Liveblog: France vs. Portugal

July 5th, 2006 | by: WC Bob |

The World Cup final is set and it will feature France and Italy. France won a hard fought game against a Portugal team that gave them a game. Zidane scored the game winner on a penalty kick in the first half. You can read the play-by-play below and leave your thoughts on the match.

Final: France 1-0 Portugal

Full time It is all over in Munich! France has come away with the victory and has earned a trip to the final in Berlin where they will play Italy. Portugal put up a good fight but they were unable to crack through the French defense. Thanks for joining me today. We’ll be back for the third place game and the final.

92:54 Portugal corner all the players are in the box including the keeper Ricardo. Portugal gets another one. This is it for Portugal’s World Cup chances. It is cleared away.

91:55 Meira gets a bouncing ball but is unable to put it on target for Portugal. Time continues to tick away.

90:00 Four minutes of added time. Portugal will have to throw it all forward to get the equalizer.

89:34 Figo also still fighting in the closing minutes but the Portugal crowd sensing that this one might be the end of the line.

88:29 Zidane battling it out this late in the game. Zizou is craving a shot at lifting the World Cup trophy one more time.

86:31 Saha picks up a yellow. He will miss the World Cup final if France holds on. Silly play to make at this point in the game.

86:13 France starting to play keep away and doing a damn good job of it. This is looking like it will end up being a France and Italy World Cup final.

84:42 Saha in and Henry out. Henry did not feature much tonight but he did draw the penalty that led to the goal.

83:12 That was the first caution of the game for either team. Portugal pushing forward but the French defense is like the Maginot Line, only without the holes.

82:04 Saha coming in for France as they will use their third sub as well. Portugal has ten minutes to keep their dream alive. Carvahlo shown a yellow after a bad tackle on Wiltord.

80:48 Figo with a little chip into the box off a free kick and it is cleared away by France.

80:00 Portugal spending a lot of time on the ground in the box looking around for a call. Perhaps they would be better served looking for the ball in the air.

78:56 Watching Barthez make a play like that has to give some hope to Portugal fans. Coupet on the bench smirking.

76:49 Ronaldo awarded a free kick from far out. He is over the ball. France with a two person wall. He strikers it on goal and Barthez hits it like a volleyball to a Portugal head but the second effort goes over the bar. Dodgy keeping.

75:49 Valente with the cross in the box but two Portugal players are too busy falling down than to put the ball on goal.

74:39 Portugal makes its final sub with Costinha out and Postiga in. Scolari is hoping that some combination will lead to the equalizer.

73:10 Simao crosses it into the box but again there is no one there. Portugal beginning to show a little more initiative.

72:07 Govou on for Ribery as France shuffles the deck to try to close out the game.

71:21 Portugal corner kick is headed away to the other sideline. So far tonight Portugal’s attack has been Maniche with long shots and Ronaldo using his speed to break free.

70:28 Portugal has used two subs and France one. Portugal lacking space to really work when they attack. Coupet looking like Oliver Kahn on the French bench.

69:12 Simao comes in and stirs things up right away. Malouda off for France and Wiltord on.

67:22 Simao ready to come on for Portugal. Keep an eye on how tight his shirt is. He either needs to go on a diet or stop shopping in the kids section for clothes. Pauleta off after having another unspectacular World Cup game.

66:29 Pauleta kneeling on the turf looking to the ref for some divine intervention but Domenech gives the signal on the sideline that says Pauleta is an actor.

65:12 France starting to pack it in a bit as they know that a clean sheet will mean a ticket to Berlin on July 9.

64:12 Portugal attack just seems to be missing a key component or two up front. The midfield is creating some chances but there is no one there to put the biscuit in the basket. Or something like that.

62:02 Paulo Ferreira will come in for Miguel. Abidal gets smacked by the ball and is down holding his head. Second time tonight he has taken a knock to the noggin’.

60:12 You don’t need to no a word of French to realize when Domenech is unhappy. Miguel looks like he is done for the night. His leg is not feeling good. He has played hard this tournament.

58:32 Miguel with a pass to Pauleta who lays it off to Miguel, but wait, he is on the ground on the verge of death. No call from the ref who fails to recognize death as a legit call. Miguel limps off. Not sure how or what he injured.

57:03 Figo and the referee talking over the rules of throw ins. They appeared to have come to an agreement and play resumes. France with the better opportunities this half thus far.

55:12 Ribery breaks free on the wing and makes a long run that leads to a cross to Zidane but the captain is unable to locate a speeding Henry on the right. Quick counter from France.

54:32 Ronaldo has speed to spare. He earns a corner kick for Portugal. Figo takes it and France is able to clear it away momentarily.

52:44 Figo lays it off to Pauleta in the box and he turns on it. The ball hits the side of the netting. Finally something from Pauleta tonight.

52:24 Portugal not throwing everything forward yet as they still have time and France has done a nice job this half of controlling the tempo.

51:23 I am convinced that Ribery is the least athletic looking guy playing in this World Cup and he has been nothing short of great. He gives unathletic looking people everywhere hope.

49:54 Figo puts a high boot into the face of Abidal and as you can imagine that doesn’t feel too good.

49:35 It kind of sucks liveblogging games in which Zidane plays because I miss a lot of the subtle little touches that make him so special.

48:12 A France corner kick leads to more possession and Ribery blasts a shot that challenges Ricardo. Quality play from both men.

47:27 Figo and Thuram battle in the corner and it is the player from Portugal who is blown for the whistle. Portugal on the attack but start a bit sloppy. Henry gets a shot on goal at the other end.

45:56 Portugal will need to find an answer this half. They have gone more than 165 minutes without scoring.

45:13 France took their dear old time coming out from halftime. A bit of head games perhaps?

45:01 We’re back underway from Munich. France is 45 minutes away from appearing in their second World Cup final. Portugal will do their best to prevent that from happening. Thanks for joining me for the game. Your comments are appreciated, just keep them clean and get along like the nice people your parents taught you to be.

Halftime Stats Possession is dead even at 50%. Portugal leads 3-2 in shots on goal and 3-1 in corner kicks. Portugal has commited 10 fouls to France’s 6. Neither team has received a caution.

Halftime After 45 minutes of play France leads by a goal. Henry got a call in the box and Zidane delivered the penalty kick to put Les Blues ahead in a match that has been fairly even. I’m going to go try to find a German who isn’t depressed about last night. I’ll be back at the start of the second half. Your thoughts on the first half are appreciated.

44:45 France looking like they are happy with the lead and will have a grand old time heading to the locker room. Portugal looking in need of a 15 minute regroup.

43:37 Ronaldo showing off his speed and his capacity to shoot a ball into the crowd.

42:01 Figo chops down Zidane and they give the over 30 club handshake to one another. They’ll exchange retirement home information after the match instead of jerseys.

41:23 France’s Ribery might be the player who has most helped himself this World Cup. The guy has been great. Wouldn’t want to see him a dark alley but he has been impressive.

38:49 Ronaldo breaks through the France defense and hits a left footer over the bar. He gets a corner out of it and Barthez makes it more interesting than it needed to be.

37:46 Portugal being the more aggressive team after the France goal and has a couple of nice chances in the air off of crosses.

36:23 Ronaldo goes down in the box after a Figo cross and it is a no call. Portugal calling for a penalty kick but the ref will have none of it.

35:59 Maniche with another long shot that finds the target but the French keeper is able to control it. Maniche likes the long shot.

35:19 We will see how Portugal responds to being behind. They have not trailed in the World Cup up to this point.

34:10 France takes advantage of a tough call in the box and the ageless Zidane hits home the penalty. It is worth noting that Portugal did not protest the call very much even though they might have a case for being upset.

32:36 GOALLLL!!!!! Zidane takes the penalty kick and drills it in the left corner.

31:26 Henry taken down by Carvalho, kind of. He is awarded a penalty. Wow, tough call.

31:02 France cross in the box and Henry displays his juggling skills. Neither team able to crack through in the final third. We are still scoreless.

29:22 Ronaldo goes for a jump in the air after Abidal might have grazed him. Domenech on the sideline giving the international sign for diver down.

28:28 Henry breaks Miguel’s ankles with a cut back mood and he gets a soft shot on target. Neither keeper having to work much thus far tonight.

27:23 Zidane brought down on one end and doesn’t get a call. A Portugal player takes a fall and gets a call. Interesting.

25:58 Makelele having a talk with the referee after he is called for a love tap on Deco. I would talk to the ref too if I had the chance.

24:56 Crowd starting to make some noise in an effort to wake up the players, as well as you and I.

23:46 If anyone knows the wherabouts of Portugal striker Pauleta please let the team know. He has been missing since the opening match against Angola.

22:58 France attack breaking down with Abidal’s crosses. Ronaldo playing on both sides of the midfield just to bring joy or pain to you depending on your point of view.

21:30 Henry tries to get a shot but he should have laid it off to Ribery. Portugal keeping a lot of players near the area when France is in the offensive end.

20:02 Ronaldo getting a whistle with every touch but he is one of the few players on either side playing with pace

18:47 Game looking a bit choppy at the moment. These appear to be two very evenly matched teams. Portugal trying to attack on the outside more than Brazil did against France.

17:02 Figo gets off the stretcher and is not given a cane.

16:19 Miguel lays it over to Figo who takes a shot from outside the box and Bartez gets to it. Figo laying down after taking a bit of a whack. He gives the look of someone who has accumulated pain over the years.

14:48 First corner kick for Portugal is blown dead after a push in the box. Both teams look like they are intersted in playing an offensive game but not exactly sure how to do it.

13:37 Zidane with a nice touch to Ribery who sends it out wide to Abidal who then crosses it into the box and Henry just misses getting to it.

12:37 France a little too eager to try to connect with the long ball. I would tell them that if I were coaching but coaching sounds less fun than liveblogging.

11:16 France looking very well organized in the back as it is taking away for Portugal’s attack to build up. Henry now 10 minutes without being offside, might be a personal record this tournament

9:49 Figo with a cross into the middle and it is defended away by the fellow geriatic Thuram. First foul finally called as Henry hits the turf.

8:23 Maniche with a bomb of a shot after Ronaldo leaves the ball behind and it flies over the bar but not by much. That guy has a cannon of a leg.

6:49 Both sides playing a clean game without much stoppage. The pace isn’t as fast as last night but still a decent start for a semifinal. Zidane with a corner and it is cleared away.

5:25 First of what should be many crossover moves that aren’t necessary from Cristiano Ronaldo. No fouls from other team yet.

5:12 Shot of France coach Domenech looking like a professor on the sideline. His team pushes it forward but Ribery’s cross is wayward.

3:45 Deco gets off a good shot on the ground and Barthez has to stretch to save it. Good opportunity for the team wearing port red, whatever that means.

3:18 France with the early possession and Portugal trying to set up for the counter attack. France looking to be the more aggressive team at the moment.

1:48 Figo with a subtle but nifty turn in the middle. Ronaldo gets the ball for the first time and is greeted with a whistle parade from the crowd.

0:46 France pushes forward with a long ball to Malouda who hits it with his left foot wide of the goal. Early long ball from the French side.

Kickoff: We’re underway in Munich with Portugal and France squaring off to decide who will face Italy in the World Cup final on Sunday. I’m awfully glad that you have joined me for the match. Your comments are appreciated. Please keep them clean, have fun and love one another. We are in the final stretch of this month-long football festival so let’s enjoy it together.

3 Minute Countdown: It is time for France to sing about killing and all that other fun stuff. What a great anthem. Makes me want to start a Socialist Revolution. Zidane getting some serious air time and looking none too pleased about that fact.

5 Minute Countdown: The crowd is on its feet and we are treated to a stirring rendition of Portugal’s anthem. The players shouldn’t quit their day jobs to sing in a band.

8 Minute Countdown: The captains Figo and Zindane lead their respective teams out onto the pitch. The crowd is largely French. Today’s referee is from Uruguay and he might be remembered by those with a rooting interest during the USA-Italy match.

10 Minute Countdown: The two teams are lined up in the tunnel. France is wearing their away white shirts, white shorts, and white socks. Portugal is clad in port red shirts, port red shorts, and port red socks. The World Cup Blog crew drank some port last night but in the interest of neutrality I have chosen a nice German pilsner to accompany me through the next 90-120 minutes of finger torture. For those reading this at work, feel free to sneak a bottle from your desk drawer. I asked your boss and she gives you permission.

