Monday, April 21, 2008

Day 2 Recap

Scotland vs. Canada- 4-2 Scotland- Canada played quite poorly. While Scotland is fairly good, Canada didn't have the determination they've had in recent years.

Nigeria vs. Serbia- 3-2 Serbia- Serbia bounced back from their game against Ireland and beat the under-achieving Nigeria team.

Northern Ireland vs. Ukraine- 2-2 tie- In possibly the best game of the tournament so far, Ukraine was really put to the test by Northern Ireland. After going down early, Ukraine bounced back and scored once, and proceeded to dominate the rest of the game trying to score the go-ahead goal. After what seemed like forever, Ukraine finally broke through and scored. Immediately after the goal, Northern Ireland went on the offensive for the last 2 minutes and scored after a cross was bouncing around in the box to tie the game. Ukraine plays Jamaica tonight at 8:30, which will likely decide which one of the two teams will make it out of the group.

Chile vs. Italy- 4-1 Chile- Chile played very well, and are turning out to be one of the stronger teams in this tournament. Their goal-scoring ability is phenomenal, and they have a very good chance at taking the pool from Norway. Chile scores goals with ease, making them more than capable at upsetting a favorite when the playoffs roll around.

England vs. Portugal 6-2 England- Finally getting their act together, England showed just how dangerous they are. Portugal kept it very close for the first part of the game, but England just had too much skill for them.

Greece vs. Colombia- 3-2 Greece- In another great game, Colombia put a real scare into Greece. Colombia, a real underdog in this tournament, scored very early to shock Greece's usually impenetrable defence. They kept the intensity of the game very high. It was only a matter of time until Greece scored though, and they put away 3 goals before Colombia started to really charge back. They scored to make it 3-2, then put the pressure on with a couple close chances until the final whistle.

60 comments:

Anonymous said...

It seems some people will have to eat their words when it comes to Northern Ireland. No offence to Mike Sweeney but the entire team has gotten stronger and it isn't just one player. They were very lucky to tie Ukraine and Jamaica probably deserved the win as well but you have to give NI their props. It is great to see a team like them getting stronger. With NI's strong play, perhaps Pool C is the real Group of Death.

Anonymous said...

ok well laos does cheat so i will agree with him on that one

Anonymous said...

Norway is no good, chile and one of the other teams will make it out

Anonymous said...

defending champs are no good? who are you? get to know your stuff. They are one of those teams that plays to the other team's level but always comes out on top. THAT is when you know you're good.

Albeit it will probably bite them in the ass...maybe against chile. They have good young players like the saskatoon guys and gabe. The game against norway should eb very good seeing as chile scores and norway defends.

Gotta love nothern Ireland

Anonymous said...

that jerson kid for chile is unreal. No wonder the huskies are getting better up in stoon. Every time he gets the ball he has an oppurtunity to score! GO CHILE!

Anonymous said...

Canada loses every first match they play, they never win but then they always seem to pull through, I would not count them out too soon, although they did play like crap.

Anonymous said...

man i think the colombia vs greece game was the best by far. in the first min. that #10 on colombia lit it up! and then colombia scored right off the bet. but i didn't think they had it them to come back, but it was close. But u got to giv props to greece for keeping up the pressure

Anonymous said...

bet is suppose to be bat.^

Anonymous said...

Laos is not cheating any more than teams like Ireland. Like people keep saying, the only reason people think they are cheating so much more is because the non-heritage players look so different. IF you look at ROI's roster, out of the players who actually play there might be 5 or 6 heritage. All the heritage players signed up and then just sit in the stands and drink and that let's ROI meet heritage with their roster while still maintaining a Semi-Pro team.

But really, all of the rosters were checked over by the WCP Cup committee so if they were doing something they weren't allowed to do, they would have been stopped. Every team has been approved to play so how about we quit pointing fingers at alleged cheaters and start enjoying the game.

Ukraine should have beat NI, they dominated the game, they just couldn't finish anything. NI got one fluke of a goal and then one nice finish by Shawn Haynes off a good bounce. Beyond that it was all Ukraine. But props to them for playing way better than last year and upsetting two big teams.

Anonymous said...

Chile is a fun team to watch. I love the fact that they actually celebrated a goal and put some enjoyment back into the game.
Norway vs Chile will be a test to show how good Chile is, or if they are just hype!!

The saskatoon players are all very good players. Jerson gets most of the credit for the scoring but other two players that are remarkable are Alvaro & Dion,
How many times did Dion go end to end? Very brilliant to watch!
I enjoyed watching simple one touch play from Alvaro, I don't think people realize how much skill is needed to play that simple and effective.

