Posts Tagged ‘Italy’

What am I going to do with myself?

There is no World Cup futebol to watch on the tube. But cheer up folks Friday is just around the corner. Brasil battles the Netherlands and Uruguay has a hot date with Ghana.

The big question is this. Are you surprised by the results so far?

Yes and no.

I have been stating that Brasil and Argentina are the best teams in the world. Spain and the Netherlands are a close second.

What surprised me was the crappy play of England, France, and defending chump I mean champ Italy.

I loved it seeing the cheating French getting their asses handed to them.

I love it when Italy didn’t make out of the group stage too.

Paraguay took it to them. 

How about the strong showing of the South American teams?

No.

I have been a student of South American futebol for fifteen years.

Everyone knows that Brasil and Argentina are the class of South American futebol.

Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay have been making great strides over the years.

Paraguay and Ecuador played in the 2006 World Cup along with Argentina and Brasil.

Only Brasil and Argentina made it to the knockout stage of the 2006 World Cup.

Both Brasil and Argentina were knocked out in the quarterfinals.

 South American club teams have been serving as feeder systems for the top-flight leagues in Europe since 2005.

Manchester United’s Sir Alex and Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger have been combing Brasil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay for the past seven years searching for the best younger futebolers.  

Another key is the strength and quality of play in the Copa Libertadores.

The winner of the Copa has given the Champions League titleholder fits in the FIFA World Cup Club futebol championship held every December.

Barcelona needed a late second half goal to send the match with Argentinean side Estudiantes into extra time.

Barcelona needed 120 minutes to beat Estudiantes 2-1 to win the 2009 FIFA World Cup Title championship game.

South American futebol is for real folks.

Four South American sides are in the quarterfinals.

If things work out it could be an all South American semifinals and finals.

Take heed folks futebol in South American is stronger than European futebol.

Trust me on this.

Look for a Brasil-Argentina final.

www.palau.org

http://www2.hillsong.com/tv/home.asp

http://www.bolaradio.com.br/

I am happy as a bug in a rug. The two 2006 World Cup finalists were given their walking papers.

Runner up France and 2006 World Cup chump, I mean champ, Italy didn’t make it out the Group stage.

Italy lost to of all people Slovakia 3-2.

On Tuesday, the French stunk the joint out in a loss to 2-1 loss to South Africa.

Only 2006 third place World Cup side Germany made it out of the Group stage.

This was just barely.

Paraguay and the Kiwis-New Zealand tied nil-nil.

Paraguay wins Group F.

Slovakia winds up in second place.

The Netherlands took care of business beating Cameroon 2-1.

The Dutch went undefeated in Group E.

Netherlands is the only European team that played very well.

Japan blasted Demark 3-1.

Japan finished second in Group E.

The dance card for the first round of the knockout stage is almost complete.

The Group H is in doubt.

All Chile has to do is beat Spain.

Spain is hanging a by thread.

The Spanish need to win.

Switzerland needs to beat Honduras by more than two goals or hope that Spain wins by a huge margin.

Chile has six points. They are a  plus two.

Spain has three points. The Spainish are a plus one.

Switzerland  has three points. The Swiss are even money.

I want Chile to send Spain to the cleaners.

Spain was the odd on favorite by many to win the whole shooting match.

I know I picked them to have a good shot to win it all but in my heart I would love to see them 86th.

The European sides are having a horrible World Cup.

South America is having a great World Cup so far.

Brasil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay are on to the next round.

The power of futebol has shifted to South America.

Everyone knows that Brasil and Argentina are world powers but what most folks don’t know is that club futebol in Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and the rest of South America is very good.

If folks would examine the Copa Libertadores, they would see how good theses sides really are.

It is always EPL this, Italy that, French this and Spain that. But the clubs from South America drive these European clubs nuts.

All you have to do is look at the results the past few years in the FIFA World Club Championship.

www.palau.org

http://www2.hillsong.com/tv/home.asp

http://www.bolaradio.com.br/

The dirty cheating French were sent home packing.

The big bad French boys lost to lowly South Africa 2-1.

This was an utterly horrible display of futebol that I have seen in many a moon.

 If you remember it was Zinedine whose world famous head butt cost the French the 2006 World Cup title.

The French cheated into the World Cup now the Frogs are paying the price for their lying cheating ways.

I love it.

France has no wins, one draw, and two losses.

Voce Vai.

Uruguay won Group A by defeating Mexico 1-0.

Both Mexico and Uruguay both advance to the knockout round.

South Africa finished their World Cup play with one win, one loss, and one tie.

Both Mexico and South Africa were tied with four points each but Mexico advanced on a better goal difference.

Mexico has a plus one while South Africa is a minus 2.

Good show South Africa.

Argentina scored two late second half goals en route to a 2-1 win over Greece.

Argentinos breezed thru Group B gobbling up the full amount of points six.

Maybe Maradona is learning how to manage big time futebol.

Messi was used as the lone striker while Tevez was given the day off.

