NationStates Jolt Archive

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=197363&cc=3436

First the World Cup, then an ongoing excellent performance in the European Championship Qualification. And now a 2:1 win against Slovakia.

I'm mentioning the latter because the team was missing Ballack, Schweinsteiger and Podolski, because Klose is in absolutely dismal form (as are several other players from the World Cup) and because the rest of them is just about to go into holidays.

German teams pretty much since 1990 have played okay because the few decent players in them were at the top of their game. Every time they weren't, the team was useless. In 2005, they lost against Slovakia 0:2 in such a situation. The World Cup in Japan and Korea was a fluke, I think I can safely say. They won 1:0 against fairly weak teams and never looked like troubling Brazil in the final. They didn't deserve to finish second.

But first the change of tactics and the way they play and act under Klinsmann and Löw (the former mainly doing the psychological stuff), now the consolidation of it and finally balancing the team properly - is the German team truly among the world's best now?

And will England receive an absolute drubbing in the friendly coming up in August?

http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,887852,00.jpg
Also, an owl stopped the match between Finland and Belgium for three minutes. It landed on the goal and wouldn't move, so they waited until it decided to fly on.

That's soccer, not football.

Is it the world cup again already? Time flies, I guess. Anyway, Germany is usually good, but I'd bet on Brazil. :)

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=197363&cc=3436
And will England receive an absolute drubbing in the friendly coming up in August?[/SIZE]

Munich 5-1 2001
Wembley 4-2 1966

No matter how many times you beat us, we'll cling to those forever like a dying man clutches a straw. You can bring out all your stats but this sort of blind stubbornness in the face of facts put the 'Great' in Great Britain, well England but again, not one to let facts stand in the way here.

It'll bug you as well :)

That's soccer, not football.
Even soccer is football. The name comes from "Association football".

So there, deal with it. In much of the world, if you hear "football" people mean Association Football, ie soccer.

Britain is in that part of the world, and the servers of this forum are in Britain. Thus, I win.

Is it the world cup again already? Time flies, I guess. Anyway, Germany is usually good, but I'd bet on Brazil. :)
No, this is qualification for the European Championship. The next World Cup is in 2010 in South Africa.

Just like the Olympics, it's every four years.

No, this is qualification for the European Championship. The next World Cup is in 2010 in South Africa.

Just like the Olympics, it's every four years.

Ah, okay then. In that case, I have no idea. :p Maybe Greece - I hear they're good, and they like to dine in hell, or something.

Football=
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c8/Contested_mark2.jpg

Soccer=
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Football_iu_1996.jpg

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=197363&cc=3436

First the World Cup, then an ongoing excellent performance in the European Championship Qualification. And now a 2:1 win against Slovakia.


No big news. Germany has always been a football power. In the last two World Cups, they were beaten only by the world champions - Brazil in 2002, Italy in 2006.

No big news. Germany has always been a football power. In the last two World Cups, they were beaten only by the world champions - Brazil in 2002, Italy in 2006.
But they didn't play well, that's the thing. They played badly and somehow managed to scrape through anyway. Especially in 2002.

2006 was another story, they were truly world-class then.

But they didn't play well, that's the thing. They played badly and somehow managed to scrape through anyway. Especially in 2002.

2006 was another story, they were truly world-class then.

Oh, come on, it's the final results that count in soccer. Do you think that Italy played very well last year? Or Brazil in 2002?
Imo, the last World Cup winners that showed a good play was France in 1998. A team with Zidane and Djorkaeff as mid-forwards... :drool:

Munich 5-1 2001
Wembley 4-2 1966

No matter how many times you beat us, we'll cling to those forever like a dying man clutches a straw. You can bring out all your stats but this sort of blind stubbornness in the face of facts put the 'Great' in Great Britain, well England but again, not one to let facts stand in the way here.

It'll bug you as well :)

Germany - won 3 World Cups
England - won 1 World Cup

You cling to those two matches, and keep trying. ;)

Football=
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c8/Contested_mark2.jpg

Soccer=
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Football_iu_1996.jpg

That "Football" image shows players USING THEIR HANDS!!!!! CONRADICTION BETWEEN NAME AND GAMEPLAY.

In Association Football (which the rest of the world uses the term for, it is seldom called soccer) the players use their feet to move the ball around the pitch. Hence FOOTBALL!

Rant ends here.

