Football Hooligans poll...US further than England?

Seeing as the world cup draw was announced i would like to get some feedback on who will go further.

Even though the US has a far harder group i think they'll get to the semi's and the brits will go out in the round of 16 (as always!)

Any thoughts on who will win the next one?

:moon:

I have to agree with Digital Mike. Unless England get a lot of injuries, I can't see them going out until the last 8 as a minimum (more likely the last four against Brazil).

Time will tell. But if you'd like to tell us about the US squad it will be interesting to see where you believe the quality will come from?

Cheers Jon

I guess it's just that we don't really even care about the game (maybe the 5th most popular game in the states) and yet we still seem to show up the soccer obcessed countries.

I can't see Italy being much trouble, but we could looose to Ghanan. I still think we'll end up in the semi finals. Of course, we'll win the world series and so we can call it even!

matthew doig wrote: I guess it's just that we don't really even care about the game (maybe the 5th most popular game in the states) and yet we still seem to show up the soccer obcessed countries.

I can't see Italy being much trouble, but we could looose to Ghanan. I still think we'll end up in the semi finals. Of course, we'll win the world series and so we can call it even!

Wow, the drugs must be good this morning, I could SWEAR there's a guy up there seriously saying the US are gonna kick ass in the WC.

Need to speak to my doc about these side effects.

S.Campbell:Grudging Engerland supporter (not many other home countries to choose from really)

matthew doig wrote: I guess it's just that we don't really even care about the game (maybe the 5th most popular game in the states) and yet we still seem to show up the soccer obcessed countries.

I can't see Italy being much trouble, but we could looose to Ghanan. I still think we'll end up in the semi finals. Of course, we'll win the world series and so we can call it even!

World Series? You don't even know the name of the fookin' competition you are bragging you are gonna win! Dufus ;)

Actually, it occurred to me he may be making a funny at his own expense there. That the US winning the "world" series of baseball will be considered, within jesusland at least, to be an equal victory to someone else's in the WC.

Nonetheless....Italy, a pushover for the US.

Beers WLL be in that night. Will be most enjoyable seeing just HOW mental his idea turns out to have been.

S. Campbell: gearing up to enjoy football for a month as he does every 4 years.

i thought i had 2 teams that wouldn't go past the first round, germany and australia, but with the draw germany should at least get through the first round.

Er, I think it will be Brazil, Brazil or maybe even Brazil...and if Brazil Reserves were playing they'd be the losing finalists.

As for the US, that stands for U Suck in my book, at least at football. Liverpool's US star, Zak Whitbread, has been loaned out to Millwall and that about says it all...

And by the way the country is called Ghana, where that nice gentleman Mr Essien comes from...

World Cup to Argentina! 20 years after Maradona won it for them, it will be a team effort by argentina to win the world cup, well thats if they can beat the U.S. in the Semi's

'86

'06

Well that guy in the '06 photo has got fa in his hands and thats the way its going to be! Also that S American/Mediterranean whingeing look on his face...

Speaking of this topic...I'm a little worried about Japan. They're in the same group as Brazil(and they're really strong in football)... Well, considering that the national Japanese football league J-League didn't exist until 1992 or 1993, I'm pretty surprised they've come this far, to go to the World Cup in 1998(even though they did horrible back then), co-host the World Cup with South Korea in 2002... I remember back in 2002, every other boy at my school's football team had a hairdo like David Beckham's. We called it the "Beckham" hairdo. I'm not going to say that a certain country has a chance of winning or whatever, but I hope that every country in it does their best!

that guy is Juan Roman Riquelme, and despite what you see in the picture he doesnt play against women, but you will know his name by heart once the world cup is over

Isnt that other guy Sorin? He played against England recently as I recall... Well lets see how they cope in Germany..its a bit different over this side of the pond, unless you're Brazil of course.

thats Sorin with the long hair, he & riquleme both played against england in that friendly in November and they both play for Villareal

Hi all, I am a Reading FC season ticket holder and just want to say that Bobby Convey and Marcus Hahneman are class players and are playing a big part in our potential (likely?) promotion to England's top flight. Both are great although I known there are a couple of keepers in the USA team ahead of Marcus. That said I'm sure England will go further than USA - sorry!