Argentina has the strongest strike force in the world-Messi, Tevez, and Higuain.

Add to the mix Maxi Rodriguez, Martin Palermo, and Gabriel Heinze and Argentina is down right dangerous.

Argentina still has a great shot to win the World Cup.

It would be great to have a Brasil-Argentina World Cup final.

Here’s some food for thought.

The South American clubs have not lost a single match.

Brasil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Paraguay are showing the rest of the world where the real futebol powers are.

It sure as hell isn’t in Europe.

England, France, Italy, Germany are playing like crap.

They stink.

Nigeria and South Korea tied at two all.

South Korea gets their ticket punched to the knockout stage.

www.palau.org

http://www2.hillsong.com/tv/home.asp

http://www.bolaradio.com.br/

This is the match I have been waiting for Brasil- Ivory Coast.

Game on.

I love it.

So far, we have a tightly played contest.

Brasil hit for pay dirt in the in the 25^th minute. Luis Fabiano fought his way thru the tough Ivory Coast “D”.

He roofed a tight angled right side shot to give us 1-0 lead.

Kaka had his hand in the play with a great back heel pass to set up the winner.

Brasil has now seized the match by the throat.

Ivory Coast is still dangerous with Didier Drogba on the pitch.

This cat can change the scope of the match in a heartbeat.

Except for free kick, Drogba has been MIA.

This is not good for the Ivory Coast.

So far so good, for we are up 1-nil.

From the 35^th to the 37^th minute, the Ivory Coast has had three good attacks on goal. Zippo nada is the result.

We are half and we have the result we wanted a 1-0 lead.

We are in the money. Fabiano took it straight to the rack and beat three Ivory Coast defenders to make 2-0 Brasil in the 50^th minute.

A great long ball by mate Julio Cesar set this up.

Drogba had a great header on goal in the 54^th minute. His shot skidded across the goalmouth.

This was s close call. 

It is three-nil in the 63^rd minute.

Kaka took a free kick down the left side of the pitch. He set it up with a great crossover dribble.

This set up the defender to shade to the middle of the pitch.

Kaka went zoom past em.

He flew straight to Ivory Coast end line.

Elano broke to the center of the box.

Kaka fired a great diagonal pass to mate Elano.

Elano had the easy tap in goal to make 3-0 nil Brasil.

Drogba scored for the Ivory Coast on a break away header in the 79^th minute.

This was set up by a defensive lapse by Brasil.

Robinho stopped a for sure goal a few moments earlier.

This led directly to the Didier Drogba goal.

Now you see what I mean about how dangerous Drogba is.

It is 3-1 Brasil.

Kaka was given the heave-hoe after his second yellow card.

The Ivory Coast player deliberately ran into his elbow.

The guy’s a flopper.

This sucks big time.

Brasil was given the raw end of the deal.

Yet read the scoreboard fools.

You lost sucker.

3-1.

Brasil is on to the next round.

Kaka will miss the final Group stage match against Portugal.

Kaka played great.

He didn’t score but had two assists.

The Elephants are dirty.

The Brasil press said that peace has been restored on the Brasilian team. This win tested the nerves of the Brasileiros team- Globo Esporte- Foi uma vitória para restabelecer a paz entre a seleção brasileira e a torcida, que na arquibancada do Soccer City gritou “olé” e “o campeão voltou” graças ao placar de 3 a 1 sobre a Costa do Marfim neste domingo, em Joanesburgo. E foi também uma vitória que testou os nervos de alguns jogadores, já que os africanos apelaram para faltas duras depois de levarem três gols até os 17 minutos do segundo tempo. Kaká não passou nesse teste e foi expulso.

Luis Fabiano’s two goals made him the top scorer with Dunga at the helm.

Os gols marcados por Luis Fabiano (duas vezes, uma delas ajeitando a bola com o braço) e Elano fazem do Brasil o segundo país classificado para as oitavas de final da Copa do Mundo, depois da Holanda, e o terceiro a conseguir 100% de aproveitamento, junto com holandeses e argentinos. A primeira colocação do Grupo G pode ficar garantida já nesta segunda-feira, em caso de empate entre Portugal e Coreia do Norte, que se enfrentam às 8h30m. Luis Fabiano, agora o artilheiro da era Dunga (com 21 gols), foi eleito o melhor em campo no Soccer City. 

The press is saying that Fabiano’s second goal is similar to Maradona’s famous “Hand of God” goal in 1986.

The the ball did roll up his arm.

The ref didn’t see it.

Too bad this baby counts.

This was like Maradona’s blatant hand ball.

This sucker was not intentional.

 Em 1986, o gol com a mão de Maradona na partida de quartas de final entre Argentina e Inglaterra criou uma polêmica que se arrasta por mais de 20 anos e promete não ter fim. Neste domingo, em Joanesburgo, Luis Fabiano, mais discretamente, usou novamente do artifício para ampliar a vantagem da seleção brasileira sobre a Costa do Marfim, na partida vencida pelo Brasil por 3 a 1. Após a partida, o atacante confessou que dominou a bola com o braço. No entanto, ele tentou aliviar para o seu lado.

