 |
| Register | Login | |||||
 |
Main
| Memberlist
| Active users
| Calendar
| Chat
| Online users Ranks | FAQ | ACS | Stats | Color Chart | Search | Photo album |
|
| | ||
|
| Register | Login | |||||
|
Main
| Memberlist
| Active users
| Calendar
| Chat
| Online users Ranks | FAQ | ACS | Stats | Color Chart | Search | Photo album |
|
| | ||
| 0 users currently in Entertainment & Sports. |
| User | Post |
| Toxic Posts: 121/251 |
Originally posted by Colin The part at the end where he tried to knock the ball out of the keeper's hands was pretty bush league. |
| NITIN Posts: 36/64 |
Originally posted by Toxic That's what made Arsenal lose the game. With no Lehmann, Pires was forced to sit out, and they had to play 4-5-0 |
| Cynthia Posts: 2647/5814 |
Larsson!  Not only did he play fantastic in his last game with Barca, but the win also allows Celtic direct access to the Champions League next year instead of having to go through qualifying (which we sucked at this year). 
Even when he's not with Celtic, he's still helping us out. What a guy. |
| Toxic Posts: 120/251 |
Barca!!
Even though the call on Lehmann was pretty bullshit, and Arsenal played a hell of a game despite the man advantage to Barca. Ronaldihno played like crap, but I thought besides the last 6 or so minutes when his defense collapsed on him, Almunia played excellently, given the situation he was dropped into. |
| drjayphd Posts: 517/1170 |
As I have no great segue way to my comment, I'll note that I think I almost understand the European cup systems and wish there was such a structure for other sports.
Anyway, anyone else giddy that ESPN's pimping the Champions League final as hard as they are? Sure, it's on ESPN2 and Deportes (which would be kinda funny if it was the eighth station ESPN launched, considering the Ocho references they've been bandying about) but still, guess they figure it's a nice lead-in to the World Cup. |
| NITIN Posts: 34/64 |
Hey! Sevilla just won the UEFA cup!
They 'outplayed' Boro 4-0. Can you believe that? Even having class players like Yakubu, Mendieta, Hasselbiank, they couldn't win! |
| Salmon Posts: 99/221 |
The Champions League Semis and Quarters are in:
Quarters: Arsenal vs Juventus - Juventus needed the biggest fluke goal in the history of football to manage to scrape past Werder Bremen, Arsenal beat Real Madrid with Jens Lehman basically telling Klinsmann that he will play first goalie for Germany in the World Cup. Arsenal should take this, they have been impressingly good in the CL this year. Lyon vs AC Milan - The two teams with big victories in the last round. I'm sure most people would be guessing at AC Milan, but I have Lyon as an underdog for winning the whole thing. They are, after all, owning Ligue 1 at the moment. Inter/Ajax vs Villareal - Kinda hard to predict, since Inter and Ajax aren't done with each other yet. Still, I'm guessing Inter will make it past both Ajax and Villareal. Benfica vs Barcelona - Benfica has the tightest defence in the Champions League, having allowed only one goal so far. They've also made sure of the exit of Man Utd and Liverpool. Still, if there's one team that can find the combination to unlock the Benfica defence, its Barcelona. If Barcelona can't win this, I'll have Benfica as favorites to take it all. If my predictions go in, it gives these semis: Arsenal vs. Inter - It's a matter of statistics. Arsenal has always sucked in the CL, while been great in the PL. Now they ain't doing to good in the PL, so I'm guessing they'll win the CL. 
Lyon vs. Barcelona - It's a shame, I would have liked to see this final. Lyon can take Barcelona, but I'm going to have to believe they won't. The two best teams of the competition see it off in the semis, but that's the way of the draw. Leaving us with: Arsenal vs. Barcelona - No surprises here. Not even Lehmann and Henry and the lot can stop Barcelona this year. Thems guys are going for the gold. |
| Cynthia Posts: 1668/5814 |
Imagine my surprise when I saw that both Rapid and Steaua Bucharest advanced to the final 16 of the UEFA Cup... when the hell did the Romanian teams start playing well again for the first time since communist rule?  |
| Salmon Posts: 90/221 |
Arsenal takes Real and Lyon takes PSV in their away matches... Benfica scores on Liverpool in their only goal scoring chance of the match... Bayern and AC Milan draw. Still, low-scoring matches, and it's all open in the return leg. Benfica is the only home team that does not have to score in their away match to proceed. |
| Cynthia Posts: 850/5814 |
I'm still ticked off that the J-League isn't in Football Manager 2005 or 2006.  Stupid rights issues/fees that are too much trouble to get...