15 Minute Countdown: Cristiano Ronaldo shown warming up. He wins the award for most polarizing World Cup player, at least on World Cup Blog. There was some question about his fitness coming into the match but he is in the starting lineup and ready to go.

20 Minute Countdown: The German television commentators seem a little glum today. I wonder why. But the show must go and one of these teams will go on to play Germany in the Third Place Game. The pregame coverage is focusing a lot on Big Phil. He will not be lacing them up tonight, but he should be good for a great facial expression or three on the sideline.

25 Minute Countdown: You probably have heard by now that this game features two of the game’s great players, Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane. While this will be their final World Cup, we also can’t forget France keeper Fabien Barthez. The walking time bomb will most likely not be around in 2010 so this is his World Cup adieu too. So far he has not been tested too much with only 8 saves to his credit. His counterpart for Portugal, Ricardo, has made 20 saves and was a hero in the penalty shoot out against England in the quarterfinals.

30 Minute Countdown: Portugal’s Armando Petit is suspended for this one for being a naughty boy who collects yellow cards. Deco and Costinha have overcome their naughtiness to return to Portugal’s team. No players are hurt for either side. Both teams have five players that are each carrying a yellow card so they will be living on the edge if they punch their ticket to the final in Berlin. Here are the starting lineups. Don’t blame me. I wasn’t consulted when they were selected.

France
16. Fabien Barthez, 3. Eric Abidal, 4. Patrick Vieira, 5. William Gallas, 6. Claude Makelele, 7. Florent Malouda, 10. Zinedine Zidane, 12. Thierry Henry, 15. Lilian Thuram, 19. Willy Sagnol, 22. Franck Ribery

Portugal
1. Ricardo, 5. Fernando Meira, 6. Costinha, 7. Luis Figo, 9. Pauleta, 13. Miguel, 14. Nuno Valente, 16. Ricardo Carvalho, 17. Cristiano Ronaldo, 18. Maniche, 20. Deco

40 Minute Countdown: It has been another steamy day here in Germany but things should cool down by kickoff in Munich. Current temperature is 27C/81F. Portugal enters tonight’s match having yielded just one goal in its first five World Cup games. France has been almost as stingy, giving up two goals overall. The French defense played great against Brazil in the quarterfinals but will get a different test from a Portugal side that has said it will attack more on the flanks than Brazil did. I plan on attacking the keyboard tonight on the liveblog. I’ve lost count of how many games I have done but it is somewhere near 30. I still can’t type fast or spell but why should that stop me? Starting lineups coming up quicker than you can say “supercalafragalistickexpialidocious”.

50 Minute Countdown: We’ve all had a full day to recover from the thriller semifinal last night and now the attention shifts to Portugal against France. This is France’s fifth appearance in the World Cup semifinals. They have lost 3 of their 4 semifinal matches, but some of the current crop of players were around in ‘98 when they won the whole shebang. Portugal makes its second World Cup semifinal appearance tonight, the first since losing to England in 1966. Not a whole lot of people predicted that both these teams would be around at this point in the competition, but that doesn’t mean this won’t turn out to be another exciting game. Starting lineups and other stuff coming up in a Berlin minute.

Pregame: Who do you think will win?

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http://www.worldcupblog.org/game-previews/preview-france-vs-portugal.html Preview: France vs. Portugal – FIFA World Cup 2006 – World Cup 2006 Blog

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part-portuguese/part-asian

I’m hoping that Portugal Wins against France.

It would be amazing to win the world cup esp because we’re going to be making HIstory this year if we do.

and we will. just gotta trust Scolari and the boys.

Oh and Bob. I just gotta say. Your liveblogs are so entertaining. I remember you commenting on SIMAO’s SHIRT and how it was “four sizes too small” and I swear. I was laughing sooo hard I almost choked.
Luis

Portugal will win against the very god team of france. It will be a very tactical game but the portuguese creativity will demand for the final victorie
http://nil Mohana

It will be france i think. And hope ;)
France 98 is back! you gotta admit they are getting better by the day/game.
Frank

I hear everybody complaining of the poor performance by top players and teams just playing “crisis management instead of positive attacking football.” However, please keep things in perspective and realize the intensity and brutal toll the sport has on these athletes. The World Cup is undoubtadly football’s greatest spectacle. It’s also a monthlong grind, and the fatigue starts to sink in.

Games every few days, many playing under a hot, muggy sun. Travel across a country that’s almost as big as California. Pressure that grows with every game. And that’s on top of the nine months – or more – that many players just spent with the top and very demanding clubs accross Europe.

“The World Cup is a special test,” said Portugal goalkeeper Ricardo Pereira.”No matter how hard you try, you can’t completely overcome that tiredness.”

Or the injuries. Or the mental exhaustion.

Some teams manage better than others. Look at Germany, Italy, France and Portugal. They all have outstandin players but they definately do not look like it. But, they managed to outlast the other 28 teams, and it’s not only because of skill, timing and luck.

Italy is probably the strongest team mentally, able to ignore distractions from a corruption scandal that is rocking the domestic league. Despite several grueling games, Portugal has managed to remain in the tournment. France saved its energy and now looks fresher now than a month ago. And Germany is among the fittest teams after coach Juergen Klinsmann overhauled its training program.

“Physical condition is very important, because in soccer these days, 95 percent of the time the team that runs more wins,” Italy defender Gianluca Zambrotta said. “Compared to the past, soccer is much more athletic and the pace is much faster.”

When the tournament began in 1930, there were only 13 teams and it lasted two weeks. Now 32 teams play 64 games over four weeks, and qualifying begins two years out.

So give them a break and enjoy the teams from a perpective that the best crisis management team will win and not necessarily the team with the most lightning strike attack with precission pin point accuracy.
Christina

i beleieve PORTUGAL is going to win because they have become so good….portugal is the best and the best always win….Im proud to be PORTUGUESE

>>My Portuguese Pride
I Will Not Hide
My Portuguese Race
I Will Not Disgrace.
My Portuguese Blood
Flows Hot & True.
My Portuguese People
Will Always Stand By
Through Thick And Thin.
Till The Day We Die.
Our Portuguese Flag.
Rises Higher Than The Rest

FORCA PORTUGALLLLL
Because Everyone Knows
PORTUGUESE ARE THE BEST!!!
http://tsn.ca TSN

GO FRANCE SHOW THEM HOW TO PLAY SOCCER

HENRY U A TRUE FRENCH MAN
http://www.triworks.net Rui Villas

Whoever wins, the game will be decided very soon. I think 1 goal will be scored inthe 1st half of the game and the rest will just be 1 team defending and the other one pushing.

I hope Portugal is the 1st to score. I wouldn’t like this match to be decided on penalty kicks.
bella

vont vont vont vont la france…
That way Italia will wint the final cup against a great team…
L’Italie et la France sont de bonnes équipes cependant Italie ont plus de compétence et méritent la tasse mieux…

with that said…
Va l’Italia va… Domenica vincerete il gioco…
Deviilz.

Can France win by a goal or more margin within the 90mins..?
bella

I dont know … but I truly perdict that there will be more goals in this game then last nights game… portugal has a relatively good defence and they are depending on that in retaliation to ZIZOU…

Je ne sais pas… mais d’I le perdict vraiment qu’il y aura plus de buts dans ce jeu puis de dernières nuits où le jeu… Portugal a une défense relativement bonne et eux sont selon celui dans la revanche à ZIZOU…
bella

Eu sou ventilador de france e eu amo ZIZOU
http://www.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2006/liveblog-germany-vs-italy.html Khem

Go Portugal GO GO GO
Goalkeeper

I’m going for France. :)
tuanny

1. Coaching: If the pattern holds up, coaching is going to be a deciding factor in this game.

Italy beat Germany yesterday thanks to Lippi’s strategy of throwing in 4 strikers in overtime. Germany beat Argentina because Klinsmann was good at subs and Pekerman was horrible (as evidenced by many comments after the game).

It’ll be fun to watch whom Big Phil and Domenauch (sp?) will sub in the second half.

2. Referee: Second factor is refereeing. The Mexican ref yesterday was excellent!! No surprise that he’s reffed more matches in this WC – 5 total. He should ref the final on Sunday.

Who’s today’s ref? I hope he’ll hold up like his counterpart yesterday.
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/worldcupfan/ dw

I thinking Portugal comes away with the win.

Which means you should bet everything on France.
Deviilz.

Would the old guards of France be tired after so many matches..?
Why are they still the favorites..?
The odds fr my bookies is still the same,France to win by a goal or more margin within the 90mins.
I would think Portugal will be wiser choice..,ya?
tuanny

“Whoever wins, the game will be decided very soon. I think 1 goal will be scored inthe 1st half of the game and the rest will just be 1 team defending and the other one pushing.”

Rui Villas, your statement could turn out true. But I think that having a 1-0 lead early then play defense is pretty much an invitation to getting 1-1. The Germany-Argentina game showed that. Also, after France got the lead over Brazil, it didn’t play defense but kept attacking, attacking, attacking. I think Les Bleus did it the smart way while the Argentines didn’t.
sesure

France will win the game with their experience and age.
France will win this game 3-1.
Henry is the man of the World Cup this year. OR maybe that goal keeper from Italy.
ONe last thing,,,Italy 1 USA 1
didnt beat us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
tuanny

I think France is still favorites because they played very together. The whole is more than just sum of the parts.

Portugal wasn’t as together, as seen against England (playing 11 vs. 10 and yet England still dominated the offense) and Holland (well, the less said about that ugly match, the better…) My guess is France was peaking at the right time while Portugal wasn’t.

Obviously, all that may change once the game begins. But until then, it’s reasonable that France is the favorite for this one.
Tom

This is horrible, but I tend to dislike te French for no reason other than the fact that my dealings with the French people have been pretty much horrible. In my business, I do a lot of international work and the majority of French people I’ve worked with have a severe distaste for both Americans and foreigners, in general.

I hate that I have this narrowminded stereotype but something like 95% of the French people I’ve worked with are like this.
Tom

Sesure,

Italy didn’t beat the US because they played poorly and scored an own goal. The US team was horrible this year…they need to make some serious strides if they hope to even advance to the knockout rounds in 2010.
tuanny

Oh I just read that it’s the same Uruguayan ref who did the US-Italy game… He’s the ref for today. Man, we’re gonna see a lot more cards than yesterday, that I am sure of…
tuanny

to add about the ref…. This could be a pity for the final, since many French and Portugese starters already have one yellow… One more, and they’ll be missing the final!!!! Not good!
Deviilz.

…takes one to know one…,ditto..!
http://blue2rose.blogspot.com Blah-Me

I’m with Portugal. Go PORTUGAL!!

I’m also hoping for some world class football from Zinedane Zidane.

How the two will work together, I have no idea.

Anyway,
Let’s play ball!! :D

Ole Ole Ole Ole…!!
sesure

Tom,,USA played their best down a man to Italy and considering the refeering ,,,,The USA will eventually claim to say, we tied the World Cup Champions ITALY. Not a bad world cup after all.
pawan

french will win this match with 2 goals to nil.
bella

ZIZOU makes the french team for me … really I share toms views for the french in general however the soccer players are amazing in character and class… they hold values that the french should carry…
so in that case, despite the fact that I love portugal…

La France vont vont vont … Dieu soit avec toi

GO GO GO FRANCE
ZIZOU
sarah

i hope france wins. i’m not looking forward to portugal’s diving or c. ronaldo’s (i.e., bad ronaldo’s) smugness.

if portugal does win, the final will mostly consist of italian and portugese players writhing around on the field for 90 minutes trying to get a penalty called in their favor.

viva la france
Bobbio

All right! Game starts in half an hour! Christiano Ronaldo Fan Club Roll Call!
bella

Im gonna grab lunch b4 the game…
La France vont vont vont … Dieu soit avec toi

GO GO GO FRANCE
ZIZOU
human

France will stomp Portugal. Except unlike certain English players they will have the sense to refrain from doing so literally and instead dazzle us with a magnificent metaphorical stomping to be talked of for generations.

Then they will crush Italy in the final.
Jodido

Larrionda is the ref today…I’m expecting a card-fest, but we’ll see. He did an adequate job after he tossed everyone out of the US-Italy game.
http://blue2rose.blogspot.com Blah-Me

“unlike certain English players they will have the sense to refrain from doing so literally”

Lol.. Rooney world famous and very own ‘act of terrorism’! (was that an extreme?)
RG

time for a new champion….c’mon PORTUGAL…
forca forca o titulo e nosso…
Vico

deSaladin, Trapper,

Hi.

