World Cup 2010

[balli hi]

So Fabio has finally named his 23 man England squad , can't say i agree with it entirely , however we're not that far apart .

Fabio's 23 man squad

ENGLAND’S 2010 WORLD CUP SQUAD:

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart, David James, Robert Green.

Defenders: Jamie Carragher, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Glen Johnson, Ledley King, John Terry, Matthew Upson, Stephen Warnock

Midfielders: Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, James Milner, Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Forwards: Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney

The seven England players to miss out on a World Cup place are:

Leighton Baines, Michael Dawson, Tom Huddlestone, Scott Parker, Adam Johnson, Theo Walcott, Darren Bent.

So there you have it. The FA finally got their act together and named the squad. Blimey that was like trying to get blood out of a million stones. The omission of Theo Walcott is of no particular surprise to me and i totally agree with it but then I have to say that I thought Michael Dawson deserved the nod ahead of Matthew Upson.

I also believe that Fabio should have picked Leighton Baines plus Adam johnson , i can't believe Fabio has gone with Heskey again , i just can't get my head round that one .

So my 23 man squad would look like this :

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart, David James, Robert Green.

Defenders: Jamie Carragher, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Dawson , Glen Johnson, Ledley King, John Terry, Leighton Baines

Midfielders: Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, James Milner, Adam johnson.

Forwards: Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Darren Bent , Wayne Rooney

My starting eleven would be

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart , Right back: Jamie Carragher ,center backs: Rio Ferdinand John Terry , left back: Ashley Cole

Midfield: Gareth Barry , Stephen Gerrard , Frank Lampard , James milner , Joe Cole .

Forward: Wayne Rooney

What do you think of Fabio's final 23? Good enough to end 44 years of hurt ??

Naturally my heart is with England , However my head tells me that It'll be either Brazil or Spain to lift the world cup , Italy won't be far off and Maradonna seems to have turned Argentina into a laughing stock :) but you never know ,....share your thoughts on the world cup and englands chances

[Phoenix999]

Ah yes the world cup of football.... now the Sky Movies channels look even more interesting

I flippin' hate football and all the hype surrounding it.... the players are all grossly overpaid.... roll on the REAL World Cup of Rugby Union

[balli hi]

Ah yes the world cup of football.... now the Sky Movies channels look even more interesting

I flippin' hate football and all the hype surrounding it.... the players are all grossly overpaid.... roll on the REAL World Cup of Rugby Union

You could always take a holiday during the world cup , they say South Africa's nice this time of year only kidding mate , each to his own Steve , personally i like most sports , and am also looking forward to the Rugby Union World cup , could'nt agree more about the players being grossly overpaid though

[Boro Sera]

Argentina have just clicked though - there's a togetherness in the squad that even Maradona can't dampen with his 'management'. I've got them at 7/1 to win the tournament.

( also had a punt on the Germans too - 14/1 was just too good to pass up )

[Bizarra]

Since we, Ireland, won't be there in the flesh, I hope England do themselves proud & even win I see that the odds on the Tele, at present/ are 7/1

However, oddly enough, I want France to win or at least, go as far as possible :P [ me from TOC ? ]

Well, we should/would have been there but for that Handball :censor: , so theoretically, however well they do, we should have equalled or bettered. That is theory only, I know. A team can have injuries & fall apart on the big day. but.........

[Raistlin]

The Offside Rule.

For Men;

When a player receives the ball and is nearer to the goal than the second last opponent and the ball at the time it is released. Although not strictly an offence to just be stood there, it is deemed an offence if the player interferes with play, an opponent or gains any sort of advantage from being in that position.

For Women;

When the man puts his flag up...

[balli hi]

The Offside Rule.

For Men;

When a player receives the ball and is nearer to the goal than the second last opponent and the ball at the time it is released. Although not strictly an offence to just be stood there, it is deemed an offence if the player interferes with play, an opponent or gains any sort of advantage from being in that position.

For Women;

When the man puts his flag up...