Now there's a club logo for you. |
| Heian-794 Posts: 11/160 |
While we're on the subject of club football, may I mention that Kyoto Purple Sanga just got back to Japan's top division (J1)? Wouldn't mind seeing them finally start winning on a regular basis.
 |
| Cynthia Posts: 520/5814 |
Chelsea over Barca. It's Chelsea and they'll find a way to get past Barca. Roman will be PISSED if they get knocked out again.
Madrid over Arsenal. Arsenal's going to be lucky to qualify for next year's CL and they might give Madrid a bit of a fight but that's about it. Juventus over Bremen. Bremen are good by German standards but they got destroyed last year by Lyon. And Juve's stronger than Lyon. Look out. Milan over Bayern. I've never had faith in Bayern... strong team but they just can't seem to step it up when it counts. Of course, Milan are playing poorly this year but they can pull it out. Lyon over PSV. Should be a close matchup but Lyon deserve to make it to the QF's at least. Best possible draw for them. Liverpool over Benfica. Again, another great draw for the defending champions. I don't think they can repeat but they're strong enough to get past Benfica. Villarreal over Rangers. Best possible draw, again, for Rangers but I hope that Villarreal pounds 4 or 5 past them in the first leg. Between that and Keane going nuts in his first Old Firm game when that happens, Rangers are doooooooomed this season.
Ajax over Inter. I never have faith in Inter winning when it counts. |
| Toxic Posts: 27/251 |
Bayern will always do well cause of KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHN. He's such a beast, I love it. The only thing I have clashing with your picks SomerZ is Chelsea beating Barca. Petr Cech is also a beast in net, and as a goalie myself, you always gotta go with the netminder you like. |
| Salmon Posts: 48/221 |
Champions League, Round of 16:
Barcelona vs. Chelsea Yeah, Barcelona has a powerful team, and they'll be looking to avenge last year's loss. The big question is, of course, will Mourinho ruin another ref's life and career by making false allegations that he was working with Barcelona again? Real Madrid vs. Arsenal Both teams are far from where they once were. However, Real Madrid seems more capable, I think. They can pull themselves together for this, don't think Arsenal will. Werder Bremen vs. Juventus Juvetus is just one size too large for Bremen, I'm afraid. Bayern München vs. AC Milan Yup, one of the biggest clashes of the round of 16. AC Milan might be most people's winner, but I have, as always, great belief in Bayern. PSV vs. Lyon Lyon are currently unbeaten in France, a league that's currentlly bigger than the Dutch. Lyon will take this home. Benfica vs. Liverpool Liverpool are looking to set a new world record in matches without conceding a goal or something. They are pretty much superb, and may well snatch silver in the Premier League this year. Villarreal vs. Glasgow Rangers I honestly believe Villarreal will take this, but I'm going to bet Rangers anyway, just to annoy Colin. 
Ajax vs. Inter Inter is strong, and may go far. If their supporters behave. |
| Cynthia Posts: 427/5814 |
...If only that date was an official friendly date. Then we'd nab them, polar bears or not. :\
The BBC's already put the pressure on England... on their official preview on the web, when discussing England's chances, they simply say... "It's now or never." |
| Salmon Posts: 38/221 |
Well, it's the 40th anniversary of England's World Cup victory over Germany on their soil and everything. It would only be fair to have the Germans get their revenge. I'd hope the match went to penalties, and Wayne Rooney joins the likes of Gareth Southgate and David Beckham on the list of people who couldn't handle the pressure during a penalty shootout.
And that's a no-go on the releasing of Canadian players. January is an important part of the Norwegian season. Ehrrrm... You see, all the players have to, like, go, errrrr, fight polar bears then! It says so in their contract. All polar bear fighting, all January... Good old Norwegian football tradition... |
| Cynthia Posts: 420/5814 |
I'm never going to argue against Larsson and a few weeks ago I saw him score a BEAUTY for Barca when he came on as a sub. He's still got it and he always picks it up for the big competitions.