Glen Little's the reason you'll be going up!

Yep, him as well!

last time i went to Reading stadium, i went to queue up for beers about five minutes before half-time. didn't get served until 15 minutes into the second half. then, they wouldn't serve me beer, coz they said they could only sell alcohol at half time!!!!

so i missed a good chunk of the match and didn't get served...... twats!

US in the Semis ????? dream on - this is football - a proper sport - you will not get out of your group - unless they change the rules, pick it up and throw it to a wide receiver !!!

T-H-E Shaun Ryder...?

The very same - and I did not say the F word once - impressed ?

if greece could win euro 2004, anything's possible.

That's what I keep telling myself too, AW...

:\pimp3:

The US is gonna win the WC

We paid everyone off...lmao

((((e))))

matthew doig wrote: Seeing as the world cup draw was announced i would like to get some feedback on who will go further.

Even though the US has a far harder group i think they'll get to the semi's and the brits will go out in the round of 16 (as always!)

Any thoughts on who will win the next one?

the Brits? its England not Britain - Ireland(north or south), wales or scotland(unfortunately) didnt qualify...

oldmonkey wrote: Glen Little's the reason you'll be going up!

Nah, Kevin Doyle - from Cork City for all of €78k - is the reason they will win the Championship this year. Then Doyle can get 2 league winners medals in 1 'season'(our season just finished & he played the 1st dozen games for cork before moving to England for pittance)

Aside: Pat Dolan was the Manager of Cork, booted out only weeks before the start of the 2005 season. He had brought Doyle to Cork from their previous club (St.Pats) & obviously knew the contract details & buy-out clause well. The youth team manager at Doyles latest club? - Dolan's twin brother. Reading offer? EXACTLY the figure in the 'confidential' buy-out clause. I wonder how THAT happened???

Don't the USA have an amazing like 16/17 year old player called Freddy Adu??

I heard he was the hottest young player around at the moment...will he be playing in the world cup? any americans enlighten me on this??

Jack_H wrote: Don't the USA have an amazing like 16/17 year old player called Freddy Adu??

I heard he was the hottest young player around at the moment...will he be playing in the world cup? any americans enlighten me on this??

I think he's going to the World Cup but they rarely play him. Although I reckon he'll play some sort of part in the finals.

Anyway, hottest young player around is that Rooney fella

Steve Broad wrote:

Bobby Convey

It's a football competition, not diving!

Barney Army wrote:

Jack_H wrote: Don't the USA have an amazing like 16/17 year old player called Freddy Adu??

I heard he was the hottest young player around at the moment...will he be playing in the world cup? any americans enlighten me on this??

I think he's going to the World Cup but they rarely play him. Although I reckon he'll play some sort of part in the finals.

Anyway, hottest young player around is that Rooney fella

Freddy Adu Pobably Wont go to the world cup, he hasnt panned out and its said he has a bad Attitude, he is the highet paid player in the league here(or 2nd to landon donovan) but his coach doesnt play him all that much, i dont watch the MLS so i m not sure why but he really is nothing compared to the young talent in europe and South America

Cant wait to see rooney in the world cup, i think he will do well, also would love to see Argentina's Lionel Messi in the world cup but im not sure if he will make it

all you english seem to forget that the us team has been ranked as high or higher than england for the last six months or so. we've been in the top 10 (well, 11,) for the past couple of years. maybe since 2002. we aren't a pushover anymore.

from FIFA: 05 ENG/USA Nov 9/8 Oct 9/7 Sept 11/7 Aug 7/6 July 8/6

(sorry, i can't get the chart to look so good... but it goes month, english rank, american rank...)

personally, i think we should be ranked higher than mexico... we beat them nicely a couple of months ago... and why was spain moved up so much recently? hmm?

i think we'll make it out of our group... the czechs will most likely win the group, but we should be able to beat italy and ghana. but, if we get second place in the group, i think we go against brazil (when they win their group...) in the next round. and that's not good.

