[Hip Priest]

One man deserves a very special mention: Iran's Ali Daei


This will probably be his last World CUp, and it's therefore especially nice that it's in Germany, where he spent happy times playing for both Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin.

 

Still an international striker at the age of 37, he has a phenomenal goal scoring record for his country; 109 goals in 147 games. Bear in mind that 1 goal every 2 games is considered very good indeed, and his record speaks for itself!

Arguably Daei's finest hour in an Iran shirt came against Korea Republic in the 1996 AFC Asian Cup, a match he has described as “the most unforgettable of my life”. With Iran trailing 2-1 early in the second half, Daei took the game by the scruff of the neck, setting up Khodadad Aziz for the equaliser and then striking four goals to secure a remarkable 6-2 victory.

He was supposed to be in my fantasy team, but I forgot. Shame, he's a great player.

[atari 2600]

i missed out on 10 pts by failing to bring in IBRAHIMOVIC Zlatan off the bench yesterday & 11 pts for not putting in LAMPARD Frank.

woo-hoo! I'm an idiot!

I was about to put in Ibrahimovic early yesterday morning & then time got away from me & the game started.

I hope Mexico hands Iran their ass.

Well, NED is up one early...
I think I have to check out the Men's Championship Final, Federer vs. Nadal, over in Roland-Garros Stadium...the re-match from last year...Federer will have his revenge today against that upstart long-pants wearer son of a guy that owns a fucking island! Nadal is great on clay though, there's no doubt about that.

Yep, Roger is up 3-0 in the first set. C'mon...money...

Long rallies not to be missed over on NBC, people...you can always watch soccer during the French Open commercials...Federer, who is probably the world's greatest athlete, made a stand to go up 4-0 now in the first set & has serve. 5-0 now & Federer is just intentionally manipulating Nadal's hopes allowing him in the last two games to come close with multiple deuces. He'll probably even let him have a couple before he crushes him in this first set.

Oh shit..Nadal has won 4 straight & is up 3-0 in the second. In the first game of the second, he was putting such forceful spin on the ball that Federer was having problems & still is as a result of the discombobulation. Nadal is about already tired out though even though he is much younger. I'm still thinking Federer will come back to win this second set. You guys are missing some killer volleys.

[Bertrand]

Federer 6, Nadal 1
I couldn't believe my eyes when I switched during Netherlands-Serbia&Montegro's half time.
I expected that game to take longer.
I've kept pestering friends with Federer since I saw a semi-final against Hewitt where he concluded a tie break 7-0. He won the final against Agassi (a tie-break there too, but only 7-1).
This man has elegance.
Won't comment about the football game for the moment.

[atari 2600]

the score is all tied up now...Federer won the first set 6-1 & Nadal won the second set 6-1. Did you see that Vaughniston was there, Bertrand? haha

I managed to still catch 2 shots on goal from NED & SMT just made a close miss from long...& a close miss from short just now minutes later. Ned just took a free kick & missed just barely. STM missed a header from a cross & NED keeps giving up the corners as STM is struggling to stay in it.

Game over...I think the next soccer game is on at 11:30, so that gives you thirty minutes to see this amazing tennis match. Nadal just broke Federer's serve and is up 3-2 in the third.

[PAULYBEE2656]

i fucking forgot to do my team! gah!

[johnnywinternoshow]

you can still do a team, you just won't get the points from the matches already played

[PAULYBEE2656]

yeah i know, im sick and lazy to to it now, maybe later!

[Hip Priest]

Fifteen minutes 'till group D kicks off (5pm my time) - I've got high hopes that this group will provide plenty of entertainment! I reckon likely scores are Mexico 2 Iran 1 (edit: it was 3-1, but it was 2-1 for a while!), and Portugal 3 Angola 1. But I'll be way out with those probably. Who can tell?

Borgetti starts for Mexico - I'm hoping for some serious points from this man, so expect him to have a bad tournament!

Netherlands played well - they were in control for all bar a late ten minute period, really. The 1 -0 scoreline was a little more comfortable than it looked - Robben was genius, and van Persie played well too. That late van Persie free kick that nearly went in was nice, although he took an absolute age over it - I'm surprised he wasn't booked for timewasting. Good job though, as I think he's my captain today!

[atari 2600]

Nadal, who has not lost his serve since the 4th game of the first set, is now on serve for the match in the 4th set...yikes!

whew! Federer is still in it. This is nuts.

Federer loses in a tie-break; he has so much trouble against Nadal on clay who has now won 60 straight on clay.
Nadal has done it two years in a row at the French against the best tennis player in the world.

Even though he speaks English, Federer gave his concession speech in French & said that they would meet yet again next year. Nadal remarked that it was an honor to win over Federer again who he (rightfully so) lauded as the best player in tennis history, on all surfaces.
In the less formal courtside interview following, Nadal called Federer one of the best in history haha. Bud Cort (?) remarked that Rafael's spin was "inhuman".

Bravo to the Bravo goal for Mexico from the throw-in; that was wild.
I see on the replay that Iran bounced back.
Another for Bravo!
more more moregoals more destroy destroy them!

[Hip Priest]

Mexico 3 Iran 1. Relief that Mexico won, although to be honest they were being matched by Iran until about 60 minutes, when the latter seemed to decide they were happy with the score. Always a dangerous tactic...

BRavo was man of the match with 2 goals and a fine committed performance. Emotional scenes at the end centered around the Mexican goalkeeper, whose father died a few days ago.

[atari 2600]

oh man this is too much

first i forget to put in Ibrahimovic & Lampard & lose out on 21 pts yesterday
then Federer loses the rematch
now Akwa has missed 2 overhead kicks for goals. & before I can even finish posting, he has missed yet another attempt, this one more conventional.

[sonicl]

Whose team is Grand Popo?

[johnnywinternoshow]

i thought it was gonna end up about 6-0 after the first 10 minutes, but angola are defending well. Not really making too many opportunities for shots but doing alright

[Hip Priest]

They really pulled themselves together after about 5 minutes, didn't they?

Fairly rubust defence.

[acousticrock87]

That was a nice play by Angola (at about 88:30). They're looking pretty good, from my untrained perspective.

[Hip Priest]

Better than many expected, certainly. But you have to say that the African teams that are here have qualified ahead of Cameroon, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa - all traditionally 'bigger' African teams - so they obviously have some quality.

[Bertrand]

Originally Posted by sonicl

Whose team is Grand Popo?

It's o o o's

[o o o]

yes, it's me.

figo really seemed in form tonight... in contrast, zidane, who has the same age, doesn't seem to be able to run like that these days...

i'm eager to see Ghana play tomorrow... although of course it should be difficult against Italy.

[Hip Priest]

Italy are about to shine again, I think - this squad has the potential to do big things.

Tomorrow's USA vs Czech Republic game is interesting; the Czechs were very hot for a while, but that generation has aged a bit, and the new players aren't as good as those who reached the European Championship finals. The US have a chance to get off the ground with a win - if they do that, then they should be capable of beating Ghana.

Second place in the group would mean a match against Brasil, most likely.

[johnnywinternoshow]

yeah, nedved's still good but he's not as good as he used to be. Baros or Rosiscky is probably the main threat these days

I heard once that nedved has 3 kneecaps (or 3 bits of kneecap) in one of his knees