Okay - with the World Cup only a few days away now :vibrator: I think we should have a little "competition" here.

The prize would be having the privilige to call one self "Champion" in all football/soccer related discussions on the board until next big tournament in 2004 (EC) and GLOAT a lot ;)

Here's what you do:

1. Name the two teams that make it to the Finals.

2. Name the winner

AND

3. Name the player you think will score the most goals during the tournament.

if you're right on all accounts then you win. Deal?

Only bids before the 31'st of May counts - so be quick about it!
________

My bids are:

1. Spain & Argentina

2. Argentina

3. Raul (Spain)

I challenge all you "know it all's" :D

i hate to break it to ya...it is IMPOSSIBLE for france and argentina to meet in the final!

it's hard to pick these things...i'll take a stab at:
1. italy & argentina
2. italy
3. henry (france)

OK I'm in, I'll post my entries later tonite (have to get thru' yet another evening meeting .... Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooring)

Originally posted by space-invader
i hate to break it to ya...it is IMPOSSIBLE for france and argentina to meet in the final!

So you were awake! First test passed ;) :o

I'm changeing my bet for final contenders then :D

I have not checked if they can meet in the finals, but:

1. Italy vs France
2. Italy
3. Jon Dahl Tomasson (Denmark)

1. Italy vs France
2. France
3. Trezuguet (France)

italy vs france final is possible so is spain vs argentina, brazil vs france is not

Italy V France

France

Vieri (Top Scorer)

Argentina vs Italy will meet in the finals, and Argentina will walk away with the trophy .... Topscorer will be Totti (Italy) with at least 6 goals :p

Topscorer was a toss up between Totti & Saviola :)

*edit*

Just changed my goalscorer from Saviola to Totti (it's not the 31st yet).... Saviola isn't going to the WC this time, I just assumed he did .... Ah well just a typical Smurf fluck-up :D

A bit :8offtopic but I just placed a bet on Denmark winning the WC at Ladbrokes to odds 100/1 :D If it happens I win 10000 dkr or 1.260 USD :cool:

Also did two more "realistic" bets:

Denmark to win against France odds 11/2
and Denmark reaching the 1/4 finals at odds 5/1

NOW I can't wait any longer :D :D :D

Italy will face Argentina.
Argentina will win.

I like Ronaldo's chances of racking up quite a few goals considering their opening round group. Followed closely by Henry and an overlooked Michael Owen I think. :)

Hmmm Batistuta announced this will be the end of his carrer on the National Team, furthermore he will try to beat Gerd Müller's record of 14 goals in a WC touney .... Too bad noone picked him as topcorer, as he's likely to put in a real effort, to say good bye in style :)

I'll hope for England cause there's a Canadian on the Team,Owen Lee Hargreaves

I'm away for the weekend guys but because of you I'll be rooting for Denmark and England and of course IRELAND! Spare a thought for my little team in the morning!

You got it Prefab :thumb:
Too bad I can't see you guys beat Cameroun, it's only on Pay Per View in Denmark :(

PPV?? that sux

we get EVERY game on free to air :D

i don't think Gerd Müller's record of 14 goals will be under any threat for a while yet (if ever)

WHATTTT? Smurf that is terrible. Anyway at least if youre with us in spirit. To all wit an interest in the world cup over the weekend I say GOOD LUCK and I'll talk to you on Tuesday.!!!!!

We get all games televised live on free tv also. Tonight's Ireland game will be on at 2:30am our time. We have arranged for some friends to come and watch the game at our place. Chinese food, beer and football. What more could one ask for :D

Yes PPV certainly sucks big time ... Fortunately only a fraction of the games will be on PPV, and those will probably be rerun on Eurosport & highlighted on national TV :)

I'm late, I don't care if mine doesn't count but who cares!!!

Argentina vs. *I'd like to see Cameroon in the finals*

Go Argentina!!

Can't stand Beckham! :yucky

All the games here are free, but a handful of them are not shown live for some reason.

That really sucks, Smurf. They are not even shown for free on one of the German channels?

It's not really PPV as I understand it - but three channels that combined show all the matches here in Denmark, where one is a pay channel. You don't have to pay for each match shown on that channel individually. So true PPV it is not - but the result is the same unfortunately - that you can't watch all the games if you don't subscribe.

Such games as France vs. Uruguay, Senegal vs. Uruguay, Argentine vs. England are all on that channel :( Also one of the 1/4 finals and the 3rd place match are on there :( Hopefully Swedish television will bring those!

That was what I meant to say Harket, but I couldn't be bothered to make a lenghty explanation of the (weird) TV situation (in lack of a better word) in Denmark .....

