World Cup 2010 Qualification - Europe

[sonorakitch]

Wow. No class from Henry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRWjzBC58dA

At least Gallas didn't celebrate the goal. There is some sportsmanship from the French squad...but Henry will go down in history for this moment and will overshadow his brilliant football career.

And this is coming from a longtime Henry fan. So blatant it was disgusting. There will be a reckoning in SA I am sure of that.

~Chris

 

[North King]

That's awful. Quite clearly he knew what he was doing by the end of that little maneuver (probably one of those "I suppose I might as well continue with this" moments), and quite clearly the Irish team stopped defending fully to protest the handball before the ball even got to Gallas.

I do adore France and will probably root for them come the Cup, but I can't say I like how they qualified.

 

[Pangur Bán]

Gallas did celebrate. You can be sure neither he nor Henry give a toss how they won. But let's be honest, France would almost certainly have won anyway.

I just knew that late goal Russia conceded against Slovenia would cost. It cost the world as well as Russia. Slovenia are nobody mediocrities, and their qualification does nothing more than deprive the World Cup of a number of world class players, notably Arshavin. A big pity. We need to get rid of the play-off lottery and just make the groups bigger.

 

[Grisu]

Gallas did celebrate. You can be sure neither he nor Henry give a toss how they won. But let's be honest, France would almost certainly have won anyway.

how so? Penalty shootout is pretty much a lottery so it would have been closer to 50/50 than France almost certainly winning.

I just knew that late goal Russia conceded against Slovenia would cost. It cost the world as well as Russia. Slovenia are nobody mediocrities, and their qualification does nothing more than deprive the World Cup of a number of world class players, notably Arshavin. A big pity. We need to get rid of the play-off lottery and just make the groups bigger.

I don't see it as that at all. I'm tired of seeing the same teams over and over again. I, for one, welcome it when some underdog qualifies. If Russia can't even beat Slovenia, maybe they aren't as glorious as you think? Or maybe Slovenia aren't such mediocre nobodies after all?

 

[holy king]

well, it was a freak result, käptn.

with the chances created in russia, they could easily have won it 3:0 (or 6:0 on a lucky day) and have gone through. instead they were unlucky and it ended 2:1.

that being said, the whole cup tournament mode is built upon the "one game, everyone has at least a shot at going through if lucky" principle, and thats what makes tournaments great to watch.

why not start with this (to a limited extent) before the actual finals begin?

 

[Kyriakos]

greece first to advance.

ukraine was incredibly inept in front of the goal.

I didnt see the game, but i heard it ended 0-0, and this was in Greece. So in what do you base your view that Greece will advance?

 

[holy king]

greece won the away leg 1:0.

 

[Kyriakos]

greece won the away leg 1:0.

Oh Then yeah, i see what you mean

 

[Pangur Bán]

how so? Penalty shootout is pretty much a lottery so it would have been closer to 50/50 than France almost certainly winning.

Better players take better penalties, but even ignoring that France sat back as soon as they scored, and if they hadn't, they''d have continued the onslaught. Tiring teams concede more goals.

 

[Grisu]

well, it was a freak result, käptn.

with the chances created in russia, they could easily have won it 3:0 (or 6:0 on a lucky day) and have gone through. instead they were unlucky and it ended 2:1.

quite true, but that's one of the appeals of football, is it not? that almost anything can happen?

that being said, the whole cup tournament mode is built upon the "one game, everyone has at least a shot at going through if lucky" principle, and thats what makes tournaments great to watch.

why not start with this (to a limited extent) before the actual finals begin?

indeed, on top of that the big teams had the the advantage of sees in the group stage AND in the playoffs. They really have no right complain if they get eliminated now.

edit: oh, and holy king: you can now start mail bombing the sun

Better players take better penalties, but even ignoring that France sat back as soon as they scored, and if they hadn't, they''d have continued the onslaught. Tiring teams concede more goals.

or the reckless attacking could have created a chance for a counter and the 0-2, France couldn't score a goal for more than 100 minutes after all....there's really no telling, all is pure speculation. All we know is that the deciding goal shouldn't have counted. What would have happened after that, noone really knows.

