World Cup Group A (3 Viewers)

[ratmonkey]

I've a tenner on Uruguay to win the competition at 100/1.

 

[Cormcolash]

South Africa are playing UruBUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

 

[Hector Grey]

safrikka were gash. very disapointing

 

[Richie]

Yeah, brutal.. they don't seem to have the players to pull off that nice passing style they're going for, unfortunately. Easily nullified when they get into the final third and a shakey defence. Here's hoping they somehow pull off a miracle against the French. Uruguay defended well in fairness, very quick to close down spaces. I didn't see the Swiss v Spain hilarity earlier on but it seems like the tournament is picking up a bit, two decent days of action today and yesterday.

 

[Moods For Mallards]

Why would anyone be disappointed by South Africa? They're not a good team. I was looking for Uruguay to perform and the they did. Forlan the early front runner for Player of the Tournament. Uruguay were positive & went for the kill when the opportunity was there. Fair dues to them. I'm hoping for a Mexico win tonight and then we'll probably get a ceasefire for Mex-Uru.

 

[Hector Grey]

well, it's well known that sarfrikka are gash, but this tournament needed them to be better. here's hoping ghana and ivory c do better. it's shame all the african teams appear to be utter shite. it's worse however when european teams are shite, considering the quality that didn't make it. yeah, i'm looking at you slovakia.

 

[Unicron]

I'm not sure about the notion that the African World Cup needs an African side other than South Africa to do well. Are the locals going to roll in behind Ivory Coast now that Bafana Bafana are all but out? Surely they think that Drogba is a terrible prick just like the rest of the world does.

 

[Moods For Mallards]

Surely none of that matters to a TV viewer thousands of miles away anyway.
It didn't enhance my experience of the relatively poor 2006 World Cup that there was a great party going in Germany, they were coming together and celebrating their identity for the first time in years, etc. Only embedded journalists would care, no?

Spain flopped big time in 1982 (got through the group but were appalling) and that tournament is considered a classic.

 

[Hector Grey]

i'm just working off the fairly ignorant notion that it might be easier for more fans from other african nations to get to sarfrikka. i know argentina is closer to sa than ghana, but if they started walking a few months ago, they should be nearly there by now

 

[Hector Grey]

Surely none of that matters to a TV viewer thousands of miles away anyway.
It didn't enhance my experience of the relatively poor 2006 World Cup that there was a great party going in Germany, they were coming together and celebrating their identity for the first time in years, etc. Only embedded journalists would care, no?

Spain flopped big time in 1982 (got through the group but were appalling) and that tournament is considered a classic.

very true. spain 0 england 0, germany 1 austria 0......etc etc. tournaments are remembered for the classic games. italy and brazil, france germany, a decent final, a good poland side. this tournament will take off, you'll see.

mind you, the adidas tango is a classic football. coninkydink?

 

[Moods For Mallards]

mind you, the adidas tango is a classic football. coninkydink?

Probably not. Bring it back!
Plus you can't defend properly in short shorts.

 

[Hector Grey]

yeah, but it is a winter tournament, so maybe short shorts wouldn't work.
anyone think that brazil's shorts are too dark? bring back light blue shorts. they look classier

 

[Richie]

Sweet schadenfraude.. France didn't look all that bothered did they though? No fight when they went behind. We really showed them way too much respect in that first playoff leg.

 

[oh shit]

loved that
but yeah france really didn't seem bothered at all. met a bloke in the pub who put £20 on them not scoring once in the whole tournament. looking pretty solid.

 

[rettucs]

Gary Lineker said they'd be dancing in the streets of Dublin last night.

curiously enough, they weren't. Odd that.

 

[Moods For Mallards]

Gary Lineker said they'd be dancing in the streets of Dublin last night.

curiously enough, they weren't. Odd that.

Where were you?!?!? It was partytime on the avenues of Dublin X. Sombreros in the air, etc.

The Mexican fans win goal celebration of the tournament so far - beer all over the place.

 

[rettucs]

Where were you?!?!? It was partytime on the avenues of Dublin X. Sombreros in the air, etc.

The Mexican fans win goal celebration of the tournament so far - beer all over the place.

I was in Dublin XW. Not a sombero (above and beyond the normal sombrero-wearing demographic of said leafy suburb) to be seen from the extremities of the Burmah garage to the north, to the Spawell Leisure complex to the south.

I never checked the east or west though. Might have been party-time out in those party hotspots.

 

[Richie]

I didn't see any mad celebrations, but there was applause in the pub (in Rathmines) when Mexico scored, and some lad blew his (Irish coloured) vuvuzela at the end. That's the whole thing behind us now, right? It'd be sort of funny if France still qualified actually (they need to beat South Africa by a few and hope that Uruguay beat Mexico, right?)

 

[Hector Grey]

those fuckers have ripped us off. we could have gone to the world cup and easily been that bad. abidal's foul could have been mcshanes. all those useless shanks and punts? robbie and kevin could have done that. a shit offside trap? step forward sean st ledger.

france robbed us, but they've robbed their own people too. what a fucking mess they are. dunphy was right, they didn't look like they wanted to be there. domenech, worst manager ever?

 

[evil bandit]

It looks like the French are doing everything in their powers to take the spotlight off England

Foul-mouthed Anelka could be sent home

France and Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka could be sent home from the World Cup for unleashing a foul-mouthed tirade at coach Raymond Domenech after being criticised during half-time of the 2-0 defeat to Mexico.

The 1998 champions and 2006 runners-up are facing an early exit in South Africa having emerged with just one point from their opening two Group A fixtures.

French newspaper L'Equipe reported that 58-year-old Domenech slammed Anelka for his performance after the first half of Thursday's match at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.

And 31-year-old Anelka, playing in his first World Cup, hit back with a volley of insults, telling Domenech to "go screw yourself, dirty son of a whore."

Domenech responded by substituting Anelka, who was replaced by Andre-Pierre Gignac.

"Okay. You're coming off," the coach said, before Mexico hit two second half goals to leave France staring at a group stage exit for the second time in three tournaments.

If Uruguay and Mexico draw their final match, France, whose preparations were reportedly fraught with disputes between Domenech and his players, are out of the tournament, regardless of their result against hosts South Africa.

Then Evra and one of the French fitness coaches got into a slagging match during which Domenech had to break then up before they started actually fighting

Video here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTjEQrge98g&feature=youtu.be

Better quality video here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UBwmUXTwuY

This led to the whole team leaving the training camp and getting onto the bus then issuing the following statement

Official release:
"With this release, all players of the France team without exception want to assert their opposition to the decision taken by the French Football Federation to exclude Nicolas Anelka group. If we regret the incident that occurred at halftime of the match between France and Mexico, we regret even more the disclosure of an event that belongs to our group and which is inherent in the life of a high level team. At the request of the group, the player in question has committed an attempt at dialogue, but his approach has remained voluntarily ignored. For its part, the French Football Federation has at no time tried to protect the group. She has made a decision without consulting all the players, only on the basis of the facts reported by the press. Accordingly, and to mark its opposition to the highest levels of French football, all players decided not to participate in the workout. Out of respect for the public who came to attend this meeting, we decided to go to meet him, who by his presence, brings us unwavering support. For our part, we are aware of our responsibilities, those wearing the colors of our country, but also those that we have towards our fans, their officers, educators, volunteers and countless children who keep the Blues as models. For our part, we forget nothing of our duties. We will do everything individually, of course, but also in a collective spirit that France, on Tuesday night, finds his honor by a positive performance last.

The players of the team of France "