I must be a woman then , ( i have moobs does that count ) WTF , that explanation even had me confused , right lets break that down , when a player receives the ball and is nearer to the goal than the second last opponent , ....ok so the first-last opponent would be the goal keeper , the second last opponent would be a defender , ... right got that , the thing is you could explain the offside rule to women till your blue in the face and they still won't get it trust me I've tried and long since given up :help2:

PS , even the referees don't understand it .........Oh the inconsistency :ffs:

[Parts-King]

Being a County Referee Assessor, I'm looking forward to all the football but also "Doing" my own assessments of the Referee's, I know it's sad but it has to be done.

Wayne Rooney has already been warned about his language after South African referee Jeff Selogilwe claimed the striker insulted him during England's final warm-up match against the Platinum Stars on Monday. Rooney was shown a yellow card for his dissent and after the match Selogilwe warned he could face a harsher sanction for a similar outburst during the finals

So why a different interpretaion of LAW for Rooney in a friendly?

A player, substitute or substituted player is sent off if he commits any of the

following seven offences: (Paraphrasing) including using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures

I can swear as good as the next man, swearing on the pitch/at an official is not about what is said but in the manner it is used, with venom or frustration? I don't like to see players sent off but I do like officials to be sensible and apply the laws of the game. ALL the FIFA officials have been learning 20 swear words that might be used and have been asked to clamp down on them, time will tell, you cant get a yellow card for using offensive insulting or abusive language so lets see how they get on............Bring on the World Cup

Kingo

[balli hi]

Being a County Referee Assessor, I'm looking forward to all the football but also "Doing" my own assessments of the Referee's, I know it's sad but it has to be done.

Wayne Rooney has already been warned about his language after South African referee Jeff Selogilwe claimed the striker insulted him during England's final warm-up match against the Platinum Stars on Monday. Rooney was shown a yellow card for his dissent and after the match Selogilwe warned he could face a harsher sanction for a similar outburst during the finals

So why a different interpretation of LAW for Rooney in a friendly?

A player, substitute or substituted player is sent off if he commits any of the

following seven offences: (Paraphrasing) including using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures

I can swear as good as the next man, swearing on the pitch/at an official is not about what is said but in the manner it is used, with venom or frustration? I don't like to see players sent off but I do like officials to be sensible and apply the laws of the game. ALL the FIFA officials have been learning 20 swear words that might be used and have been asked to clamp down on them, time will tell, you cant get a yellow card for using offensive insulting or abusive language so lets see how they get on............Bring on the World Cup

Kingo

Overall , i think the referees have done really well so far , the refereeing standard has been surprisingly high ... until yesterday that is , i thought the referee in charge of the Italy Paraguay game was not up to it , he either missed or let go some quite awful challenges from both teams , at least 2 should have been straight reds , one of which was missed by both the referee and the Tv commentary team , a cross came in from a corner and as the Paraguay goalie leapt to catch the ball , he was deliberately treated to a right hand-er to the side of his face from the Italian who jumped with him in an attempt to put him off , deliberate cheating , totally missed and unpunished .

Right at the start of the game a Paraguay player should have seen red for an over the top challenge that could have resulted in a leg break , but somehow missed or ignored by the official in charge

[Parts-King]

Yes I couldnt agree more! The standard has been excellent (It should be-these are all FIFA Referees when all said and done) In the first few minutes there were players falling to the ground as if pole axed and never touched (assimulation) and he could (and should) have issued a few cautions for that alone, then as you say, some of the tackles going in were way over the top and could have resulted in a sending off or two!

I have been suprised by the number of late challenges, players raking their studs down players shins or standing on a foot, there has been a lot of that and most of it has been dealt with correctly, sadly quite a few were missed the other night. The Japanese officials were very good on the opening day

Kingo

[balli hi]

I have really enjoyed the World cup so far , the so called lesser teams have really caught up in terms of technique Quality and overall ability , it would seem that there are no easy games any more , the England versus USA game being a case in point ( how disappointing was that result ) just wondered how everyone else was getting on in trying to predict the scores / results , very few results have gone true to form , my wife entered a competition at work to predict the scores in each game throughout the world cup , she got me to guess the scores before the competition started , she currently sits bottom on points i have so far failed to get any scores right , but have managed to pick up 4 points due to the result , in that the team i predicted to win , won .

