I'd like to see one of the African nations do well but I think you're right. I think this one will be dominated by the usual suspects. I wouldn't even write off Argentina's chances if the can get their act together (and a different manager).

Brazil will win, as usual/often.

still disgusted about the blatant manipulatuion of the rules by f.i.f.a.a regarding the france ireland game...

now there are calls for a rematch... tooo right, france were nowhere in the game until that free kick which was offside and henrys 2 handballs.... disgrace..
fifa got their wish......

Apart from Lloris, the whole French team was poor. The Irish waves were a treat to watch.
I'd love a rematch. Most people in France are unsatisfied with the way things went. Everybody wishes for a stainless winner sent to South Africa.
French sides are always proud of their panache. They should ask for a rematch. But they won't.

pretty blatant that it should be a replay. if the ref and the three other officials didnt see it then what the hell is going on! at least two french players where off side to start with then the handball, surely something should be done. if the ref's decision is final then why do we even need fifa?

It always gets ugly when soccer teams from catholic countries play against each other.

Here's a memorable soccer game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur5fGSBsfq8

Not proud to be French today.

it's a TRAP.
hahahah

rematch rematch rematch!

won't happen. French team played like an Italian team yesterday... for shame.

Call off the conspiracy theories and finger pointing, I suggested Ireland had a chance to qualify so they were doomed from the start, le shame

I'm completely disgusted by France and Henry. Ireland dominated that game. Shit like that is exactly why I hate watching soccer. If I had my way, Henry's left hand would be chopped off. Or they could replay the game. One or the other.

ok...the ireland/france thing is done and dusted..we were robbed..by the f.a. and all the hate henry is getting isnt fair, i mean any player would have done the same.... anyhooo..

9 - 1 to the tottenham!!!! rethink your top 4 teams of the premiership....spurs are now up there for keeps!

Liverpool - Man City
2:2

Great match, Skrtel scored his first goal in 2 years playing for the Reds.

skrtel scored for the pool.... kinda sums up their season so far. shame, id love to see them back up there..... behind tottenham you understand!

england in the same group as the usa. interesting.

I wonder if the phrase "bootlicker" got lost in translation, but i really really really really hope it didnt.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...le-boot-licker
Carlos Tevez launches explosive attack on 'boot-licking moron' Gary Neville

• Manchester City striker lashes out on Argentinian radio
• 'I wondered, what's the moron talking about me for?'

• Buzz up!
• Digg it

• Sid Lowe in Madrid
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 21 January 2010 17.32 GMT
• Article history

The Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez celebrates his first goal in the Carling Cup semi-final against Manchester United by gesturing towards Gary Neville. Photograph: Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Carlos Tevez has launched an incredible new attack on Gary Neville, accusing his former Manchester United team-mate of being a "boot-licking moron" after their confrontation during the Carling Cup semi-final first leg on Tuesday night.
The Manchester City striker described his side's 2-1 victory in the match at Eastlands as "revenge" and said his provocative goal celebration had been directed only at Neville and not Sir Alex Ferguson or the United fans. He said: "Ferguson loves me."
Before the game Neville, the United right-back, had said Tevez was "not worth" the £25m it would have cost the club to keep him last summer. Tevez made a gesture towards Neville after scoring his first goal, from the penalty spot. The *England veteran responded by raising his middle finger.
Speaking in a radio interview on ESPN Argentina, Tevez said: "My celebration was directed at Gary Neville. He acted like a complete sock-sucker [boot-licker] when he said I wasn't worth £25m, just to suck up to the manager. I don't know what the hell that idiot is talking about me for. I never said anything about him.
"I will never show a lack of respect towards anyone. Just as I was running off to celebrate the penalty I had scored, I came across Gary and I said to myself: 'Shut your trap, keep quiet.' I didn't go overboard in my celebration and it was directed at Gary, not at Ferguson and not at the fans. I think he did the wrong thing because I was his team-mate and I never said anything bad about him. He was *saying that Ferguson was right when he said that I wasn't worth £25m, when he was saying this and that ... I always respected Neville."
Tevez's outburst will do little to dampen tension ahead of next week's second leg after the Football Association and Greater Manchester Police appealed for calm.Despite living in England for four years, Tevez speaks little English. His comments on Wednesday to the British media, accusing Neville of being "disrespectful", were released through representatives. In his native tongue, he made his feelings clear. He said: "I was at lunch with the players in the team hotel and all the papers were laid out. I read them – well, 'read them', obviously I don't read [English].
"My team-mates were asking what I thought. And I wondered to myself: what's the tarado [moron] talking about me for when I never said anything about him, when there was never any [issue] with us. It was a lack of respect for a compañero [fellow *footballer], aside of the fact that we had won a lot of things together.
"You have to do your talking on the pitch. I don't talk much in England – mainly because of the language. I don't like to get involved in conflict. I'm happy because I know what I am. Thank God I had the chance to get revenge with City, although there is still the second leg to come. I know Ferguson loves me, that's why he always talks about me, ha-ha.There are differences between the two teams. Manchester United is a huge team in the city, everyone knows that. But City are making giant strides."
The Argentinian said he did not expect to end his career at City. "Things are going well for me; the goals are coming. I'm in good shape, I have avoided *injuries. As a kid I would never have imagined I would live in *England for four years. I am very happy and contented that my daughter is growing up in a country as developed as this one. But the truth is that it's very, very hard for me to live here, so far away from my loved ones. I'm not exactly an example of how to learn English; I just can't get it into my head. I'm learning hardly *anything, truth be told. I don't go out much, I spend most of my time at home. My daughter just brought me a Boca Juniors shirt and she wants me to join Boca. I am a Boca fan and I know I'll go back one day but I don't know when."

spurs 2 leeds 2 hahaha

As much as i hate to say it I think Spurs have a decent chance of top 4 this season. I still wouldn't count out liverpool but I reckon the end will be:

Chelsea
Man U
Arsenal
Spurs

fuck michael dawson and his rash risky tackles. what the bejaysus ws he thinking, 95th minute, just sheppard him out to the corner, he was going nowhere, but no, lunge in...it wsnt a penalty but still no need to run the risk of a desicion going against him. i dont like thinking about going to elland rd now!

yknow spurs may have hit a wall. the last few performances were lacklustre, liverpool game they were awful. hull game they were immense but myhill was on fire, no one would have scored against him. leeds game...well they were ok but not good enouigh. i am now worried about the rest of the season. we seem to depend on aaron lennon too much. paulychenko sadly is on his way out and if ruud van nistelrooy does come, where is the room for keane? he is the captain and a long standing team player, yeah he maybe off the boil but he still holds a lot of respect with the players. huddlestone not getting his game all the time which is criminal. i fear that the spurs are going to hit their slump to coincide with the rise of man city and the pool and villa..... it is possible spurs may finish 8th, its too close to call but spurs better get their foot on the loud pedal immediatly! finish the job.... dont carry on the tradition of spurs being a "nearly there team" plays fantastically but then bottles it! any less than a top 4 will be a major dissappointment.

the leeds game tho, fantastic match for a neutral!

Rud Van Nistleroy has moved to Hamburg so he's out of the equation.

I think you're right about Spurs hitting something. Whether it's a wall or not though, I'm unsure. I've heard rumours that You've offered West Ham Keane as part of a deal for Carlton Cole. Personally I think Cole is overrated and would happily swap him for Keane but I don't think the new owners want to get rid of him. Redknapps problem, and I know this from his time at West Ham, is that while he gets behind some players he seems to completely ignore others, which I think might be the case with Huddlestone.

Given the amount of points Liverpool, Villa and Man City are dropping, I'd say this season might be the best chance you'll have in a long time to to come of breaking the top 4. Give it a season and I think Man City will become the strongest contender and, if anything, the battle may be to try and grab Arsenal or Liverpools place.

