?






Borgetti is a beast, but Crespo still managed to juke him for a goal.

Watch out!
Tevez is coming in with fresh legs!

& Messi too...

what?!?

Wow! Simply wow. I can't believe that shot went in.

Yeah, HOLY SHIT!

I must also note, I live in South Omaha which has a huge (illegal?) Mexican population. They were out in full force earlier today, carrying the Mexican flag, drinking tequila and Corona, clashing with the out of towners here for the College World Series. Needless to say, the streets are of South Omaha are quiet now...

South Omaha

You can't see it but everything is in Spanish.

Another really good game, another great goal (two great goals, Marquez's finish was pretty impressive) and a Germany vs Argentina quarter-final to look forward to.

That's the best thirty minutes of extra time I think I've ever seen - usually it all goes tense and drab as the teams wait for penalties.

or like the f.a. cup when they were dead on their feet

Fucking Argentina. I was rooting for Mexico all the way.

Why would Mexico's coach sit Bravo down while competing against what is probably the strongest (offensively at least) team in the tournament?
Mexico's coach must be superstitious. He must've figured that Bravo had already gotten two goals & wasn't due to get any more or something. I heard nothing about Bravo being injured.

Anyway, my team needed Argentina to win.

Hip Priest's prescience is sending him straight to number one with a bullet.

I was wondering why Bravo didn't start either, though I don't think it would have mattered. Borgetti seemed too preoccupied with diving, and complaining with the referees to being any real offensive threat, sort of a downer.

The real question now: Germany or Argentina?

No, Argentina were fucking diving left right and bastard centre. They always do it. The referee wouldn't take his cock out of their asses either.

Well, they are playing in Germany; otherwise, I'd insist that Argentina is a lock.

Maybe you're right, but name something that came out of all those dives? Not that any of Borgetti's dives did either. But looking for the ref to give you PK instead of focusing on striking is a death wish. Thus, Mexico is done.


This is why it seens impossible to pick a winner. I think both of their defenses have looked suspect at times. Perhaps it will be a high scoring thriller. But if history does in fact repeat, these matches usually end up being dull.

England take on Ecuador in half an hour.

Ecuador had some excellent victories in qualifying (Argentina, Brasil), but nearly all of their points came from home, where they play at considerable altitude - a major factor for them (Bolivia have benefitted similarly in the past). But they are a young, fit team with some Premiership experience, and the possibility of a WOrld Cup quarter final is tempting for every team.

Alan Green, on Radio Five Live, just commented that 'to go out in the quarter finals against the Netherlands or Portugal will be dissappointing; to be beaten by Ecuador would be unforgivable, utterly unforgivable'. The atmosphere here is half excitement, half tension!

I'm very much looking forward to tonight's Netherlands vs Portugal game tonight; a really good team will be dispatched from the tournament and whoever goes through will have a lot of confidence.

MAniche (Portugal) is my captain today, but I'm still thinking of switching to either Gerrard or van Persie.

You nailed that Gerrard pick last time. I don't know whether to go with Lampard or Figo.

Oh well, I waited too long.

Now I have to choose between Figo and Van Nistelrooij.

Beckham with the set piece penalty kick...boom! I think Пятхъдесят Шест called that one.

People can talk all they want about what Beckham does off the pitch, and his annoying celebrity lifestyle, but tell me....what living player can strike such a great free kick like that on a regular???

Seeing him puke was a bit much though.

England 1 - 0 Ecuador. Random thoughts:

Lampard is an exceptional player who is having a bad tournament; for CHelsea, if he had those chances, he would have bagged a couple of goals. I really hope that he can find himself before the quarter final.

Michael Carrick put in a super performance today; held the ball beautifully, tackled well and passed better than anyone else on the pitch. Man-of-thematch perormance.

Rooney did well, I have to admit, but we didn;t get precise balls through to him; better service to Rooney = goals for England.

BEckham does justify his inclusion, in my opinion The one thing that's changed is the number of free kicks we win; a couple of years ago we were falling over around the opposition area and giving Beckham 10 -15 free kicks in good positions every game. That's why we were winning games easier. It's ungentlemanly, but it's how we built beckham's reputation. In fact, it's how we qualified for Euro 2004.

Ecudor played OK, but didn't really pick their game up towards the end, when they should have been pressing hard.

Sometimes it feels like you American guys get all the luck; the BBC refused to show the 'Beckham Barf'! I hear his movement was superb though...

I guess if you consider this lucky...aha

He was dry heeving for a good minute at that.

Aw...he didn't look happy for the rest of the match, did he? I was surprised he stayed on for as long as he did.

Terry got me -1.5 points (yellow f****** card!), Gerrard got me a whole 1 point. Got 4 players in tonight's game though.

Re-ask: was there a way to re-pick a whole suad after the group stages? That was the impression I got from the rules, and it affected my initial selection. Oh well.

Yeah, Beckham looked spent. And curiously Cole was taken out before him. I didn't understand that move. Also, the long sleeves in that climate could not have helped the cause.

In case you haven't noticed, I've all but abandoned my fantasy team because I am lazy and/or forgetful. I don't even want to log in and see the damage.

That's a shame - you can set your line-up days in advance, using the calendar, to save the need for logging in daily. Get involved again, see what happens...

We should set up these board leagues for other sports events, when possible.