[Sonic Youth 37]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonic Youth 37
Yeah, I definently put France to win.


noo ITALY!! ;-)

I can see yr gripe as you are from Italy, I can choose because my country wouldn't know a soccer ball if it hit them in the head.

[Hip Priest]

My head whispers 'Italy', my heart screams 'FRANCE'!

France has a knack of producing footballers who I like! But a good final will do either way.

[Bertrand]

Agreed, both teams delivered some great football, playing a bit the same.
Lippi's substitutions in the semi were great : no defender at all, that was classy.
The main differences are : Buffon got shot at more than Barthez and stopped almost everything - this man is awesome.
France's 8 goals were scored by 4 players, Italy scored 11 times by 10 different players (or 12 times by 10 players if you wanna put Zaccardo on the list) - which makes me think that Italians won't feel bad when/if Toni, Iaquinta, whoever, can't do a thing.

[Hip Priest]

Buffon is one of the players on this list I was just looking at: there's no public vote for the Golden Ball, but FIFA have named the shortlist of players being considered as the outstanding player of the tournament (only players whose teams reached the semi-finals are eligable):

2006 FIFA World Cup adidas Golden Ball candidates
France provide a trio of aspirants, led by their lithe, graceful and lightning-quick striker, Thierry Henry. There had been question marks about the Arsenal captain’s performances for Les Bleus leading into the tournament, but Henry has answered his critics emphatically with a series of excellent and often-selfless performances in the lone striker role, performances that have thus far yielded three precious goals.

Also in contention from Raymond Domenech’s camp is the powerful Patrick Vieira, another player who has emerged from a hail of criticism to prove that, at his best, there are few midfielders in the world capable of dominating and dictating a game so expertly.

The last but certainly not the least of the French candidates is Zinedine Zidane. Already a legend in his own time, this most elegant of footballers continues to amaze with his near-balletic brilliance, and there can have been few individual performances at Germany 2006 to match that produced by the 34-year-old in France’s quarter-final win over Brazil.

The hosts, meanwhile, may have bowed out at the semi-final stage, but their refreshingly adventurous approach won many friends outside German borders, and two players in particular caught the eye of the FIFA TSG members. One was Michael Ballack, the captain and a player whose workrate and driving influence in midfield earned him the apt tag of Germany’s lokomotive by coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

Joining him in the reckoning is the man currently leading the race for another of the FIFA World Cup’s most illustrious honours, the adidas Golden Shoe. By anyone’s standards, Miroslav Klose has enjoyed a vintage tournament, with his strength, courage, eye for goal and link-up work with strike partner Lukas Podolski among the most impressive aspects of Germany’s play.

It says much for the quality of Italy’s performances to this point in the tournament that they provide us with a greater number of candidates than any other team, with a quartet of Marcello Lippi’s team having been shortlisted for the honour. There will be no great surprise, certainly, at the sight of Gianluigi Buffon’s name in there, and the Juventus goalkeeper will hope that his agile, commanding and reliably inspirational performances for the Azzurri have been sufficient to see him follow in the footsteps of 2002 winner Kahn.

Italy’s captain, Fabio Cannavaro has, however, been just as important in establishing Italy’s remarkably frugal defensive record – just one goal conceded, and an own goal at that – and the 32-year-old’s faultless marshalling of the Italian rearguard is sure to make him a strong contender.

The composed, creative midfield play of Andrea Pirlo has also been recognised, with the AC Milan playmaker shortlisted for his telling contribution to Italy’s attacking play from a deep-lying position.

Another player who has contributed to the Azzurri cause both defensively and offensively is Gianluca Zambrotta, a dynamic overlapping full-back who has popped up on both the right and left flanks to score and create goals in vital matches.

The final candidate comes from Wednesday night’s beaten semi-finalists, Portugal, and this player can lay claim to having scored a couple of the tournament’s most spectacular goals against Mexico and the Netherlands. Maniche’s contribution has extended far beyond those eye-catching strikes, however, with his biting tackles and forceful running in the midfield engine room a key factor in Luiz Felipe Scolari’s team's march to the semi-finals.

from this article

[Hip Priest]

England have some interest in the final apparantly:

Perrotta follows in England hero's footsteps
6 July 2006
by FIFAworldcup.com

The history of football is riddled with strange coincidences and the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ has delivered another surprising twist of fate with the small town of Ashton-under-Lyne in northern England at the centre of it.

Forty years ago, Ashton's most celebrated son, Sir Geoff Hurst, scored the only hat-trick in FIFA World Cup in England's Final win over Germany. Four decades on, another footballer from the same Lancashire town is bidding for glory in the Final - for another country.

Italy's qualification for Sunday's FIFA World Cup Final in Berlin means that Simone Perrotta, who was born in Ashton to Italian parents, could follow in Hurst's footsteps. Perrotta's parents, Anna Maria and Francesco, moved to Ashton in the mid-1970s to be nearer Francesco's brother. Simone was born on 17 September 1977 and it was not long before he was kicking a ball about in the playgrounds of St Anne's RC Primary School in Audenshaw.

The Perrotta family returned to live in the southern Italian province of Cosenza in 1982 and Simone was to join a local side before being snapped up by Reggina at the age of 13. Spells at Juventus, Bari and Chievo followed until he gained his first cap with Italy’s senior side against Turkey in November 2002.

