Tris

Fat Sepp Blatter has staked his whole FIFA leadership on ensuring the 2010 World Cup happens in Africa. And was also behind the move which now sees an extra African country in the finals but the holders have to qualify. In fact the two are intrinsically linked - he wouldn't have won the presidency without (2), and (1) was a pledge he made if he did win. The African teams provided much entertainment in this tournament, but in the final analysis they were crap, and having one extra African nation and making the champions of the world qualify is a joke. This might come home to roost as domestic Italian football rips itself to bits in the next few months - a nasty qualifying group draw could see WC 2010 played out without yesterdays winners. FIFA are implanting (and paying for) consultants within the host nation like never before, but the signs are not good in terms of emulating Germany. At best they can make sure the tournament works, but they can't recreate the amazing and perfectly organised / policed fan fests we've experienced in Germany - unless ridiculous security measures are put in place and a new public transport system falls out of the sky (and they learn to brew decent ale and make good sausages). Fat Sepp Blatter changed the rules to make sure the 2010 WC went to Africa, so it's likely that 2014 will be South America (Brazil is favourite) and we may be back in Europe in 2018 - and logically that would be in England. 12 years seems so far off ... I'm just going to focus on Rovers in Europe this season, and then make sure I'm at Euro 2008 - not the same buzz as the World Cup, but let's take what we can get!!

We'll see just how clever these jumped up faggots are with tactics and training once they finish playing. Except we probably won't - because the tabloids are so uber-keen to top up their scandalous salaries that none of them will ever need to work again. Owen would never have said a word if the injury hadn't happened - which has probably ended his top level career as a player - so his agent has lined up a lucrative series of interviews with ITV during the tournament. Probably his last big earner ever - because he's hardly Alan Shearer in front of the cameras! And we all know Owen will never play for England again. But my own guess is that none of the other players have intimated any of those comments - it's all agent and tabloid generated crap. The squads where there WERE problems / disagreements / fall outs / stories are well known precisely because they leaked out during or before the tournament. The rest of that Guardian article shows just how far the paper has tumbled towards the rest of the tabloids - it's a pathetic mix of non-quotes and adverts for forthcoming mid-career ghost written trash: Think what you want about Sven and England, but don't try and justify with rubbish like this Guardian article, constructed with second hand agents quotes from the Sunday tabloids. I don't think I have ever seen anything quite so pathetic in what is meant to be a serious newspaper.

Are you going to stop posting then?! Seriously - how can you peddle this line that you want the tournament over because other peoples opinions are annoying you. The World Cup is once every 4 years, and this one has been fantastic, as was the last one. Just watch and enjoy the games, lap up the atmosphere and ignore annoying comment. And in fact stop commenting rubbish yourself. Elsewhere in this section of the board you lament - as you did during Euro 2004 - that the "favourites" have gone out and are not meeting in these final few fixtures at the sharp end of the competition. You completely don't understand tournament football with comments like that. "Favourites" are favourites in whose eyes? Ladbrokes? FIFAs? Yours? Mine? It's totally unimportant - in tournament football, the winners win because they won consistently - through qualification, group stages, last 32, last 16, last 8, last 4 and last 2. There is no debate - I know you hate the fact that Greece won in 2004 but win they did, and it's in the history books. Argentina won't win this WC. Brazil won't. Holland won't. England won't. You - Eddie - are moaning that the "favourites" are out and your friends know nothing about football and are annoying you. Maybe they understand tournament footy better than you do - winners go through, losers go home. Eddie's favourites don't have a divine right to meet in the last 4. If the WC is pissing you off, then stop watching it, get back to the Sorbonne and go and solve world poverty.

Our experiences with the German fans was similar - they were great. We saw no bother at all. This is what it was all about for me - my last WC experience was in France 98 and after the riots in Marseille I felt that we weren't welcomed anywhere we went afterwards - and I speak good French and could explain we weren't nutters. There was still a bad feeling after Marseille. Probably a combination of things has helped this time - the banning orders, the careful policing, and the fact that thousands upon thousands of England fans now travel - to have fun rather than have fights. The percentage of idiots out of the total number of England fans is therefore much much lower and their influence is diluted. And Germany was just full of football fans happy to watch any game they could get tickets for - it was a brilliant experience and I can't wait for Austria / Switzerland in two summers time. Chilling out with the locals in Koln at the Fan Fest, as Germany played Ecuador ... Cheesy Switzerland fans in Dortmund Security firm at Dortmund Fan Fest, not opening an English branch anytime soon with a name like that ...