As for Mike Collins, no more needs to be said about him. He is an idiot, and he think he is much better then he actually is. By me even mentioning Mike Collins in this post it will make him think that he is actually good and worth while, when reality is that he is GARBAGE!

Anonymous said...

Alvaro is playing for Greece. YOu mean Cesar, Alvaro's younger brother.

Anonymous said...

Tall spanish kid that plays center back for Chile from Saskatoon is Alvaro aswell.
Wicked skill on the ball.
Not a guy I'd want to get into a 50/50 tackle with though, he went right through a Polish kid in their first match.... and it was actually a clean tackle!

Anonymous said...

Dude, good job on the summaries, keep them up, maybe the leaderpost can post your write ups.

Anyhoo, I think people should start writing scouting reports with analysis and point critical players, team shape and style of play.

I think Laos plays soccer like shoalin monks fight kung-fu.

Anonymous said...

Ukraines goalie sucks.......they should be staying with the goalie that they used all through there exhibition games.....i don't know his name but he is damn good.....way better than that kraus guy who isn't doing nothing for them.....they shouldn't of messed up a good thing

Anonymous said...

lol sounds like the back up is pissed off on Ukraine's team. If their goalie on the previous World cup team could of performed better than perhaps he wouldn't be in the position of back up. Krause hasn't even been tested so I don't know who you think you are stating he sucks. He's done his job and unfortunately Ukraine hasn't been able to finish from what i've seen and heard.

Anonymous said...

Dallas was that you?

Anonymous said...

Hahahahahaha whoever thinks Krause is a bad goalie is a complete idiot and obviously hasn't seen any of the games. He has had no chance on any of the goals. Ukraine's problem is not finishing. Krause has played at Nationals a couple of times, been part of the National program as a youth and was the PSL player of the year last year. He has kept Yorkton in many of the games they were outplayed throughout the years. Could the stupid people please go back to playing with cardboard boxes and not post on this website.

Anonymous said...

Sorry I meant Ukraines problem is not finishing their chances. They have had a bunch but just haven't been able to put them in.

Anonymous said...

i love how all the talk about his year is about Ukraine and how there going to kill teams in the wcp cup
what have they done nothing!!! i told everyone Ukraine is over rated.. the most over rated team... ppl talk about the ex games but yeah they did go but when it comes to touny play they suck balls

Anonymous said...

Ukraines keeper is very good. also, northern Ireland's keeper who in my opinion have been saving them a lot. Also, Jamaica owns alolt to adam the keeper for being really good and really lucky (meaning 6 posts from Ukraine) at the same time. you know what they say though gotta be good to be lucky. That group is so far the group of keepers for sure.

anyways since I started talking about keepers, Evan (Laos) is looking on his game this year and he looks more fantastic than ever.
Now let us also not forget about the england keeper this year (i think its kurt) who used to play for Canada. Lots and lots of them.

On the women side from whatI have seen keepers are Madison Goneway and Alissa stew.

One thing is for sure, the caliber of this year's tournament is much stronger than the past years and it is a real fight to win it this time. So Good luck to all and to my self, Hopefully I can keep up and stand out in this frenzy of superstars. lol

Noor Mitri
Team Greece

Anonymous said...

to the chile fan who thinks that they are outstanding and thinks their players are just awesome... take a look at the low quality teams you've been playing. any random joe can walk off the street and score a nice goal against italy. i think they only have 1 premier player on their team. talk about how good your team is after they play someone who is going to make the knockout round

Anonymous said...

I am pretty sure whoever made the last comment doesn't know much about the players on Chile.
I am not going to bother to name drop about how good the players are, as they will prove it on their own.
But for the record they have various players that have been in RTC, NTC, Sask. All-star programs, and the U of S program.

Anonymous said...

i made the comment about ukraines keeper, i must say your right......krauss hasn't been tested so i shouldn't say he sucks.......i just feel that from what i saw in some of the other games...the other keeper was pretty good....and i am not ukraines backup......i am to big to do any running.....lol

Anonymous said...

I agree with the last post. They have some good quality players on their squad. Yet it remains to be seen how well they will do against a quality oponent like Norway. Should easily be the best game in this pool!

Anonymous said...

Just for the record, I am the other keeper from ukraine and I had nothing to do with those comments. I have no problem with krauss and team ukraine is going to finish off strong just the way we are. Whoever made those comments should state their name next time.

Anonymous said...

Overall i think the real upset team is serbia, there biggest fault is there keeper but there #4 in the mid conntrols the game. Watch out.

Anonymous said...