england's draw looks good for them. but the english don't really test well, do they now?

jesse steichen wrote: all you english seem to forget that the us team has been ranked as high or higher than england for the last six months or so. we've been in the top 10 (well, 11,) for the past couple of years. maybe since 2002. we aren't a pushover anymore.

from FIFA: 05 ENG/USA Nov 9/8 Oct 9/7 Sept 11/7 Aug 7/6 July 8/6

(sorry, i can't get the chart to look so good... but it goes month, english rank, american rank...)

personally, i think we should be ranked higher than mexico... we beat them nicely a couple of months ago... and why was spain moved up so much recently? hmm?

Ever crossed your mind that FIFA rankings mean fuck all?

observations:

-Arena may bring Adu along on the team but it is very doubtful and he certainly won't play...he's not ready yet.

-England's draw is not nearly as difficult as the USA's is. I predict that they'll go on to the round of 16 but with Sven as coach they'll have virtually no chance of advancing more than one game at most.

-USA wont be able to sneak up on teams like they did last go around...they basically had one offensive schema last time aroud...pack it in on defense and run Donovan and Beasly out for counters. That being said...team USA is much more balanced this time around. I'll be satisfied if they make it to the round of sixteen and happy if we win one game there.

-No team in the world can come close to Brazil (on an off day for Brazil Argentina can give them a good game if Argentina plays perfectly).

-Canada's Dwayne DeRosario was one of the best players in the MLS last year (should have been MVP imo). He could play in the premiership (or at the very least do very well in the championship division). Other than that...Canada is at least 8 years away from qualifying.

jesse steichen wrote: all you english seem to forget that the us team has been ranked as high or higher than england for the last six months or so. we've been in the top 10 (well, 11,) for the past couple of years. maybe since 2002. we aren't a pushover anymore.

from FIFA: 05 ENG/USA Nov 9/8 Oct 9/7 Sept 11/7 Aug 7/6 July 8/6

(sorry, i can't get the chart to look so good... but it goes month, english rank, american rank...)

personally, i think we should be ranked higher than mexico... we beat them nicely a couple of months ago... and why was spain moved up so much recently? hmm?

i think we'll make it out of our group... the czechs will most likely win the group, but we should be able to beat italy and ghana. but, if we get second place in the group, i think we go against brazil (when they win their group...) in the next round. and that's not good.

england's draw looks good for them. but the english don't really test well, do they now?

Yer still a bunch of cunts. Don't test well? WTF?

ShaunRyder wrote: The very same - and I did not say the F word once - impressed ?

Pity about yer e-mail address eh Schoey?

whatever sod said about it being england and not "the brits". Up your hole!

1. I support whichever of the teams from this little group of islands hasn't yet been sent home.
2. English TV types are always really quit to call a winner a Brit, but a loser is always a scot/welshman/uslterman. Can't have it both ways you know :D 3.WE KNOCKED BALLS OUT OF YOU You losers..have you any idea what a sack of shit you went down to? Still I doubt you'll be troubled by team freedom the freedomball team from jesusland, save to scrape em off yer boots :)

:D:D:D:D US win WC :D:D:D I may never stop enjoying hearing that put forward as a sensible proposition.

Sorry...I know dick about football but I will start to care more as the real deal approaches.

Much as I'd like to see it happen, it appears to be a much more difficult task than what happened in Korea 2002. The US record for playing in Europe isn't particularly impressive, and the first opponent in the second round, if the team should make it, would almost certainly be Brazil, yet another tall order to fill. Still, stranger things have happened....and the last one involving the US and England in football occurred in 1950

oldmonkey wrote:

Yer still a bunch of cunts. Don't test well? WTF?

let's see: there's been pakistan, bangladesh, sri lanka, india...oops! wrong sport.

;)

Think the venue is important - with the exception of Brazil, how many teams have won the World Cup away from their own continent? European conditions are familiar to all European players so they will have the advantage - I really dont see the US beating Italy in the country next door and please dont start with this offense/MVP crap - this is soccer not your 'football'! The team that doesnt 'test' well is Spain. England just seem to f up the penalty shoot outs so if Rooney and Owen deliver as they should maybe this time it wont get to that?