OK. My prediction to tonight’s game is France 2-1 over Portugal, in the 1st 90 minutes; with Portugal scoring first.

Don’t know how much I’ll be able to post on the blog during the game, with me being at work and all, but I’ll try to. Trapper, what’s your prediction? deSaladin says 3-1 France.
Vico

Bella,

Hi. Just curious about yesterday… where you able to stick around the office to find out the result of the game yesterday, or were you on your way home when Italy scored their two goals?
Tom

I love how poeple still rag on Italy for being a team of “floppers and divers.” Germany dove as much, if not moreso, than Italy yesterday. In fact, most of these teams dive…some are just better at not getting caught. Ballack was diving and acting like crazy. No one calls the Germans “divers.”

*shrug* Maybe Italy and/or Portugal will get some respect when they win the WC.
Lidi

Portugal will win this game!!! Portugal 2-1 over France…
http://blue2rose.blogspot.com Blah-Me

Tom.. with you on that all the way.

I have to say though, this World Cup players did put a very good acting show. In general, with regards to most teams. There are probably only a two or at the most three teams which I maybe able to think who dint rely on their acting skills more than their football skills.
Praveen

Boo for portugal…figo rocks but cristiano ronaldo sucks 2 d core!
go go go france…..yo yo zizou!!!
Praveen

Portugal sucks!!!
Andreia & Alex

Looking forward to today’s game. Really can’t say I’m pulling for one team over the other though.
http://blue2rose.blogspot.com Blah-Me

What happens if Ricardo gets a second yellow in this game?
Tram

Today’s my birthday and I’m going for Portugal. They’re going to win it for me for my birthday.

However, I don’t hate France. If France should win, that’d be okay.
zidaneisking

“I love how poeple still rag on Italy for being a team of “floppers and divers.” Germany dove as much, if not moreso, than Italy yesterday. In fact, most of these teams dive…some are just better at not getting caught. Ballack was diving and acting like crazy. No one calls the Germans “divers.”

I lost count how many times last night an Italian player dived (dove?) and writhed on the ground in fake pain, wasting time. The Germans did not dive as much, and when they did, they just got up, little time wasting grimacing for the cameras.

Watch out Zidane, the Portugese today will try to provoke you and your teammates and get you kicked off the pitch.

Go France!
bella

Bella,

Hi. Just curious about yesterday… where you able to stick around the office to find out the result of the game yesterday, or were you on your way home when Italy scored their two goals?

………..
Omgosh it was overwhelming … I had my boss over my shoulder telling me to shut my pc and there I was stalling ..
lol long story short, as soon as they got there first goal I YELLED ON THE INTERCOM “POWER TO ITALIA” then shut my pc/… later that nighte I learned that they got not only 1 BUT TWO!!!
Italians here are alot and cars with flags and horns beeping flooded the city
sebastian

WOW…
one can only imagine the feeling of
playin the most important game of
your life against a person with whom you
spend the entire year playing and interacting with….like Zidane and Figo…..
http://beingruthiesmom.blogspot.com/ Trish

Univision didn’t show anyone pulling their pants down on the pitch like they did yesterday.
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/worldcupfan/ dw

The fun has begun! Go Frantugal!
Griff

happy birhtday tram, this game shouldbe intresting, watch out for ref he’s a little card happy
Liliana

I’m stuck at work for the first half of the game until I can get away for lunch. I’m counting on y’all to keep me informed. Thanks!
http://www.soccercityusa.com Zippy McFiddlehead

Will we see another appearance of the famous Portuguese Diving Team?

Viva la France!
http://www.soccercityusa.com Zippy McFiddlehead

If there’s a bigger crybaby than Cristiano Ronaldo or Luis Figo it’s Deco.
Tom

Wow, that was within inches of a sweet goal!
Andreia & Alex

I seem to remember a bit of German rolling yesterday so I can’t say that Italy has a monopoly on it. IT was even mentioned in the blogs
SoccerGer

All the best teams. We are hoping for Goals Galore!!!!(and how many cards will be shown??)….
May the best team win!!!!
sebastian

whats with the crowds booing against zidane??
Tram

Thank you Griff.

I hate not seeing this game. But the Live Update up top is great — very descriptive.
jericho

weyy bella
we meet again
yea,people were leaving the office
and i didnt even notice it was 5
http://beingruthiesmom.blogspot.com/ Trish

would have been a beautiful goal…
http://pepys_s.rediffblogs.com/ mohan

Portugal has already 2 good tries
Andreia & Alex

Hopefully not too many cards today. But justified ones are okay, just want to see a good match
Griff

Portugal is looking better
Vico

Bella,

Glad to hear you at least ‘heard’ about the first goal at least and figured they had the game in the sack. It was pretty amazing to see Italy score not only twice in just 2 minutes but make them two great goals. I was bummed for Germany which I was hoping would advance, but it was a great game! Congrats!
Griff

booing is again christian ronaldo, apparently the english fans still there hate him more then the french
Tom

Portugal (and CRonaldo specifically) is looking very strong so far.
Ronaldo

can someone tell ronaldinho and riquelme to watch zinadine so they can learn how a 10 must play? And this coming from a south american…
Andreia & Alex

Tram, I agree love the Liveblog…we’re fans of Blogger Bob as we call him at our house
http://beingruthiesmom.blogspot.com/ Trish

lol good idea ronaldo
Lloyda from Guyana

i don’t care who wins this, though i know it is likely to be France, and that will be a great match up with Italy, who deserved to win yesterday. Germany sneaked much further than they should have.
http://postedfrommalaysia evelyn

portugal cheer up !!!!!!!!wish 2 win the match..
http://pepys_s.rediffblogs.com/ mohan

is Figo out??
GT

Seems to be a bit of Frence rivalry there.. between team members that is.
Henna

Live feed if anyone needs it:
http://espnevent1.espn.com.edgesuite.net/070506_portfrance.asx
http://beingruthiesmom.blogspot.com/ Trish

how old is Barthez anyway? ANyone know?
Vico

“That “Magic Stretcher” is just amazing….ya don’t even limp after just a few seconds on it….”

How true!..LOL!!
sebastian

booing ronaldo???…is it somthing he did???….LIKE SCORING THE WINING GOAL AGAINST ENGLAND???…damn its crazy how ppl dont know how to take a loss.
Tom

Figo goes down hard. Figo has made a lot of bad passes in this WC and in this game, too. Might be a blessing if Figo can’t come back.
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/worldcupfan/ dw

I got ESPN360 working. I can finally watch the game at work! YES!
http://www.pertinentverge.blogspot.com DarkoV

Sounds (and reads) as if the diving competition hasn’t started yet.

Bravo!
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/worldcupfan/ dw

Barthez is 56. I KID! He’s 62.

(OK, OK, he’s 35.)
zidaneisking

There we go, Figo writhes in pain…
jericho

there not booing ronaldo cuz of the winning goal.
there booing him for the rooney incident
Griff

France italy would be an intresting final, but portugal itlay would be very up tempo which good
http://beingruthiesmom.blogspot.com/ Trish

That “Magic Stretcher” is just amazing….ya don’t even limp after just a few seconds on it….
Tom

Figo was actually hurt there, to those that think he was flopping.
Vico

“Thanks Vico …
wow .. the games is not exciting as yesterday …”

Tehn it’s good I’m stick at work today and not yesterday. I’m not missing much so far, huh?
Griff

sabestian, its booing ronaldo is more for the roomeny thing, cause english fans need to realize that roomney’s red was roomney’s fault
http://www.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2006/liveblog-ecuador-costa-rica.html billy

Henna, you are my hero. this is the first feed i have found that i can watch at work!!!!
Gian Luca

Once the game is stopped and the medics get on the field, the rules state you have to be carried out of the field n stretchers and can only re-enter with referee permissions.
Tram

Oh, is the person blogging the game named Bob? lol.

cool.

********

I have a Ronaldhino t-shirt. #10. hehe.

————-

I have heard the comment that Portugal is a more “all-around” /balanced team, whereas France depends on one or two stars (Henry/Zinadine(sp?)

Agree or disagree?
sebastian

ah yes….forgot bout that….
*sigh* soccer drama….gotta love it
Doc Mike

Conflicted about this game today … can’t stand Portugal b/c of the diving and C.R., though they do play beautiful soccer at times. Have nothing against France except…well… it’s France. But they play an aggressive, fairly fluid game and made Italy look terrible the other night.
Griff

Trish LOL
Henna

“Barthez is 56. I KID! He’s 62.

(OK, OK, he’s 35.)”

Yes, but in dog years …
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/worldcupfan/ dw

“That “Magic Stretcher” is just amazing….ya don’t even limp after just a few seconds on it….”

It’s part of the new GOP health care plan. They’re going to buy everyone in this country a dozen cans of Magic Spray and every family a Magic Stretcher.
Tom

The ref is letting a lot of minor things go, which is fantastic.
bella

Thanks Vico …
wow .. the games is not exciting as yesterday …
TrutHertz

Fan logic:

zidaneisking wrote:
“I love how poeple still rag on Italy for being a team of “floppers and divers.” Germany dove as much, if not moreso, than Italy yesterday.
…The Germans did not dive as much, and when they did, they just got up, little time wasting grimacing for the cameras.

===============
No wonder you’re so angry, you don’t even agree with yourself.
Tom

haha

To be fair, Figo hurt his head not his leg(s). So, the stretcher did nothing except get ih moff the field.
Doc Mike

Tram –

I think Portugal is called a more ‘balanced’ team because they don’t have real standouts. Figo et.al. aren’t in their prime any longer and Ronaldo, while obviously a solid player, has yet to string together enough standout performances to be called a ’standout.’ France, meanwhile, has stand-alone superstars in Zidane et.al.
GT

Trish..

That’s a good one. I wonder if they are going to make pocket sized ones.
Griff

agree tom, yesterday’s ref did a great job because he did just that
Tom

France will need to play for some more set pieces, especially corners. With Zidane bending the ball, they are deadly from the corner. Ask Spain.
Gian Luca

The French play like intellectuals.

Speaking of cats and dogs, Ribery must have a hidden reservoir of oxygen. The guy ran the whole game with Brasil.
http://pepys_s.rediffblogs.com/ mohan

still no card, still no goal…
Liliana

Henna: Thank you!!!!:)
GT

Game is getting heated.. now it should get interesting. Good soccer with some wresting and kung fu thrown in.. and a health dose of cards. What could be better eh?
Gian Luca

French defense = Wall.
Tom

Ronaldo dove there. He didn’t even need to dive there. Often, diving will take you right out of a healthy play…
Griff

haha get up ronaldo!!!
sebastian

*yawn*…i found a new lilttle game so that you entretain yourself…..close your eyes…and try to guess everytime ronaldo touches the ball!!…
its fun(
Gian Luca

Cristiano Ronaldo: On vacation on the French Riviera.
Sofia

Wow half an hour has gone by already.
Gian Luca

Did anyone ever see Figo smile?
Doc Mike

Sebastion –

LOL it works! Just listen for the whistles…
Henna

“Cristiano Ronaldo: On vacation on the French Riviera”

Where the diving is good this year.
Gian Luca

Penalty…
pawan

i love france.
Stuart

Still haven’t decided, from some angles it looked like a legit penalty, from others it was a dive.
Griff

yep that a foul good call ref
http://deleted ks

france first goal on PK by zidane!
http://pepys_s.rediffblogs.com/ mohan

did that deserve a penalty ??
Tom

Gian Luca,

He never scores so you’ll never see him smile. ;)

Oh, penalty for France!
GT

YES!
http://beingruthiesmom.blogspot.com/ Trish

Yes, he tripped him…but yes, he milked it. What do 2 wrongs equal in this game?
Gian Luca

Is today’s Zidane’s birthday?
Tom

Looked like Henry sold that Penalty a bit…
http://deleted ks

was it a fair penalty?
GT

DAMN!! DANG! DRAT!
Sofia

oh no.
pawan

O french, send home portugese.
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/worldcupfan/ dw

A little ticky-tack, that call.