Chile does have quality players, but then they have players that aren't as talented. I think if Norway can take advantage when Chile's better players are on the bench, that they will beat Chile... but player for the player the Husdal brothers do not match up against the Saskatoon players that Chile has.

Anonymous said...

Who do you guys think are playing the most ENTERTAINING soccer so far?

JaimeGarcia said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Team Laos is the most entertaining so far. They are sooo quick and really look like they have a fun time playing out there with each other. They have 9 goals in 2 games and 7 different people who have scored. That is a team that is fun to watch!

Anonymous said...

i will be surprised if chile can get through the Norway defence. Player for player I honestly believe that Norway has more talent in it's big guns. Anyone catch the huskies games this year. I saw husdal but no campos.

This should eb a good game with some good relatively young talent. Hopefully lots of goals

Anonymous said...

I am glad you watched one Huskie game. I am also glad that you noticed that there was no Campos.
I would guess you watched the Fraser Valley game which Campos was suspended for. So clearly a suspended player can't play. Campos being the all-time leader in suspension in CIS history will most likely miss a game or two every now and then. No big deal.

Secondly, last Huskie season Campos did not play midfield, he was moved to an outside striker/winger role.... therefore the comparision between Husdal and Campos is a poor one.
I will not compare Husdal and Campos because they have different assests as players.

Lastly, Campos prolly took the day off to focus on his male modelling career, so a mere Huskie game is meaningless to that guy.
So genius on the last post, post with a name if your going to make incorrect comment to show how unintelligent and misinformed you are!

By: Julio

Anonymous said...

Julio who

Anonymous said...

You either know Julio, or you don't know Julio. Unlucky!

by: Julio

Anonymous said...

I guess I don't know Julio. YEAH! EVERYONE SHOULD WRITE THEIR NAME!! good idea!

John Smith

Anonymous said...

kevin murphy is the biggest baby ever...thinks he is the shit but hes actually not as good as he thinks.. lets count how many times he lays on the field pretending hes hurt.

Anonymous said...

too many to count

Anonymous said...

Campos is a male model? ... I've heard it all.

Anonymous said...

ya campos is that guy whos in the background tryin to do something but no one pays attentions

Anonymous said...

julia, go watch some huskies games, he was moved because the rest of their midfield was better

Anonymous said...

don't hate cause you will never have a chance to play at that high level he is a solid soccer player no matter what position he is on he makes a huge difference on the pitch. Everyone has a role to play on the pitch I guess yours is trying to break a plyer down on a blog site cause your game is too fucking weak to back your mouth up on the pitch
EDDIE

Anonymous said...

DEFENDING CHAMPS. End of story Eddie

Anonymous said...

Defending champs of what? sucking? ya you do rule that one moron

Anonymous said...

To the idiot who wrote the second comment. Cheat!!? Cheat!!? You must be on team England. I guess cheaters win 5-0. So everyone who cheats gets shutouts.

Anonymous said...

huh? the second comment on this post? seriously?

Anonymous said...

Yea clearly the midfield was that much better that Campos sat on the bench. Check the last season stats and then make very intelligent and accurate comments.

If I recall properly I think Campos had just gotten home from a training camp with the U23 national program before the start of the Huskie season. You know just the usual that every single player in Saskatchewan gets to do on an everyday base.

Moved back to where? Campos still played as a central midfielder. He was moved to an attacking midfielder role. So I guess the midfield was that much better that Campos was no longer in it.... I do think when needed he was moved back to defensive mid aswell, but I couldn't tell you much about Campos; I hardly know the guy! He is a random stranger that I see every now and then on the cover of modelling magazines.

Eddie that was very well said!

By: Juila, Julio's sister

Anonymous said...

Yo dumbass go join the Huskie team and see what the deal is... why watch when clearly you sound more then good enough to play. I hear that there are open try outs.
By the looks of it, Campos was not only a "bench player"... that if you tried out I think he'd become a member of the reserves. Population: just him.
cleary he didn't play any games and sat on the bench... but the stats must be wrong.

Anonymous said...

Ok lets get the story straight Alvaro said he played in norway, well how long...well according to him the whole summer but in reality he PAID to try out and then they cut him!!! what else....well he tryed out for usl team and he got cut, and then hes supposively on the gutamela u-23 olympic national team poool...well who gives the rats ass about gutamelas natinonal team because they even rank lower than Canada!! so in reality Alvaro Campos is a fake, hes a nobody, and Clock Cleaner if you erase this comment ppl in regina well never know the truth.

Anonymous said...