:mad: and we don't get to see Argentina vs. Nigeria either .... and I can't find it on any of the german or swedish channels :cry:

I am not going to tell you the result, but I thought the Argentina - Nigeria game was boring. Argentina is playing hedgehog football. It is not interesting at all.

Paraguay is playing South Africa right now. I just love Zuma. He is so cute and kissable :* :*

Originally posted by 80sSmurf
That was what I meant to say Harket, but I couldn't be bothered to make a lenghty explanation of the (weird) TV situation (in lack of a better word) in Denmark .....


Okay ;) You know what they say here in Denmark "Mænd med små tissemænd knepper fluer" :lol: And I'm a "Flueknepper" now I guess :D

Originally posted by 80sSmurf
:mad: and we don't get to see Argentina vs. Nigeria either .... and I can't find it on any of the german or swedish channels :cry:


It's so sad :cry: But they have to show them in the other Nordic countries - they just have to :(

:lol: :rollin: Hadn't heard that one before :lol:

At least we got to see England vs. Sweden, and what a great match that was :thumb:

Ooooooohhh .... and I just noticed that we will get to see Argentina vs. England, only downside is that it's on a friday @ 8:30am ... Looks like I might catch something before friday ;) :D

just finished watching brazil vs turkey...odd sorta game
i thought that rivaldo's slight overreaction to getting a ball kicked into his hip (he went down as if mike tyson whalloped him) was disgraceful....he is the one that shoulda been sent off!

You're right Spacey, weird match ... I wasn't convinced by either team that they should be able to go all the way ... Then again, Brazil always seem to come out on top, so who knows :confused:

Ronaldo played good tho' :thumb:

As for Rivaldo acting ... :lol: I honestly didn't think Unsal would get a card for that. The linesman was standing next to Rivaldo when he fell to the ground Covering his face!!!! .... come on you wanker, that was a hip shot :mad:

The penalty wasn't even a penalty. Sure Alpay deserved his red card, but that was not a penalty Liuzao was clearly outside the area hen he fell .... That penalty was theft at broad daylight IMO.

Now if I can only avoid seeing the result of Italy vs. Ecuador untill tonight, I'll be a happy smurf. It's being broadcast with a 10 hour delay here :(

yes, the penalty was a total botchup by the ref....red card was fair enough, but the incident was about 2 or 3 meters outside!
pity it was their goalkeeper that made a dreadful clearance that lead to the penalty....he made some top saves

hard to know how good brazil are...they chased and harassed well when they didn't have the ball, which is a good sign, and i agree, ronaldo played fairly well...not quite at his best yet, but encouraging all the same

they won't really be tested for a little while yet...china and costa rica aren't exactly heavyweights, and if they top the group, they would play the second place team from group H (probably the weakest group)...it's not until the quarters that they would be severely tested (which could be any one of france argentina, england, denmark, sweden, etc) baring a major upset

i shall refrain any discussion of italy vs ecuador until tomorrow!

Originally posted by space-invader
... it's not until the quarters that they would be severely tested (which could be any one of france argentina, england, denmark, sweden, etc) baring a major upset

I didn't even notice that .... could be cool to see a replay of the '98 QF Brazil vs. Denmark :thumb:
Let's see how far Denmark will go. If they beat Senegal they should be in the top 16, but meeting a team from Group F will definitely be a tough task ... ah well we did beat Nigeria 4 years ago :D, we always play good against England & Sweden (so that could go either way) as for Argentina it's hard to say how we will fare against them. After the Uruguay match I'm not worried 'nout our playing capabilities :p


i shall refrain any discussion of italy vs ecuador until tomorrow!

Thanx :thumb: :p

I really laughed my butt off watching Rivaldo dropping like someone shot him with a missile. I have no respect for people like that and if that is the kind of sportsmanship that Brazil stands for, then I hope they get knocked out soon. It was the dying seconds and they were up. That was so uncalled for.

There's some talk today in FiFa whether or not Rivaldo's acting might have some repercussions. I certainly hope so, as I agree that it was very unsportmansship like :mad:

Gives the game a bad name, I think.

Well everyone is happy with Ireland's performance on Saturday. We were very lucky in the first half not to be 2 or 3 goals down but I felt that in the 2nd half we could have won it.

Well done Denmark guys! Good win.

Originally posted by Pippi
3. Jon Dahl Tomasson (Denmark)

Just wanted to remind you guys that he has scored two already. Prefab promised me that the Irish will take care of that Klose guy tomorrow.

Hopefully Klose wont score against us!

You go, Ireland! :hammer: those Germans :D

thanks Harket. We'll need everyone from the boards cheering 2morrow! You are all Irish for tomorrow!!!!