Angola vs. Iran is going to be a really weird game to watch and I'll probably do just that out of morbid curiosity. I know for sure that we have TWO TV stations showing the WC and odds are if two games are going on at the same time, they'll each show a different one. The US (and Mexico) are so high in the rankings because they whip all the CONCACAF teams and grab points like crazy. :\ On another note, Canada's playing the States in January and I expect Tromso, Lillestrom (so they bought Occean...) and Rosenborg (that sounds weird) to release the usual suspects for that game if they're called upon. *cough* Germany/England final... you're just asking for a riot right there. |
| Salmon Posts: 37/221 |
A: Germany - Poland - Ecuador - Costa Rica
I could see Ecuador causing an upset, but it will most likely be Poland going through. Germany, being the always-fit-for-world-cups team they are, and having home field, will breeze through this. B: England - Sweden - Paraguay - Trinidad & Tobago Well, it's a given. Paraguay was better before, England is a good side, Sweden has probably the world's greatest striker-pairing in Larsson/Ibrahimovic (I know many will disagree, but those people are simply wrong). Trinidad & Tobago won't have nothing to do here. C: Argentina - S&M - Netherlands - Ivory Coast Well, here you've got sort of a semi-group of death. Argentina and The Netherlands should be favorites, but I see one of thems stumbling. It could easily be Argentina, but my hunch says it'll be The Netherlands. (Of course, it could just as well be wishful thinking. After all, RvN is an S.O.B. and deserves to go out early) D: Portugal - Mexico - Iran - Angola Well, dugnabit, this ain't fair. Mexico ain't that great no more but they got an extremely easy group here. You've got Angola, which I don't see going nowhere, Portugal, which is way overrated (Euros silver or no Euros silver aside), and Iran, which is, well, Iran. I'd love to see Portugal go out, only to see little ms. Ronaldo cry again, but that won't happen in this group. E: Czech Rep. - Italy - USA - Ghana I don't see the US going through it in this group. They're nowhere near what their FIFA ranking makes them out to be, and they're grouped with two powerhouses in football. Sure, they could cause an upset, but I doubts it. F: Brazil - Japan - Croatia - Australia Well, Brazil had a fairly easy draw. Croatia isn't anywhere close to what they were 8 years ago. Australia with all their foreign stars could be interesting, but will they be able to build something functional? Japan was the Asian team that impressed me the most during the World Cup 3 years ago. G: France - South Korea - Switzerland - Togo Oh, come on! This is everything but fair! I wanted to see Korea crash and burn now that they won't have all the refs in the world cheating their way into the bronze final, and what do you give me? This group? Switzerland could take their spot away, but I just don't see it happening, even with fair and unbiased refs. H: Ukraine - Tunisia - Spain - Saudi Arabia Spain's mandatory choke comes early this year, as African champions Tunisia (with, god willing, Karim Essediri playing... A man can dream! ) knock them out of the tournament. Ukraine is an interesting team, and I could see them topping this group just as they topped their quals group consisting of Turkey, Greece, and Denmark!
Should this hold, we'll have this round of 16: Germany vs. Sweden Argentina vs. Mexico England vs. Poland Portugal vs. S&M Czech Rep. vs. Japan France vs. Tunisia Brazil vs. Italy Ukraine vs. South Korea Quarter finals: Germany vs. Argentina Czech Rep. vs. France England vs. S&M Brazil vs. Ukraine Semi finals: Gerrmany vs. Czech Rep. England vs. Brazil Bronze Final: Czech Rep. vs. Brazil Final: Germany vs. England Let it be known that this whole list was done half by head, and half by heart, and should so be taken with a grain of salt. |
| Cynthia Posts: 403/5814 |
USA/Iran couldn't have happened since they were both in Pot 4. Serbia/Croatia did come close to happening though.
If you can beat Croatia and draw Japan (or the other way around) you might be able to get through. If you could take a point away from Brazil you'd have a huge confidence boost, but the odds of that... yeah. Do the best you can there and then save your strength for the final two games because they'll be the ones that decide your fate. |
| Arwon Posts: 44/631 |
Well, practically half the Aussie team is of Croatian stock and there's a few former Aussies running around for the Croatian side, so that should make things interesting.
Brazil... ehh, we play them first, I don't think it's beyond the realms of possibility that we could cause a stunning upset. We *did* beat them in a Confederations Cup match a couple of years ago! Obviously we'll probably lose, but, totally written off, first match, you never ever know, maybe they're ripe for an upset. If they're going to drop a match early on it may well be against us. Japan... Japan we play strangely often, and they always beat us for some reason, be it in friendlies or tournaments. Either we struggle with their game (they seem a hell of a lot more team-oriented and precise than some of the, uh, flashier European and South American sides) or they're just a lot better than us. I'd have been happier with *any* other side from that Asia/America section of the draw except possibly Korea. Disappointed at the lack of a USA-Iran matchup or a Serbia-Croatia one. Australia is 125/1 to win the WC. I'm very tempted to throw down ten bucks at those odds. |
| This is a long thread. Click here to view it. | |