World Cup to Argentina!

Well if you change the rules , so that FAT OVERATED CHEATING BASTARDS can use their hands , then yes they have a chance.

all the americans seem to be forgetting that we, england, played you lot in a friendly only recently, and if my memory serves me correctly, we won!! so shush!

two goals from keiran richardson, and hes a man united player too

come on man united & england!!

Isnt Richardson on loan somewhere else?? How can you let Everton score against you after just six minutes?! And if Bent had played a half decent ball you'd have lost in the last minute too, imho..!

Nobody talks about Germany having a chance yet they have the home advantage and they made the last World Cup final dont forget..

Please can the USA boys stick to the "sports" they know - Baseball, American Football,etc.

Leave the proper world sport - football - to the people who live and breath it ( i.e. the rest of the world ).

We all know the USA just "do not get football" - which is great - we like that - they would never understand the passion and the skill involved.

Talk to any Brit, Dutchman , Italian , Spanish, etc - then you may one day understand.

Not having a go - honest - I love the USA - but please do not get involved in something you could never comprehend.

No worries, I don't even follow sports!

digital mike binoche wrote:

World Cup to Argentina!

Well if you change the rules , so that FAT OVERATED CHEATING BASTARDS can use their hands , then yes they have a chance.

Get over it my friend maradona beat your asses Almost 20 years ago now. and as a show of good faith and friendship i changed my avatar back because i know how fond you are of it

frank smarra wrote:

digital mike binoche wrote:

World Cup to Argentina!

Well if you change the rules , so that FAT OVERATED CHEATING BASTARDS can use their hands , then yes they have a chance.

Get over it my friend maradona beat your asses Almost 20 years ago now.

and now his ass is bigger than the whole of england.

ShaunRyder wrote: Please can the USA boys stick to the "sports" they know - Baseball, American Football,etc.

We all know the USA just "do not get football" - which is great - we like that - they would never understand the passion and the skill involved.

please. that's just a silly generalization. plenty of americans watch/play/follow soccer. "never understand..." it's not rocket science. it's a fairly simple sport... i played for about 10 years, reffed for 3, and have watched the WC since 1990 (in 1986, i was 7 years old...), held season tickets to a highly ranked college men's team, and have been to several premiership games. there are cable channels devoted just to international soccer. like anything else, soccer is there if you want it. i don't care about it like i used to, but i care enough to follow the past two freaking years of qualification. we're in this thing, too, so we'll talk about it if we want to talk about it. besides, we don't have to do what you say anymore... :\peek:

AgentWood wrote:

frank smarra wrote:

digital mike binoche wrote:

World Cup to Argentina!

Well if you change the rules , so that FAT OVERATED CHEATING BASTARDS can use their hands , then yes they have a chance.

Get over it my friend maradona beat your asses Almost 20 years ago now.

and now his ass is bigger than the whole of england.

in poularity? yes

havent you seen the New Improved Maradona?

frank smarra wrote: havent you seen the New Improved Maradona?

awww...an oompa-loompa takes the field.

the greatest oompa loompa to ever lace up a pair of football boots:)

Wonder what they will call the Us version of soccer thwn they create it after finally proving their internaional suckage at it..... on previous form.... Suck at Formula1: create IRL/CART Suck at LeMans: create ALMS[1] Suck at Rounders: create baseball Suck at Netball: create basketall Suck at Rugby: strap on pads and create American football Suck at Soccer:mmmmmmm open for names

[1]OK not exactly true, the yanks do OK in Le mans, and ALMS IS a nice chance for the cars to get another few runs in the year.

Steve Campbell wrote:

Suck at Rugby: strap on pads and create American football

dude, i don't think you understand what a 375 pound linebacker would do to a pasty brit if they met up. american football players wear pads because the players are so massive. also, because of the forward pass, the game is more open than rugby, which leads to harder collisions. the pads and helmets were introduced because people were dying on the field:

"Columbia, Rutgers, Princeton, and Yale Universities met in New York City to formulate the first intercollegiate football rules for the increasingly popular game. These four teams established the Intercollegiate Football Association (IFA) and set 15 as the number of players allowed on each team.