Anyhow , i am loving the football fest , can't say I'm enjoying the noise from those voovoozalers ( not sure of correct spelling ) though , its just a constant drone , a bit like a bee swarm , please god those things do not catch on over here after the world cup , iv'e got a feeling they will be banned from our stadiums in any case .

The other thing that is giving me the a-r-s-e ache , is the constant whingeing from a minority few who happen to hate football , the world cup is a once in 4 years competition , its the biggest single sporting competition in the world bar none , and I'd go as far as saying the biggest sport in the world bar none , so if you don't like it , then tough , go take up knitting or something more feminine

[Parts-King]

, so if you don't like it , then tough , go take up knitting or something more feminine

Don't sit on the fence B_H say it like it is :lol:

I havnt got one score right yet!

I do worry about us being in a "weaker" group, we never play to the best of our ability against weaker teams, and always struggle to score. The USA game being a case in point, if there was one person we didnt need to be one on one with the keeper and it was Hesky, blasting the ball directly at the keeper, what was that all about? With so much talk of the ball behaving strangely, dont you think we would see more shots on goal from distance? Or is it more to do with overpaid footballers whinging about their inability to have a crack at goal

Kingo

[balli hi]

Yeah bound to ruffle a few feathers with that line or maybe one chuck in the bait and reel em in :lol2:

As i said in the opening post , My heart says England but my head tells me otherwise , we don't come close to a lot of teams in terms of the overall quality of our squad , we don't have strength in depth in defence and especially in attack , we are far to reliant on Rooney to do the business for us , ( Rooney stank the place out with his perfermance against the USA , by the way ) then there's the manager , i never thought i would find myself criticising Cappello , but... he took a chance on Ledley King's fitness and its backfired , he started the game against the USA with james Milner , now Milner had missed training all week with a high temperature , yet to everyones surprise he started the game , then was very quickly withdrawn due to being way off the pace and a subsequent yellow card , then Cappello brings on Wright-Phillips in his place , another surprise , why not Joe cole , which would have made much more sense ( iv'e got my eye on the Newzealand Slovakia Game at moment And NZ have just equalised at the end of the game , another result iv'e got wrong , i predicted 2-0 to Slovakia )

regards the ball , i do think that it is causing problems as the players try to come to grips with it in the way that it lifts when driven hard , however they have had enough time to practice with it , so there can be no excuses

[Parts-King]

regards the ball , i do think that it is causing problems as the players try to come to grips with it in the way that it lifts when driven hard , however they have had enough time to practice with it , so there can be no excuses

Didn't seem to affect the German Podolski's shot as it left his foot at 82 MPH and screemed into the back of the net :lol:

Kingo

[balli hi]

regards the ball , i do think that it is causing problems as the players try to come to grips with it in the way that it lifts when driven hard , however they have had enough time to practice with it , so there can be no excuses

Didn't seem to affect the German Podolski's shot as it left his foot at 82 MPH and screemed into the back of the net :lol:

Kingo

True , but i bet if he tried that ten more times at least eight of them would fly over the bar

[Parts-King]

True , but i bet if he tried that ten more times at least eight of them would fly over the bar

Only if he changed his Nationality and name to England and Hesky :!Removed!: B)

I want us to win sure I do, but like you said, I do wonder about some of the managers choices. He kept saying he would not take injured players, wtf??? Half the squad are injured or coming back from injury :o

Kingo

[Parts-King]

This email came into the office today, it is mildly World Cup related :D:

50°F

People in Southern England turn on the central heating

People in Edinburgh plant out bedding plants

40°F

Southerners shiver uncontrollably

Glaswegians sunbathe on the beach at Largs

35°F

Cars in the South of England refuse to start

People in Falkirk drive with their windows down

20°F

Southerners wear overcoats, gloves and woolly hats

Aberdonian men throw on a t-shirt; girls start wearing mini-skirts

15°F

Southerners begin to evacuate to the continent

People from Dundee swim in the River Tay at Broughty Ferry

0°F

Life in the South grinds to a halt

Inverness folk have the last BBQ before it gets cold

-10°F

Life in the South ceases to exist

People in Dunfermline throw on a light jacket

-80°F

Polar bears wonder if it's worth carrying on

Boy Scouts in Oban start wearing their long trousers

-100°F

Santa Claus abandons North Pole

People in Stirling put on their 'long johns'

