Thursday, April 24, 2008

Day 5 Recap

Canada vs. Northern Ireland- 5-2 Northern Ireland- Northern Ireland had way more scoring chances. Canada stood back and let N.I.'s offence walk right in and shoot. Canada kept it fairly close for the first half of the game, but Northern Ireland pulled away in the second. They now look to their game against Scotland on Saturday, which will likely determine their fate in Group C.

Austria vs. Poland- 3-1(?) Austria- Can't quite remember the exact score. Poland fought hard, but Austria was just too much for them to handle. The game looked liked it could go either way, but Austria just put away more of their chances.

Laos vs. Colombia- 5-0 Laos- Laos is much too strong to let a team like Colombia beat them. Colombia thrives on hustling to the ball, but unfortunately for them, Laos thrives on hustle as well. It was good to see Colombia play hard throughout the entire game, never giving up. Kudos to both fan bases as well.

25 comments:

Not_Anonymous said...

Austria won 2-1. it was a decent game, although I don't see a potential contender coming out of either side.

Laos is looking very strong. Despite being fairly young and very quick, Poncho seems to have worked hard with them to develop some composure with the ball. They don't panic wherever they are on the field and they pass their way through defenses like.. like.. well I'm not one for analogies.. I'm about as good with analogies as a Chilean is good with a soccer ball (kidding Chile, you guys are looking real good.. I just saw everyone else taking shots and I had to jump on board..)

Seriously though, Laos is looking good but I am excited to see how well they fend against a real defense like ROI. Even the Greece game should be a good one.

Anonymous said...

All I know is that come Saturday at 4pm, the place is going to be banging as Chile hits he pitch to the cheering of its' adoring fans and dedicated haters!
Hopefully there is some ball control there, but as well all know Chile needs to pick up there game and stop embarrassing themselves!

I am amped to be there! Hopefully Julia can come, but I don't think she'll make it back in time for the match.

by: Julio

Anonymous said...

and ukraine v scotland before that will be awesome too

Anonymous said...

hey dork Ukraine and Scotland dont play on saturday, NI and scotland play saturday

Anonymous said...

yeah Ukraine v Scotland on sunday before Norway and Chile. both Saturday and sunday are going to be big days! lots of great soccer.

Anonymous said...

From what this 'guy' has seen so far from the games.

1.ROI
Because they just have the best players and they all play amazing together, i don't think there going to lose it this year

2.Laos
Simply a powerful team, everywhere. Passing, shooting, stamina. They have so many subs, that can all run and conrtol the ball. Pancho has done well with this team. They might be the only team to upset and beat ROI...

3.Norway
Still strong, but only when they have to be. They play up to the level of the other team, and then add a goal or two just to win. but they don't look to good this year

4.Greece
Strong, big and powerful. They have great defence, and (i think) an amazing goalie. They also have strong mid's that shoot well. They've only played one game but i think they'll get pretty far in the tourny

5.England
Another strong force with talented players, but still not playing very well together. they can score more goals if they had played together more, and knew who was on there team, and where they are on the field

6.Scotland
i think scotland will do better than last year, and surprise a few people, and i believe they'll beat jamaica when the time comes

7.Jamaica
still somewhat strong and talented but nothing compared to past years. in my opinion they are falling apart

8.Chile
Lots of talent, and then lots of no talent.. there definitly a way better team than last year, and will make it out of there pool, but from there, they'll lose

9.Colombia
the new team to the tourny. And what a surprise they are. They have not won in there pool yet, but they have some talent, and tons of hustle. They've come close to upsetting teams, and make it always a great game to watch, even losing to loas 5-0, it was still great to watch. If this team was in any other pool they would make it out of that pool, thats why i rank them so high.

10.Ukraine
Another very strong team, but just haven't shown it, or maybe its just bad luck/bad calls (cough, jamaica game)They just need to put the ball in the net and they be golden. I definitly thought at first this team would be top 4 in the begining but now... not so much

11.N.Ireland
Probably the biggest surprise of the tournament. N. Ireland tieing jamaica and ukraine. Even if those two teams didn't play that well, i still give N.ireland props for also hustling hard to the ball. They've impoved huge!

12.Germany
Was once a strong team... but now only are when they choose to be. they have ups and downs, they can shoot pass and have a good d-line, with a good goalie, but just don't have what they use to have... aggression.

13.Portugal
This team is good. but need more subs. they had a close chance beating loas.. but really they didn't. What they need is some younger and faster guys.

14.Serbia
Definitly improving. I like the serb's and would like them to get of there pool. (have to beat germany, which i think they could do) But this would also be a huge upset, and well i like upsets.

15.Austria
Also another team that has improved, but not enough yet. I'd say maybe next year for them, if they pick up some better fwds, that could also put the ball in the net. But on the other hand they did get a great goalie this year.(believe its mario)

16.Canada
Once upon a time...in a land far far away, they had a chance of being top 10. But what i've seen, that was once upon a time ago. the end.

