Round 16 and Beyond

[benchmark00]

Pretty humorous seeing the reaction of marc here.

 

[Dasa]

Pretty humorous seeing the reaction of marc here.

Indeed it is.

 

[BoyBrumby]

FWIW I think (and admittedly I am an Englishman & biased) that Rooney's sending off was incredibly tight. He may've have trod on Carvalho's knackers (and from the pictures it's far from obvious, look at the position of Rooney's heel), but he certainly didn't stamp on them. He was involved in a tussle with two Portugese players, one of whom had a hefty grip on his shirt which probably contributed to his overbalancing.

He did himself no favours by raising his hands, but Ronaldo was clearly trying to influence the refs decision. Not an excuse, but disappointing behaviour from a fellow pro & a club team-mate to boot.

& there's also the common-sense angle; I, as most male posters here I suspect, have been whacked in the happy-sack once or twice. Hurts a fair bit, no? If Rooney (a bull of a boy) had stamped on Ricardo's raisins do you really think he'd have been up & about quite so quickly?

 

[Barney Rubble]

FWIW I think (and admittedly I am an Englishman & biased) that Rooney's sending off was incredibly tight. He may've have trod on Carvalho's knackers (and from the pictures it's far from obvious, look at the position of Rooney's heel), but he certainly didn't stamp on them. He was involved in a tussle with two Portugese players, one of whom had a hefty grip on his shirt which probably contributed to his overbalancing.

He did himself no favours by raising his hands, but Ronaldo was clearly trying to influence the refs decision. Not an excuse, but disappointing behaviour from a fellow pro & a club team-mate to boot.

& there's also the common-sense angle; I, as most male posters here I suspect, have been whacked in the happy-sack once or twice. Hurts a fair bit, no? If Rooney (a bull of a boy) had stamped on Ricardo's raisins do you really think he'd have been up & about quite so quickly?

My thoughts exactly. Stupid decision.

I'd like to echo Neil's view of yesterday - I hope Ronaldo gets run over repeatedly by a train at 200mph. It was the wink that did it for me - it was as if to say "there we go, mission accomplished". Scum.

 

[superkingdave]

Yeah fair play to the Portuguese

Thought they throroughly otuclassed the English team today lead inspirationally by Figo who, along with Zidane for France, showed they've still got that class. Ronaldo also had an excellent match and I'm glad he didn't let Rooney's physical harrasment put him off his game. Same can be said for Carvalho.

Well done to Ricardo as well, some top saves. He's certainly a top penalty stopper. Hargreaves was good for England when little else was. They were simply outplayed and showed why they are so overrated. They barely played one good match all tournament and deserved to go out.

Rooney's push on Ronaldo was idiotic and unwarranted and is normally deserving of a yellow but his verbal abuse and stamping on Carvalho helped justify the red.

Feel sorry for a few English fans, but I certainly feel no sympathy at all for a number of others. Not a greay day for the English considering the mauling in the cricket.

I'm sorry but i can't agree that Portugal outclassed us, they were poor, we were poor, but there's no way they were any less poor.

 

[Cloete]

I'm sorry but i can't agree that Portugal outclassed us, they were poor, we were poor, but there's no way they were any less poor.

Yeah that comment wasn't directed at you Dave

 

[Craig]

Yes but his both, unintelligent and uneducated so it matters little.

If he was uneducated how could he make it as a footballer, earn an money, or be able to drive a car or buy a house or what ever he spends his money on?

 

[Goughy]

Yeah fair play to the Portuguese

Thought they throroughly otuclassed the English team today lead inspirationally by Figo who, along with Zidane for France, showed they've still got that class. Ronaldo also had an excellent match and I'm glad he didn't let Rooney's physical harrasment put him off his game. Same can be said for Carvalho.

Well done to Ricardo as well, some top saves. He's certainly a top penalty stopper. Hargreaves was good for England when little else was. They were simply outplayed and showed why they are so overrated. They barely played one good match all tournament and deserved to go out.

Rooney's push on Ronaldo was idiotic and unwarranted and is normally deserving of a yellow but his verbal abuse and stamping on Carvalho helped justify the red.

Feel sorry for a few English fans, but I certainly feel no sympathy at all for a number of others. Not a greay day for the English considering the mauling in the cricket.

Really, I thought the Portuguese were poor. England created clearer opportunities and to say Figo was inspirational is a big exaggeration, he had little overall effect on the game.

The Portuguese could not break England down and apart from the last 5 mins I was never worried and dont get me started again on the sending off. Portugal should have dealt with a 10 man England with no Beckham, Owen or Rooney.

I will agree about Ricardo though, he was very impressive and was the difference maker.

 

[alternative]

I'm sorry but i can't agree that Portugal outclassed us, they were poor, we were poor, but there's no way they were any less poor.

Both were pretty much same, the only difference was that portugal could take the penalties where as England were nothing but hopeless.. thats all it is..

 

[TT Boy]

I'd like to echo Neil's view of yesterday - I hope Ronaldo gets run over repeatedly by a train at 200mph. It was the wink that did it for me - it was as if to say "there we go, mission accomplished". Scum.

 

[Tom Halsey]

My thoughts exactly. Stupid decision.