Zidane isn’t playing like he’s 34.
Sven

wtf that was a penalty?
Divers 1 – Portugal 0
Andreia & Alex

Can’t say I was a fan of that call. They showed the replay 3 times.
Gian Luca

Portugal’s missing a lot of passes… not as focused…
http://pepys_s.rediffblogs.com/ mohan

harsh penalty
sebastian

…the call was fair enough….
no one even ran to the reff to
argue against from the portugal
team……..this ought to spice things
up a little bit!!!
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/worldcupfan/ dw

Well, it was a trip. Whether it was worthy of the call is another question. But they’ve been calling that in the box this entire Cup.
Tom

I cna’t imagine Portugal comes back after that. They’ve done little to show that they are focused enough to crack the French back 1/3.
bella

GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

FRANCE VONT VONT VONT

OMGOSH AN AMAZING TWO DAYS IN A ROW
Andreia & Alex

What a way to score
http://www.soccercityusa.com Mr. Snugglepants

HA! Poetic justice, that penalty. Eat me, Portugal!
Tom

Yeah, Henry made that “trip” look much worse than it was. He probably could have remained standing and even kept in on the play, perhaps. But, he sold it and now france is one step closer to the finals.
http://postedfrommalaysia evelyn

shit..nothing seeing wrong to the portugal..!!!!
GT

Dude.. whats up with the do? I mean bleached hair, the studs, the beard.. weird. I guess thats the world of soccer.
http://www.soccercityusa.com Mr. Snugglepants

Oh, and may I point out: http://www.soccercityusa.com
zidaneisking

Clueless fan reading comprehension:

“No wonder you’re so angry, you don’t even agree with yourself.”

My words were: “The Germans did not dive as much, and when they did, they just got up, little time wasting grimacing for the cameras.”

To spell it out more clearly since you obviously have kindergarten reading comprehension: The Germans did not dive as much as the Italians. The few times they did, they did not writhe in pain overacting for the cameras.

Basic stuff. No contradiction with that argument. Go back to school.

All hail Zidane to a brilliant goal!!

Oh and here we go, Crisy crybaby is down again.
Griff

ok if ur gonna give france on a week foul but still clearly a foul u have to give portugal the same thing
http://fifaworldcup.sporati.com Milo Riano

Crush Portugal, go france they are are going to win.

http://fifaworldcup.sporati.com/preview-semis-france-vs-portugal.page
Liliana

Hoping Portugal can come back. I have no burning desire to see a France vs Italy final.
http://www.soccercityusa.com Mr. Snugglepants

Cristiano Ronaldo: DIVER DOWN!!
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/worldcupfan/ dw

That should have been a card for simulation.
sebastian

i think henry would have scored anyways if
he didn fall/trip….he had the perfect set up….on a side not…all the booin against rnoaldo is at least teaching him to pass the ball a little bit faster!!
Andreia & Alex

Okay is this ref being selective or is he just clearly not seeing this
jericho

france is taking it
portugal was lost to france in the euros
Griff

ronaldo is an annoying person, but the kid can play
donna

I am completely torn as to who to cheer for…
I wanted France, but I like the way Portugal plays. Oh the agony.
Liliana

What is so annoying about Ronaldo?
Doc Mike

See?! This is why Portugal sucks: moments after a tough call by the ref, Portugal works down to the box and FLOPS, playing on the ref to award a PK. Forget playing hard, working to equalize, whatever, they simply look for an opportunity and then it’s Diver Down! I hope they lose by a million, screw ‘em.
Philip

Well it’s nice to see the controversial officiating is back after a one game hiatus yesterday.
Gian Luca

Did you see how C. Ronaldo flew? It was actually funny! He jumped like he was sky-diving!
http://www.soccercityusa.com Mr. Snugglepants

Zidane…stud.
Me

Haha, wouldn’t it be ironic if Portugal lost and then blamed the ref for diving? FIFA would probably look the federation in the eye and say, seriously? You guys are going to complain?
sebastian

the crowd at the stadium
is really startin to piss me off!!…
they’re so ambiguous damn it…
i cant make out if theyre portugal or france fans at all…
apparently they just go with the flow of the game..kind of annoyin after hearing the germans and italians yell their hearts out last night
Griff

ok come on ref settle down and be consistant
http://worldcupblog.org sara

go france, go
Tom

The ref isn’t a great ref. I hate when a ref misses a call, knows he missed it, and then uses a ticky-tack play as a make-up call.
katherine da motta ponte

Ok…I am watching this Portugal v. France game on TSN once again. Even before the kick off the irrelvant and non-sensical commentary begins. Once again the commentators do seem to favor France. Good for them I say – makes our come out of nowhere (out of nowehere to ABC, TSN) victories that much sweeter.

Someone please enlighten me – of what relevance is the size of Portugal to the game of soccer? None whatsoever you say – I agree. Apparently, TSN believes it is of some relevance as a screen comment did state:

(Portugal is) slightly smaller than the state of Indiana.

I played varsity soccer in high school, forward, like my favourite, Pauleta. I never heard that the size of one’s country had any relevance to the game. Although, I have admittedly noticed a connection.

Drum roll please: one of the world’s biggest countries, where your fine pitiful commentators no doubt hail, can’t play the game – USA (except for Mia and company).

It is not a game for brutes nor bullies. Please – you tell those whiny British Ronaldo haters to stop whining already. I can’t believe Ronaldo ever agreed to play for Manchester. If I were him I would pack my bags and exit that country. And Britain’s international play will suffer. You’ll see that skill level drop like a rock with the absence of real players in their leagues, their teams, but for that metro sexual pretty boy that just retired. Why do the latins have to spice it up for them?

England should focus more on darts, crickets or rugby. The Australians will boot them out of rugby, literally and figuratively. My best guess, they’ll be left with darts and crickets, perhaps fox hunting. Soccer, football, fuetbol is not a game for whiners.

If TSN wants to hire me to write their text commentary I will be happy to oblige. I’m not cheap but at least the comments will be relevant, on the money and balanced.

Please find some commentators that know the game!!!

Thanks,
Atenciosamente,
katherine da motta ponte
citizen of canada
citizen of portugal
permanent resident of USA

PS: please stay away from our jewels.
Stuart

The ref isn’t nearly as good as last night.
http://fifaworldcup.sporati.com Milo Riano

Portugal is joining the diving competition soon after they get sent home by Zidane…
Miguel

bring back last night’s ref!
http://www.soccercityusa.com Mr. Snugglepants

Henry tripped, foul not called. Then a make-up call. Officiating: WEAK!
donna

have to agree, the officiating has been bad. Maybe it’s time to put a second ref on the field. another set of eyes could help with them missing some of the big things.
http://pepys_s.rediffblogs.com/ mohan

portugal is positive..they are going for the goal
donna

yea, they would have to talk to each other and agree. but maybe it would be less belly-aching by the players.
don’t know what the soln. is, but something has got to change.
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/worldcupfan/ dw

Actually, the ref is doing a pretty good job. The trip was questionable, but that’s been called the entire Cup. Ronaldo clearly dove.

The ref is also keeping the cards in his pocket. About time.
http://worldcupblog.org sara

i wish i could actually watch the game.
jericho

seriouslly
too bad its not a quality match like yesterday
nikki

France is my team. Big up Zidane everytime and my top man HENRY

Go France. My prediction
France 2-Portugal 0
http://fifaworldcup.sporati.com Milo Riano

I beleive most of the crowd is still dominant Germans who can have either of the teams win. they wouldn’t care, they just need to use their tickets.
http://beingruthiesmom.blogspot.com/ Trish

This ref may end up like the ones in the T-Mobile WC commercial…seen it? Even the bunny mascot has a mad face.
TrutHertz

Hey zidaneisking, don’t blame someone for reading everything you wrote and not just what you’d like us to as you also wrote “The germans dove just as much as the italians if not more so”.

Glad you corrected yourself at any rate.

HTH
Gian Luca

Ribery = Lion.
Vico

OK. Here at work the Cat has finally stepped out of the house… so now the mouse can play! What’s going on?? France up 1-0 on a fishy penalty call??? mmmmh….
http://www.estoescostarica.com Poncho

Figoooo what’s up!!!
sebastian

portugal is starting to bitch alot!!
Tom

Even though France got a crap call which led to a goal, they are still outplaying Portugal. They deserve to win.
http://www.soccercityusa.com Mr. Snugglepants

1st half over. Keep it up, France.
Griff

na problem with two refs is that refs don’t always agree, then must sit and talk to each other
http://pepys_s.rediffblogs.com/ mohan

Cardless half..amazing !!
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/worldcupfan/ dw

I think we’ll see Archundia in the final, though.
nikki

I think the ref should blow off the match now. What you guys think?
ELECTRA

Proof once again that the Ref wins games for the French.
I truely wish Portugal wins this game….and the cup.
sebastian

……it wasnt a crap call tho…
just a little bit ‘milked’…:D
wasnt THAT controversial anyways…not worth
pulling your hair off and loosing sleep
Artur

Wouldn’t it be very ironic if Portugal lost and then attempted to blame the ref for not disciplining diving (which it wasn’t, really) and playacting or whatever else they choose to blame for their defeat ? Fifa would just say “Seriously, you guys are complaining…about that? Good one.”
Henna

Agreed, terrific ref yesterday — just ignored the dramatics (loved the “no, no, up you get” headshakes, more effective than Magic Spray!). Yikes, ESPN feed cutting out now & then.
katherine da motta ponte

Ok…I am watching this Portugal v. France game on TSN once again. Even before the kick off the irrelvant and non-sensical commentary begins. Once again the commentators do seem to favor France. Good for them I say – makes our come out of nowhere (out of nowehere to ABC, TSN) victories that much sweeter.

Someone please enlighten me – of what relevance is the size of Portugal to the game of soccer? None whatsoever you say – I agree. Apparently, TSN believes it is of some relevance as a screen comment did state:

(Portugal is) slightly smaller than the state of Indiana.

I played varsity soccer in high school, forward, like my favourite, Pauleta. I never heard that the size of one’s country had any relevance to the game. Although, I have admittedly noticed a connection.

Drum roll please: one of the world’s biggest countries, where your fine pitiful commentators no doubt hail, can’t play the game – USA (except for Mia and company).

It is not a game for brutes nor bullies. Please – you tell those whiny British Ronaldo haters to stop whining already. I can’t believe Ronaldo ever agreed to play for Manchester. If I were him I would pack my bags and exit that country. And Britain’s international play will suffer. You’ll see that skill level drop like a rock with the absence of real players in their leagues, their teams, but for that metro sexual pretty boy that just retired. Why do the latins have to spice it up for them?

England should focus more on darts, crickets or rugby. The Australians will boot them out of rugby, literally and figuratively. My best guess, they’ll be left with darts and crickets, perhaps fox hunting. Soccer, football, fuetbol is not a game for whiners.

If TSN wants to hire me to write their text commentary I will be happy to oblige. I’m not cheap but at least the comments will be relevant, on the money and balanced.

Please find some commentators that know the game!!!

Thanks,
Atenciosamente,
katherine da motta ponte
citizen of canada
citizen of portugal
permanent resident of USA

PS: please stay away from our jewels.
http://beingruthiesmom.blogspot.com/ Trish

someone must have explained to him that he doesn’t get paid by the card.
Vittorio

Christiano Ronaldo has a big freakin’ neck. He looks like a giraffe.

HOLY CRAP SNAKES ON A PLACE COMMERCIAL! ESPN’s coverage is redeemed!
GT

That was a weak first half.. It started well then the action went south. Hope they take some good mojo during half time and come out kicking.

Portugal gotta work on its penetration at the goal it they want to score.
Griff

there was a foul, and if it didn’t happen outside of the box, nobody would have had a problem with it
http://blue2rose.blogspot.com Blah-Me

France leading because of a penalty shot that got thru! Zidane magic I tell you. First half of my wish fulfilled. Second half of my wish remains. Go Portugal!
Gian Luca

With the two refs (by the way, you already have the side-refs), why don’t we change the rule and play with two balls? I always do it with my kids. It’s more fun!
samba

Gooo Portugal!
Griff

lol, on the two balls, but remember side refs can be ignored by center ref someone with a whistle can’t
Doc Mike

Griff –

Surely you agree that one elderly ref covering that much space is going to miss a call (or fifty…). The NFL has seven refs for a 100 x 40 space. The NBA has three for a space roughly twice the size of a tennis court. More refs would be a good thing for soccer, as would video-review as instituted in the NFL for questionable calls.
ETucker

France is goin to win this game 1-0.

Portugal looks very poor in the attack: Scolari should sub out Deco, but the proble is there is no natural replacement.