Within a decade, concern over the increasing brutality of the game led to its ban by some colleges. Nearly 180 players had suffered serious injuries, and eighteen deaths had been reported from the brutal mass plays that had become common practice. So in 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt called upon Harvard, Princeton, and Yale to help save the sport from demise." --www.hornetfootball.org/documents

american football is actually quite an intricate and entertaining game. it translates well to t.v. because of the colors and the glitz, but what doesn't translate is the speed and brutality of the game. comparing rugby to american football is like comparing (in no particular order) a steak to ground beef. sure, they both come from the same source (which is where soccer comes from as well), but they are not the same thing.

Steve Broad wrote: Hi all, I am a Reading FC season ticket holder and just want to say that Bobby Convey and Marcus Hahneman are class players and are playing a big part in our potential (likely?) promotion to England's top flight. Both are great although I known there are a couple of keepers in the USA team ahead of Marcus. That said I'm sure England will go further than USA - sorry!

Did these 2 Americans play in the carling cup match at Highbury? Just wondered how they are gonna handle world class opposition when they couldn't hack a second string Arsenal team :()

78681 wrote:

jesse steichen wrote:

Steve Campbell wrote:

Suck at Rugby: strap on pads and create American football

dude, i don't think you understand what a 375 pound linebacker

A 375 pound linebacker...where the hell have you seen one of those??? and at that size, he'd never even CATCH a pasty Brit...

the only 375 pound players on a football team(american football) are the offensive linemen and they dont run they just block.

does anyone really think that the U.S. are going to beat Italy? i know italy always are a let down but the u.s. team is not that good, i mean i am american i wish they were, but lets be realistic, the reason they werent seeded and mexico were was because mexico enter all the Major tournaments and play top teams like Brazil (which they beat recently), the u.s. doesnt. look at the u.s. top player landon donovan he was a flop in europe and then he comes back saying that the MLS is a top league and he should never have left because going to europe wont help his development? you dont flourish playing against less talented players you have to go against the best to get better, now anyone can win a friendly here or there and maybe win a big World cup game, but to make it to the Semi's? thats a joke

the main reason i dislike american football is that it's the only 60-minute game that takes 3 hours to play.

AgentWood wrote: the main reason i dislike american football is that it's the only 60-minute game that takes 3 hours to play.

i did like football when i was a kid, it was more classy, now you get a guy than pushes somebody out of bounds on a meaningless play and him and half the team do a celebration dance.

Al Jarvis wrote:

jesse steichen wrote: american football is actually quite an intricate and entertaining game..

Er, if any of this were actually true don't you think many other countries would've picked up on the spectacle by now?!

jesus christ, what kind of an argument is that? it is an intricate game, with each play set up with meticulous detail... and it regularly gets high, high ratings on us television, so someone must be entertained by it, not just me... i'm not even a big football fan, but i can appreciate it for what it is.

al, you're always down on america. it's almost to the point that it sounds like something terrible happened to you a long time ago and some american did it... for all americans, i apologize for being american, if it makes you feel better. personally, i don't give a fuck what nationality i am, and i'm not nationalistic enough to care about bashing another nation just because i feel bad about something. what is it?

frank smarra wrote: World Cup to Argentina!

Let them have the world cup, no probs.

but they aint getting the falklands!:evil:

matthew doig wrote: Seeing as the world cup draw was announced i would like to get some feedback on who will go further.

Even though the US has a far harder group i think they'll get to the semi's and the brits will go out in the round of 16 (as always!)

Stick to the cuntry music matty dog.

What a bollocks post!

I think uzbekistan will win it!

jesse steichen wrote: american football is actually quite an intricate and entertaining game..

al, you're always down on america. it's almost to the point that it sounds like something terrible happened to you a long time ago and some american did it... for all americans, i apologize for being american, if it makes you feel better. personally, i don't give a fuck what nationality i am, and i'm not nationalistic enough to care about bashing another nation just because i feel bad about something. what is it?