Meanwhile west ham are now owned by a pornographer dwarf. Joy

As an outsider I have an observation is there a lot of guys changing teams at any given time?

it's the transfer window at the moment so yes, or at least a lot of talk about it

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...ce/8481549.stm

fuck and bollocks

Euro 2012 draw, group B:

Russia
Slovakia
Ireland
Macedonia
Armenia
Andorra

Here we go, Pauly, we're going to beat your ass bad!

 

Lets go Hoops.

i dont think getting rid of Keano was the right move, we should have ditched Pav.

Please explain the difference between Champion league and Premier for this soccer neophyte? I've been getting hooked as my Dad and I watch matches on ESPN Saturday morning.

That Messi is some kind of player thanks for the pointer Demon what's the question? IS it will he come through for Argentina?

The premier league is England's top division (Spain's is La Liga, Italy's is Serie A, etc). The Champions League is when the best teams from those different divisions around Europe play together to work out who the best team in Europe are.

The 'question' is whether Messi is as good as Maradona. Most people think Messi is the best player in the world right now (although some say it's Christiano Ronaldo, others say Wayne Rooney) but Maradona is recognised as one of the greatest players ever, alongside people like Pele, Best, Cruyff and Zidane That's why it's the 'big' question.

Ronaldo and Rooney are no match for Messi.

Yes I read an article that raised that question comparing Messi and Maradona and also why does he play better for Barcelona than Argentina. The writer of the article seemed to feel that Barcelona was more on an attacking team than Argentina.

I haven't seen a lot of Maradona but watching that you tube video that you posted sure made Messi look incredible the way he just stops and changes direction, his dribbling skills are the best I've seen. Perhaps I need to see if you tube has video of Maradona and Pele.

In the meantime go Everton!!

Maradona v Pele:

Argentina's problem is that they're coached by Maradona at the moment and while he was a great player is a disaster as a coach. Usually, Argentina are a brilliant side but so long as Maradona is in charge they've really struggled.

The problem with comparing Pele with Maradona is that they played in such different eras. Pele's more like an immovable icon, a bit like Muhammed Ali in boxing.


For much of the season I thought Rooney had overtaken him, and I still think Rooney is Messi's only real competition at the moment. At their best they're equally unstoppable, as would be any team who were able to bring them together as a strikeforce. Messi and Rooney up front and Ronaldo playing on the right would just be ridiculous. Unplayable.

What a darn fine week this has been for west London.

Now, what are QPR and Brentford's chances for promotion?

i'm sorry but i hate everything about football can't stand the so called beautiful game however i'm posting this song for my friends brother who's made this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiWEA5fUjUg

Stu, I guess you're missing much by being Englishman and not liking football at all. If I were British, I'd pick a team according to my location, would buy a season ticket and be on the pitch every single weekend.
British fandom of football has always been very fascinating for me.

argentina has players to field 3 world-class teams but with that cokehead coach they love so much they're going to be in trouble. yet-- who the fuck knows.

june 11!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ive got a new supermighty tv antenna & a bigass TV just for this.... well not really... the antenna yes, the tv is for "work".

you know, reviewing porn flicks.

no, not really.

yeah, like a national geographic documentary about hyenas!

they've got good teams though, but the fucking fans are an embarrassment




i'd say to stu watch on tv at home AWAY FROM PEOPLE. people are mostly repugnant creatures... best watched from afar...

though going to a stadium can be sweet...

er, not good

but more importantly, will Palace stay up? And will they have a team next season?

PositionTeamPGDPTSFull Championship table1Newcastle4352952West Brom4339863Nottm Forest4324754Cardiff4319705Leicester4310676Swansea433657Blackpool4313638Middlesbrough4312619Bristol City43-75910Sheff Utd4325811Reading42-15612Doncaster4305513Ipswich43-85414Preston43-115315Barnsley43-135316Derby43-115217Coventry43-135218QPR42-75119Watford42-104820Scunthorpe42-244721Crystal Palace43-34622Sheff Wed43-194523Plymouth43-194124Peterborough43-2831