[WhiteKnight]

Entertaining match, and another pretender goes down the drain.

Funniest moment of the match- Ronaldo goes down at the slightest of the touches by Friederich (Was there any?). As soon as he sees he got the attention of referee, he cries out and tries to clutch his leg- there was a delay of few seconds. But which leg? Left? right? Eventually he manages with the wrong one. Poor Friederich gets yellow

[rsjaurr]

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

Funniest moment of the match- Ronaldo goes down at the slightest of the touches by Friederich (Was there any?). As soon as he sees he got the attention of referee, he cries out.....

IMHO he is much over-rated players than he actually is,probably because he plays for ManU in EPL.

When teams like Spain and N'Lands have found tough in later stages and have choked under pressure,teams like Germany,Italy,Brazil and France play true to their potential in later stages.

well..i said so.
Germany's big match came handy against much better opponents Portugal.Former were able to plan & play better.

[benbsb29]

German resilience when it mattered. Good show from them, and good to see lose back among the goals. He has scored some really good goals with his head. Schweinsteiger has justified his inclusion in the starting line-up. Germany's midfield has more strength now.

Between, whatever happened to Podolski? He decided to play in defence?
Wonderful cross from him found Schweinsteiger for the first goal.

Portugal? What do i say? They flattered to deceive. Deco tried real hard, but they just couldnt convert. Germany was able to neutralize Ronaldo quite well. Now, he says he wants to go to Real Madrid! Suddenly, what brings about such a thought?

[maddy42]

Great match by germany. Utilised all their chances well but they better learn to defend well as it was shown one hole and there is a goal(talking about the second goal of the match).
Podolski was simply brilliant yesterday. Deco was good but probably not at his best and ronaldo was good for portu. So one of the teams out and 3 more to go before the semis

[finneyp]

I missed this match!

Sad to see Portugal out of the tournament, looking at the form of both these teams in the Group stage I was hoping for Portugal to win!

So today it is Croatia vs Turkey!

Croatia is in-form team, but Turkey can throw surprises!

[MaserQ]

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

Funniest moment of the match- Ronaldo goes down at the slightest of the touches by Friederich (Was there any?). As soon as he sees he got the attention of referee, he cries out and tries to clutch his leg- there was a delay of few seconds. But which leg? Left? right? Eventually he manages with the wrong one. Poor Friederich gets yellow

This is one aspect of Ronaldo's football that has not improved. A great player does not have to resort to such tactics.

Cristiano is not liked in England outside of Manchester. He still gets jeered for the Rooney incident. This, coupled with his dream of playing for Real Madrid and the fact that his girlfriend is Spanish could see him move to Madrid very soon.

Many United fans support Portugal because of Cristiano and it is sad to lose Portugal this early. They are a better team than that. But in the end, Football is a team game and Germany were a better team on the day. Full marks to them!

[benbsb29]

Real Madrid seems to be a dream destination for quite a few notable players from Man U.

[WhiteKnight]

Originally Posted by MaserQ

Many United fans support Portugal because of Cristiano

Poor souls, they don't have any other options, do they?

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Real Madrid seems to be a dream destination for quite a few notable players from Man U.

RM is just recovering from their "Galacticos" era. I hoep they avoid this "Over Galactico". The only player I would like to have in RM is Evra. Then it is not my call, u know

[mayurpalav]

Gifting Germany with 2 goals from similar free kicks !!!!!!
Portugal could have done better than that.
I didn't see Carvalho anywhere near the 2 *****.
Also, Petit was he playing or what, almost no contribution from him.
For me, it doesn't matter who wins.
But I sure like to see a good game of Football.

[khaadu75]

Knock Croatia out of the poll now .... what a match it turned out to be !! Turkey again showing how they only fire on all cylinders towards the last 5-10 mins of the game . With one min remaining in extra time Croatia scores and everybody had written of Turkey only for them to score almost as soon as teh game restarted :-) !!

They made it to the semis but I dont think they gonna have too many players available for that match as a lot of players got their 2nd yellow card and thus have to sit out the next game + a lot of their front line players are on the injured list so a tough match ahead .

Croatia again were favs but failed like Portugal :-(

[punterccrx8s]

Germany all the way!

[mayurpalav]

Originally Posted by khaadu75

Knock Croatia out of the poll now .... what a match it turned out to be !! Turkey again showing how they only fire on all cylinders towards the last 5-10 mins of the game . With one min remaining in extra time Croatia scores and everybody had written of Turkey only for them to score almost as soon as teh game restarted :-) !!

They made it to the semis but I dont think they gonna have too many players available for that match as a lot of players got their 2nd yellow card and thus have to sit out the next game + a lot of their front line players are on the injured list so a tough match ahead .

Croatia again were favs but failed like Portugal :-(

, What a game...., Croatia lost the game in the mind first.
Tuncay and Rustu for Turkey were brilliant, Only if Olic had scored for Croatia in regulation time.
Don't forget to watch todays game, will be a classic.
Hope Gogibhai has a TV at the meet.

[anurag_p80]

Originally Posted by rsjaurr

IMHO he is much over-rated players than he actually is,probably because he plays for ManU in EPL.

Well, you do not argue with 42 goals in a season!!! He is a good player, but I always get the feeling I used to get with Luis Figo earlier- the breath of an opposition player anywhere in the vicinity makes it necessary for him to topple over and writhe in agony. ManU certainly got the rub of the green with all the penalties awarded thus. Didier Drogba is another one notorious for this. And, of course, the Eye-talians have made an artform of writhing in agony for any imaginary/ real touch.IMO, referees are too lenient on diving.

I am backing Germany now to go all the way. A Germany-Netherlands final anyone? '74, '88 and now 2008??

[khaadu75]

And out go the DUTCH ... 3 teams that won all their qualifying matches have been sent home !!

[RajaTaurus]

37.84% versus 0%...???
Glorius uncertainities or just it is nervous Hollanders let it through the holes in their so-called defence..???
The second goal, by Arshavin-Trobonski combo - must be the goal of the tournament... Close range, diversion in the air and no vision to the ball.. Absolutely brilliant...