We paid for ours by bank transfer - not a mastercard in sight. 27 Euros each for Togo v Switzerland (Dortmund) 27 Euros each for England v Sweden (Cologne) Apparently they were 27 Euros because they were "restricted view" - this was the view in Dortmund ... (of Arsenal forward Adebayor taking a dive to be precise) This was the view in Cologne ... Quite how I can now contemplate paying 30 to 40 quid for Rovers games when I paid just 19 for World Cup magic I'm not sure .... The entire trip (just short of a week) including flights (Heathrow - Amsterdam), 1st class train from Ams into Germany, both match tickets, rail transfers in Germany, hotel near Dusseldorf, 7 taxis and a classy 3 course slap up meal by a lake cost around 370 quid each (+ beer money). It's amazing what you can do with a bit of research and a bit of planning.

Couple of links for anyone thinking of a trip to Rotterdam for the game on 9th August ... Pics of the ground Ticket info From that link ...

It's not down to that though is it? If you want tinted - rose or otherwise - then you can have it. Three of the four teams in the semi finals have cheated to get there. No quibbles - it's all there on DVD, VHS and HD super cheat vision. England have tried to win clean - for the last 20 years. Well **** it. Steve McClaren's first instruction should be "do unto them as they would do unto us" - and then wink at the bench. As for this competition, please win it Germany. For fair play, for great venues, great beer, great friendship and great sausages - please Germany go on and win this World Cup.

You are such a grade one idiot it's hardly worth comment. But after 3 weeks of ignoring it I've had enough. All through this tournament you have slagged off England, England players, England fans, the BBC coverage, Uncle Tom, the England staff, the football wives and now Wayne Rooney. You have taken your veiw without regard to fact and evidence, with the sole aim (as usual) of provoking a row. I have never seen such a blinkered review of reality on these pages until reading your pathetic diatribe during this tournament. What's wrong with you? You have chosen to support a team in the ENGLISH Premier League, and you have chosen to SHUN the football on offer where you live and "work". Having made that step you and yours can bloody well make the logical next step too - you love our league, you have embraced a team in our country, so you can shut the pooh up about the England team until your own lot get beyond Belfast. 32 teams started these finals, but all your vitriol is for the country you have chosen to get involved with. Why don't you support a team in Portugal, or France, or Italy, and go and spout @#/? on their messageboards?? God help your poor future clients. If ever I was in court and my brief was an idiot like you I'd plead to the judge and then try suicide. You've said on another thread you still live with mummy and daddy - go quickly and ask for some advice about attitide and behaviour, because if you enter the real world as you are now someone is going to land you in the gutter. Would be class if it was Rooney.

Sparky's still at it, in fact he's now pestering the non-season ticket holders. He called my mobile last night, and caught me totally off guard - I thought it was going to be the garage giving me a quote to get the car fixed. Fair play to Rovers - they've really pulled out all the stops. With these calls, and the very impressive "Rough Guide to the Rovers" already sent to non-ST holders, nobody can accuse the club this time round of not trying hard enough to get Season Tickets flogged.

Such garbage that you can comment on it - game after game. We all assume Paul, that you'll not be watching England play Portugal on Saturday - the manicured mancunian lawn will need tending to. The "idiot supporters" will be watching that game in their millions - some in the stadium in Gelsenkirchen, some in the town there, some in bars all over Germany, and in homes, hotels, bars and pubs in every village on these shores. The "idiot supporters" I have met in Germany these last days have been a credit to their team and country. I have seen so many scenes of Germany / Sweden / Mexico / Switzerland / xxx / xxx / ENGLAND fans mixing and celebrating football I couldn't record all of them. As for the crap manager and overrated players, just keep spouting. They're doing fine just now, and with the brilliant fans they're making you look like a sad fool.

Used the BBC online offering this afternoon for Togo v South Korea (whilst processing my expenses in another online application) - and I was really impressed. Had to restsart the player a couple of times, but in general it was fine. This is the future.

where have any mods been involved recently?

The MOTD studio guests are not there to provide engrossing debate. They are there to provide a (very) few minutes of analysis and comment on 90 minutes of live football action - the real purpose of each broadcast. If you want hours of meaningless bullsh!t stick to tabloid Talk Sport and the jokers they hire to pollute the airwaves. Talking of bullsh!t, what an interesting second paragraph, with all those matters pertaining to foreign football (especially continental). I hope I'm not stating the axiomatic in grandiloquent terms ...

3 match days in - 11 games gone - only 53 left!! I've managed to see every game so far and I have to say the entertainment has been first class. Lots of stunning goals, open attacking football, skills all over the pitch, exciting "new" teams to watch, refereeing generally excellent and consistent, the grounds are full, the atmosphere is getting into the living room, and I can't wait to be out there in 5 days time soaking it up for real. The World Cup is so special - no other major sporting event comes close to it. I enjoy the cricket, golf majors (special mention for the Ryder Cup) - even the Tour de France and the odd bit of skiing, athletics, tennis and motor sport now and then - but football is the be all and end all - this great global tournament is a class apart. Roll on tomorrow - 3 more mouth watering fixtures. First look at France, Switzerland, Brazil, Croatia, Togo and South Korea. Spain and three more teams to follow on Wednesday. It really doesn't get any better than this for football fans - and 4 years is such a long wait for the next one!! I for one will not waste a single moment of fab football between now and July 9th!!!