But you started your earlier post "All you English.."!

American Football I've never understood I'll admit and to me its not watchable, just stop-start and no flow, drowned in statistics. You'd probably find Jukskei the same if you came to SA though. American Football is your game but football or soccer is the world's game and its called 'the beautiful game' for a reason! Italy are a tough team to beat, they always have been...

anything is possible these days, so many new emerging soccer nations.

Calm down USA boys - please. All I said was that you will never understand football ( not "soccer" - the word is football ). How can you understand it when only school kids and teenagers play it in the US ( not including the terrible professional league where ex footballers go to earn a few quid when they are in their late 30's ).

I think one thing could qualify this - a US football owner can move a team to the other end of the country - what is that all about. You would have a national outcry if Arsenal Rovers were suddenly to move from London to Newcastle ( that's in the north of England ) - would never happen.

As for the US beating Italy - please - that would be like my mates and I beating the NY Yankees at baseball !!!

Arsenal Rovers? WTF? It happened with AFC Wimbledon dont forget...they became Milton Keynes Dons by moving across to the other side of London.

Apologies - Arsenal Rovers was an attempt at a little comedy - as in US stlye non-irony - never mind.

I hardly think Wimbledon counts as a football team - probably an unfair comment - but as the worst supported team in the world nearly ...... ( I have seen them at the National Hockey Stadium in MK and they are terrible - as is the ground. I even did a Gazza there a few years ago and tore my cruciate ligament - before the Dons used the place ).

Back to business - A little more comedy - if the USA can enter the World Cup then I think Wigan Athletic should be able to enter the World Series !!!

:) No they didn't play against Arsenal, Reading had a kind of second string side out as well for that game.

Well they counted when they beat my team in the FA Cup all those years ago! You can call them what you like, they'll always be boring bloody Arsenal to me...

I witness that Docco too, hilarious. The yanks just looked fuckin incredulous...."errrrrr no!"

Better was Giles in Buffy.... "it epeaks volume about the state of american manhood that they feel the need to strap on 40pounds of padding just to play rugby"

Ever noticed BTW, than when they suck at a sport and invented their own version....it's always stop start stop start...net ball, rounders, rugby, all the same....even their cars races have full course yellows every 5 laps.

Steve Campbell wrote:

Better was Giles in Buffy.... "it epeaks volume about the state of american manhood that they feel the need to strap on 40pounds of padding just to play rugby"

finally...a buffy reference.

I never worked out if you're into buffy cos.... She's a strong female roll model, indepented, intelligent and so on. Or You want to fuck spike to within an inch of his life.

FWIW before I ever bothered lookin at yer pic...I always imagined you as looking a bit like SMG for some reason???????

And thanks for not embarassing yourself like so many of you compatriots by trying to denounce rality on this thread.

Steve Campbell wrote: I never worked out if you're into buffy cos.... She's a strong female roll model, indepented, intelligent and so on. Or You want to fuck spike to within an inch of his life.

FWIW before I ever bothered lookin at yer pic...I always imagined you as looking a bit like SMG for some reason???????

And thanks for not embarassing yourself like so many of you compatriots by trying to denounce rality on this thread.

why do i like buffy? well, the latter reason, mostly. no...it's a well-written show with interesting plots and dark humour.

and why on god's green earth would i defend american football (unless it's the denver broncos, and that's a hometown thing)? now tiddlywinks on the other hand, don't dare mess with that fine sport!

yeah but if "y'all" sucked at that, you'd create the "tiddlyfreedoms world freedom series"

Sorry, can't help it. it's the only place on the net you can find Americans you can take the piss out of without getting death threats :D

i'm going to kill you for saying that.

I hope

Al Jarvis wrote:

(

It's a perfectly valid argument, I would have said. One country in the world watches 'American football'. One. Yours.

