Well Rooney went and piled more pressure on himself: 'Frustration, and what appeared to be another injury, may have got the better of him, but there is no defence for taking it out on fans who were simply delivering a brutally honest verdict on what they had just witnessed. But he cut a disgruntled figure as he trudged off the pitch and said into the camera: "Nice to see your own fans booing you, that's what loyal support is." ' Oh dear.
I don't think Rooney is the problem. The whole England team is playing bad. Actually they look tired and "stuck" in the field. Rooney is great. He's not doing good, but there are not so many choices, if Heskey is a first team player. I've never seen a Capello's team playing this bad.
Rooney apologises But what about Wesley Sneijder Goal, it was a flying mine! I´m sure the goalkeeper got scared by it , hi hi hi hi .
That's good, but I don't think it's going to make the pressure go away just yet, from both the fans and the media. Well at least every other country can be relieved that their team isn't collapsing like the French team. Nicholas Anelka was sent home today after a spat with the manager, rumors of widespread unrest, subs refusing to be subbed on, apparently Malouda had to be rugby-tackled because he was getting violently angry with the manager (don't know how much truth is in this one). Looks like everything is falling apart there.
WORLD CUP NEWS: The French team visited an orphanage in Cape Town today. "It's so sad to see their little faces with no hope," said Jamal, age six.
I have a feeling England won't make it past Group Stage. And this same feeling tells me Argentina is gonna win everything lol.
I assume you guys agree that Australia is the most unfortunate team in World Cup history? Harry Kewell's handball should never have been a red card. A yellow card, maybe, but definitely not a red card. The ball was coming to him at 100Km/h, and probably had half a second to react. The ball went straight to his arm, and you think he really had time to move his arm away? He even had his eyes closed when the ball hit his arm, so it was clearly not intentional. And I can't believe the dangerous tackle the Ghana player lay on Bresciano was not a red card. He came diving in at Bresciano with his feet pointed at him, his legs were straight, and he clearly had the intention of injuring him. Nevertheless, I thought Australia were very brave to not only hold onto the match, but to launch their few attacks late in the game. And seeing how Kennedy and Bresciano played, I can't believe that Verbeek decided to leave them out of Australia's first match. It's a shame to see that referees have so much influence on the outcome of a game these days.
Okay, you might have been hard done by in the first match, but now you're just whining. Don't see any Germany fans whining about the ridiculous refereeing against them against Serbia. Also, lol.
Sorry for the double post, but I think this warrants its own post. If you thought the French situation was bad, it just got a hell of a lot worse: -Firstly, Nicholas Anelka was sent home after a disagreement with the manager -Anelka retired from international football immediately after being sent home -During the training session the next day (today), Evra had an altercation with the fitness coach -The players line up to greet the fans at the training session -The players then leave the training session (without actually training) -The players enter their coach and draw the curtains. The manager and other staff try to reason with them without success -Evra gives the manager a statement by the players, which he ends up having to read to the press -Part of the statement: "The French Football Federation did not at any time try to protect the group. "To show our opposition to the decision taken [on Anelka], all the players decided not to take part in training." -The FFF managing director Jean-Louis Valentin resigns immediately after the altercation between Evra and the fitness coach, saying, "They don't want to train. It's unacceptable. As for me, it's over. I'm leaving the federation. I'm sickened and disgusted." All these events were also caught on camera (at least, by the English press, and probably a lot of others too). I knew that the French were in a bit of trouble coming into the tournament, but I could never have imagined it escalating into this, especially during a World Cup. Any France fans have any thoughts on this? Oh, and great result for New Zealand against Italy (1-1), they defended brilliantly.
wrong you are... i did whine some pages back. generally i think that the referees are pretty horrible this wc (not talking about aus or ger here, but about many other games too). imo the fifa gave way to harsh guidelines and it seems that they trying to transform football into a sport it is not. they try to leave out the whole "fighting" for the ball, the body conscious (i think this term doesn't translate well to what i'm trying to say but i can't think of any better term as english is not my mother tongue) side of the sport. without that side it wouldn't be football anymore. i hope you guys know what i'm trying to say here... EDIT: about the whole french situation. i did know it was bad but i would never have expected such a fallout, especially during the world cup. on the one hand i can to some point sympathize with the players on the other hand i am absolutely shocked on how they are handling this situation. the whole "not training" thing is a move some spoiled brat might pull but a national team? are you serious? atm i can't remember a world cup at which anything like this did ever happen. (granted i can only actively remember back to '90)
Okay, but I think that there is a point where simply complaining about bad refereeing (which is justified) becomes people blaming a result entirely on the ref instead of a team's poor performance, even though I understand that things like red cards can influence a match quite a lot. Also I agree with you that the referees have been poor overall this tournament. I think they're too fussy, but then again, I'm a premier league viewer.
generally i think you are right but you have to remember that it's football we're talking about. feelings often run high... while the german bundesliga seems to be more and more (as you put it) fussy, german kids and amateurs are widely brought up with the mentality to fight for the ball and to hang in there instead of giving up to easily, acting, whining, the whole shebang... so i think at least in that regard german and english football is similar. as long as i can remember both nations always were the "fighters" when it came to football, not the technical prodigy... EDIT: just look at rooney for example. he is a great player but i never liked him for his technique, i've always admired his spirit. he's a worker and sometimes he reminds me of a dog you sic on somebody...
Wow. A draw with Italy [Out in NZ]. Yeah, they drew with Italy today. Weird score. People complain about England having drawn their first two games, what about the current world champions? Yeah, eh!
South Africa: The tournament of the underdogs? Actually, it's probably more like the tournament of the goalkeeping howlers