-173°F

Alcohol freezes

Glaswegians get upset because all the pubs are shut

-297°F

Microbial life starts to disappear

The cows in Dumfriesshire complain about farmers with cold hands

-460°F

All atomic motion stops

Shetlanders stamp their feet and blow on their hands

-500°F

Hell freezes over

Scotland will support England in the World cup

Kingo

[balli hi]

Argentina have just clicked though - there's a togetherness in the squad that even Maradona can't dampen with his 'management'. I've got them at 7/1 to win the tournament.

( also had a punt on the Germans too - 14/1 was just too good to pass up )

What a great shout , all though its still early doors , you just might be in for a few bob :D It will be interesting to see what happens when Argentina and the German defences are given a proper test though , i can't believe what happened to Spain who saw that result coming and brazil only beating North Korea 2-1 :o , maybe there's hope for England after all ..... However if we don't beat Algeria :help2: then we don't deserve to progress , come on England the nation expects .

[Parts-King]

Who will be the Goalkeeper? I hope Green is given another go, cant see calamity James doing us much good. Apparantly, Green spooned an exact copy of last weeks goal during training yesterday from a shot by Ray Clemance

Kingo

[balli hi]

Who will be the Goalkeeper? I hope Green is given another go, cant see calamity James doing us much good. Apparantly, Green spooned an exact copy of last weeks goal during training yesterday from a shot by Ray Clemance

Kingo

If it was down to me then Joe Hart would have started , i don't give a stuff about inexperience , he's better than the other two , full stop , Green , or chocolate wrists is a 6 out of 10 goalkeeper at best

[Parts-King]

Germany 0 Serbia 1 :lol:

Life doesnt get much better :D: Come on England!

Kingo

[Boro Sera]

Germany 0 Serbia 1 :lol:

Throws the group wide open - To be honest though, Serbia were given the game by the ref - I don't reckon they had enough to win it for themselves. This is supposed to be the best refs in the world on show too, if he gets to take charge of another game then there's something badly wrong with FIFA ( apart from the obvious of course )

[balli hi]

:ffs: :censor: I'm sat here thinking what to say about last nights game but i can't find the words , i think those emotions at the start of this post sums up my mood nicely , i failed to mention before that i am backing the beard for england , i'e , growing a beard ( daft i know ) till we get knocked out , looks like i'll be shaving it off come wednesday .... at least the wife will be happy

[Raistlin]

I wonder if Rooney's sarcastic wit will extend to, "Nice to see your own fans burning your house down",

If England lose against Slovenia ?

[balli hi]

I wonder if Rooney's sarcastic wit will extend to, "Nice to see your own fans burning your house down",

If England lose against Slovenia ?

The thing that P's me off is the fact that he had a real stinker again , we might have just well played without him for all the good he did , and then he comes out with an insult aimed at the fans in response to a question he was asked , the very same fans that had payed as much as 8 grand to take themselves and their families to be there and cheer him on , yet i bet the usual suspects will come in for the most criticism and how they should be dropped etc , ie , Frank Lampard , i wish the fans would get off his back , the problem does not lie with him it lies with Cappello he's the one that chooses the formation and plays players out of position , before the world cup i thought Capello was the man , but now i think he has morphed into Steve McClaren , as he doesn't appear to have a clue in how to change a game , he sticks rigidly to his 4-4-2 formation and if he does make a substitution its usually like for like , the game yesterday was crying out for joe cole , he makes things happen and can link play between midfield and attack brilliantly plus he has the ability to go it alone if need be , cappello brought on Defoe and Crouch but kept Heskey and Rooney on , WTF was all that about .

I also see Cappello has just signed a nice new lucrative deal to remain as England manager for the next 4 years , there was a clause in his contract before that allowed the contract to be terminated with 2 weeks notice either by himself or the FA , he rather craftily had it removed before signing his new 6 million pound a year contract , maybe he knew something we didn't , now if the FA wish to remove him before his contracts up they will have to pay him a tidy bit of compensation