Eddie

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.

I was away and have to be honest I haven't read through this yet, so apologies if it has been said, but quite down about it really. We all said better to play poorly and win then play well and lose and England proved that. I thought we were pretty excellent really, especially after Rooney went off. We looked solid while still getting forward, Lennon and Hargreaves in particular played very well. Didn't think Rooney deserved to be sent off and I thought the Lennon penalty shout was a very good one, though from where I was it was difficult to tell if the defender just got a touch of the ball. I thought we were the better side, but it is out on penalties as usual and we can all look forward to this again in four years time. I will add that yet again the World Cup will be a huge anti-climax. I don't mind so much that England are no longer in it, but I'm really not looking forward to either of the semis or the possible final. It is nice to have teams get further than expected, but I also want to see the favourites play each other.

We should start a campaign. Really if you think about it the perfect keeper would be the best player in the most important position.

Well, world cup performances notwithstanding, surely you consider Germany to be the worst of the three, so the Argies are lucky little @#/?s. I'd prefer England to be playing France, not because an issue of legs but simply because I think the two teams play in a very similar way and so it would take little or no adaptation for the English players.

Agree with you there, but that is the way football is judged. Can you ever imagine a keeper being seen as the "best player in the world"?

England are favourites with French bookmakers as well. Hold on, are you really saying that before tonight you would have honeslty considered France to be a better side than Portugal? I don't think so. Personally, I do, but I think I would have been in a small minority. As for the easiest draw, that award certainly goes to Italy, while neither Spain nor France could have complained about their groups, or road to the quarters had they both won it, while even while having to face France I think had Spain put them away 2-0 you would have all agreed it was a fairly easy route.

Yes, England are certainly favourites, I can see potential "upsets" in all of the matches. France can be very, very good, Brazil haven't been great so far. You never know what to expect with Italy, though I haven't been that impressed with the Ukraine so for me this is the least likely upset. Portugal are not much worse than England and will certainly cause England problems, even though they are missing players (though I suppose you could say both sides are). While Argentina will certainly not be looking forward to facing the in form hosts. It is a very interesting set of fixtures. If you look at the favourites I would grade the difficult of the fixtures (easiest to most difficult): Italy England Brazil Argentina

When I say soft I didn't mean that it wasn't one, it was a soft penalty for France to give away.

It was a bit of a joke. A team like France?!? I didn't hear any of you saying the words a "team like France" 24 hours ago, unless you're were saying "too old and going out". How fickle you are. Spain were pretty poor tonight, they didn't create a single chance all night and really didn't get forward very often. This isn't a great French side, though they did play well, Spain allowed them to. Spain were worse than England have been, they looked vulnerable at the back and a side with more quality would have put a player like Henry through more often, you can only beat the sides put in front of you (Spain had the easier group in my opinion) and England have done that so far, Spain haven't. England may well go out to Portugal, I think they will go through but it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't, but I found it funny when suddenly there was hype on here after Spain beat a poor (at least on the day) Ukraine 4-0, they didn't live up to it.

Same here

Finishes 3-1...Spain better than England? You're having a laugh.

1-1 HT. France have looked very good in my opinion, Spain, decent but unspectacular. Soft penalty.

I expect Argentina to win, but I don't think it will be as easy as you are making it to be. Argentina have been good, but most of the hype is a result of the 6-0 against S&M, and let's face it they were falling apart. They struggled against Mexico and I think they will struggle again this time around, though they are the much better side and I think that will tell in the end.

My prediction will be 2-1 France.

See that doesn't add up for me, the one thing that cannot be questioned about Rooney is that he is a team player. He works so hard for the team, brings people into play, scores and sets up goals, his all round contribution is fantastic. In a couple of years he will be the best player in the world. He has the skill, the work ethic and the physical attributes. There is no way Torres is the better player. As for the better goal scorer, their records at club and international level are virtually the same, but Rooney is the all round better player. Torres for me is not in the same class as Rooney, though he is a very good player.

I'm going to say 2-0 Brazil, don't think Ghana really stand much of a chance, even though Brazil haven't been great so far. I think they'll really miss Essien.

Well here is my little preview for this game: The French mostly seem resigned to defeat here, they were so unimpressive in the group stages that even the most optimistic of supporters have had to accept that they simply don't look like a side that could make it any further. They struggled through their group, finishing second behind Switzerland, who yesterday did their upmost not to score in a thrilling encounter against the Ukraine. Not finishing first in their group has been a major blow for the French who had thought that they could avoid facing another major power until the quarter finals, at which stage anything can happen and even if you lose it is fairly respectable. Zidane should return to the fold and the line-up will probably be the same as it was for the first two group games. For Spain this World Cup has represented something of a success. So far there have been few, if any, stories of disagreements and unrest within the camp and there has yet to be the typical Spanish implosion. No one would doubt the quality of the Spanish squad, but they are perennial underachievers, usually attributed to the Spanish-Basque divide. However, they seem to have put all of that to rest as they are currently on a 25 match unbeaten run, never having lost under the guidance of Luis Aragones, and not having tasted defeat since Euro 2004. They started this tournament in emphatic style with a 4-0 victory over Spain, which saw them shoot up to many people's tips to go far, though their other two group games were not nearly as convincing. They struggled against both Tunisia and Saudi Arabia and need to rediscover the form of their first game if they are to be serious contenders in the long run. Group Results: France- France 0-0 Switzerland France 1-1 South Korea France 2-0 Togo Spain- Spain 4-0 Ukraine Spain 3-1 Saudi Arabia Spain 1-0 Tunisia The form book would have Spain coming out comfortable winners in this match, but does form really matter in the knock-out stages? You would have to say that Spain are due a defeat and it would be just like them to slip up at this stage in the competition. France on the other hand have looked totally out of sorts and lacking ideas, though there is undoubted quality in the side and with all of that experience you would think that they could well produce the goods when needed. Prediction: I expect Spain to win this one, maybe 2-1 or 2-0, but given their history and the fact that the French are annoying and tend to get further than you would expect I might go for a 2-1 France.

Hope someone gets dildo.

Not much. Anyway, I support England, I think his point get better towards the end I just think that at the start his evaluation of the "golden generation" tag is a bit off.