The irony certainly has not been lost on Hurst, who left Ashton to further his career at West Ham United when he was 13 years old. He told FIFAworldcup.com: "Two World Cup winners from a small town in Lancashire, who would believe it? I don't know too much about Perrotta but understand he wants to finish his career in England. Perhaps my old club West Ham should put in an offer for him."

"There is no other tournament like the World Cup. Every player wants to play in it and every fan wants to be there," he added. But will Perrotta be able to bring a smile to the people of Ashton just like Hurst did four decades ago? "I think it will be great for Ashton-under-Lyne," he concluded. "As long as he doesn't score a hat-trick!"

[Пятхъдесят Шест]

Interesting article.

It seems far fetched that he will score a hat trick though. Who knows?

[Hip Priest]

You starting to wish you had a substitution left too?

[Пятхъдесят Шест]

Third place games can be fun, and sometimes they can be very boring. Hopefully both Germany (I doubt the home team fans will let them be too down) and Portugal will play a competitive match. In the spirit of the game!

[atari 2600]

I hope this is a good one.

[Пятхъдесят Шест]

Nice to see Oliver Kahn get the start. Wide open play. Germany played their best game of the tourament.

Great finish by Nuno Gomes.

Bigger fish to fry tomorrow.

[Hip Priest]

That was entertaining, and how nice to see Nuno Gomes not only appear but also score. A nice end to a great day.

Looking forward to tomorrow also.

[Cantankerous]

i watched the game today. i hate that little prick ronaldo.

[Hip Priest]

I had an OK fantasy team day yesterday; Schweinsteiger got two, and my neglected star Nuno Gomes came on and scored, showing why he should have been in the team more often.

Age concerns: Golden oldies: today's winners will buck the trend
9 July 2006
by FIFAworldcup.com

Either Italy or France will today buck the trend and lift the FIFA World Cup™ with a team showing an average age considerably older than any other winners over the past 44 years.

In none of the last ten tournaments have the winners possessed a squad with an average age of more than 28. Today’s two line-ups are expected to pass that mark comfortably. If they are unchanged from the teams that won their semi-finals, France will emerge from the Olympiastadion dressing-room showing an average 30 years and 0.5 months (oldest player Fabian Barthez - 35 years and 12 days; youngest: Frank Ribery - 23 years and 3 months) and Italy 29 years and 7 months (oldest: Marco Materazzi - 32 years and 10m months; youngest: Andrea Pirlo - 27 years and 1 month).

The last winning squad with an average age of more than 28 was way back in 1962 when Brazil triumphed in Chile with a party with an average of 30 years and one month, 17 months older on average than the next oldest squad.

Since then the average age of the winning squads has been: England (27/01); Brazil (25/02); Germany (27/03); Argentina (26/03); Italy (27/04); Argentina (26/10); Germany (27/09); Brazil (27/11); France (27/04) and Brazil (26/09).

As a comparison the average age of the French squad is 29/02 and Italy's 28/09. That makes France the second oldest squad on duty in Germany - Trinidad and Tobago topping that particular ranking at 29/05. Italy were fifth highest in terms of squad average ages; the youngest squad were Ghana at 25/02

[sonicl]

ALLEZ LES BLEUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[krastian]

In the heeeeat of the moment.....

[Hip Priest]

Originally Posted by krastian

In the heeeeat of the moment.....

...quite! What was going on with Zidane? Bizarre.

My other half and I agreed after 90 mins that if a goal were to come it would come from France, but if it were to go to penalties then the game was Italy's. Admittedly, that was based largely on the idea that Buffon might save a few, which never happened! But Italy did win on penalties.

Has the scandal in Italy, and the fear of lower-league football, farced the players to advertise their services and raise their game? Possibly. A good final, France possibly the better team during normal play, but in an excellent penalty shootout (5-3) it was up to one player to make the error. Ironically, it was Trezuguet, who scored for France against Italy in the 2000 European Cup final.

[Пятхъдесят Шест]

Sad to see the tournament end!

I am totally shocked by Zidanes head butt! Never thought I would see him do something THAT classless. I realize there was a lot of talking going on between the two, but that was outrageous. Too bad that had to happen.

Way to go Italy (I don't like the sound of that, but oh well). Without a doubt the best team in this World Cup.

[johnnywinternoshow]

Well done grand popo, you annihilated everyone else

I came third, not too shabby. Thanks everyone for playing!

Zidane should get extra points for best.headbutt.ever.

[Bertrand]

At least it's all over now, Grand Popo won our cup, pokkeherrie took back his 4th place, I'm number 5 and I spent one whole day number one - a long time ago, and it seemed a very long day, with lots of very important decisions to take to maintain my position longer.
It's been much more stressless later on, and quite funny.
Many thanks to our host, johnnywinternoshow.
Do you know why o o o named his team Grand Popo?
There's a joke band (or not a joke band, that's how people who haven't listened to them perceive them) called Grand Popo Football Club. In this band plays TV/radio host Ariel Wizman, whose name can be heard dropped by the loud mouth on the FM transmitted 19-04 Sonic Youth gig, as he attended the show, rather happily. Well that's my guess for his choosing this name.
I'm quite pleased to think that great players with human faces like Zambrotta (who, had he not received a red card against Holland in 2000 might have prevented France to become European champion) & Toni are now World Champions.
Time for me to mention that 3 of my grand parents were Italians.

[Hip Priest]

Congratulations to Grand Popo for an excellent performance throughout. Good picks. My lads, Eternal, started poorly but gained ground towards the end of the first round. 2nd place is cool enough.

It was a fun league to do, and this has been a fun thread to take part in. Cheers, everyone.