Just asking in a general sense Al, I've seen NFL scores on the bottom ticker, as well as being announced, on Sky Sports News, they wouldn't do that unless there was a fairly sizable audience for it over there, would they?

About the only mainstream (i.e. ESPN) overseas football coverage to most Yanks here is for the World Cup, plus the showing of a very few Champions League matches on ESPN2 (gotta give them credit though for sticking last years CL final on ESPN Classic immediately that day, as well as replaying it in its entirety just a couple of hours later).

[darkgreen]Green[/darkgreen] wrote:

Al Jarvis wrote:

(

It's a perfectly valid argument, I would have said. One country in the world watches 'American football'. One. Yours.

Just asking in a general sense Al, I've seen NFL scores on the bottom ticker, as well as being announced, on Sky Sports News, they wouldn't do that unless there was a fairly sizable audience for it over there, would they?

About the only mainstream (i.e. ESPN) overseas football coverage to most Yanks here is for the World Cup, plus the showing of a very few Champions League matches on ESPN2 (gotta give them credit though for sticking last years CL final on ESPN Classic immediately that day, as well as replaying it in its entirety just a couple of hours later).

To be fair sky sports news shows about 30 secs of NFL about once a week when they've run out of football/cricket/rugby/darts/racing/football mascot racing news to talk about.

Fair point about moving clubs...my local Earthquakes (MLS team) just got moved today to Houston.

Just because not all of us understand some of the nuances of the game as well others who have grown up with it all their lives a the primary sport in their country....doesn't mean that we don't enjoy the game and aren't ardent supporters of our local teams.

I'd trade 5 world cups to have my Quakes back here.

matthew doig wrote:

Even though the US has a far harder group i think they'll get to the semi's

when did the US metamophasize into a wolrd force at football?

or will freddy adu single handedly get them there?

I watch most 'football' codes. Here's my take.

Many of you probably sneer at AFL ("Aussie Rules") football but we love it. Once you learn the rules - which I admit are a real obstacle to the outsider - it's a thrilling game. Fast, rugged, skillful and there's a position on the ground for all body types. It draws the really big crowds here.

My second love is traditional football, or 'soccer' as it's known in these shores as well. Don't think it's worth getting too uppity about use of the term 'football', I always respected the English term while in the UK but it simply creates too much confusion using it in the US, AU, etc, where there are competing 'football' codes. Our long-awaited return to the WC Finals may herald a renaissance for the world game here.

Rugby is traditionally strong and popular in several northern states here, although often playing second string to League, which personally I find too one-dimensional and monotonous at times (my least favourite code).

I find NFL ("Grid Iron") really entertaining although it suffers from the delay factor. It really takes a long time to play out compared to everything else. But once you commit to learning the layers of rules and plays, it's a real spectacle.

The world game will always have the advantage of being the dominant entrenched game throughout most of the world. It's unlikely anything's going to come along and topple it from its perch of popularity, no matter how good the code may be. It's also the most easily initiated game. All you need is a handful of kids and a ball and you've got a game. In any street, in any country. The lack of contact makes it even more accessible. The other football codes can't really compete with that.

:\pimp3:

i have never understood afl. i think it works much like netball ie if you catch the ball you get a free kick.

Ronald Kirsch wrote: i have never understood afl. i think it works much like netball ie if you catch the ball you get a free kick.

I'm no expert on netball but I'm fairly sure kicking the ball is a no-no.

Scratching, biting and hair-pulling are part of the spectacle though!

:\pimp3:

Al Jarvis wrote:

depthcharge wrote: My second love is traditional football, or 'soccer' as it's known in these shores as well.

Football?! Soccer?!! Thought you lot had another, marginally less flattering, name for it over your way, DC?!

Gold!

:\pimp3:

the two most popular sports in the US....Netball and rounders Both played onlu by kids and girls here.

oldmonkey wrote: Glen Little's the reason you'll be going up!

An ex Glentoran player who dumped Ballymena United out of the Irish single handily around 10 years ago

Al Jarvis wrote:

depthcharge wrote:

Al Jarvis wrote: Football?! Soccer?!! Thought you lot had another, marginally less flattering, name for it over your way, DC?!