That seems a little harsh I think.. Just like many of the other people who become a topic of discussion here.. if they are good enough to be discussed they are often a hell of a lot better than the people discussing them.

I don't know which facts are true because everyone has the 'real facts' and none of them line up. If he did in fact make the Guatemala U-23 Olympic team, so what if they are ranked lower than Canada's, for a Regina boy to do that much I say congrats.

Either way, who cares what he has done in his career as a soccer player. Just enjoy the fact that talented players are getting together from all over the province to make this tournament better than last year. (Let's just hope next year they spread out a little more rather than 60% of them going to ROI)

Anonymous said...

For the intelligent individual that knows Alvaro Campos better then anyone else here. I believe that Alvaro Campos went to Norway twice for a total time of roughly a year. First stint was the initial try out for the u19 team, second stint was to play for the squad which he was offered a spot to play in.
Financial aspects are none of your business, worry about yourself and your situation and game.
Secondly he was never cut, he was offered a spot, which he did take and did play for on the team... and then he came home because he chose to.

Yea the u23 national program is clearly a joke. Worst ranked National program to date... I believe they were one penalty shot away from qualifying to the Olympics. Were ranked number one coming out of the round robin stage and barely missed qualification.

Before anyone makes anymore comments about my Huskie career, I go to school to get an education and then play soccer. Yet I am have played every game, full matches; unless otherwise suspended.

Lastly if you want to say something about me, say it with a name. I am sick of having to hear people think that they know more about me then myself. If you think your so good, then prove it.
Who ever is taking shots at Jerson, post your name man. I would love to see you be a better player.

That's the problem with this site; one too many anonymous beakers who don't have the guts to post with their name. Alot of opinions about everyone, but the fear of posting their name is ridiculous.
Clealry Alvaro Campos is a fake because I, unlike many on this site, atleast can post with his name. If your going to take personal shots, alteast write your name instead of hiding behind a computer!

By; Alvi

Anonymous said...

Anyone who has seen him play soccer before is not going to believe any of that. He's not even in the top ten players in this crap tournament let alone a country.

Anonymous said...

Alvaro:1. offered a spot on the team, probably water boy #1 and seat #3 on the bench was the position offered and looking like a lil bitch 2. If you had financial problems, wouldnt you think if the team thought you were good would help you out with financial problems, if anything thats probably a sign to leave your not good enough 3. Even if gutamela made the olympics you wouldnt even be considered in there selections.4. you stink
5. i guess you can try your "model career" but you look like a clown.

Not_Anonymous said...

Alvaro don't waste your time even explaining yourself. Anyone who knows anything knows that the crap people spew on here is just crap. Idiots like these other guys talk shit but no one knows who they are for two reasons: 1) Because they keep their name anonymous and 2) Because they are likely not known in the soccer community. If they were known they would have the balls to put their names then people would know the source and possibly believe them.

I keep my name anonymous as well, but I do not personally attack individuals. I know what happens when you attach a name to a comment, you leave yourself open for the morons to criticize and I prefer not to do that because they don't know what they are talking about anyways.

Anonymous said...

Non Anonymous, thanks man. I don't care or have anything to hide therefore I can post my name. I just get sick of hearing of people think they know me better then I know my own reality.

For whoever is posting personal attacks, awesome!
Just keep going, I find it funny that you first off can't post your name and second that you can't read what I wrote correctly.

At the end of the day if your opinion of me really mattered, I'd care. What you say actually changes nothing, you do not determine whether I continue playing soccer or not.
Someone out there thinks I am not horrible, and luckily for me that someone has the power to give me a shot to play a high level whether I deserve or not.

To say the least I atleast can say that I've played with quality players, and have had some great experiences.

So keep making personal attacks; sadly I just don't care. If it makes you feel better keep going, atleast I get to have a good laugh when I am bored.

Alvi

Clock Cleaner said...

Sorry guys, I've been away for a bit. The last thing I wanted when I got back was find another bunch of anonymous people who decide to bash an individual.

The anonymous commenters who insult people around here are worthless, and their insulting opinion means nothing.

Anonymous said...

It's weird how people are bashing the best players on here.

Consider yourself honored to a topic of discussion. Now everyone knows you if they didn't before and they'll be looking for you out on the pitch. You're famous!

Anonymous said...

Someone has too much time their hands...

Anonymous said...

I don't care if I am Famous or Infamous, all that matter is that I hope that the ladies will be chanting Julio all match long! lol

By: The guy that makes all the ladies say O!!!.... Julio

Anonymous said...

Yep Julio is 100% gay

Anonymous said...

Whoa, whoa everybody knows that Julio(Alvaro fag) is gay no need to say that