World cup 2006 memories, what you mostly liked

Another thing I loved was watching the participation of fans on television. I have been to a couple of World Cups and love the fan interaction and the passion of supporters. I particularly enjoyed watching the fan mile and the enormous collection of German fans throughout Germany's cities. For me, the passion of the game is always first, and with great organization and intelligence, the organizers brought it out and put it on display. Brilliant work from Germany once again. By all accounts a spectacularly organized World Cup that was fun to watch and looked like a lot of fun to be at.

 

Anyone who doesn't like calzone is un-American! It had nothing to do with Italy at this point. As for racially offensive slurs....I happen to be of German, Italian, Polish and French ancestry, and while playing FIFA 07 and 2006 FIFA World Cup on my PS2, I have called my opponents (and sometimes myself when Twellman's point blank header goes high and wide of the net) culturally offensive things. Now yelling at a TV screen may not be the same as saying it to someone else...but still...they're just words. Get thicker skin.


And yes Grosso's goal/celebration was nice.

 

That's interesting to me. I would think that the rest of the world would hate the fact that the USA had a good run in the 2002 World Cup.

Also, I can't fault the Ghanian player (dont remember who it was) for playing on. He got the ball cleanly, and whos to say Reyna was really hurt? What if every player fell down and 'got injured' when they were beaten? Should everyone stop when they're about to score? No way.

 

I cant say they should have won. They certainly shouldn't have lost but I don't feel at all that the Aussie's out played Italy the way USA or France did.

 

Diagnosis...Keller stops it...Reyna plays the rest of the match.

 

Actually, most of Italy is pretty much pro America especially, the younger fans. They liked LAndon in 02 and which soccer fan wouldn't appreciate Brian McBride's diving header?

Do you really think the USA outplayed Italy last year? I mean I wanted the USA to win but I really don't remember many chances from the 9 men who remained on the pitch. I remember Beasley scoring a goal which Canna and Co. pulled offside trap and that is the only real chance I recall. I can't remember the France match as I was too tense. I do remember France had some chances to score but so did Italy but I don't think they outplayed Italy like they did when they played Brazil. That was all Zidane's game. I do remember Luca Toni hit the crossbar with a header. If anything against Italy, Zidane was frustrated becuase he couldn't get around the Italian defense.

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

Exactly. Its not the question of having thicker skin or not but some things don't belong in a public soccer forum and in such a degrading way.

Anyway, I also remember Argentina's goal against Mexico last year. As I was watchihng the Copa America match last night, I still believe that Concacaf teams, IE US & Mex are still light years away from teams like Argentina.

 

Only saw it on TV but I literally had tears streaming down my face hearing that song echo through the stadium. The effort that day was great but the result left me wanting.

 

Well the Brazil game comes to mind because not only did France outplay them, they dominated them. It's hard to make anything look good after that performance. I do think that the USA also outplayed Italy, and if it werent for being down a man, they would have atleast had a few shots on goal. Whether they would find the back of the net or not is up to Buffon and that's tough to get past. However I and many of the pro-Azzurri people I have conversed with feel that Italy did play down to the USA and were outplayed.

 

This is the way Italy has always played. They make you attack, play defense then hit with the counterattack. It may not be attractive soccer but it wins. France has developed a similar style as all their top players play in Italy as does Brazil's and Argentina.
I wish the USMNT would develop some similar style as their GK's and defenders can be amongst the world's best. they however, lacked a Cafu or a Zambrotta or even a Grosso who gets up in the attack from the back.
On the other hand, the USMNT seemed to do a lot of running around last year before the Cup in all their warm up matches & at the WC but when it counted they were flat. There is a difference between running around and knowing how or when to run and when to take timeley runs and shots. Running around doesn't equal dominating play and it certainly won't win games. Kasey Keller had a few good saves against Italy, but in reality the USA was done after the Czech match. Nedved unfortunately, saved his best for last.
Come to think of it, the only goals the USA had was an own goal by the Italian defense and then one by Dempsey against Ghana. If you go back and look at the stats, in 3 games the USMNT had only 4 shots on goal in 3 WC matches. In any soccer tournament in the world, if you don't shoot the ball you won't score and you will exit early.

 

That's not a very happy memory, is it?

What I enjoyed the most was probably all the negativity towards Beckham in the buildup, and then he practically carried England into the quarterfinals.

Also, the 0-0 draw between Trinidad and Sweden was simply incredible to watch. That's a match that's always going to stand out in my mind.

 

Its a wonder why Becks was dropped early on. I'm glad he is making a comeback. I hope he proves people wrong and maintains it after coming to the MLS and for the rest of his career w/England.

 

Yes, definitely a GREAT match.

 

Ha!!!

 

How pumped i got watching the USA VS CZECH pre-game. I was so excited, and in the first 5 minutes f the match i was stunned. Then when Reynas shot went off the post i glimmered some hope we could score there but never did.

The USA VS ITALY game. Watching are team hold the Italians scorless when we were down a man for 40 minutes. The 10 seconds when Beasley scored of me jumping up and down to when they called offsides.
Dempsey equalizing and thiking we could actually advance after we got are asses handed to us to the Czechs. Me hitting the wall when the ref called the penalty for Ghana.

 

cool....but where is this Cologne that you speak of? I know of a Köln though.

 

Hmmm. Well I have been wanting to go to Germany, but I'm going to wait until my German gets a bit better. Maybe next year.

 

I stayed in Heidelburg, less than an hour away from Kaiserslautern, it was such an amazing place. There were no games played there, but the atmosphere was electric, the weather was ideal, and the city was like something out of a fairy tale. We met so many cool German people, that was the best part without a doubt.

I was a little too drunk for the game itself (USA-ITALY) and mostly have a horrible out-of-focus memory of my brother-in-law's obscenity laced rant after Beasely's late goal was called offside!

 

that's probably a really good idea.

I don't even know where to begin when it comes to my German. I have a decent grasp on the basics after having studied it for two semesters, but I need to get beyond that somehow. It's hard to progress without using the language on a regular basis.

 

First pick: The atmosphere @ the ITA v USA match in Kaiserslautern is beyond description.We Americans had the whole corner packed and not one American sat down the whole match. Still brings a tear to my eye.

Second pick; Watching GER beat POL in packed, rundown indoor movie theatre @ the Stadtgarten in Erfurt. Pulsating!

Third pick; Watching (on German TV) the BRA v CRO match. Those Croatian fans put on a display of support for 90 mins that still gives me goose bumps.

VIELEN DANK DEUTSCHLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I think I posted a video of that somewhere in this thread. I get goose bumps too every time I rewatch that game. As JP commented on the telecast: "You just don't see that here in the US."