I think it's brilliant that Mann is directing it, as he was heavily involved in the series. So far though, the ads are underwhelming. I think they picked good actors for the roles and will still be there opening weekend.

Perfect example from US/Ghana: Ghana gets a weak penalty called because the player goes down easier than a 5 pound hooker. McBride gets his shoulders pulled by both hands of a Ghana defender and stays upright - no penalty. Part of me wishes he had fallen over.

Polling was open until after the match. 4 years ago they closed it at the half and Kahn won, only to let in 2 soft goals.

So, you have Italy/France with an Argentinian ref. What language do they speak on the field?

I just have to say if these officials are the cream of the crop, the game is screwed. There were some good performances by the refs (I can think of the Tunisia/Saudi match where he would go over and tell the players to get up, he wasn't going to call anything), but for the most part, I'll remember this as a very poorly officiated finals (not even counting US/Italy - even US/Ghana, he got the penalty call wrong, but still overall did a good job - so I'm not whining). Poll will always be remembered as the worst of the worst.

To re-itterate what someone else said, the balloon payment will handle the 20 million, but only if they come right back up next season.

Add one more account to this. The people we met were wonderful and incredibly helpful.

How is it a fallacious argument? If sky wasn't selling subscriptions on the back of having football, they wouldn't be paying so much for the rights. Media companies don't pay big bucks for rights because they want to give away their money. Saying the fans don't pay Dunn's wages is the fallacious argument. The whole "business" of football is driven by the fans. If no one were watching sky or attending the matches, he'd be lucky to get 100 a month to play a game.

Eddie and I agree - I'm looking for the ice starting to come up from the ground!!

Circle? So fans get their money from David Dunn?

Can't pick Italy because they are a bunch of cheating, diving @#/?s. Can't pick France because they are a bunch of French people... Would settle for 0-0, France in the shootout, US the only team to get a goal against Italy (albeit an own goal).

That's stupid logic. How do you think Sky gets the money to pay his wages? How do you think the Prem gets prize money? If there were no fans, they would have no subscription/advertising/sponsorship money to give out. It's not like Sky and the FA are charitable organizations who just give the money away...

Then again, you railed about Hargreaves, so he'll probably win a few tournaments...

I can think of moments he should have/would have brought on Bent or Defoe, though. Rumors also are going around he was so crap the senior players told Sven not to put him in...

Actually, a couple of us mentioned it at the time and thought that Deco's yellow for it was a great move. The second yellow, however, was shear stupidity.

I was hoping Portugal would win, but let's call a diver a diver. If the shoe fits, Oklahoma, the Portugese would trip over it. They aren't insulting, just pointing out facts about the way they played and play acted.

While we were at the fan fest for the England/T&T match, the England fans started singing "we are the champions" the germans were looking at them funny and pointing to their 3 stars...

I want it to be cancelled. What a choice, either the French, who I hate because they are French, or the dirty, cheating, diving Italians... That's like asking who I'd like to win a brawl between Burnley and the Oakland Raiders...

I will hate having to choose between Italy and the Frogs... Go Portugal!

They definitely went from one up top to 2 up top and created more chances down a man than they had 11-11.

If he starts with Rooney/Crouch, he has no viable options on the bench for a change of pace towards the end of the match. In a knockout match, you need at least one striker option on the bench in case anything happens. In this case, Crouch became the option on the bench, instead of the starter.

Yes, all the goals he scored were useless. Guess you didn't like us getting to a cup semi...

Our obstructed view for Poland/Equador was a pole in front of us. A thin railing, not a fan from Poland.

Because the decision gave him no choice but to play 4-5-1, leading to a toothless attack up until the sending off. Arguably it had every bearing on the Portugal game.

And SGE is a God amongst football managers...