I'd like to echo Neil's view of yesterday - I hope Ronaldo gets run over repeatedly by a train at 200mph. It was the wink that did it for me - it was as if to say "there we go, mission accomplished". Scum.

What if an England player had done it? I'll say it again, several of our squad would probably have done it.

FWIW, hasn't Rooney admitted it was a red-card offence? Not sure about that though.

 

[TT Boy]

If he was uneducated how could he make it as a footballer, earn an money, or be able to drive a car or buy a house or what ever he spends his money on?

Uneducatd- 'Not having a good education'
'Not adequately educated in the use of numerical terms and concepts'

The latter seemingly demonstrated in his lack of vocabulary and his failure to comprehend and grasp the English language.

Also Idi Amin was also uneducated, how could he make it as a genocidal despot, earning vast amounts of money, becoming the self proclaimed King of Scotland?

 

[Sir Redman]

FWIW I think (and admittedly I am an Englishman & biased) that Rooney's sending off was incredibly tight. He may've have trod on Carvalho's knackers (and from the pictures it's far from obvious, look at the position of Rooney's heel), but he certainly didn't stamp on them. He was involved in a tussle with two Portugese players, one of whom had a hefty grip on his shirt which probably contributed to his overbalancing.

He did himself no favours by raising his hands, but Ronaldo was clearly trying to influence the refs decision. Not an excuse, but disappointing behaviour from a fellow pro & a club team-mate to boot.

& there's also the common-sense angle; I, as most male posters here I suspect, have been whacked in the happy-sack once or twice. Hurts a fair bit, no? If Rooney (a bull of a boy) had stamped on Ricardo's raisins do you really think he'd have been up & about quite so quickly?

That's the way I saw it too. Rooney's a moron (what's new?) for carrying on like he did and pushing Ronaldo though, but he shouldn't have been sent off for it. Funny though, just before it happened I got the feeling that Rooney was going to sent off by the end of the game, just I didn't think it would happen then.

As for the game - once it got to penalties it was only ever going to end one way. Both Lampard and Gerrard looked as though they'd resigned themselves to missing before they'd even kicked the ball, and weren't too flash during the game either. You have to wonder why two of the top players in club football cannot run the game for their country - I don't know whether it's the manager, the formation, the pressure or whatever else, but they just don't work at international level.

Portugal were extremely average as well I thought. Other than a few good cross-field balls from Figo, they looked clueless on attack and only threatened the goal from long-range shots, which were generally flying 5 feet over the bar. Their diving and rolling around on the ground is absolutely pathetic as well. I wish FIFA would actually do something about it - they're all talk and no action when it comes to cleaning up the game. Ronaldo is obviously one of the worst in the world, his histrionics after being fouled by Lampard just after the red card were despicable, and there was another instance where one of them did the 'stop suddenly, clutch face and roll to the ground' move after a perfectly fair challenge. The only way to cut this kind of crap out of the game IMO is to start suspending players for doing it after the game. Sounds harsh, and some would say that it would ruin the game as a spectacle if some of the top players in the world were banned for a final or semi, but sometimes you have to sacrifice the short-term benefits for the overall good of the game.

 

[TT Boy]

FWIW, hasn't Rooney admitted it was a red-card offence? Not sure about that though.

He has acknowledged (unlike certain people on this forum) what he did was wrong, so…

 

[TT Boy]

What if an England player had done it? I'll say it again, several of our squad would probably have done it.

No one would blink an eye lid, Steven Gerrard dives against Jamaica to win a penalty, where is the ‘outcry’ only Terry Butcher said what he did was wrong. Joe Cole dives week in and week out for Chelsea, feigning injury and getting players booked because of his amateur dramatics yet no one seems to care. However when say Didier Drogba does the same thing, what happens bigoted remarks are made about how ‘Un-British’ Drogba’s cheating is. When evidently it is not.

 

[Sir Redman]

Anyway, my preferred winners in order:

1) Germany
2) France
3) Italy/Portugal (don't like either particularly)

Come on ze Germans!

 

[Tom Halsey]

Why are you all supporting the Germans? To be honest from here I'm supporting Portugal because they're the outsiders.

 

[Goughy]

Why are you all supporting the Germans? To be honest from here I'm supporting Portugal because they're the outsiders.

See my previous posts about Med. football.

 

[Scaly piscine]

No the movement of an attacker is quite different to the movement of a player like Hargreaves. Henry was a midfielder years ago, and is now a top attacker. Ronaldo and klose have missed many chances, you just haven't noted them in your pedantic ways.

Face it Scaly he scored the winner against the favorites in the competition in the quater-finals of the World Cup, you'd seem a little more credible if you gave some credit for that.

Yes, well done captain. Ronaldo and Klose are top attackers, chief is a level below even tho he's at his peak. I've seen the games involving Brazil and Germany and I can say with certainty that chief has missed more chances than Ronaldo and Klose.

You'd be a lot more credible if you didn't use americanisms... burn him.

 

[marc71178]

Give it up Grecian.

Even if Henry gets 2 hat-tricks, he will continue to insist he's right.

The sheer fact he rates Ronaldo ahead of Henry says it all.