Does that mean I have to wear something green and drink guiness all day Prefab ?? ;) :lol:

NP I'll be irish tomorrow :D

They're opening the pub for the game tomorrow morning. Haven't had a 7:30am guiness in a long time. :)

Go get 'em boys. :)

3 hours and counting...........

Smurf, YEAH BABY! Go drink some Guinness and watch us face down the nasty Germans!!!!!!! Only kidding guys. May football be the real winner on the day (Yeah right!) ;)

They are going to beat those Germans. I can feel it. 2-0 Ireland is my prediction.

I just watched Russia v Tunesia. Those Russians kiss a lot when they score a goal. They almost forgot to get back on defense after the second goal. Too busy kissing each other.

It's the ONLY time I dont mind kissing a man!!!!

There will be Danes present at the match (No wonder, we're everywhere :rolleyes: ) The referee is Danish - Kim Milton. So hopefully we can help you in our own little way, Prefab ;) :D

- Naaah, you don't need that. Just get'em :cool:

A little update: I've just seen, that Rivaldos acting got him fined. He is to pay what amounts to 7.361 USD. Thats sooo lame - he should have been disallowed to play the next match also. 7000 dollars is nothing for those guys!

:eek: :rolleyes:

Kim Milton? That Brøndby loving son of a b****. He can ruin any game. That is bad news for one of the teams. He tends to pick his favorite. Did I mention that I think the guy is a jerk?

Easy there now, Pippi :wha: What did Milton ever do to you ;)

Originally posted by Harket
Easy there now, Pippi :wha: What did Milton ever do to you ;)

Apart from being a Brøndby loving referee with poor eyesight and a tendency to pick favorites on the field? Nothing. :) :D

he is a jerk example Aregentina v England France 98

Originally posted by Prefab Sprouter
he is a jerk example Aregentina v England France 98

If you're reffering to the red card incident - then it was alright in my book. Just because you're a star player doesn't make you immune to the rules.

BUT - he does have some weird rulings now and again. If I should point out anything I don't really like about him, it's his lack of admitting his own faults when they are shown to him afterwards. But come on, guys and gals. You could do much worse than Milton overall.

Originally posted by Pippi
Apart from being a Brøndby loving referee with poor eyesight and a tendency to pick favorites on the field? Nothing.

I take it you're not a Brøndby fan then ;) :lol:

Originally posted by Pippi


Apart from being a Brøndby loving referee with poor eyesight and a tendency to pick favorites on the field? Nothing. :) :D

:lol: Every single Brøndby fan I know, thinks he's an assclown .... they all claim he hates Brøndby, especially when they play FCK.

Originally posted by Harket

You could do much worse than Milton overall.


Yes I could (and probably would), but then again I haven't taken any ref education & I don't get paid to ref any matches. He should be performing much better, if he's such a great international FIFA licensed ref .... No I don't like him either - NO I'm not a BIF nor a FCK supporter - I just think he's a bad ref :)

At least he managed to stay awake during the whole Germany v Ireland game. He only made about 10 errors in this game, so it was a good day for Milton. Now they can send him back home to his house in Brøndby. ;) :)

i don't think he even carded anyone did he?

No surprisingly but he gave the germans far too many frees!

First of all..who let the chick in here?? Shouldn't there be like a ban or something??

The Irish didn't deserve a point in this one either. Two points on crap footy so far. That's amazing. Can they manage better than a draw against Saudi Arabia??

Kim Milton is a joke. He is the joke of the Danish league and he is a joke as a international ref. There were several tackles today that should have warrented cards, but Milton is already thinking of how he can screw Brøndby's chances of a championship next season.

Offtopic here...Pip..seriously. Are you on heavy medication or something?? He is the biggest FC Copenhagen fan in Denmark. FC Copenhagen uses him as a mascot for their fanclub. If you look closely at last seasons team photo...Kim Milton is standing there too. In his white FCK jersey!!

Tell ya what Flix, we sure taught you guys a lesson 3 months ago when we played you! ;)

Oh ye of little faith! WE havent played at our yet but when we do; watch out Saudi Arabia

Hehehe...I'm surprised it took a whole five mins for you to respond Prefab. I think they will squeeze through, but I haven't been impressed.

And let's forget about that poor game we played against you guys in March. As Allen Iverson says...it's practice...all practice...nothing but practice. :D

True. And you are right Flix. We are playing crap footy. I'm just so happy that we didnt lose to the Germans!

By the way love you sig. I'm a PSB fan myself!

Let's conclude the following:

1) Milton is not especially liked here.

2) Smurf misunderstood the "You could" (I think). I meant to point out that there was other, worse referees out there. (Don't ask me for names)

3) Flix likes Brøndby (I wonder why? Everybody knows that with a little luck Aab would be the rightfull champions :p )

and

4) The Irish were lucky

and ohh - 5) Girls are not allowed in here :lol:

Is that just about right? :goofy:

- Harket. Lost my chances of an A-ha cd just now ;) :D

hehe..that pretty much sums it up. Girls ARE allowed - But they need to keep their mouths shut when we talk football...besides...we need someone to bring us drinks and chips.

