I can't believe you don't think the first one was a yellow, Gilardino was going past him when he blatantly put his arm around him and pulled him down. With Gilardino past the last defender, a yellow card was the only option when he blew the whistle in the first place. On a side note, John Paintsil, who plays for Hapoel Tel Aviv in Israel, celebrated with an Israeli flag against the Czechs. But not to worry, he wasn't taking a political stand, he wasn't aware of the situation actually! Living in a bubble..?

Steven Reid and Morten Gamst Pedersen: Thank you both.

Actually, what made his defending look so good was his great work rate, not his Cannavaro'ish one-on-one tackles. He ran all day and helped out his fullback, it's not exactly rocket science - just good o2 ("o2 levels my arse, his shitness level is off the charts!!" ) levels combined with decent pace and work rate! In other words, like a wingback with a lot of defensive responsibility. That being said, I still think we should keep Emerton unless we can get two millions or so for him. (or enough to allow Hughes to bring in a good replacement)

Definitely. I thought two yellows meant less punishment than direct red anyway? De Rossi has apologized and says he never intended to hurt McBride, and I believe him. He's always been a tough player, but he's also been an honest one. It was a bad elbow, and if it had been somebody else I would not be in doubt about the player's intention. Anyway, a two match ban would be fair.

Sorry, I won't bother to read through all the posts on here, but I'm sure some of them relates to the sending offs and the game in general. Perhaps. Disappointed in Italy, Zaccardo had an awful game and should be replaced by Grosso for the next one. What de Rossi was thinking I guess we will never know, he's a tough player, but he's usually a very fair one, so I was disappointed to see that blatant elbow on the runaway bride. This unfortunately took Totti out of the game, and changed everything for Italy - 4-3-2 doesn't fit Italy at all with Pirlo as the only passing midfielder. The 1st half was poor anyway, but up until the red card I could see Italy take all three points on experience and attacking class. After that, it was anyone's game. The two U.S sending offs, in my opinion, was okay. The first one (who got a straight red) could be seen as a bit harsh, but it was a very dangerous tackle that could have ended Pirlo's season easily. Pope's two yellows was exactly that - two yellows - and therefore the red was okay. Simple as that! I don't think it should make a difference whether he has a yellow card or not, it's Pope's job to control himself when he knows he has a warning already. Roll on the Czechs, forza Italia. Edit: Just read your post, Lathund, and I thought I should add that I fully agree with everything in it.

I hate Brazil. And that's not because they beat Australia, I don't really care how the Aussies do tbh. I just hate Cafu's fake smile, not to mention his companion on the other side, who has time and time again showed his not-so-smily side with cynical hacks and bitching to the referee. People still love them for their humour and good tone on the field. Call me a cynic, but I hope they crash out as soon as possible. They defend like idiots, and today they didn't even take their chances up front. Overrated.com, you'll find all of them there - perhaps except Ze Roberto and Kaka. Our two Aussies did well, too bad that Brazil has come through two matches like this with six points, undeservedly in my opinion.

Zigic didn't play. Serbia has some very good players, like Djordjevic and well, Zigic, and I'm sad to see them not going through to the next round. Argentina looks very sharp, if they can keep things up I'm sure they will become one of the hottest candidates for winning the whole thing. Would rather have Argentina win it than Brazil anyway..

I'm sorry Flopsy, but I find your view a bit offensive on behalf of all Germans. The war shouldn't be forgotten, I agree, but what is your point exactly? It's not like it was the German people who invaded half of Europe, gased Jews and so on, it was Hitler and his Nazi government. It's as if I should blame American for the Vietnam war. (or you, for the appeasement policy that allowed Hitler to expand in the first place!) This was the first time the Nazi's showed their ugly face on a large scale. People didn't really know what to think, it was the 1930's and the whole country was in a crisis. Massive unemployment and other social problems had flourished since the stock market collapsed in '29, and when Hitler helped the country on it's feet (or promised to do so), he became a popular man - like he probably would in all countries. Then they started brainwashing people, he got elected, and the rest is history. (well everything is..) It could have happened basically anywhere (nationalism was flourishing all over Europe) and it's not something to hold against the majority of the German population. Silly chants and gestures, and as mentioned above - there's enough things to remind us of the 2nd world war, I wouldn't feel the least bit sorry for the tosser who get's jailed for this. (probably won't happen though) Oh, and Abbey, it's a thread on fan behaviour, this part of the debate is the very important background

You are brave, Mr.Aragones. (a racist, but brave still!) I really like his starting eleven tonight. No Salgado, no Raul, no Joaquin - and he's got Marcus Senna in midfield! The defence looks better without the Cafu-wannabe Michel Salgado (I rate him, but like the two Brazilians he exposes the team too much), whilst Senna provides some extra bite in midfield, giving exquisite passers Xavi and Alonso more space! Torres and Villa looks like a good duo up front with the lively Garcia, and even though Raul isn't in his best form, he'll probably come on to end a game in Spain's favour somewhere in this World Cup Game over, 4-0, impressive win.

Zambrotta is likely to slot into his right back position for this one, and Gattuso is also making good progress. Expect to see a similar line-up from Italy, with Zambrotta replacing Zaccardo and possibly Iaquinta (or, better yet - Inzaghi) on for Gilardino. Don't think Lippi wants to change his midfield trio, and Totti will probably play for about an hour or so in this match aswell methinks. Del Piero upset because he is out of the XI according to channel4, why I don't really know - it's not like he's going to take Totti's place with Alex' current form. Anyway, easy 3-0 win for Italy here.