Germany - won 3 World Cups
England - won 1 World Cup

You cling to those two matches, and keep trying. ;)

We counter that by saying 'Noooo, that was West Germany, an entirely different thing altogether, different country, different people, different language - entirely different completely." Germany never won nothing.

Denial ain't just a river in West Germany you know :)

N.B. the fact that this means England only beat West Germany in 1966 is utterly irrelevant and cannot be considered in a reasoned debate - it's the law.

Nothing wrong with clinging to meaningless results, we've been doing it in Australia for years.

3-1 Upton Park 2003

I had a friend recieve a DFB-Pokal winners medal recently :) (that was the obligatory mention of German Football, I'm a Nurnberg fan)

We counter that by saying 'Noooo, that was West Germany, an entirely different thing altogether, different country, different people, different language - entirely different completely." Germany never won nothing.

Denial ain't just a river in West Germany you know :)

N.B. the fact that this means England only beat West Germany in 1966 is utterly irrelevant and cannot be considered in a reasoned debate - it's the law.

True, back then it was only half the country it is now, there's a lot more of it now :D

Be afraid, be very afraid ;)

Nothing wrong with clinging to meaningless results, we've been doing it in Australia for years.

3-1 Upton Park 2003

In the New Oxford Dictionary 2006 edition it says:

Aberration: The 3-1 defeat of England by Australia in 2001

That's its final and only definition of the word

True, back then it was only half the country it is now, there's a lot more of it now :D

Be afraid, be very afraid ;)

I have no funny answer to this :mad:

Nothing wrong with clinging to meaningless results, we've been doing it in Australia for years.

3-1 Upton Park 2003



That match? Wow, I'd forgoten about it for so long its no longer as painful. Like when N Ireland beat us.
But when you have players like Lampard, Dyer, Rooney et al what hope do England have of winning anything (competition wise)?

That match? Wow, I'd forgoten about it for so long its no longer as painful. Like when N Ireland beat us.
But when you have players like Lampard, Dyer, Rooney et al what hope do England have of winning anything (competition wise)?

1-0,1-0,1-0!!! Helay Helay Helay!!





...Spot the N.Irish guy...:p

Wait, you are including Rooney with Lampard and Dyer??

Germany 2-1 Slovakia was IMMENSELY disappointing. To be fair, though, there were two own goals, one each, so the game's pace was fucked up.

I don't pay much heed to football, but has anybody mentioned "two world wars and one world cup" yet?

Entirely in the spirit of jingoism, I'm sure you'll understand.

I try soooo hard not to feel the way I do about the English (and their football team in particular). A susbstantial portion of my family are proudly English, so they've had to put up with this kind of rant from me for many years :P

I realise that their jingoism is fuelled in the main by the slavering tabloids but it seems that it's been going on now for so long that the majority down South actually believe it.

They believe they're the best, that they have some kind of divine right to be recognised as the world's best footballing nation.

It's not just the sports, of course, every single aspect of the media has the same anglo-centric bias, but the sports reporting and (even more so) the in-game commentary just make my blood boil.

A random quote from last night's commentary in the Estonia vs England game...

"should <fringe player> maybe be getting a start against the lesser nations"

The 'lesser nations'?! The arrogance and the patronising attitude is astounding.

Seriously, get over yourselves!

I know that the biggest driver in this is that we share the same broadcasting regions, and that it is only natural for said broadcasters to concentrate on the largest segment of their target audience - i.e. the English - but the constant bias is horrible... horrible, I say.

It's constant, too... during the Scotland game the commentator repeatedly started talking about the England team. It's not possible for anything relating to football to be discussed on air without some reference to 1966 (apparently they won something that year :P)

If only radio wasn't so horribly out of sync with TV broadcasts of live events. I'd love to be able to watch something and just listen to the radio commentary for it, since at least then there would be a fair chance that what was being said had something to do with what was happening on the pitch!




(Note to readers: This is my personal opinion, albeit one that seems shared by most of those North of the border. In the unlikely event that we, the glorious Scots, ever actually manage to accomplish something in the international football arena I will of course reserve the right to hold forth on it, to extol our greatness at any and every opportunity, and to just generally be arsy about it... hypocrisy is not restricted by nationality :D)

I don't pay much heed to football, but has anybody mentioned "two world wars and one world cup" yet?

It'd probably be more accurate as "Two World Wars as part of an international alliance that took a combined total of ten years to defeat a small country and one World Cup as opposed to your three, as well as no Euro Cups as opposed to your three."