All the Barcelona players have looked tired this tournament. Marquez, Ronaldinho, Deco, Van Bronkchurst….
CoolJ

Portugal is not playing bad at all. The only difference till now is a Penalti kick.
Still 45′ to show a come back.
As I told you yesterday. If this team for the first time in this championship will come back to win, nothing will stop them.
jak

france is lucky if they win this game Portugal is a good team to be honest!! I liked them after watching them 1st half they’re talented no doubt!
Manda

hey thx fir doing the commentry i can’t be watching the game now im to young to be in the pub but of well kepp on tell me about the game hope ur all having fun
bye
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/worldcupfan/ dw

SNAKES? ON A MF’ING PLANE? I AM SOOOOOO THERE.
Griff

bobby google TCU player download it, then put on univsion, or espn360 might work where u are
bobby

where can i watch live online for free?? im in canada
jericho

lmao gian luca

sure why not,and let’s just make everything penalty kicks too
Tom

I guess I should be hoping to see an Italy-France final. If Portugal can’t score on France’s defense, they won’t score on Italy. France has a shot at beating Italy whereas I don’t think Portugal can.
http://pepys_s.rediffblogs.com/ mohan

can’t understand why C.Ronaldo is being ridiculed? he is playing a good game
Henna

Given the last-minute surprises yesterday (& in a lot of these matches), hmm. Portugal seems unfocused — wake UP already.
Tram

I agree that more refs for soccer is needed. I’m amazed that there’s only 1 for all that space, (and that much constant action). I think NBA has more, and they aren’t even “in action” as much, nor is the space as big (I don’t think). Besides that, you would think having a “group” (of 1 or 2 or even 3 refs) would help stave off blame and hostility toward any single ref, that way all can call fairly instead of one guy being swayed by not wanting people mad at him and him only. Strength in numbers, if you will.
Moby

Enjoying the blog – good job.

Go Portugal.
jericho

bobby
try
http://www.yourglobaltv.com/vietnam/vtv3.htm
Catherine

what is going on? Oh I wish I could see! Did Zidane deserve the pk?
http://www.soccercityusa.com Mr. Snugglepants

http://www.soccercityusa.com

It’s your worst fear realized, you’re on an international flight form the USA to Australia, they’ve run out of alcoholic beverages, it’s…Shakes on a Plane!!
Rain

T. Henry dived… again.
nikki

Let me here the predictions on this match. Eveyone please give a score
http://www.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2006/liveblog-germany-vs-italy.html Khem

That penalty kick was so uncalled for. I think this refree has already been bought by France.

C’mon Portugal!!! Beat France.
http://blue2rose.blogspot.com Blah-Me

Good defence from both teams!! French defence exceptionally strong!
http://permagnus.com/ Oskar Syahbana

I think we got ourselves a new Inzaghi successor! Well done for your dive Ronaldo!
http://www.soccercityusa.com Mr. Snugglepants

Hey Roberto, hello from Portland!
Tom

Catherine,

Henry got tripped up in the box and was awarded a penalty. Zidane took the kick.

I thought Henry sold it big time. He went crashing to the ground after a very minor contact. Still, France is leading 1-0. Can’t blame the guy for doing what it takes to win.
sumyung gei

two good reasons why that was a good call for a penalty

1)it was definatly a late tackel, there was no ball for (Ricardo Calvolio) to fight for, the ball was chipped away long ago.
2) he did prevent Henry from attacking the goal from inside the box, he stopped him, by tripping him, end of story, it’s a penalty, Whether Henry made the fall more dramatic or not, that is a different story.
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/worldcupfan/ dw

“More refs would be a good thing for soccer, as would video-review as instituted in the NFL for questionable calls.”

No, no, no, no, no.

More refs I can get behind. But replay is just going to lead to the same looong waits for the ref to decide that there’s no evidence to turn a call over.

Goal review? Sure. But not on calls.
http://www.soccercityusa.com Mr. Snugglepants

France 2-0 over the Portguese Diving Team.
Doc Mike

Snakes on a m’fing plane! What won’t ol’ Sammy do for a paycheck? He’s cool, man, one of the coolest…but snakes on a plane? Snakes on a m’fing plane?!
Spiders in a car!
Tigers on a train!
Jesus, Hollywood, what next?
http://blue2rose.blogspot.com Blah-Me

Oh by the way, my question disappeared. So I shall ask again – What happens if Ricardo gets a second yellow card this game? *scratches head*
Catherine

Tom abd sumyung gei, thank you for your answers! Much appreciated! I wish I could be watching it too!
Rahil

Zidane has put his name in the same bracket as Pele and Maradons after this world cup. He has shown what real class is all about.
MARCO

@zidaneisking: Not only do you have highly skewed vision of events, you clearly have trouble articulating your thoughts into plain english! We can forgive you’re lack of knowledge about football, but perhaps its you that needs to go back to kindergarten to study basic english…

A proud Italian
liam

france 2 – 0 portugal.

france is going to score again late; portugal is already demoralised.

anyway, the reason people make fun of c. ronaldo is his sense of entitlement – he’s been told he’s the new biggest thing so much that he believes the hype, and gets visibly upset when he’s not the greatest… which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but instead of trying harder he whinges.
Doc Mike

dw –

Fair point.
sebastian

…..whats next after introducing reviews to the game???
time outs??…quarters???…..cheerleaders and mascots on the field???…
http://www.soccercityusa.com Mr. Snugglepants

2nd yellow card for Ricardo, then he’s suspended for Portugal’s next international match, be it the final or the 3rd place game.
Dinhduy

France will win this game!
C.Ronaldo is not welcome to return to England and will not be able to find a new club!
http://www.soccercityusa.com Mr. Snugglepants

Cheerleaders allowed only if they are female, hot and topless!
Catherine

Tom,

by the way, you are right. a foul is a foul and minor contact in the event of a late tackle in the box is a pk, whether it is a hard tackle or not and even if it is embellished. Most people dont know that but its stated on FIFAs website. (kind of like what happened to Grosso against Australia, right?)

Thank you all for your comments. It sure makes me feel a bit better. I hate having to be missing a game (especially one like this)…

good luck to both teams!
sourav

Portugal better raise the bar or they are done .Looking very ineffective inspite of all the shots taken on goal
Figo looks tired,wheres deco? only ronaldo seems to be running
and pauletta? sabrosa should come on asap
things looking dark right now though lets keep our finger crossed
http://blue2rose.blogspot.com Blah-Me

MrSnugglepants.. how does a team play without a GK? Thats technically impossible. Does one of the players replace him as a GK?
jericho

now cheerleaders wudnt be a bad idea lol
Tom

Liam,

How do you pronounce “whing” or “whinger?”

Is it pronounced just like it’s written here? I’ve seen a ton of british and Aussie bloggers say it but I’ve never heard it in person. I presume it is synonymous with “whine” and “whiner.”
Artur

To bobby: http://espnevent1.espn.com.edgesuite.net/070506_portfrance.asx
http://www.soccercityusa.com Mr. Snugglepants

Zidane…best player in this WC.
GT

Jericho

That’s a sweet link. The lag is only about 15 secs.. neat dude!
Italy vs France

Germany sucked big time. They should have been beaten by Argentina in pre-quarters itself.
nikki

When a GK gets Red Card, does someone replaces them?
Ubi

If france was awarded that penalty kick then portugal should have been awarded one too. It was clearly more severe!
http://www.soccercityusa.com Mr. Snugglepants

Sub out a field player and replace him with the backup goalkeeper.
skillz

this world cup started out so great, now that italy,france and portugal are left theres no one to cheer for anymore, three of my least favourite teams. damn germany why couldnt you win, you really deserved it.
http://beingruthiesmom.blogspot.com/ Trish

no playing leapfrog!
Stuart

Bob, since you likely didn’t find any non-depressed Germans, I presume you brought a beer back instead?
liam

Tom:
http://www.answers.com/whinge&r=67
Tom

Skillz, I’ll never understand that logic. Italy fairly beat Germany…so how did Germany “deserve” it?
Griff

Close for henry
http://www.soccercityusa.com Mr. Snugglepants

nikki – yes, refer to arsenal’s champions league loss to fc barcelona – lehman got a red and was ejected and the backup keeper came on
Tom

Dang, France isn’t letting up at all.
Ubi

Boo that link onlyh works if your in the United States. Someone send me one where you can view it from anywhere please!
ETucker

France is very dangerous on the counter…
Griff

yeah that was an odd game, ref had two choice allow the goal give lehmen a yellow, or not allow the goal and give lehmen a red
rew

skillz… theirs always your team and “whoever plays Italy” to cheer for.. thats my take on it.. So Go France Go!!!!!!!!!!!
http://beingruthiesmom.blogspot.com/ Trish

ouch
http://pepys_s.rediffblogs.com/ mohan

why can’t the television commentary be impartial? yesterday they were rooting for Germany, today it is France.
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/worldcupfan/ dw

Geez, Figo, out to blind the French?
bella

Wow… france gets a goal eh .. so now that they scored im kinda afraid… i meand if they got one in on portugal that fast how about when they play Italy? gosh … I love France but im not sure if thats good…
Tom

It’s been all France in the opening minutes of the 2nd half.
jericho

france vs italy
revenge of euro 2000
ItalianSoccerIsGaySoccer

Quick comment on Ribery. Scarface has been the man all tournament. If this score holds up, I really see France beating Italy.
Jr

2-1 portugal
ETucker

France did beat Brazil 1-0….Portugal should be wary of a counterattack, but they really need to take more chance.

ATE A FINAL!
Tom

Pauleta comes out of witness protection and makes a shot into the side netting.
http://beingruthiesmom.blogspot.com/ Trish

did he hyperextend the knee?
Doc Mike

Tom –
“Italy fairly beat Germany…so how did Germany “deserve” it?”

Haha it’s kinda like if a team of Mother Theresa’s played a team of Devils. The team of M.T.’s would deserve to win it on merit of who they were and what they had done.

Regardless of skill and ability on that particular day, so a pointless thing to say, really :-) To say a team ‘deserves’ to win is, to me, the same as saying,”I like that team better, so they should’ve won because I like them better. Who cares if they weren’t as good; I like them, and that’s what matters.”
Ms. Catenaccio

Come on, even great Zidane does not need to eat the crumbs off the table like that – dirty theatrics by Henry to get PK. Where’s this referee from?
ETucker

I hope Miguel gets some magic spray…
MARCO

@Tom: I don’t get your analogy… Are Italy supposed to be the team of devils?

A proud Italian
Max

For fans in the US, here a live stream (free) from the ESPN network (paste URL into Media Player, Winamp or other player you already have): http://espnevent1.espn.com.edgesuite.net/070506_portfrance.asx

Max
MARCO

oooops – i meant that for Doc Mike…

A proud Italian
Tom

Marco,

I didn’t say that, Doc Mike did. But I think he meant that even though Italy won fairly they are the “bad” team. For some reason an earlier poster claimed that Germany “deserved” to win the game for reasons unknown.

I’m a huge Azzurri supporter. :)
http://pepys_s.rediffblogs.com/ mohan

oscar for Miguel ?
Doc Mike

Marco–

No, no, not referring to any team at all — no offense intended.

A comment was made that one team ‘deserved’ to win over another, and Tom (and I, through a half-drunk and very odd analogy) were writing that saying someone ‘deserves’ to win doesn’t make sense at all.
http://pepys_s.rediffblogs.com/ mohan

“Another worrying sign for Portugal – Luiz Felipe Scolari has actually sat down.”
Phil McNulty, BBC Sport
MP

Mohan:
No, no Oscar for Miguel. His leg is really bust up
liam

with the exception of achundia, it’s seemed like many of the refs haven’t been _quite_ as impartial as a FIFA ref needs to be. i’m not sure what the solution is, although i know the solution is _not_ to stop play every 7 seconds for a “media time-out” while 15 refs review the replay.

that said, this guy hasn’t been doing so bad; i mean, henry was actually fouled, regardless of his theatrics.
Ray Lopez

It’s communism I say, communism! I can’t get a live feed here in Athens, Greece!

Oh well, at least this blog is entertaining… I don’t care too much for soccer anyway (oops, football!)
Univision fan

Diving and fake injuries for all the world of instant replay viewers to see. Only the players don’t see.
sebastian

agree with liam
Vico

“@Tom & Doc Mike: Sorry, ingleesh is notta my fista language and i dina undastanda the inference
A proud Italian”

LOL!