 

[Echse]

Those poor poor Irishmen.... I feel so sorry for them. France just didn´t deserve that win.
On the other hand Russia did well deserve to loose. Congrats to Slovenia.

 

[Pangur Bán]

or the reckless attacking could have created a chance for a counter and the 0-2, France couldn't score a goal for more than 100 minutes after all....there's really no telling, all is pure speculation. All we know is that the deciding goal shouldn't have counted. What would have happened after that, noone really knows.

Less likely. The French attacking would not likely be reckless, and even if it were, Ireland would have continued to be defending all out for penalties (the Irish shared my opinion of their chances). As I stated at the beginning, the odds favored France.

If Russia can't even beat Slovenia, maybe they aren't as glorious as you think? Or maybe Slovenia aren't such mediocre nobodies after all?

The quality of the Russian team is no secret. I'd like to see Slovenia destroy Holland like Russia did last year, but it ain't gonna happen.

 

[holy king]

quite true, but that's one of the appeals of football, is it not? that almost anything can happen?

everything has a certain likelyhood of happening.

 

[holy king]

edit: oh, and holy king: you can now start mail bombing the sun

you can always start mailbombing them.

 

[Faladhrym]

I really don't like the options for the full backs in the portuguese team. Paulo Ferreira doesn't contribute a dime to the attack anymore, but I guess if the team's going primarily to defend, then he might be relatively useful. But Duda, the left back?! For christ's sake, he's just an enormous hole in defence! He always leaves a gap at his back, can't defend crosses and is gonna be an easy prey for the tall bosnian forwards (or whomever pops up behind him). Pepe is gonna cover a part of those problems and allow for the back line to become a bit wider when dealing with sustained pressure, but that might leave the team unbalanced in the midfield.

I think the key factor is gonna be Deco: if he has a good game, then the team might orchestrate something good when attacking and keep the bosnians in check, otherwise it might be tough, cause I don't see anyone else capable of doing that.
So despite what you have been saying about Ronaldo, and it's true it's been ages (years) since he shone in the NT, and sometimes he just sucks the life out of other players with his selfish playing, at least, even when he's being an ass, he drags defenders, focuses attention on himself, scares opponents and most importantly allows for more space and freedom for other players.

We always play well when Deco plays well Whenerver he sucks, we pretty much are brain dead, sure we can move some limbs, but it's gonna be hard...
You said that Ronaldo being on the field he drags defenders, focuses attention on himself, sure I totally and absolutely agree making that a part of tactic.. but Ronaldo seems to be a bit spoiled, if he was told to do that, and the team was informed, we would play a game of efort, and no-ball... Deco and the others wouldn' give the ball to him... they'ld always prefer to give to some1 else, before thinking of giving it to him, but like I said, Ronaldo wouldn't get the ball, and Queiroz doesn't have the guts to bench Ronaldo or tell him, you're not getting the ball, you will play for the team...
Ronaldo is poorly used on our team...
just like the stupid idea of trying to put Ronaldo as a striker -_- wtf?!.. dumbass idea.. Ronaldo can drible through 2 oponents, but first he dribles one then another, not the two at the same time... placing Ronaldo in the middle of 2 Central defenders, is nullifying the man... sure he's fast... but he's not fast in 5 meters... we can't move fast enough to get away from the defenders, Ronaldo is like Cavalry he needs momentum to use his speed otherwise he's a sitting duck...

first newspaper to say hand of god gets a mail bomb.

but the ref's decision in the slo-rus match was strange, too. giving the russian a red card was ok, but not sending off the slovenian keeper looked wrong, as well. wasn't he trying to punch the russian?

Well I always try to give a bit of doubt, it depends on the type of referee, a harsh one would give 2 red cards, a soft on would think "the russion wouldn't had been punched, if the other one wouldn't had been kicked" dunno... I'm not defending him.. it's just every referee is diferent, it depends on the person.