:D

(Note to readers: This is my personal opinion, albeit one that seems shared by most of those North of the border. In the unlikely event that we, the glorious Scots, ever actually manage to accomplish something in the international football arena I will of course reserve the right to hold forth on it, to extol our greatness at any and every opportunity, and to just generally be arsy about it... hypocrisy is not restricted by nationality :D)
Elephant Polo :)

They believe they're the best, that they have some kind of divine right to be recognised as the world's best footballing nation.

In terms of silverware, they're actually teh suck. One World Cup, and zero Euros.

It'd probably be more accurate as "Two World Wars as part of an international alliance that took a combined total of ten years to defeat a small country and one World Cup as opposed to your three, as well as no Euro Cups as opposed to your three."

:D

It'd make a rubbish chant though ¬_¬

Elephant Polo :)

Ah yes, elephant polo (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4073353.stm). A shame that we had to invent a new game to get to the top of the pile, but glory is glory, I guess :D

I actually laughed out loud at this:

"Scotland manager Jim Long said talented elephants were vital to a team's chances of success."

Really?

It'd probably be more accurate as "Two World Wars as part of an international alliance that took a combined total of ten years to defeat a small country and one World Cup as opposed to your three, as well as no Euro Cups as opposed to your three."

:D

See my previous posts - Germany's won nothing aside from that disaster of a 1996 European Cup, which was probably fixed by the commies.

West Germany won things but that's nothing to do with Germany, nothing. We English do not recognize it, except for the brief period in 1966 when we beat Germany and won the World Cup even though Germany tried to cheat with a handball for their second goal. Then it became West Germany again.

And as for the wars, the brave tommy stood alone against the vile hun armed with nothing more than British ingenuity and a piece of string.

That's what my history books say anyway :)

[QUOTE=Longhaul;12743018]-Snip-QUOTE]

Errgh, Im never sure if I want England to lose or not. I enjoy seeing it, but when they do lose, the sheer tide of grief that is unleashed by the papers is just so annoying.
But if they win on the other hand, It's almost as bad, they act like they are the champions of the world. Case in point: 6 nations, after beating Scotland and Italy (two worst teams in it), they started throwing round words like "World Cup winners" and "new dawn". Then they get dumped on by Ireland. That was awesome.

See my previous posts - Germany's won nothing aside from that disaster of a 1996 European Cup, which was probably fixed by the commies.

West Germany won things but that's nothing to do with Germany, nothing.

They were the same country, the Federal Republic of Germany. West Germany was just a informal term to differentiate between that and East Germany. Upon unification, the Federal Republic just absorbed the East German states.

http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,887852,00.jpg
Also, an owl stopped the match between Finland and Belgium for three minutes. It landed on the goal and wouldn't move, so they waited until it decided to fly on.
Aw, come on, not one person has commented on the awesomeness that is an owl landing on a goal in a brightly lit stadium and holding up a game for three minutes?

What's wrong with you people? *shakes head sadly* :(

If we still are on meaningless results what about 1950:

USA 1 - 0 England

And we're playing England in the Rugby World Cup, FEAR THE EAGLES!

If we still are on meaningless results what about 1950:

USA 1 - 0 England

And we're playing England in the Rugby World Cup, FEAR THE EAGLES!

Didn't an English/British American "Football" team beat America not too long ago (I think it was the Superleague or whatever its called).
Just wondering...

Aw, come on, not one person has commented on the awesomeness that is an owl landing on a goal in a brightly lit stadium and holding up a game for three minutes?

What's wrong with you people? *shakes head sadly* :(

http://bani.anime.net/o_rly.jpg

You asked for it.

You asked for it.Bah, I didn't even think about those owls. <<

That's soccer, not football.

No its football. Get your facts straight.

Its a game played by kicking the BALL with your FOOT.. football.

American football needs a renaming, apart from being a boring as hell game, the name doesn't suit the style of play.

I second that notion!

Germany - won 3 World Cups
England - won 1 World Cup

You cling to those two matches, and keep trying. ;)

Don't forget the Euros.

Anyway, Germany is pretty good, considering they won a few games without all their stars. Klose's probably past his use by date.

Didn't an English/British American "Football" team beat America not too long ago (I think it was the Superleague or whatever its called).
Just wondering...

I didn't hear about it, which is weird because I do read espn.com every day. Although that doesn't mean it didn't happen.