– –

I think that the instance when it would be okay to say a team ‘deserved’ to win is if they were clearly robbed due to the incompetence of the referee. Otherwise it’s all about the goals in the end, they who score more ‘deserve’ the win… :-)
MP

Yes, Liam,
The french was fouled, but so were we. And we got no PK
Tom

Sucks for Portugal. They wouldn’t normalyl want to sub out Miguel, a defender, when they are behind.
Univision fan

I agree that this ref isn’t so bad. Checking his bio, at least he has officiated a lot of international matches, unlike some of the other part-time refs in this Cup.
MARCO

@Tom & Doc Mike: Sorry, ingleesh is notta my fista language and i dina undastanda the inference ;-)

A proud Italian
vas

France is gonna win the World Cup
http://pepys_s.rediffblogs.com/ mohan

the ref has probably forgotten to bring the cards with him :)
Tom

Portugal needs to start playing like they want to win and stop with the diving antics.
ETucker

Mohan: great quote.

What forwards does Portugal have on the bench? They need more support for Pauleta….
Miguel

Divers!!
samba

Lebanese, meet you Downtown after the match!
Well over 40……

Bob,
I have thoroughly enjoyed your blogs during the WC…only wish we could share a beer or two. I’ll toast you when I get home from work (with a German import, of course). Prost!!!!
Tom

ETucker, Simao Sabrosa…
ETucker

I thought he was attacking mid…
whatever, we’re about to see/read about him!
Tom

Finally, Pauleta comes out and Sabrosa comes in. Univision announcers are delighted to see SABROSSSSA.
Tom

Portugal has packed it in, it seems. Errant passing and overall lack of energy.
GT

Hey was that some illegal mojo he had on his waist?
Doc Mike

Sebastian and Liam,

If you don’t want more refs and play review, the only other solution is to train the players not to dive and whine. Theatrics, unfortunately, have become a big part of this game and have obviously led to some undeserved goals and even altered the victor of the game in some cases. Diving is one of the main reasons soccer will never catch on in the U.S. — we see it as un-manly and dishonorable. The sports we revere — basketball, football, and baseball — are based on Manly Men ’shaking it off’ and playing through ACTUAL injuries; we hold as gods players like Schilling who pitched the World Series on a broken foot, or Jordan when he won (another) title playing with a 103 degree fever, or the entire Steelers team playing a game five years ago and vomiting nonstop from food poisoning.
Vico

WTF?? Why are my posts showing up waaay before the ones I am answering to??? It’s like I can travel back in time…
Stuart

France needs to be careful playing defense only…
Catherine

jericho and mr snugglepants,

Can I sign up as a cheerleader? I have experience… I was captain in high school…
liam

don’t you dare tell me basketball isn’t about diving and pulling fouls. i played basketball and we _trained_ in that.
jericho

lol
Vico

…or maybe referees should be better trained to identify diving! We see it, yet they don’t and they are 10 times closer to the action, c’mon!!
sergio

Doc Mike, did you see the nba finals? there was nothing manly about dwayne wayde’s performance and the ridiculous calls that he got.
Tom

Portugal needs to start pressing more. I hate to say it but they need to worry less about the counterattack.
rew

So right Doc… You see these guys with “thighs” the size of tree trunks and lungs to run for miles.. they feel breath on thier necks and they fall down holding a limb…
Ray Lopez

In truth, both sides have played poorly in this half: Port has the ball more, but has done nothing; FR has not has the ball out of it’s half of the field. Who agrees?
Vico

“jericho and mr snugglepants,
Can I sign up as a cheerleader? I have experience… I was captain in high school…”

LOL… but hoping you’re serious, ha, ha ha

Post résumé please :-)
GT

Catherine..
Got the pom poms?
MARCO

Doc Mike: Thats rich! You revere the likes of Barry Bonds who’s up to his eyeballs in steroid, and you have the nerve to complain about football “cheats”???!!!
MP

Weeel, one thing must be said: both teams are even when it comes to diving
http://pepys_s.rediffblogs.com/ mohan

why is Portugal not going all out?
ETucker

It’s time to throw caution to the wind…..this just shows how crappy the 4-5-1 formation can be, stupid boring and ugly 1-nil games…
Griff

oh portugal gotta mkae bartez pay
MP

Ray, I kind of agree. Pt is trying to do something more, Fr is trying to keep the score to their side (they are winning, so they have to)
silver_blaise

Barthez seems to me like France’s Dudek : ordinarily quite the bumbler but when it comes down to crunch time he performs with some hilarious saves, No?
GT

I am really really hurting! That was too close,, I was up from my chair and all.
MP

Oh, that was close. Tough luck for PT
Tom

Mohan, because they are afraid of France’s fierce counterattack.

Portugal is hoping to get an equalizer off of a penalty not from an offensive attack. At least it looks that way to me.
http://pepys_s.rediffblogs.com/ mohan

Figo blows a great opportunity
MP

Nah, Tom, we are actually trying to score a goal
bobmcconn

in re the manly sport and drugs…back when drugs were drugs…Dock Ellis pitched a no hitter on LSD..~ 1975
“I can only remember bits and pieces of the game. I was psyched, I had a feeling of euphoria. I was zeroed in on the catcher’s glove.”

“The ball was small sometimes, the ball was large sometimes; sometimes I saw the catcher, sometimes I didn’t.”

He saw comet-tails on every pitch. He was wild that evening, walking eight batters, but pitched that rarity — a no-hitter. For advocates of the mind-expanding properties of psychedelic drugs, this was the stuff of legend.

..on “diving” see Duke U, Sean Battier and “flopping”
Stuart

Wow! If this score holds, Barthez may cost France the title on Sunday…talk about a wild card!
Griff

give Ronaldo a yellow!!!
silver_blaise

Ray – that might be the most funny thing all night.
ETucker

This game has been pitiful. Absolutely pitiful. I think this World Cup has made me like soccer less than before….
Catherine

LoL! I am serious I was captain, but it was meant to be a cheerful joke in an effort to join in the fun as I am stuck here at work (working on a stupid case) when I should be watching the game with you all!

=)

LoL… oh, and I have a nice figure too! Lol… hope you all are enjoying the game!
Doc Mike

Woah, woah, I’m not saying sports, especially American sports, isn’t RIFE with cheats! It is, and it’s disgusting. My point is that in no other sport do guys fake injury so often, or so much, and are actually applauded by the announcers for doing so (see M.Balboa in the England knockout game). And Liam — I played several sports as well, and we never trained to fake injuries. That’s dirty play from a dirty coach.
http://pepys_s.rediffblogs.com/ mohan

i feel if Portugal presses forward relentlessly, they could score
Tom

I can see why people dislike Ronaldo…
Ray Lopez

MP–I’m rooting for Portugal since I’m posting from Athens, Greece. Greece beat Portugual in 2004, therefore, if Portugal wins, it means Greece would have won in 2006, if they had qualified! Perfect logic, Aristotle would be proud!
shayborg

They need to start giving out more cards for diving. Every time Portugal gets a ball into the box at least one player falls down.
Vico

Ray Lopez,

I agree with that logic,… so I’m gonna borrow from it. If Italy wins te cup they have to share it with the U.S.A. since they tied them on round 1 :-)
Griff

I think fifa needs to instute some sort a review policy after the game where divers can begiven yellow cards, its not fair to the refs to have people diving all over the place
Tom

Man, I hope France just scores again to make the outcome of this game conrete and I can stop watching. This is just boring, bad soccer.
ETucker

Ray: why doesn’t the Greece flag show up for your postings?
http://pepys_s.rediffblogs.com/ mohan

first yellow card …after 81 minutes..surely a record for this WC
Stuart

Great 80:00 comment, Bob…spot on. Really pathetic display by Portugal, they’re shaming the semi-final after last night’s classic.
http://beingruthiesmom.blogspot.com/ Trish

LOL @ Ray Lopez…I love that logic, makes sense to me!
jericho

this game cant even match da classic game we watched yesterday.someone pass me a pillow here
Vico

“This game has been pitiful. Absolutely pitiful. I think this World Cup has made me like soccer less than before….”

ETucker,
Don’t give up on soccer! Think about the Mexico vs Argentina game!
MP

Ray, you are devious, my man
silver_blaise

Urgh – PRESS ON PROTUGAL. is it justme or has Deco been just too damn quiet in this second half ?
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/worldcupfan/ dw

I love how every four years it’s yet another reason why Americans don’t get soccer. It’s boring. It’s too low scoring. Diving. Metros*xuals.
http://pepys_s.rediffblogs.com/ mohan

the move that brought the penalty

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41852000/jpg/_41852418_penalty416.jpg
Griff

yeah that was a yellow card
silver_blaise

weird how im watching with 2 americans, one indian and one singaporean yeah. AHA second yellow card for SAHA! – all united players suck hhahahaha
Tom

dw,

Well, in part that’s true. American Football is higher scoring, faster, and in many ways more physical.

I think more than anything it’s the fact that soccer isn’t popular that it’s not popular. Confusing? Well, aspiring athletes will migrate toward the sports that are popular: football, baseball, and basketball. That’s where the fame, prestige, and money are.

*shrug* I like soccer but I like American football more.
Griff

oh portugal gotta put it in
ETucker

I am American and understand and love soccer. But this game has been absolutely terrible.

The sport is still fine: I enjoyed the Champion’s league final immensely.
bella

hahahah @ jericho… “this game cant even match da classic game we watched yesterday.someone pass me a pillow here”

you are so right … yesterdays game was non stop excitement …
great that france is winning … just absolutely no spark to this game .. gosh I wish that france would at least score another goal to actually deserv this …
FRANCE VONT VONT VONT
Tom

An equalizer would make up for the boredom but it won’t happen.
Vico

Thanks mohan, that’s the first image of today’s game I’ve seen. Not TV nor live feed hookup nearby.
Ray Lopez

Germany got robbed! Germany sans their suspended player was WRONG! FIFA is a JOKE! These bozos even took on the Greek bureaucracy, suspending Greece from further play! I wanted to see France v. Germany in the final (WW 3) LOL.

Posting from Greece but can’t do the flag
http://pepys_s.rediffblogs.com/ mohan

One more for u Vico

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41852000/jpg/_41852512_peno416.jpg
Catherine

I concor, thank you mohan!!!
Andreia & Alex

You know I really expected this 2nd half to be something to watch. I’ve enjoyed reading the comments and blog more than this. Everytime I did look at the screen it looked like someone was either on the floor or had their hands waving at the ref….
Vico

Thanks mohan, enjoyed that one too.

No I can say I saw part of the game too. LOL!
silver_blaise

i really thought Viana would have come on. Dunno if it would have made a difference though, come to think of it.
Griff

nice play ricardo
ETucker

The yawn count is approaching the century mark.
bella

SAHA WITH A YELLOW CARD … Thats crazy … everything is falling into place …
Italy will win the final …
I hope my beloved ZIZOU will get a red card …
Ray Lopez

TWO MINUTE WARNING! ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL! TOTOTOTO TATATATATA!
MARCO

Doc – Any sport will witness unsporting behaviour. When the stakes are high, people will stoop as low as necessary to get the job done. Eg M.Schumacher punting out Damon Hill to go for the F1WC. Does that take away from his greatness? No, but he has to live with the stigma of his actions. I in no way condone the diving and acting that is pervasive in football these days, but to call it cheating is a stretch. Unfortunately its part and parcel of the game. And if you’re look at it objectively i think you’ll find that at some point even ‘clean’ players such as Henry have dirtied their reputation. To make blanket statements accusing a team of cheating is simply churlish and petulant.

A proud Italian
Vico

ooops!

I meant to say ‘NOW I can say… not ‘no’.
Andreia & Alex

To be fair their are some players that seem to be playing it out but some are just plain disappointing…

I mean whether you win or lose, go out with dignity, knowing you played your best and that you did all you could do for the win
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/worldcupfan/ dw

I love it. Ricardo is playing up.
http://pepys_s.rediffblogs.com/ mohan

some last minute tension for Barthez…but France survive
http://beingruthiesmom.blogspot.com/ Trish

they PULLED their keeper down the field??!??
Tom

Italy 2-1 France
Suzie Q

Congratulations, France!!!
rew

SUCK it up cathrine…..
squiggle

Bravo! Not a great game but not deserving of some of the complaints here. Thuram was mighty.
http://pepys_s.rediffblogs.com/ mohan

France won without being impressive. Portugal didn’t try hard enough.
Miguel

Goodbye and good riddance.
Catherine

thank you everyone for a great afternoon (for me) of blogging…
alex

figo and zidane exchange jerseys. classic
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/worldcupfan/ dw

France vs. Italy. Just good enough vs. just good enough.