Good performance from the Italians, dangerous going forward and kept a clean sheet. The defence didn't look as solid as they use to though, the loss of Zambrotta at right back is a big one.. also, a bit annoyed that Iaquinta was preferred to Inzaghi, who's a far more dangerous player. (didn't want Iaquinta in the squad in the first place) Overall I'm pleased, Totti got 60 mins under his belt and will only get better!

Apologies if this thread exists, feel free to lock or merge or whatever you nineteenyearolds do if this is the case, mods. Anyway, here's the two teams' lineups: Buffon Zaccardo, Nesta, Cannavaro ©, Grosso Perrotta, Pirlo, de Rossi Totti Gilardino, Toni Kingston Pantsil, Kuffour, Mensah, Pappoe Addo, Essien, Appiah © Muntari Amoah, Gyan Some interesting battles will probably occur, there's four Roma-players on show today, three for Italy and one for Ghana, and a lot of the Ghana players will know their counterparts from the Serie A. (Muntari, Appiah, Kuffour, Mensah) It will be interesting to see the midfield clash between Essien & captain Appiah and Perrotta & de Rossi - this will probably get physical. It will also be interesting to see whether the deep midfielder (Pirlo for Italy, probably Essien or Appiah for Ghana) can pick up the two attacking midfielders, Totti and Muntari. Granted I am not entirely sure how the Ghanese midfield formation looks like, but it does look likely to be a diamond formation, like Italy's. This means space for attacking fullbacks, I can see Grosso linking up a lot from his left back position for Italy, the two Ghanese fullbacks are new to me to be honest. Should be a good game (perhaps a bit dour if Italy score an early goal?), I predict a 2-0 win for Italy, who I for some reason think will start playing good football on an earlier stage than usual. Edit: Just found out the Addo in midfield was Eric and not Otto (who's on the bench), which gives Ghana three quite defensive midfielders - probably Addo lying deep with Appiah and Essien taking the forward runs. (I am going towards some thin ice here, if anyone has more info on Ghana feel free to supply us)

Calm down people As I said, I think you will see Sweden qualify after two good matches, they have enough quality in attack to do so - a bit more concerned about the defence, Mellberg excluded. Wilhelmsson is imo one of the better right midfielders in Europe, certainly on his day he can create a lot of trouble for Ashley Cole, who looked nervous and off his game against Paraguay.

Just shows how hard it is to predict the World Cup.. but wait until Riquelme has an off-day Brazil to go out early then, I know one of them will.

Agree Lathund, Sweden produced enough chances to win 4-0, but a good game from Shaka Hislop and poor finishing cost you. You should have had more variety in your attempts though, all the attacks came through the middle. Källström has to replace Linderoth for the next game, his left foot and overall ability can be a real asset. Linderoth is injured anyway, perhaps? I can't for the life of me understand why English fans are so confident after their narrow win against Paraguay, T&T will be a handful with the quality England showed

Disagree, especially first half was decent, the Larsson / Zlatan pairing looked good. Puzzling to see Lagerback bring Allback in again though.. I can see Sweden beat England, even with Erik Edman at left back.

Klose will score a lot, but with their defence I don't see Germany making it further than the quarterfinals. So don't thank me yet - Tevez might prove me wrong too.

Look out for young Montiel if he comes on for Paraguay, now there's an exciting youngster. Have faith in England for this one, think they will beat a physically quite weak Paraguay (Frode Johnsen scored two against them for crying out loud!) , even though their attacking line can be very intimidating. 3-1, Crouch to score two and one from Gerrard. Valdez or Santa Cruz to score for Paraguay.

Gattuso wouldn't be guaranteed a place in the starting eleven anyway, with Italy playing the 4-3-1-2 (Totti in the hole behind Toni and Gilardino) and de Rossi taking place alongside Pirlo and Camoranesi. With Nesta and Cannavaro behind them, de Rossi's tenacious type, Pirlo's deep role and Camoranesi's running should suffice imo. Gattuso has extreme qualities, but de Rossi is already a more complete player, and is already showing signs of becoming Italy's next midfield general. As for the Czechs, they have an ageing squad, but they also have enough quality to beat anyone. Cech, Ujfalusi, Rosicky, Nedved and even that brat Baros are quality players. Looking forward to seeing Serbia & Montenegro tomorrow, my dark horse

Ecuador have some decent players whose pace can create problems, but not enough quality to pull through imo. As for Poland, they all seemed uninspired (unbelievable really, in a WC) and not up for it..

Would be amazed if Adriano became the top goalscorer this WC, he's been erratic all season. Huge potential, but overrated and not performing as well as he should.

Sidney Govou got the place, deservedly I guess you can say.

Tevez won't be the tournament's top scorer, no way. First of all, isn't he more of a creative player, not the 'fox in the box' type? Secondly, Argentina has three tough teams in their group, and might be sent home early imo.

Sidney Govou to replace Cissè, very good player. They could've picked Giuly, perhaps his negative remarks after the initial squad was picked ruined his chances?

After being mocked for his leg, the celebration was inevitable. Those of you who support the leg chant should also be men enough to handle a little retribution.