the Women's World Cup in 1999. That was our "gateway" drug. In 2001, we flew to Kansas City for a qualifier against Costa Rica for my birthday (it was actually on my birthday). Best present ever.

My first real World Cup memory is older than all of this. In 1982, I was finishing my junior year abroad in Austria. My parents picked me up and we spent a few weeks driving through southern France, northern Spain, the north of Italy, etc.

The day of the final between Germany and Italy, we were in Verona. We were driving a rental car with German plates. My father was insisting we find a hotel with underground parking. I did not get it. I kept asking why it mattered that the car had German plates; it was only a game.

We watched the game in the hotel (with underground parking) bar. Italy won. The town went crazy. We went outside and it was pandemonium; my mother, father, and I got kissed and hugged by more people than I could count. I finally got it. And then, apparently, promptly forgot it again as one of those crazy European things.

And now here I am. Trying to find a place in San Bernardino to watch US-Italy because we will be there for a soccer tournament. (Actually, I have a place in mind.)

I really think all you US fans should be bracing yourselves prior to this tournament. The US has been helped out by favourable draws in the past and that is very much not the case this time around. They're gonna have to be either very lucky or very good to avoid finishing bottom of the group, let alone qualifying for the second round.

The US isn't even helped out by the order of the group matches; if Ghana had been first up then maybe they'd have had a chance to get a foothold, but there's a decent chance that they'll already be out by the time they play Ghana with the way the schedule is set. I hope they pull off the upset, especially as Italian arrogance has always put me off their sometimes excellent teams, but I don't fancy the US's chances.

Although the refs are supposed to be cracking down on shirt-pulling, so maybe they'll get 5 or 6 penalties in the game against Italy and make it through... ;)

Hence the feeling at the pit of my stomach. Much worse than in 2002.

Though I can't agree with you about our supposed favorable draw last WC. We had Portugal and one of the host nations. What we had in our favor was the complacency of Portugal, who thought they just had to show up to win.

We, the fans, are all bracing ourselves.

Here's my take on the World Cup vs. Olympics debate:

I respect the WC and what it has done for world sport. But IMHO, nothing can compare to the Olympics.

I disagree that it is more worthy to win as a group than win on your own (another rationale for WC's superiority). It doesn't matter if you win by yourself, or with another person, or with a dozen others: a win is a win.

Soccer is kind of overrated, IMHO. I'm probably going to get stoned for that. If you ask me, world sport does not begin and end with Ronaldinho, Metrosexual Man, and Zinedine Zedane.

The actual World Cup tournament only has 32 teams in it. And only over 70 countries have actually saw World Cup action. The Olympics have over 200 countries taking part, and over 80 of them have produced at least one Olympic champion, with almost 40 more having at least one Olympic silver or bronze medalist. How many countries have won a men's World Cup? Let's see: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, England GBR, France, Italy, Germany.

Getting back to this year's event: Brazil will probably take it all, but I am hoping for an upset of epic proportions.