1-0 AET.
ETucker

Itay is going to beat France. The 4-5-1 stands no chance of scoring a goal…
http://beingruthiesmom.blogspot.com/ Trish

if they won, I wish it had been a “real” goal…ya know?
Tom

I feel bad for players like Maniche and Sabrosa because they actually tried…
Paul

For being stuck at work and not being able to watch the game on TV, thanks so much for provoding a blow-by-blow account! Very well done. Excellent work indeed!
Melong

I will take this oppurtunity to thank you BOB from all the office employees who were dependant on you (in fact counted on you for all our soccer score needs).

Your great work is appreciated.

You are the best. Thanks once again.
Sven

so sad… just like Australia’s game, the underdogs get killed by a bad decision of the referee.
Suzie Q

Also, congratulations to Portugale. So, sorry that there can be only one winner. In my eyes Portugal also one by accepting the outcome of this game with grace….
silver_blaise

let Bathez do some of his crazy goal keeping antics and let Italy cream Le Bleu’s!!
http://deleted ks

if france play like this, they can’t score against italy. zizou or no zizou.
jack hollmeyer

vive la france!
Vico

Thank you all as well. Seems I didn’t miss much and was worth it not taking a day off from work to wathc a snooze-fest.

See you all on Sunday (and Saturday too, I guess). Great job again with the blogging Bob!!
MP

Well done, France. I bow to you. You fared well. We lost well. I salute you
pawan

well that’s end of portugal and scolari.

Adeus Portugal
http://blue2rose.blogspot.com Blah-Me

That was totally awesome!!!!!!

Ricardo was totally in the game.. he left his goal unattended!

Anyways, France definetely was the better team. A well deserved win, though it would have felt more so if the goal hadnt been won by a penalty! (they dont feel like ‘real’ goals!)

The finals shud be fun!! Italy vs France!!

P.S. Germany is going to “KILL” Portugal if they play like that on 8th!!

Thanks Bob! Thumbs up to you! Cheers!!
http://www.soccercityusa.com Mr. Fuzzyshorts

http://www.soccercityusa.com

Thank God! Now I can watch the final and root for one of the teams. Go France!!
ELECTRA

France once again has hung on and won a trip to Berlin. Perhaps they should pay the ref now, and pre-pay the ref in the final.
Pure luck.
CaliforniaKid

VIVE LA FRANCE!!!!!!!!!!!
Manda

i just want to say thx u were great with the commentry i finally got the tv to work so i watched the last few mins. hopefully france beats italy im an auzzie and italy played crap against us so france deserve to win.
cheers Manda
Stuart

It’ll be VERY interesting to see how Italy deals with the fitness tables being turned on them, having played the long tough match in the semis compared with France’s match today. It’ll also be interesting to watch Zidane try and break down the Italian defense, I thought he again played superbly today. He’s clearly found his form and is playing like he’s willing to carry the team himself if he has to. Too bad it was a penalty that decided it, but ithought France had the more organized run of play, so it’s an appropriate outcome. No comment on the Portugal flopping.
pdt

I hate the French soccer team so much. If they win the cup, im commiting sucide.

I can’t believe these useless grandpas have made it so far already.
Doc Mike

Marco–
Again, I’m not accusing any one team of diving any more than another team. I’m accusing some of the participants in the World Cup, who I see as representative of global soccer, as diving and flopping and I’m disappointed that the official attitude, like yours, is,”Well, that’s just part of the game.” Is diving cheating by definition? Consult the FIFA rules, I suppose. Do I consider it wrong to employ acting skills, to create an injury when there was none, in order to create a chance on goal or an actual goal? Yes. I don’t see that as fair play nor sport; I see it as an attempt by a weaker person/team to bridge the gap in abilities by performing an action which garners them a call.
Rain

France: one fishy penalty and time wasting.

BTW I don’t remember a goal from Portugal from a dive or unclear situation, so…
Bobbio

Balderdash! Ronaldo would never dive!
jak

Thuram killed Portugal s-o-b what a defender! I have neve seen such brilliant defender in my life tha guy is THE MAN OF THE MATCH!! France won thanks to Thuram he was everywhere damn it!!
bella

Wow … I fell asleep during this … lala … Im glad that Italy will beat france… glad I have sat and sun off … its going to be a couch fest for me …
squiggle

pdt:

Suits me.
nikki

Go france Huraaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Now move on to beat Italy 3-0
bobmcconn

well..kindof dull, not worth having taken a vacation day from work…but still…Frank Ribery..gotta be the hardest working man in football. (apologies to James Brown)
Jodido

A game with Barthez is never a snooze-fest.

Great job by Larrionda. FIFA must have told him to keep the cards in check.
MARCO

@Manda: “italy played crap against us so france deserve to win”…

Really? How’d you figure that? The best team on the night that scores the most goals deserves to win. Be it France or Italy. We’ll see on sunday.

I figures Ozzies were more sporting, but i’ve seen enough whinning, snivelling comments on here to make me think you’re as bad as the bloody pomms!

A proud Italian
redheart

I think Portugal was no better than france or france than portugal, it was a lucky penalty. Good luck france Win the cup!
squiggle

I feel sorry for the Portuguese, but they can still equal the Eusebio result.
Doc Mike

Anything else, Marco? We done?
http://www.theblogstudio.com Lucia

France did not deserve to win – there is no possible way anyone watching the game and that follows soccer can say that France is the better team.
Portugual is a young team – in four years they are going to blow everyone’s mind.
Italy is taking it – France does not stand a chance… and certainly doesn’t even deserve to be in the finals

Forza Italia
Raybron

To the whining Portugal fans (not the real fans):

Funny how pathetic Portugal fans are whining about the goal. Watch the replay without the Portugese-flag glasses on and you’ll see a clear foul. Also you were all chiding England fans for not taking their loss in stride and here you are WAH WAH WAH. Excellent diving all game long by Ronaldo and other, I give them all the credit in the world. My apologies for France that they actually got legitimately fouled in the box and that the ref only called about half of Portugal’s 20 or so dives.

Scolari=LOSER
Portugal=LOSER
Crystiano Ronaldo=LOSER

How many in a row is this for France over pathetic chokers Portugal? Hahahaha. I was laughing the whole match at Portugal’s diving and AWFUL finishing. Learn how to finish and maybe you will win something of meaning ever.

Good luck against Germany LOSERS. Here’s hoping you get more of your dives called your way as I don’t want a whole nation crying like their here Crystiano. Don’t whine too much after you lose that one in typical Portugese choker fashion.

Adeus!
Malaika

Glad the kings of diving and complaining to referees got finally kicked out.

France are a more worthy defender of the beautiful game in the final than those cheaters, even if they were completely carbonised at the end.
Sanja

I think that France was lucky that they won…. Portugal should have won the game and I hate France!!!
Trent S.

I’m sick of hearing people bash Portugal for diving, especially when Portugal didn’t win any matches because of it.

Henry beat Spain with a ridiculous dive and certainly was not knocked down today. But he is Henry so he gets a free f-ing pass from everybody.

It isn’t necessarily the call in the box that is killing me, it is the fact that that was what decided the match.

Anybody that thinks France “deserved” this game more than Portugal just because they made a PK and sat back for the entire second half is just silly.

Italy 2, France 0

I never thought I’d root for the Italians, but Henry has pissed me off. People hate C. Ronaldo, yet they love Henry. Go figure.
MARCO

@Doc Mike: I think we agree that its an ugly side of the game that NEEDS to be stamped out, and FIFA need to take a far tougher stance against “simulation”…. But right or wrong I think there is a distinction between diving and cheating. Maradona’s Hand of God was blatant cheating. I consider diving to be contembtible, but its not outright cheating.

Question: Were Dudeks penalty antics for Liverpool in the 2005 Champions league final cheating? No, but he as far as i’m concerned it was as damned dirty as any diving i’ve seen, yet no one said a word about it…. Unfortunately double standards amongst pundits are just as rife as diving amongst players :-)

A proud Italian
Raybron

Yes LUCIA Forza Italia indeed. Italy definitely deserved that win over Australia. They will truly dominate France You can always tell the morons on here because they are the people whining and saying idiotic things like “ITALY WILL DEFINITELY WIN NOW” as if Italy have been so dominant the entire tournament. Please. I think it is just as idiotic to say it the other way as well but it is PATHETIC to slam on a team after a hard-fought victory like today. I was praising Italy after a wonderful win over Germany yesterday and then to see this kind of crap speak is just disgusting to me as a fan.

Sometimes you win by blowing the other team away and outplaying them the entire match, sometimes you win by taking an early lead and then playing your heart out the rest of the match to take on a side that was clearly up to the challenge. It’s called football. If you think every team just wins by dominating you have obviously not watched very much football in your life. No team in the entire tournament has dominated and won every game. Anyway good luck to both teams, I look forward to an exciting and passionate hard-fought match.
Rain

Portugal didn’t score any goal in this World Cup from diving or an unclear situation!!!
Pruritus

Who is the more pathetic Diver Champion: Ronaldo or Totti?
Michael from Boston

Well, looks like it will be a World Cup final of divers.

Surprisingly, Portugal and France have been diving much more than the Italians. Actually, the Italians have hardly performed unsportingly at all since graduating from the first round. France and Portugal have both been pretty bad, though.

I guess I support Italy to win, since France looks like it’s cheated much more…
jak

the difference was France was controlling the game they’ve never lost their confidence…. what’s up with Portugal getting all of those chances and not scoring ? give that chance to Germany/Italy/Brazil the numbers would’ve been big numbers against France today!! Porugal can’t finish!!
Rain

Trent S. I agree with you!
Doc Mike

Marco– Can’t argue with that :-)
Best,

Mike
Rita

The only way that France can beat Portugal is on penalty kicks and have the refs pull in their favor. Ridiculous…I am really tired of very incompetent refs that were in this World Cup. There was no consistency whatsoever!!! Also, Portugal should have been awarded a penalty kick but the ref must have been looking the other way….as always!!! GO ITALY!!!!!!!
lauren

I thought Portugal did just fine and definatley came out to play in the second half…it’s very unfortunate the game was decided by a penalty kick.Both teams did their fair share of diving,even if Portugal’s was a lot more obvious.
BTW C. Ronaldo is an excellent player but he needs to stay on his feet for more than 5 minutes. :) coming from a Ronaldo fan, so don’t crucify me.
MARCO

@Trent_S: Spot on! The double standards and hypocracy are sickening! There are no angels in this game….

Anyway – your support for Italy is welcome. I hope they play a good and clean game and give us something to chear about.

A proud Italian
Samsam

Funny how the bigots are from the US isn’t it?
Raybron

Anyone who says it was a dive, the Cristiano Ronaldo impersonators. Please show me video or photo evidence of it like there was of the ITALY DIVE VS. AUSTRALIA. I am looking at the replay right now and Carvalho completely tripped Henry. I guess that is not a penalty when it’s your team it gets called against though or you are just looking for anything to call diving.
MARCO

@Rayborn: An American that understands football – hallelujah!!! :-)

A proud Italian
squiggle

The French defense was awe-inspiring, and that’s part of the game, too.
Also, the referee was right about Henry. Carvalho’s trailing foot hit Henry’s leg, and Henry caught Carvalho’s other foot trying to get over him. That’s a penalty.

Henry’s excessive display in the match against Spain was unfortunate, but that has nothing to do with tonight, unlike the dives we saw from Ronaldo and Postiga.
Raybron

“@Rayborn: An American that understands football – hallelujah!!! :-)

A proud Italian ”

Haha yes I am really looking forward to this match. I think both teams are really at their peak and Italy are just frightening right now offensively. I have a hard time cheering for Italian soccer sometimes because the defense is so frightening (skilled) but guys like Del Piero are just plain incredible.
MARCO

Samsam: Not fair … there are a minority of Americans posting here who DO know what they’re talking about, who ARE ardent football fans, and that DO have some semblance of objectivity! Not many, but those that qualify are much appreciated :-)

A proud Italian
Liliana

Now that Portugal is out, I have no idea who I will support. I’m at the point where it feels like World Cup is over. Based on the way France and Italy play, does anyone think it will be an exciting game? I think not.
I often support teams based on their fans and the French fans seem so blase and uninspired. So maybe Italy…All my fellow WC watching friends don’t care anymore.
Have fun Europe! We in the Americas have to wait four years to get excited again.
Tujeni

Did you see how those Portuguese players were falling in the box? It was like a combination of Manna and Anchovies falling from the sky! Oh my god, so shameless!!! It is such shame that they take Italy to be their role models! What a disgrace.
I am even afraid of what will happen in the Finals with regard to this flopping scam. If France loses to those diving nincompoops, I’ll difinitely exit this life through the back door.
Vive la France!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
dbabe

well..im dissapointed, i was totally looking forward to a portugal vs. italia game but that didnt happen. ronaldos speed cudnt help them from the french…pointer for france: sunday maybe they oughta pay the ref extra…for tonight and then ;)

forca portugal e
forza italia =)
tony

Compare to the victory of the Azzuri yesterday, the score des Bleus is pale. To be finalist with a fishy penalty doesn’t glorify your victory nor the prestige of the WC.