Gold!

I'm taking an Aussie to her first ever game of footie tomorrow. Thankfully, we have a huge Aussie centre-half called Bully who might capture her interest.

Are you familiar with the 'map of Tasmania' concept, Al?

:\pimp3:

Steve Campbell wrote: the two most popular sports in the US....Netball and rounders Both played onlu by kids and girls here.

in the US, rugby is more popular with women than it is with men. often, universities have (american) football teams for men and rugby teams for women.

i was talking with uncle liam last night. he told me that the american game got its name because the ball is one foot long, hence foot-ball. interesting.

Al Jarvis wrote:

depthcharge wrote: Are you familiar with the 'map of Tasmania' concept, Al?

Er, are you calling me one!

Far from it!

Just trying to assist you in your conquest, if that's what it is!

You never know when a few colloquialisms may come in handy. Can't imagine you'd be much of a Home & Away fan.

That centreback... Any good?

:\pimp3:

depthcharge wrote:

Ronald Kirsch wrote: i have never understood afl. i think it works much like netball ie if you catch the ball you get a free kick.

I'm no expert on netball but I'm fairly sure kicking the ball is a no-no.

Scratching, biting and hair-pulling are part of the spectacle though!

:\pimp3:

Kicking the ball is a definite no-no.

There used to be a bit of scratching, biting and hair pulling. (What do you expect with the amount of women involved! They should rename netball 'catfight') I used to play in the goal shooting position for my school team and the goal defender from the opposing team had committed a few fouls on me that had gone largely unnoticed. I was so pissed off with her in the end, that I gave her a right hook

Samantha Chapman wrote:

depthcharge wrote:

Ronald Kirsch wrote: i have never understood afl. i think it works much like netball ie if you catch the ball you get a free kick.

I'm no expert on netball but I'm fairly sure kicking the ball is a no-no.

Scratching, biting and hair-pulling are part of the spectacle though!

:\pimp3:

Kicking the ball is a definite no-no.

There used to be a bit of scratching, biting and hair pulling. (What do you expect with the amount of women involved! They should rename netball 'catfight') I used to play in the goal shooting position for my school team and the goal defender from the opposing team had committed a few fouls on me that had gone largely unnoticed. I was so pissed off with her in the end, that I gave her a right hook

You go girl. A right hook never done anyone any harm!

Spain hopefully to do well. about time. Alonso and Garcia to pull the strings in midfield.

England will win if there are no injuries, and Rooney doesn't get hacked by the (e.g.) Argies.

Al Jarvis wrote:

depthcharge wrote: That centreback... Any good?

Stop press: the Aussie scored an own goal in the ninety-fcuking-second minute to see us lose 3-2 at home to Stoke.

Probably put off by the fact my new Aussie girlie screamed like a child every time he touched the fcuking ball.

Och well.

I'm surprised we don't have the stokies in here doin a fookin war/victory dance.

I've said on many threads here how the world would be a better place if we all did away with national boundaries and lived as one united group of people.

And although I haven't had a good look at the USA group, at least what I saw was not as grossly insensitive as what was drawn in Paris in 1997: Germany, (the former) Yugoslavia and Iran.

Empress Touch wrote: I've said on many threads here how the world would be a better place if we all did away with national boundaries and lived as one united group of people.

And although I haven't had a good look at the USA group, at least what I saw was not as grossly insensitive as what was drawn in Paris in 1997: Germany, (the former) Yugoslavia and Iran.

insensitive?

it's football!

well, i suppose i can see why germany would be pissed off at iran: the 1972 munich olympic hostage killings and iran's support of black september, the organization that committed the murders on german soil?

and the former yugoslavia was a nazi puppet state during WWII?

and the US fought against germany in WWI and WWII?

and the US and germany contributed a combined 14,000 troops (7000 american and 6000 german) to the KFOR peacekeeping force in kosovo, a region to which serbia lays claim. and NATO also bombed serbia?

but, again, it's football! no hard feelings....

unless argentina wins. then i shall be VERY put out.