Foi uma mão involuntária, a mão de Deus. Realmente a bola acabou tocando na mão no primeiro lance. O segundo lance foi no ombro. Para ficar mais bonito, o gol tinha que ter um toque duvidoso. Mas como foi involuntário, acho que valeu o gol. Acho que foi um dos mais bonitos da minha carreira. Fazer um gol numa Copa do Mundo é espetacular. Acho que é falar mais do gol, que foi uma pintura, do que o uso da mão – afirmou.

New Zealand pulled off a huge upset by tying the defending World Cup champs Italy one all.

Italy is playing like crap.

Paraguay shut out Slovenia 2-0.

Paraguay is in the pole position in Group F with four points. Italy and New Zealand are tied for second with two points each.

www.palau.org

http://www2.hillsong.com/tv/home.asp

http://www.bolaradio.com.br/

Day three is underway at the World Cup.

Finally, we have victories instead of ties. Red Cards were the order of the day too.

Ghana was in complete control of the match. Sure, Serbia had their chances but in a matter a moments, the match was spun on its ear. A Red Card and handball spelled doom for Serbia.

Ghana defeated Serbia 1-0.

Asamoah Gyan nailed the PK in the 84^th minute to lift Ghana to a 1-0 win.

The idiot Serbian defender Zdravko Kuzmamovic punched the ball out the goal area.

This was dumb.

He should be shot for such stupidly.

Algeria lost to Slovenia 1-0.

Robert Koren nailed the match winner in the 79^th minute.

Algerian keeper Faouzi Chaouchi blew it. The ball bounced off his hands into the net.

This is Deja vue all over again.

Algerian Abdelkader Ghezzal was given the heave-hoe in the 73^rd minute.

So far, there has been lots of crappy play and many surprises.

The teams that I thought would have a great shot at winning the whole shooting match have played like crap.

England tied one all with the USA while Argentina squeaked by Nigeria 1-0.

Both of these sides should have won hands down.

The USA only has one world-class player Tim Howard.

Word has it that he is injured when he suffered a cleat to the chest.

If we loss him our goose is royally cooked.

Germany killed Australia 4-0.

The Aussies had a chance to score early but nada.

The German’s turned up the heat and scored lightening quick to put this baby away early.

Lukas Podolski ripped the twines in the 8^th minute.

Ozil’s great corner into the box set up this baby. Muller flicked a great pass to Podolski who has an easy shot into the back of net.

Klose’s header in the 26^th minute ended this puppy right here.

2-0 Germany.

The Aussie’s goose is cooked.

Germany added two more goals by Muller (67^th minute) and Cacau (70^th minute).

Day three is over and the German’s played the best futebol of the day.

Day four is coming up

The Netherlands escaped with a 2-0 win over Denmark.

An own goal by Denmark’s Daniel Agger in the 46^th minute spelled doom the Danish side.

Liverpool star Dirk Kuyt put the final nail in the Danish coffin in the 85^th minute.

Japan shut out Cameroon 1-0.

Defending World Cup Champs Italy tied with Paraguay 1-1.

Paraguayan striker Antolin Alcaraz nailed a perfect header into the back of the net in the 39^th minute for a 1-0 lead.

Alcaraz out leaped two Italian defenders for the winner.

This was set up by a great free kick into the depths of the box.

The Italians found the answer in the 63^rd minute.

Daniele D Rossi directed home a well-placed corner kick to the far right post. Rossi flicked the ball into the back of the net to even this sucker up at one all.

This is a huge tie for Paraguay.

Italy had most of the possessions.

On Tuesday Brasil takes on North Korea.

We need to come out smoking and kick some major butt.

Go Brasil.

www.palau.org

http://www2.hillsong.com/tv/home.asp

http://www.bolaradio.com.br/

The World Cup is three days away. The world’s best futebol clubs will battle it out for the 2010 World Cup title.

Spain and Brasil are the favorites to win the whole shooting match.

Argentina, England, and Italy have a good shot a being crowned champs too.

Italy is the defending World Champion.

Will the Italians repeat?

Not.

Let the games begin on Friday June 11^th.

The opening salvo has South Africa battling Mexico and Uruguay has a hot date with France.

Brasil opens up with Korea on June 15^th.

The USA takes on England on Saturday June 12^th.

This should be a good one.

The Unites States saving grace is Tim Howard in goal.

He is the only world-class player we have.

Landon Donovan showed promise when he played for EPL club Everton for a spell from January thru April but when push comes to shove Donovan wusses out in money matches.

Let’s see if Landon man will change his ways.

I can’t wait.

I am pulling for Brasil.

My heart is Brasilian.

Go Brasil.

Teams to watch out for-France, Germany, Nigeria, Portugal, England, and Cameroon.

www.palau.org

http://www2.hillsong.com/tv/home.asp

http://www.bolaradio.com.br/