World Cup 2006

[soupnazii]

we were there all right. well, mybe not a whole team, but we sent 1 player, and thats enough . did you happen to see John Pantsil (from Ghana) after their win over the Czech Republic? he plays here in Hapoel Tel-Aviv .
the day will come when israel joins the world cup, you mark my words french buddy. there isnt a kid in israel over the age of 5 who doesnt play soccer, and the only thing keeping us from playing at the world cup is that we arent big enough and we dont have enough great players.

also, just for the record, like i said before i have nothing against french people. its just that i like italy better

[TomVenom]

very nice answer, my buddy

Israel, in soccer at least, is a very hard team to play. The french team meets regularly israel in qualifications phases, and these are every time very hard games to play. I think you have a very good team.

Playing Italy will be a very hard challenge too. As hard as Spain, Brazil, or Portugal. France has the advantage to well know italian soccer. Many newspaper tell that france plays an italian soccer, very structurated, a hard defensive bloc, quite patient. Italy has gained an extra rest day, but they played prolongations against Germany. So it's quite equilibrated at this level.
To finish, I think that french team likes playing against latin teams : Spain, Brazil and Portugal for example.

50 / 50 for the epilog, I have no idea about the final winner.

[Kalah]

I hope Italy will lose, but alas, I fear they will win. Their defense is so well-organised that it'll probably take a France at its very best to even get through once. I sense a draw in the final and another goal in extra time. It'll be very even.

[soupnazii]

i also think they are very well matched. france is a very strong team, but italy's defense is like a brick wall. and germany was a very good example at how even when you do manage to get a shot at the goal their goaly does a great job at blocking. however, their offense is not extraordinary. france is very strong and mostly well-rounded. this shouls be an interesting match, and i would think no team would get in more than one goal. then if it comes to the penalty shots anything can happen...

[Gaidal Cain]

After the semifinals, I can't see why anyone would be hoping for this french team against this italian team unless they're french in the first place. France played boring, and not very good except for their defense. Hadn't they gotten that penalty, I don't think they would have won that game.

[ThunderTitan]

After the semifinals, I can't see why anyone would be hoping for this french team against this italian team unless they're french in the first place.

Completly unjustified hatred for the italians?! Jos Macaronarii.

[Kalah]

The Germans are making mincemeat out of the Portuguese...

[Gaidal Cain]

Poor Portuguese. The final score didn't reflect the playing. 2-1 would have been fairer. Ah well, it was a good game.

[Kalah]

One can only hope that the final will be as entertaining... yeah, right, with two defensive teams both more afraid of losing than they want to win..

[jeff]

One can only hope that the final will be as entertaining... yeah, right, with two defensive teams both more afraid of losing than they want to win..

The defensive battles are what makes soccer, so hard to sell to the US public. Most don't have the patience to enjoy the game strictly for its beauty. On the upbeat side, France played more like Brazil than Brazil did, and Italy did play a far more exciting style after the first round. So maybe it will be an exciting game.

[Gaidal Cain]

One can only hope that the final will be as entertaining... yeah, right, with two defensive teams both more afraid of losing than they want to win..

At least if it goes into overtime, Italy will be trying real hard to finish it before it comes to penalties- their history with those aren't exactly stellar...

If France plays as in the game against Brazil, it will get interesting. If they play as against Portugal, it will be boring.

[ThunderTitan]

1-1 at halftime and i missed both goals. Gosh darn it.

Those 2 french players coliding while trying to keep the ball from geting out was funny.

[DaemianLucifer]

Well that was disapointing.Oh well,you could say that italy was due to win one penalty shoot out.

[Gaidal Cain]

Italy wins on penalties! Perhaps not fair with regards to how the game looked after halftime, but still...

And what Zidane did was soo dumb. Not the way he envisioned his last game, I guess.

[ThunderTitan]

For some reason my TV Tuner lost all sound to the channel that showed the match some time during the second half of overtime. So i didn't get to watch the penalties.

Oh well. Guess Italy is better then France. Sort of.

[Kalah]

I'm surprised France managed to sustain its offense without Vieira, Henry and eventually with 10 men without Zidane. They would have been worthy winners.

Also, an unusual number of excellent penalties; the goalkeepers weren't close to either one of the 9 struck. The miss was as close as it can get; off the line and back out...

[Gaidal Cain]

France would have been worthy winners of the game. But Italy was more worthy as winners of the whole WC, IMO. Italy played well throughout the cup, France only played really well in two games.

[Kalah]

It's not that they didn't deserve it; they played well. Still, I despise the Italia unsporting behaviour - everything they have brought into football the last twenty years has accumulated into a mass of... well, hate.

[jeff]

I sure would like to know what possibly have been said to Zidane to cause him to do that. What a horrible way to be remembered after such a great career. Unfortunately it will likely be associated with him for many years to come, especially by fans like me who knew little of him prior to this world cup.

[asandir]

a headbutt to the chest .... well that was weird ....

im glad the italians won over france .... as stated above they didn't really play well for much of the tournament