I'm gonna pretend I didn't see the Aab remark, Harket...hehehe.

Your middlename isn't Milton is it??

Originally posted by Flix
The Irish didn't deserve a point in this one either.

Did you see the same game that I watched Flix? :D

Ireland played much better than Germany did. Other than the early goal the Germans looked like the same team that got spanked by the British. A little more talent and the Irish could have run up the score.

Originally posted by Bogie
A little more talent and the Irish could have run up the score.

Yeah..like 11 other players on the field. Or nine and Roy Keane who is so good that he counts as two players. ;)

They stole two points from the Germans, who slept and didn't take care of Niall Quinn as they were supposed to. Amazing that route #1 still works, but it is still a brilliant header to Keane who had been invisible all game. Lucky finish off the post too.

Originally posted by Flix
First of all..who let the chick in here?? Shouldn't there be like a ban or something??

Offtopic here...Pip..seriously. Are you on heavy medication or something?? He is the biggest FC Copenhagen fan in Denmark. FC Copenhagen uses him as a mascot for their fanclub. If you look closely at last seasons team photo...Kim Milton is standing there too. In his white FCK jersey!!

Don't start with me. You are just jealous. :p ;)

[i]Originally posted by Flix [i]
Yeah..like 11 other players on the field. Or nine and Roy Keane who is so good that he counts as two players. ;)


No doubt about it Flix, you are dead right about the scoring. Ireland could really use a world class finisher. Just not in the repertoire unfortunately. But they made themselves lots of good chances in both games. Just couldn't polish off the chances. Still, that puts them on equal footing with the defending champions at the moment. LOL :D

Originally posted by Bogie
Still, that puts them on equal footing with the defending champions at the moment. LOL :D

That doesn't say much about the Irish chances of going to the next round. I hope the Irish squeeze through, but they better start playing some real footy.

UPDATE:

Well, it seems there will be no winners in this competition, as no one (including myself) have any chance of getting our finalists right ;) Darn those Nordic teams :lol:

Yeah, its weird, isnt it? I dont know whats going on. What will happen all those FRench and Argentinian players transfer fees!

Btw. Milton is going to referee again in the Belgium vs. Russia match this Friday. Take that you Milton haters :p :lol:

Milton is not an international standard referee. I have seen him lose control over matches which is something no ref can afford to do.

He's like that Scottish referee Hugh Dallas!

Originally posted by Harket
UPDATE:

Well, it seems there will be no winners in this competition, as no one (including myself) have any chance of getting our finalists right ;) Darn those Nordic teams :lol:


even if we narrowed it down to just the winner of the tourney, that would leave only pippi and i (we both picked italy)
we might need another go at this at the end of the first round, especially if italy gets knocked out :lol:

funny that no one picked traditional powerhouses brazil or germany....they've looked much better than argentina or france

Well I'm still in the running for Top Scorer with Vieri!!!!!

:lol: Yeah all us experts are outta this comp ;)

Don't know about you, but I made my picks based on spring form & usual achievements in this tourney. So far this WC has definitely been a surprising and very entertaining one. Lots of attacking football & action (and goals), hope this continues in the knock-outs, even if it's unlikely .... No one will risk a lead in the knock-outs by attacking too much ... then again, since many "small" teams are thru' they might just play their chance, and go in head first :p

Smurf whats your prediction for Denmark v England!

Since we have some fast wingers and the english defence seems slow on the back positions we should see a lot of dangerous crooses from Rommedahl and Grønkjær ... furthermore the english defence tends to make some blunders from time to time. To top it off some off the regulars have injuries, which will keep 'em out of this match .... Denmark's defence seem a li'l inconsistent and the midfield doesn't perform well in every match (and definitely not for the entire match). The danish attack (mostly Tommasson) is on an upward course .... both sides have world class keepers .... I'd say 2-1 for Denmark (this could go into overtime, but I really doubt that) :)

Ronaldo wins the Golden Boot. At least I got something right. LOL

Congratz Bogie, here's your price :cheers: A big mug o'grog :D

I'll just leave this thread now with my head bowed in awe .... and shame (ie. my less-than-accurate prediction of the England vs. Denmark match :D )

Cheers Smurfie. :D

Is okay, we all thought Ireland was going to beat Spain. But they decided to wait one more game before choking.

Ah well, there's always next year. Oh wait, no there isn't. LOL

See you all in 2006

Euro's in Portugal though :)

Yep! Roll on the Euros in Portugal in 2004.