"This was a shocking exit for Brazil, the pretournament favorite. The Brazilians had just one shot on goal all game and allowed huge defensive gaps all night. Stars such as Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Kaka were either invisible or inept."....


A guy lets people call him KAKA?

I would concur with that statement Scuds
Brazil seemed to lack the passion & energy
which make them great and fun to watch
not just in this match, but all tournament
as a huge fan, I'm disappointed in the result & the effort
but they were simply outplayed by the inspired French
however... I won't cry about it like Beckham
I've lost all respect for him
now I don't mind if he cried when they lost
but he cried when it was tied with almost 30 minutes left
in the match! why act defeated when you have not been?
especially when you are supposed to be one of the team's leaders
Portugal can thank him and the stupidity of Wayne Rooney
plus an awesome winner from Cristiano
for the win...hope they take it all!

Ronaldo was flopping like a fish. He waited till the last 2 minutes to put effort forth. Should not have been on the field. Ronaldinho on the other hand, did everything in his power to keep Brazil in the game. He was clearly the player of the game for Brazil. He was double and triple manned most of the game and still hit some wonderful crosses for a lazy Ronaldo.

France clearly outplayed Brazil and deserves to move on. Zidane and Ribery were wonderful. Ribery would be the man of the match for me. A wonderful little skitter bug with the ball. He was loads of fun to watch, bad teeth and all.

Ahh, I wish I would have been there to console a few! :cool:

Brazil ... France ... Portugal ... England ...

... four teams ... 210 minutes of "action" ...

... and exactly one goal scored.

The game is boooooorrrrriiiinnnnnggggg !!!

If every baseball game went 18 innings to a 0-0 tie ... and had to be decided by a tee-ball home run contest ... that'd be real boring too.

If you're looking for a high scoring sport, soccer's definitely not the game for you. But played at it's highest levels, it is, to most, the greatest sport in the world. A sport of tremendous nuance, athelticism and skill. And, as a spectator, it's great to watch in terms of no stops in play (commercials). Then again, there's always Arena Football (heck, I like that too).

Not to mention the hot players! ;)

come on the italians. they have the best defender in the world - cannavaro. game might not be the most exciting but for us aficionados, it'll be very interesting!

Crap, I'm cheering for Germany! But, if I'm cheering for them, that means they'll probably lose. :D

Germans eatin' plate of ice cold Kraut.Pgrdn,how was that(the tie-breaking goal) for execution?

unreal finish... germans nearly unbeatable in penalties.. glad the italians won it, they were the classier team..

Italians were the better team. They won. All is good. Very good defensive game by the Italians. I just wish they were not a bunch of drama queens.

I will have to go with France now. I love that little Ribery. Watch this guy, he is fantastic. Most overlooked player in this tourney. His motor is always on. With the ball he is damn fast and the ball never gets more than a foot away from him so it is almost impossible to knock it away. Great change of direction. I really like the guy. With a set of braces for his teeth, he too may have been able to date and marry a talentless girly vocalists.

Take that Beckham ya crybaby.

Nuance?

Hey ... I just wanna see the ball go into the net. Isn't that the objective of all the nuance?

How about today's game ... another 0-0 beauty ... but if you stayed awake for the overtime ... you finally got to see a score.

Now that's nuance !!!

In honor of the victory by the Azzurri ... let's all sing "Azzurro" ... OK ... a-one ... and a-two ... and a- ...

Azzurro, il pomeriggio è troppo azzurro e lungo
per me,
mi accorgo di non avere più risorse senza di te,
e allora
io quasi quasi prendo il treno
e vengo, vengo da te,
ma il treno dei desideri,
dei miei pensieri all'incontrario va.

Sembra quand'ero all'oratorio
con tanto sole, tanti anni fa...
quelle domeniche da solo
in un cortile a passeggiar...
ora mi annoio più di allora:
neanche un prete per chiaccherar...

Azzurro, il pomeriggio è troppo azzurro e lungo per me,
mi accorgo di non avere più risorse senza di te,
e allora
io quasi quasi prendo il treno
e vengo, vengo da te,
ma il treno dei desideri,
dei miei pensieri all'incontrario va.

Very good ... a whole lot better than "Deutschland Uber Alles" ... isn't it?

the Italian goal keeper is awesome
he's the best I've ever seen
other than Patrick Waugh (Roy)
the precision on that goal was something to behold
sorry pg but I'm rooting for Portugal 2day
they get Deco back, and France just won it in '98

I was rooting for Germany because they had changed their style and had become much more exciting. I really dont care deeply now that the US is out and never had a chance. Its just such good soccer, I love to watch it. I go back and watch some of the MLS games and the play is just so much better in the world cup in comparison. And when you get the top club teams from each country squaring off, thats good stuff. Its a very difficult game to play well. So I can see why it is not so popular in the US. I would have a very hard time watching soccer from a really bad side. I root for the pretty teams. The teams with creativity and ball movement. And even though the goal scoring is down, this World Cup has been a joy to watch. And I think its because they have been so strict about tackling from behind etc...

France/Portugal ... another contest where not one goal was scored as a result of game action.

Sorry ... I just don't get the appeal of this sport. The players are very skilled ... but the game they play is a crashing bore.

this buddy of mine loved it when the baseball players went on strike in '94
he wanted them never to come back, because he couldn't stand baseball
it never made sense to me though, because all you have to do is not watch
but I s'pose I know where you are coming from
everybody used to talk about "Friends"
I tried watching it and found it totally shallow
and although I never watched, I was happy when it ended

Tonk K. was right on ESPN in saying there needs to be more scoring
because if there is not, one good flops means the match
well...I would suggest not having an offsides penalty
purists would be appalled, but I feel this would open up the game
to allow more goal opportunities

but I'll give you that today's match was kind of ho-hum...

Go Italy!

The match today was not the greatest. But these four players are fantastic to watch: Ribery, Zidane, C. Ronaldo, Figo. The French back line was tremendous today and made the game more boring for Portugal.

I love it! :D