As usual, your latest hobby horse is making you blinkered. Leonardo was back in the BBC studio for USA v Czech Rep with Lee Dixon and Alan Shearer - clearly the "B" team but they're all worth a listen - Dixon especially is worth listening to. In the studio for Italy-Ghana the beeb have Marcel Desailly who has given a wonderful new perspective and some great insights. Not only that, but a significant part of the pre-match programme saw him over in Ghana at Abedi Pele's football academy. I bet your talk sport heroes don't even know where Ghana is. I'd far rather see intelligent ex-players than publicity seeking journalist jokers like Balague - the only reason you've ever heard of him is because Tabloid TV (Sky Sports News) call him up on his mobile every time they want crap gossip from Spain rather than crap gossip from our own gutter press.

Oh for goodness sake - there's a world cup on and the sun is shining. Are some people just never happy!?

You've spelt Speeeeeeedie wrong. It has seven letter "e"s between the "p" and the "d" - you have put eight. I've never seen it from anyone else, but a Swede has done it, even when it's spelled correctly all over the MB every time he posts. If I were him, I'd be very upset.

Sorry to be radical - but I think you should scrap the sub topic and put all the World Cup threads back into the football section. Pin relavant match previews if you have to, but in general let all the football topics - WC and Rovers - find their own level. In the MB page at the moment, half of the threads haven't had a contribution for 2 or more days - interest is rightly on the World Cup - so why isolate the WC in a sub forum? Especially when you read some of the crap in the normal MB - many of the treads that are being allowed to linger on the first page need pushing down the order by the more interesting and relevant WC threads.

Very pleased to see an emotional Sven nailing years of frustration with jumped up Premier League managers in one tense TV declaration - especially at the expense of Ferguson. In Ferguson you have a club manager who spent the early part of his 15 year MU tenure instructing players to lie about their fitness to keep them from their national sides. Ask Neill Webb, who defied the RFW to join up with England, and it ended his career at United. He wasn't injured. Sven was shaking with emotion yesterday as he read his lines. Fair play, it's time to remember about the pride of playing for the country you represent. Once every four years the world gets a chance to see an amazing football specatcle, it's so important that self serving t0ssers like Fergie should have zero influence on it for the wrong reasons.

BBC streets ahead from what I've seen thus far - better theme tune, better features, better presenter, better pundits ... and as for the commentary - what's Gareth Southgate doing behind an ITV microphone?! Clive Tyldsley is bad enough even when he's got someone capable to help - Southgate is a disaster!! I had to replace them with radio commentary after 20 minutes!! UKTV G2 appear to be screening the same games as the BBC, when I flicked over during the opening game Big Ron was the co-commentator and the picture feed seemed to be poorer than on BBC1 so I didn't hang around. Historically, ITV always get trounced in the ratings when the big tournaments come around every couple of years - I don't think this time will be any different - if England get to the stage where the two broadcasters go head-to-head on the same matches, ITV will be embarassed. [edit - ok, how do you make this new MB accept the title as you want it to appear without changing uppercase / lowercase?! What was wrong with BBC v ITV - it changed it to Bbc V Itv ... and it just won't allow v to remain in lower case!]

Will Waggy get deported back to England or Portugal?

Something tells me you'd love a bit of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout. Personal recommendation is the Nigerian brew ... a few pointers where to find it. If you're still in London give me a shout and I'll source some for you.

Apparently a QPR fan and there's a good interview with him here. Time to stop giving these guys endless grief, and show a degree of sympathy for what is becoming an impossible job.

Yesterday sounded like fun - how did today go?

It's pitiful that - even on a usually balanced and sensible football discussion forum such as this - the match officials are taking the brunt of negative comment. Terry Henry joined the party, freely slating the match officials in this showpiece final in his post match interview. Henry himself - when he watches the video - should replace his bitterness towards officials with self criticism. Crucial chances were missed - and always will be. Henry creates so many chances for himself that he is allowed to miss a few. Those misses are mistakes by Henry. He has no right to slate the ref at the end of this game - at least the ref was putting some effort in. With 10 mins to go, with desperate Arsenal attacks being reliant on long balls, Henry never moved from a central position - never chased, never harried, never cared!! He was wearing the armband FFS! Leave the refs alone and **** off to wherever you want to play. Lehman's (?sp) sending off was totally deserved, and when you look at the game objectively there is no argument about which team deserves to be Champions of Europe. The lunatic goalie and the wantaway captain have cost Arsenal. It's almost a shame that Spurs let them in to the Champs League for next season, but on the plus side they will be screwed when the spine of their team isn't there any more. Wantaway Terry will have gone, Dennis the Menace will have retired, Pires the puff won't perform, Sol the unbalanced will shoot his last bolt at the WC .... Loony Lehman is probably already in rehab .... I'd rather be supporting Rovers, to be sure ......