Alright : A poll on the FIFA...who's gonna win !!!

i give up, who ever i seem to support end up losing. 1st brazil get jinxed (i was broadcasting a brazil victory days before the game)

And now germany lose after i again, broadcast a german victory....
Lucky for me unlike my brother in law i didnt lose 2 grand in betting germany would win.

i guess i should start supporting france now, i doubt they will lose to portugal though.
I'll save the jinx for france vs italy in the final.

Minus Human

The sad part of this whole incident is that if Rooney had taken a dive when he was being wrestled to the ground by 2 portuguese players England would have a free kick and Rooney would still have been on the pitch. Instead he tried to stay on his feet and paid the ultimate price. A sad refelction of the modern game.

Even if the ref didn't spot the kick he gave and hadn't given him the red card for either that or the push he'd be in even bigger trouble with the FIFA review commision. No matter how you put it, Rooney misbehaved and deservedly had to go. A terrible shame for the England squad but hardly comparable with the lameness of the Italy vs Australia penalty.

We'll agree to differ on whether he deserved to be shown the red card or not. :wink:

What I was trying to say (and to a point you backed up my argument) was that if Rooney had cheated and taken a dive when assualted by two portuguese players - and lets face it many a player has taken a dive for less - England would have had the free kick and Rooney would not have been sent off. As an added bonus a portuguese player may have been shown a card. Instead he tried to stay on his feet. Rooney is a rare breed at the moment. He will not dive even under extreme pressure. For that he should be applauded. Maybe he has learnt a valuable lesson and will dive next time someone comes near him. I certainly wouldn't blame him if he did. He could take lessons from ronaldo when they meet up in pre-season training. He's well known for it. I stress my point again - it just goes to show the sad state of the modern game.

To say the italian penaly was lame is a masterpiece of understatement. It was a dive. The ref was conned and Austraila paid the price.

As for your suggestion of consulting video evidence in the case of a suspect goal - it is not without its merits. I believe they use a system similar to this in rugby union. If a try is scored that may be questionable the referee consults a video adjudicator before the decision is given. It doesn't kill the game as play has already stopped and it only takes a few seconds to confirm or deny. I wouldn't like to see video refereeing for every decision in the game but certainly would make a difference for important decisions such as a goal.

I'm so conflicted over Portugal - they played very well, but they took more dives than Greg Louganis. Cristiano was amazing on the ball, and it was good to have Deco and Maniche back together. It would have helped if they put their shots on goal.

The same for France, they did not shoot well at all. I'm not sure that they can beat Italy. However, Henry had an off day, so maybe they'll do better on Sunday.

Italy v France

Germany v Portugal

At least the ref kept his cards in his pocket. He probably ran out of space to write down the players numbers from his previous two games.

-Laz

Portugal didn't exactly cover themselves in glory in the semi. As you say Laz - too much diving.

I see Rooney's mate will be refereeing the final on Sunday. :shock:

Maybe it was the fact that they got the goal early so they played defensively the whole game, but France's offense did not look terribly good yesterday. Portugal controlled the ball very well, but just couldn't get it done. But then again, it took Italy almost 120 minutes to score a goal against Germany (though with Germany's GK, any goal is quite a feat). Either way, should be a great game on Sunday.

Forza Azzuri!!!!

ITALY WINS !

I love this team.

The celebrations were electrifying.

Oh what a night :D

ITALY WINS !

I love this team.

The celebrations were electrifying.

Oh what a night :D
What in the World was Zidane doing?
The celebrations annoyed me as it would have been nice for them to commiserate with the French, for an example see Lothar Mattheus after the 1990 Semi!

Congrats to Italy though.

Its a sorry time for Zidane as his action led to his suspension and it did cost the French in the penatly shootouts.

And I am sure he would be fined atleast 8000 $.Now since he's retired so any match bans won't serve.

He could have got a great farewell at the Final and might have even stolen the limelight and the love of the fans at this great night , yet , one bad nerve and now any person and the man himself would ask - ''Why Zidane , Why ?"

All in all , a well deserved win for a superior team , Italy.

P.S. - I loved the black A/E guitar while Shakira was performing. :wink:

"now any person and the man himself would ask - ''Why Zidane , Why ?" "

Correction: Why again Zidane, why again?

please expand on that? Why 'again'?

Zidane has been infamous for being a hot mind on the field.He has acted violently several times during main events.

That explains Arjen's post.

But this was the last match of his career and such a grand stage.And he knew that the game was going towards penalty shootouts and that's when he would be needed most by him team.

He didn't even think about his team while performing that wrestling move.

Truely as its said - 'Anger is the worst opponent of a person'.

One more thing to mention.Zidane was respected for his great football playing and hence to honour him even after that shameful act , FIFA did award him the best player of the tournament award - the golden ball.

I was impressed by his cool play so much when i saw France vs Brazil Q.F.
Now that headbutt also flashes up as something sounds like 'Zidane'

He has got ample punishment and a grudge to live with for the rest of his life.

In any case , lets remember him for a great football player he was.But surely , and definitly he can never be the greatest.

It would be like - ''Hello , Mr.Zidane , you played fantastic football all your life.I just loved your matches.Nobody could take the ball from you and you would just toy it around in your own way.And.....by the way....if you don't mind......why did you hit that Italian player in that match.You know we were so shocked that day.Anyways...nice to meet ya...Can i have your autograph please ? "

Donating him the Golden Goal was an insult to every other player on the tournement. I can understand they wanted to polish his Final Goodbye but you can't name someone the best player of the World Cup tournement if he only played thirty minutes or so top quality football. Add to his mediocre performances the suspension for the third match plus this headbutt and he really shouldn't have gotten it.

biker_jim_uk: For example his red card during 1998 for kicking someone in a burst of anger, or his headbutt a few years ago in the CL. He had a few such incidents when he was playing in France as well. Every now and then something just seems to snap inside his head and he totally loses every sense of reality.

Yes but I seem to recall France doing ok in 98! SO his red card didn't hurt them then.
Lots of players get sent off for daft things, but I must admit I'm struggling to remember anything quite like that in a match of such importance?

And who would you give it to? ZZ dragged the team out of the group and I'd say he played pretty well in all the knockout games, he even came closest to scoring in extra-time!

Yes but I seem to recall France doing ok in 98! SO his red card didn't hurt them then.

Correct, he came back in the quarter finals and was the absolute #1. But the foul was absurd, regardless of the consequences. I doubt France would have won the penalty shoot-out yesterday with Zizou but it remains a hopeless foul. In his defence I have to say he seems pretty upset about this whole situation himself, and I am quite sure he had some nasty stuff whispered in his ear before the headbutt, but still a shame. Espescially because he is an awesome sportsman.

As for this tournement: IMHO he played disastreous in the group stages. France played one proper match and that was the third one, when Zizou was suspended. When he played they had two hopeless draws. Not a single action or assist from Zidane at all during the group stages. Versus Spain he was pretty invisible as well, he only reaches his full potential versus Brazil. A hopelessly uninspired team that gave him all the room he needed.

But yeah, I don't really know who else. Fabio C. or Andrea P. maybe, or Buffon. Or Ronaldo (C.), Klose. To be fair it was a pretty mediocre tournement, quality-wise.