17.Nigeria
I expected more from them, i also like Nigeria, and wanted to see them do well this year, but from seeing, and hearing about the exhibtion games, it didn't look good. and i thought they would step it up in the tourny... but they haven't. All they need is a little more ball control, and a few more shots... at the net.. the net in between the poles.

18.Poland
I want to say are improving... but they still have alot more improving to do. They keep games close, but can't seem to win. I'd have to say, maybe next year. They have some good players, but they just don't seem confident, or into it, to win.

19.Italy
Well i thought this team improved, and they did keep it close to norway, but what i've seen, they need alot of work. They seem to be good, but i don't know, i don't think they'll win a game this year.

20.Botswana
...

Not_Anonymous said...

I agree with a good portion of what you say. I made a ranking in the day 4 recap and after last night I would say Germany should drop down a bit from where I had them at 5th. But Greece at #4? There are several teams deserving of higher than them. They have only played one game and only squeaked by Colombia, the weakest team in the pool. Noor is a good goalie but I don't know about amazing.

And Colombia at 9th? No team with 3 losses and no wins deserves to be top 10. They do look alright but they are not able to get any results.

And England 5th? They have 2 wins and 1 big loss (5-0 to Laos) and their win over Colombia last night was 5-4. They aren't playing good soccer so far, other then their win over Portugal.

I think the trouble with rankings is everyone can think of reason why teams shouldn't be where they are though, but it is often tough to replace them with teams who deserve it in the top. It seems that everyone agrees that ROI and Laos should be in the top, but everyone has an issue when Norway, Jamaica, England, or anyone else for that matter, gets placed up there. Maybe we should just make it a 25 spot ranking system and leave spots 3-7 blank for now until someone else is deserving of a higher ranking? (only kidding)

Not_Anonymous said...

Having said that, I think it is great that you made the rankings and the fact that not everyone completely agrees gives everyone a chance to discuss it that much more.

Anonymous said...

Anyone know of a link for highlights or game footage?

Anonymous said...

If NI beats Scotland tomorrow they will assure themselves a spot in the next round. Does anyone else think that is crazy? Not that they will beat Norway or Chile, assuming they finish as the 2 of there pool, which they should.

If NI does win it will hoop either Ukraine or Jamacia. Who would you rather see put out? Scotland would still have a chance too, but I think Ukraine will find the net finally in there last two games.

Anonymous said...

Jamaica has the better chance with no losses, but Scotland can still go through as first with one loss as long as they beat both Jamaica and Ukraine. too early to tell, saturday will determine everything. everything is still up for grabs, but im secretly hoping NI beats Scotland, and Scotland trounce the other two. it would be great to see Jamaica and Ukraine knocked out by two teams who didnt do so well last year!

Anonymous said...

Ukraine will destroy Scotland.

Anonymous said...

Like they destoyed NI?

Anonymous said...

from the 'guy' that ranked teams last night.
i put colombia so high, cuz i believe that they could have made it out of any other pool or would of won some games. I predict a win for colombia over portugal.(there bound too). Its just that greece england and loas are really strong teams to play against, especially for a team thats new to the tourny. even tho, england isn't doing to well, but when they do play good, there pretty unstopable. and ya i shouldn't of put greece so high, but no one else looks to good.. like you said we should leave spots 3-7 open. But this weekend will be awesome to watch, to see what happens to the rankings.

Anonymous said...

I heard that NI will be missing 2 or 3 player for the scotland game. One a fast outside midfielder and there captain who plays center defense, i hope they can fight through it and win, i would love to see them go through ahead of jamaica or the ukraine. Funny how people love to back and underdog or just want to see certain teams lose.

Anonymous said...

Who are they missing for Saturday? Give me names.

Anonymous said...

the leperchaun!

jingo jango bingo bango said...

i don't think anyone knows anyone on NI except for mike sweeney... who had a super cool article in the newspaper about him. they actually made him out to be a good soccer player in the article, which is complete different story when you watch him play. he's not even good at diving, which he attempts to do a quite a bit. i do love his knee brace though.. the one he picked up at shoppers drug mart for $9.99.

Anonymous said...

What has been the best goal so far? Best tackle? Best game?

Anonymous said...

Tristan Manz's goal from his box against Nigeria, top corner. it was sick!

Anonymous said...

true but it made everyone except the irish smile. That goal by tristan was pretty good. Jarvis' goal for norway against chile should get some mention as well.

I think norway could have had 3 "tackles of the tournament" in their game against chile alone.

Anonymous said...

no one said the tackles had to be clean, just what we thought was the best. i thought that one was, granted there were some nice clean tackles in Norway and chile and some good dirty ones as well.

Anonymous said...

I don't know if anyone saw it, but Nigeria's captain frontal two foot on a player from Boswana was a beauty!



By: Julio

Romeo 55 said...

its all about Botswana they will win it this year and next year i here that Bots is getting three young player for next year
i here one off those player is jose son

Romeo 55 said...

is jose ocha sons name romelo i here he is good