[anurag_p80]

I want France to go out of this World cup without scoring. The cheaters. They should never qualify ever.

Tad harsh, isn't it? You probably want Argentina not to win/ qualify either by that logic.

Dismal performance by France, they are a shadow of the team which dominated world football in '98/ 2000. Without Zizou, no inspiration. And Domenech to drag em down to boot. Never understood why he was persisted with after the WC 2006, and then after Euro 2008. Not only do they lack creativity going forward, they are defensively slack as well. Gallas is not what he used to be. Evra is overrated IMO. Diaby is no defensive midfielder, and Toulalan cannot get in a tackle edgewise. Pathetic. On top of that, Domenech insists on not making changes, blooding young players. Where is Nasri, who had a great season with Arsenal? Where is Benzema, one of the most promising young strikers in the world? Why is Anelka playing alone up front? Why does he stick with an out of form and slow Sidney Govou? Defensive solidity, and some brilliance from Zizou got them to the finals last time, I hope they do not bore us by lingering this time round.

Argentines were irresistible yesterday. I did expect South Korea to be more defensively solid though, they made it too easy. Nigeria shot themselves in the foot. They still made a couple of good chances ith 10 men, but the Eagles lacked the finishing touch in front of goal. Cameroon and Ivory Coast have better teams, and Ghana has an easy draw. They are best placed to represent Africa going forward.

[ch.nathan]

Argentina is going to get a lot of votes here after their 4-1 win yesterday.

[benbsb29]

I really felt sad for the Nigerian goalkeeper Inyeama (plz forgive the spelling typo ). He was their savior in the first game, and really gave his best against Greece as well. He was unfortunate in letting that goal slip on the rebound, but he really did inspire his team.

Looks like we would not be able to see his acrobatic saves further.

[neoonwheels]

It still seems difficult for Greece to go ahead. They have a match remaining against Argentina now. While S Korea will take on Nigeria. Overall at least so far in the tournament there are only 2 teams which are making news. Argentina and Germany. My personal fav is Brazil and I hope they do well.

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

I really felt sad for the Nigerian goalkeeper Inyeama (plz forgive the spelling typo ). He was their savior in the first game, and really gave his best against Greece as well. He was unfortunate in letting that goal slip on the rebound, but he really did inspire his team.

Looks like we would not be able to see his acrobatic saves further.

Very true, this guy was awesome saving some sure shot goals from Messi that day. I was awestruck to see some of those saves. He is the best player of the whole Nigerian team.

[kaushik_s]

Seems like there gonna be another major upset in the tournament. Klose is shown the Red card and Germany conceded a goal in the next minute.
Or are they trying to avoid facing Argentina in the QF ? Hmmmmm food for thought.

[sammyboy]

I think the referee is a little too harsh . He has already given 7 yellows and 1 red.
Germany with 10 men shouldnt have missed that penalty they got. 10 minutes to a major upset.
Podolski has already missed 7 shots on goal, Germany heading towards doom.

Edit: Germany loses to Serbia, first defeat in 18 years for Germany in world cup finals.

[supremeBaleno]

Voted for Slovenia, though I root for Serbia too.

Originally Posted by Spitfire

Aussies smell Kangaroo dooh...
Who's next?

Looks like it was Germany.

Originally Posted by sammyboy

Germany loses to Serbia, first defeat in 18 years for Germany in world cup finals.

Wow !! This World Cup looks really full of surprises. First Spain, now Germany. Awesome.

[lloydofcochin]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

I really felt sad for the Nigerian goalkeeper Inyeama (plz forgive the spelling typo ). He was their savior in the first game, and really gave his best against Greece as well. He was unfortunate in letting that goal slip on the rebound, but he really did inspire his team.

Looks like we would not be able to see his acrobatic saves further.

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Very true, this guy was awesome saving some sure shot goals from Messi that day. I was awestruck to see some of those saves. He is the best player of the whole Nigerian team.

+ 1 to that. Benny, it is Enyeama. He made some breathtaking saves and the one yesterday to deny Greece a goal from Samaras's header takes the cake, for me it is the save of the tournament so far. I guess it was the "Jabulani" to blame for that error from him which gave Greece that 2nd goal. He currently plays in Israel and I'm quite sure that after this World Cup he is going to get a call up to one of the major European clubs.

After Spain lost to the Swiss it was Germany's turn to go down to Serbia. As of now Argentina has looked the best team, and they are my favorites too

The only glitch is their defence. Hope they will improve on that in their next game.

[thewhiteknight]

Oh Mama! Germany losing to Serbia; dont know what to say to that.

Argentina will walk away winner this time, irrespective of their 4-1 win. They are just all there within the team. Messi who one would think would score the goals is actually making enough opportunities for other while all the rest of the defenders are on him.

and Nigeria's goalkeep, damn man, he is super cool under pressure, knows when to charge and when to punch and where to be placed. He was right in place when the reflected ball off the defenders foot went off to the other corner of the posts. Nigeria would have gone out of the world cup in their first match itself if it were a lesser man between the posts. :P Serious RESPECT for the guy.

[sammyboy]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Voted for Slovenia, though I root for Serbia too.


Wow !! This World Cup looks really full of surprises. First Spain, now Germany. Awesome.

Talking about surprises, 15 mins down its Slovenia 1 - USA 0
Whew what a day for matches ,

[harry10]

Originally Posted by sammyboy

Talking about surprises, 15 mins down its Slovenia 1 - USA 0
Whew what a day for matches ,

Halftime- US -0. Slovenia- 2.
What is happening in this world cup.. If an Indian or Pakistani team was involved in any such upset the cries of match fixing with all the FIFA organizers and match players involved would be on our 'breaking news' tv by now

[sammyboy]

Originally Posted by harry10

Halftime- US -0. Slovenia- 2.
What is happening in this world cup.. If an Indian or Pakistani team was involved in any such upset the cries of match fixing with all the FIFA organizers and match players involved would be on our 'breaking news' tv by now

ha ha, yeah I know...The way things are progressing, had India qualified they might have won the Cup

[kaushik_s]

Seems like German Panzers being busted by the Serb landmines. There are too many surprises to handle these days. First Spain lost, then France is almost out and now Germany almost brought down to knees today. Loads of things are happening.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by harry10

Halftime- US -0. Slovenia- 2.
What is happening in this world cup.. If an Indian or Pakistani team was involved in any such upset the cries of match fixing with all the FIFA organizers and match players involved would be on our 'breaking news' tv by now

I would still think that the match is fixed. Look at the way Slovenia played the second half. Slovenia totally outplayed the US in the first half and they turned out to be crap in the second. Something's fishy here.

@Kaushik, I think the Serbs played well for their win today. Germany too played well but, the red card was hurting them. Podolski was wasting chances. But the only irritant was the referee giving out cards at will