Eddie

Hey hey now, it's vive la france, viva is spanish.

Will there ever be a worse world cup semi-final?

The English and Brazilians must be kicking themselves.

Good news is Rovers have also gained at least one supporter out of this deal. A friend of mine was a Wigan supporter simply because of Roberts but has now seen the light.

I don't think I was wrong. Were the Dutch, Argentinians and Brazilians also wrong? Of course not, they all had the ability to win it. Neville is world class, as is Zambrotta, Neville played well in every match he played in this world cup and we never looked trouble down the left hand side with him in the team.

I'm not saying that, I think the worst offenders of this sort in the World Cup were German. Like it or not though, much like diving, you will see this sort of thing far less from English players.

Trying to get other players sent off is still something that needs to be gotten rid of.

Yeah, but the problem with these sides is that none of them are really small, they are just sort of B sides. If there was a South Korea or someone in there then I would be right behind them and loving the success story.

I just like to see games between the top sides, as pleased as I am to see France going far, or as pleased as I would have been to see England get this far, one of the wonderful aspects of the world cup is the clash of the best sides in the world, especially once your side has been knocked out and you are once again a neutral. For me though this is really unconnected to my complaint. What annoys me is people who have suddenly developed this passion for the game where you know very well that on July 10th they simply won't care. You probably haven't experienced it to the same degree because in France I have been in a nation that has gone from thinking their team were old and rubbish and using every excuse to insult them to suddenly everyone praising them and thinking that they are world beaters and yes, I know that football is always a fickle sport. I understand the concept of tournament football and I do enjoy it, but that doesn't mean that every tournament shoud consist of the better teams not really turning up and the final four consisting of four unexpected sides, it gets a bit boring after a while. Will many of these supporters actually gain an interest in football? Very few. It is like any little fad for them and right now the thing to be is a football supporter. As for the personal insults, please leave them out. If you don't agree with me then that is all well and good, it is simply my opinion.

The guy is named after Reagan, what did we expect?

Don't agree with that. As has been pointed out, had England put on a display like either side did during the 90 minutes they would have been slaughtered for being unimaginative but solid. I think Germany lost because they were happy to go to the shoot-out, Italy were willing to do anything to avoid it, it told in the end.

Didn't he go through the man first?

Please someone, explain why no mention of the penalty appeal? I have yet to see it again other than on the big screen where I didn't have a great view.

Great game, Italy deserved to win it and you have to say that now they are probably favourites to win in the final. Unless Portugal or France impress tomorrow Italy will also deserve to win it. By great game I mean the extra time was exciting, regular time was pretty boring.

I'd agree with Phil there, I just want this all to be over so I don't have to listen to people who don't know a thing about the game talking about it like it is a life long passion.

They've been good, but nothing amazing. Brazil didn't show up and Spain were pretty average in an average match that should have finished 2-1. I hope they do better, I always support France as long as they aren't playing England, but I haven't been that impressed by them. The general standard in this world cup has once again been pretty ordinary.

Yes, but that was Trinidad and Tobago going for broke in the group stages, not the same as being 0-0 in a tight quarter final. Sven handled it well, the team played well after the sending off and had the chance to win the game both in regular time and the penalty shoot-out.

Portugal didn't exactly give us a lesson in how to take them. 3/5 would lose you most shoot-outs, they were just up against the worst penalty taking nation in the world. It is the pressure of the moment, not the quality of the player. We need to figure out something in time for the next competition, it is just becoming too much of a regular thing.

Anyone else starting to look forward to the end of all of his? The World Cup is a wonderful thing, but I'm starting to get bored by the fact that everyone is a football fan, I'm looking forward to the day when everyone goes back to not caring and these so called fans will forget about the sport for another four years.

Why? You need some advice before the first time?

Toying with Brazil? More like Brazil didn't turn up. They played well against Spain and Brazil, but no better than England did against Portugal, it is just that the opposition they played failed to perform in the way that they can. I'd love to see France play some wonderful stuff, but as of yet they simply haven't.

Of course not, but he isn't likely to say that they got ripped off either.

I actually thought quite the opposite. The only reason why I really care all that much is because I have to wait four more years until we do it all again. France and certainly Portugal haven an equally poor history. You can argue until you are blue in the face but you'll never convince me that either France or Portugal have played well in these finals. They are both decent sides (and I stress decent), but neither have shown anything any better than what England produced. As for England diving, of course we do, EVERYONE does, the point is that we don't do it as often. From time to time you will see an England player dive (the only exception to this being Joe Cole who depending on how well he is playing will sometimes do it often if he isn't having a good day), but it isn't something the team does as a strategy. The likes of Portugal and Italy have it very much as part of their game, they all do it, all of the time, every game. There is no way that you can compare the two. Now read the thread, why has no one mentioned the Lennon penalty appeal? Did the player get a touch on the ball? He seemed to go through Lennon first even if he did. Don't Sweat Rev, all of those players with the exception of Beckham and Neville will be there (though they are big gaps to fill), and they will all be better players. Also if you look at the likes of Lennon and Walcott coming through there is obvious talent. Four years ago there were few signs of Rooney, Cole being the player he is today, Terry being as good. It is a long time and there will be new players. Don't forget Hargreaves, only 24.

I think Sven got everything right after the sending off, not his fault the players don't have what it takes to take a penalty.

France played well, Brazil didn't show up, not a great game and not a great looking set of semis. Still pleased though.