I wonder what everyone thinks about the seriousness of Ronaldo's injury?

He's a great scoring striker but he seems to have problems with chronic injuries.

I'm counting down those days here too!

he wasn't able to walk from the pitch by himself, so it's not looking good. but it's really too early to say at this point. he did well the last few games, but i think that normally van basten wants to play van der vaart in his position. i might put van der vaart in my fantasy line-up, but he hasn't played since his surgery in april. if not, i might put van persie in it.

it's just tempting to pick 5-6 brazilian players in the team, but that's no fun.

I honestly think Brasil have enough quality to see things through if they play well - Ronaldo isn't their best player anymore, on his day a true great but just not quite what he once was. Brasil are pretty close, if they play to their potential, to equalling the great teams of their past.

One factor that might damage the chances of Brasil, Argentina etc is the weather - unusually cool for the time of year, and not to the liking of those from hotter climes.

The BBC are going all-out to cover the tournament properly; those in the UK who are unfortunate enough to be working during games should be aware that they can watch the BBC-televised games online. BBC's coverage page. Theses big events always seem to take an age to arrive, but all of a sudden it's right round the corner.

(Don't forget that the fantasy game allows transfers.)

Ronaldinho is also injured apparently.

Yahoo NFL fantasy football flags any injured players so that one can read the injury report. Maybe that's a feature that willl be added.

Thanks for that bbc link.

Pleasure. The webcasts only apply to UK residents, unfortunately. Unless there's a clever way around that, of course...

We haven't talked about the media: all of a sudden, sections of the English press are doing the usual thing of deciding, last-minute, to sell more newpapers (sorry, I mean 'get behind our boys') by deciding that this is our best chance since 1666, Geoff Hurst etc etc.

Apart from the lesser newspapers, I think that the media over here has been if anything more restrained than usual. MAybe that will start to change this week!

What about in other countries?

http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/v/
this page for video looks like it's gonna be snazzy.

the link is on the bar at the group page.

Enjoy two minutes of the best action from each game soon after the final whistle. These highlights which include all the goals are exclusive to FIFAworldcup.com

See all the goals scored at Germany 2006 and select your favourite. You can then register your vote and choose the Goal of the Tournament.


(it probably already has been noticed by all though)

The second half of Brasil vs New Zealand is just kicking off (it's live on ITV4). Interestingly, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho are both playing, and looking OK (although it has to be said that Ronaldo isn't exactly svelte at the moment). 1-0 so far (guess who to).

I only get TV5 (France).

BBCAmerica is the only UK channel I get.

I know ESPN is planning on airing all 64 matches this year on ABC, ESPN HD & ESPN2.

For now I can catch news & highlights on ESPNN, the espn news network.

ack ballocks, i never check itv4, i missed it. I imagine brazil won 10-0 or something

http://www.worldcup365.com/story/0,1...263235,00.html
doesn't sound as crushing a victory as i thought it'd be.

worldcup365.com is a pretty good site for news etc if you can stand it's heavy concentration on england

I wouldn't normally look at ITV stations either, you undestand: I was idly flicking channels, found it about 30 minutes in.

4-0 was the score. Brasil were also denied three very very good second-half chances by three bad offside decisions. Not a good game for that linesman.

Despite the score though, it was a good game for the New Zealand goalkeeper - he made some very fine saves. Without him and that linesman, your 10-0 forecast may have been preetty accurate!

Brasil played a lot of wondeful football - they were passing the ball around quickly and accurately. Other teams will have to watch out for Kaka - he's got skill, speed and great fitness. I've rarely noticed a team's athleticism as I did with Brasil tonight. They look very capable indeed.

I saw highlights from the Brazil game. Adriano and Kaka should have quite the tournament, me thinks.

I also caught a beauty of a free kick from Spain, I can't remember his name, but it was niiiiiice. Spain 2 - 0 Egypt. Thanks to Telemundo, there have been many warm up games televised here in the States.

I think Kaka's goal was scored after about 85 minutes. His speed that late in the game (he'd been on since the start) was the mark of a true athlete. You're right to mention Adriano too - he played well tonight.

Tonight's friendly results in full:

Netherlands 1:1 Australia
Japan 1:0 Malta
Korea Republic 1:3 Ghana
Côte d’Ivoire 3:0 Slovenia
Brazil 4:0 New Zealand

Good results for Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Australia.

Why oh why did Japan play Malta?

Ghana winning like that, against a good side, makes me all the more nervous.

We're doomed.

kaka's on my team ^_^

I'm trying to remember why I left both Adriano and Kaka off my team.

We should try out the transfer feature.

I think we get two transfers each, plus there's a third available somehow.

The USA have been good in recent years - there's still a strong chance. How have their friendlies been going?

edit: I've just had a look. OK, but not great. Maybe you're waiting to peak at the right time?

Their last few friendlies have been somewhat sloppy. They create many chances but are really lacking in the finishing department. Defense has been the highlight, but they are prone to giving up easy shots as well. Of course, it could be a ploy.

Recent Matches:
Germany 4 - 1 USA :: This one is a little skewed, we played a good game.

USA 1 - 1 Jamaica :: UGLY UGLY game.

USA 0 - 1 Morocco :: Morocco nets a winner in closing minutes.

USA 2 - 0 Venezuela :: Satisfying result; terrible, young team.

USA 1 - 0 Latvia :: About 90% of this game was played in Latvia's end.

Either way, anything can happen. Still very excited and anxious.

you have infinite transfers until friday

5 days to go!!!!!!!

kaka is on my team as well...on the bench though currently.

...that's another weird quirk to this fantasy football. in yahoo nfl fantasy football groups (& every other as well) only one team can have any one player.