Wow. No class from Henry.
but Henry will go down in history for this moment and will overshadow his brilliant football career.
And this is coming from a longtime Henry fan.

yeah, I know that there are "better" strikers than Henry, but for me he was the best striker, If I ever had to choose and striker (from a pot with Etoo'o Ibrahimovic, Nistelrooy, Inzaghi, Drogba, Torres, villa, etc etc, I could go on for hours ....all top notch strikers ) I would pick Henry, captain, header, takes free kicks nicelly, speed, accuracy, drible, penaltie kick, he was very balanced, in all of major stats to a striker, I didn't see the play with close attention, but saw some photos, and believing what u're saying... terrible attitude from Henry, but guys who can really blame him... the french would had his head if he admited... imagine being national player and buoed everytime you play in your country?? He did the right thing for his "life" but wasn't the right thing to do :S

 

[LAnkou]

Well, well...

As there is currently a debate on national identity in France, i know what i would say if i participate:
For French people, the way you do something is almost as important as the result
Considering my frustration, the reactions in France and in the newspaper about the game, there is still this spirit in France.

Now, about the game itself, we didn't played well, we thanks Hugo Lloris a lot and we're deeply sorry for the Irish.
However, i want to make you notice for all of you saying we qualified on a referee mistake, that maybe true. Please note, we didn't see the hand until the replay, and the fact that all the shame is put on Thierry Henry and not the referee makes me think everyone assume that the referee couldn't see it.
Moreover, i consider the penalty refused to Nicolas Anelka quite discutable. Again, on the replay, we can see that the irish goalkeeper prevent Anelka's left foot from advancing (and then anelka fall, logic). What if the referee had whistle the penalty and France score a goal? There would have been the same debate...
What if France had been eliminated on penalty shoutout? Don't you think there would have been a debate about this penalty?

What if Lloris hadn't been expelled in the match against Serbia? and that we won that game? we would have directly qualified...

These kind of things are part of the game. All french people are really sorry for Ireland, but we will gladly go to South Africa and we hope we will honor the Irish by making a great tournament.

And don't blame Henry too much, i see his action more of a bad reflex that turned out well rather than something really voluntary. He's clearly surprised when the ball come, if he hadn't, he would have use his foot...

you can mailbomb the french newspaper L'Equipe...

 

[Kyriakos]

I didnt expect Greece to go through. The team isnt as good as in 2004 anyway, however it can hardly do worse than in the 1994 world cup...

 

[Gelion]

Henry has publicly admitted that he played with his hand. He said he is not the judge thats very decent of him.... as much as I admire the French team.... and dislike the Italians since 2004, I will cheer against France this round.

 

[Shekwan]

Less likely. The French attacking would not likely be reckless, and even if it were, Ireland would have continued to be defending all out for penalties (the Irish shared my opinion of their chances). As I stated at the beginning, the odds favored France.

Did you watch the game? Ireland were not defending all out in extra time.

However, i want to make you notice for all of you saying we qualified on a referee mistake, that maybe true. Please note, we didn't see the hand until the replay, and the fact that all the shame is put on Thierry Henry and not the referee makes me think everyone assume that the referee couldn't see it.
Moreover, i consider the penalty refused to Nicolas Anelka quite discutable. Again, on the replay, we can see that the irish goalkeeper prevent Anelka's left foot from advancing (and then anelka fall, logic). What if the referee had whistle the penalty and France score a goal? There would have been the same debate...
What if France had been eliminated on penalty shoutout? Don't you think there would have been a debate about this penalty?

It looked like Anelka drew his foot forward so that he could make contact with Given rather than to actually hit the ball. He was looking for a penalty.

That incident is important from the point of view though that the referee may have been looking for a reason to let France get a goal. Some people have been speculating that FIFA wanted all the big teams to get through and that the refereeing would be biased to that effect. If the referee was looking for a reason, this was a golden opportunity - thats why I think the hand ball thing was an honest mistake and not bias.

 

[LAnkou]

It looked like Anelka drew his foot forward so that he could make contact with Given rather than to actually hit the ball. He was looking for a penalty.

See? the debate can start...

About the referee, look at any replay (it's easy these day, don't know why ), from where he was, there was a full scrimeage (spelling?) of player preventing him to see it, the same for the line referee. If there had been the 4th and 5th referee (behind the goals), the goal would have been refused...