Modern football play is a SHAME.
Tom

Well, I sure hope that everyone who was trashing Portugal for diving is satisfied. You’all cheered for a team that has now won two–count them–two games by virtue of the dive (France were clearly outplayed by Portugal in this one and running on fumes at the end [France the more worthy defender of the beautiful game?–surely not based on this performance}), and by the same player no less, which is the only reason I’ll be able to root for France in the final (i.e. unlike the Italians, Henry is an aberration, rather than the rule). I’ll be able to root even more strongly for France if some of that stout Italian defense breaks Henry’s leg early in the match and removes him from play.

PS to Raybron — I was watching the game in a crowded bar with a mix of French and Portuguese fans; nobody there thought it was a penalty, the French guys didn’t even bother to cheer their team at the end, they were ashamed at the way they had won (unlike Brazil game where many of the same fans celebrated for an hour after the game). You’re the one wearing blinders (I cheered for Portugal over France, but there are a lot of teams I cheer for more than the Portuguese, and I rooted for France from Day 1 in 1998)

PPS For all the talk about Portuguese cheating, how many games did they win via the dive? I believe the answer is zero. Still, I guess it’s only appropriate after all the rest of the garbage that’s gone on in this Cup that one of the finalists should be decided by a blown referee’s call (a referee who never should have been in the semifinal, based on his performance in US-Italy), though it’s tough to convince my fellow Americans to follow a sport that is so obviously flawed in that area and so totally resistant to change. No second referee? No instant replay challenges? No reform? Why? Because the popes of soccer said so, and they are infallible. Not a good enough answer in America; never has been, never will be.
dbabe

“Did you see how those Portuguese players were falling in the box? It was like a combination of Manna and Anchovies falling from the sky! Oh my god, so shameless!!! It is such shame that they take Italy to be their role models! What a disgrace.”
^ no i didnt…all i saw was the grandpas from France hobbling to keep up with ronaldo and vigo, but otherwise think what u want, portugal shud have won. :)
squiggle

Muttermuttermutter. Seriously, how can anyone possibly predict what France will do in the final based on this game? How many predicted the match against Brazil? How many predicted Italy’s performance against Germany?
About the diving – France is one of the cleanest teams in the tournament. Today’s decision was quite correct and though Henry over-acted against Spain, he had been shoved.
Fabio

Yesterday’s game was the true final. Niether team today was impressive nor as strong as either Germany or Italy.
Raybron

Tom- So what, people are supposed to not cause Portugal divers because their constant diving is ineffective? You are an idiot.

As far as your moronic anecdotal evidence, I was in a bar and at first the Portugese fans were like AHHHHHH and then when they saw the replay 2 or 3 times and Henry TRIPPING OVER CARVALHO’S LEG, they quieted down and did not whine while we cheered as Zidane calmly slotted it past Ricardo (who guessed right again, ha).

I guess we’ll just have to defer to the video evidence that shows Henry tripping over Carvalho rather than your biased impressions from a bar, as scientific as I’m sure they are.

WAH WAH WAH
kela

The French are a bunch of cowards that rely on mercenaries
and put a gargoyle to show the ugly face. That’s what they chicken out after they passed the gossip of the WOMD. Let’s get more oil through the Americans.Hoorayfor France’s army (all muslims). Oh, the generals are French…Hooray for Zedains negro team. Let Ivory Coast or Senegal get the 2nd. place.
skillz

Has anyone seen how Totti celebrates after he scores? He puts his thumb in his mouth.
Henna

Think perhaps Sunday will depend on whether or not France can score early. Not that the older guys didn’t do well today [note to self: stop making fun of the aged!] but we’ve seen the Italians blast goals in after 100 minutes.
Liliana

Tom, great comments! Some of your points illustrate why it’s so hard for me and others I know to get behind either Italy or France. My Brazilian friend wants Italy for obvious reasons, another France because Italy are “cheaters” i.e. the penalty kick in the Australia game.
We were going to have a World Cup Final party but no desire to anymore.
footbal-fan

Who is the best diver? C. Ronaldo or Totti?

PORTUGAL – losers
C. Ronaldo – Loser
Scholari – the worst loser! Scholari made from a normal team a team that only knows how to dive, provike and beg for yellow cards and penalties.

This team is disgrace to footbal, and Portugal is unfortunate enough to have their reputation ruined.
MARCO

Rayborn: For us I would have prefered to face Portugal, as i think we’d have a better chance. For the sport I’m glad its Italy vs France as there’s a good chance it will produce some free flowing high level football (assuming the ref lets it play out). It has the makings of a classic, with both teams seamingly peaking at the right time.

A proud Italian
footbal-fan

Tom – you are an idiot! I was in the bar watching the game, and even Portuguese ( I guess there are some normal Portuguese after all) admitted the penalty was right, and they were ashamed of constant diving from C. Ronaldo, Costinia, and others.

Shame on Portugal, and Tom – you are clueless, go watch hockey, or baseball
dbabe

footbal-fan…i agree with some of what u say but u have to agree when it is WRITTEN on websites and directories that PORTUGAL is seventh in the world. i love how you’re dissing one of the top teams for ”diving” when apparently others do it too…so be so kind as to shove it.

portugal e italia per sempre.
Raybron

“Think perhaps Sunday will depend on whether or not France can score early. Not that the older guys didn’t do well today [note to self: stop making fun of the aged!] but we’ve seen the Italians blast goals in after 100 minutes.”

Finally some more people at least willing to admit that it will be a match. Guess what folks, just because France did not CRUSH a very spirited Portugal side does not mean they will get dominated by Italy. If you had talked to people after Italy barely got by Australia many would have said Italy did not even deserve to be there and definitely would not win. In football it is all about skill (which both sides have) and, when sides are closely-matched, having fortune on your side. If Carvalho hadn’t stuck out his trailing leg, maybe Henry would have slotted to ball home, maybe the other defender would have stopped it, maybe Ricardo would have stopped it, but ultimately it worked out that Henry got tripped and Zidane beat Ricardo and Portugal could not finish and even it up.

Ask Australia. Ask Ghana. Ask England. Ask Argentina. There are no rewards in football for TRYING REALLY HARD other than to hopefully put yourself in a good position to finish. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t. This is football. I’d be just as idiotic as many of the posters here to say I know which Italy (Italy that played Australia and the US or Italy that played Germany) or France (France that played Switzerland and Korea or France that played Brazil) will show up or who will get the bounces and finish properly.

All I will do is sit back and enjoy what has a good chance to be a wonderful game in a bar in NY here with my Italian and French friends.

But if Totti takes a dive, I am not buying the next round. ;)
Chris

I knew if France advanced the naysayers would arise…truth is; the skill and class of a democratic country that outshines its opponents…Makes a proud American proud of France.
Raybron

PS- that Totti comment was a joke. A JOKE!

Forza Azzura.
Allez les bleus.
Ray Lopez

Rayborn you talk to much … this is blog not a diary. LOL.

Somebody tell me how you get the “flag” (not yellow, red) but country flag next to your name…

Posting from Athena, Grecia
skillz

If someone becomes the leader of a country without being voted in by the people, it is not a democracy.
http://www.worldcupblog.com P@TR!@

I AGREE WITH YOU FABIO,IF YOU COMPARE YESTERDAYS GAME WITH ITALY VS. GERMANY YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE THE HEART AND PASSION THAT ITALY PUT IN THE GAME KNOW THE STRATEGY AND SKILLS THAT FRANCE PUT INTO THE GAME ITS A HARD PICK WE WILL JUST HAVE TO SEE SUNDAY WHO WINS,VIVE LA FRANCE!VIVA LA BELLA ITALY!
flynn

Are Christiano Ronaldo and Tiago dating, or just casual lovers?
footbal-fan

dbabe – I am not saying Portugal is the only one who dives. There are others, especially Italians and Argentine, and some individual players from other countries, like Ballack, Owen, maybe Henry.

The point is that today and at this WC in particular it was very visible, and reputation of Portugal as a team suffers. I blame this on Scholari and C. Ronaldo, but I might be wrong.

As far as ratings go, common be serious, USA is rated #5, Chech #2, Mexico #4, do you think this in any way reflects reality?
curtis

portugal played dirty, France won you know why zidane is great? because he doesnt dive he just plays.

viva france
http://www.worldcupblog.com P@TR!@

RAY LOPEZ YOUR A MORONE IF YOU PUT POSTED FROM ATHEN,GRECIA AND THE FLAG COMES OUT LIKE PUERTO RICO!STUPID
skillz

hey, take it easy on the guy, no need to get mean
dbabe

footbal-fan ..haha i guess ur right, but im still hoping for an italian win, who knows guess we`ll all just have to see sunday =)
http://tsn.ca TSN

viva croatia n france

hahaha portugal
skillz

I have never seen an italian player dive. they fall down and complain because they are hurt
Ray Lopez

Hey, geniuses! Check out this site: tells you, statistically, how the world teams rank:

http://www.eloratings.net/world.html

1. Brazil
2. Portugal
3. Argentina
4. Italy
5. France
6. England
7. Netherlands
8. Germany
9 Spain
10 Denmark

Posting from Athena, Grecia, pero ninguna bandera!
http://www.worldcupblog.com P@TR!@

IM BORED!
Rubdaddy

A 7.0, 9.4, and a perfect 10 for Ronaldo. The diving was unreal! Suprised to see a team with as much talent as Portugal, whine like babies who had been unlatched too soon. So sad to see.In the end France will hold the Cup!
http://krist0f.net Krist0f

I am really looking forward to the game on Sunday.

It was a dull game compared to the Italy-Germany thriller but I am happy to see les Bleus advance. Penalty after a tough call but in my humble opinion the Portugese did not deserve to play in the final. France did not look as good as against Brazil but I hope they will come out firing on all cylinders on Sunday. It will be interesting to see how Italian and French defensive blocks match. And I hope that the final will also be a refenge unfulfilled as was in the case of England (vs Portugal) and Brazil (vs France). My fingers are crossed for les Bleus.
skillz

italian players dont dive
dbabe

ha! portugals second in the world =)…anywayyyy

viva italia e portugal
andd
volim te bosna i croatia :)
Tujeni

Way to go Curtis! Vive la Farnce!
Zinedine Zidane is such a cool, steely, composed, calm & calculating player! Talk about cool under fire! The way he dripples the ball with a clear goal (no pun intended) of distributing it, and knowing whom to give it to. And Henry, what moves, what grace, what apparent and potent potential everytime he gets the ball? You can actually viscerally feel the impending danger to the other team. No doubt about it, Italy will go down big time! VIVE LA FRANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
skillz

just because portoguese and italians play like ballerenas doesnt make them week
footbal-fan

yeah, skillz – Italian players do not dive – this is a new joke – how funny :)

Anyway, if Italians play clean, and won’t dive, and win clean, I will be happy. So far according to history I dont see this coming.

Only dives, penalties or Buffon can save Italy.
http://www.worldcupblog.com P@TR!@

I AGREE WITH YOU SKILLZ THEY COMPLAINED ALOT AND LOST ALOT OF PLAYING TIME
skillz

italians play with the grace of a swan and the athleticism of young butterfly emerging from its cacoon ready to dance and prance through the air.

italy#1
Ray Lopez

You realize, soccer, I mean footbal fans, that the reason players ‘dive’ is that there are not enough referees on the field. This is well known. More referee would mean less diving. But FIFA is too conservative!

This just in:
Portugal wins the World Cup (virtually)
Hours before dumping England out of the real-life event, the Xbox Cup team go all the way.
By Phil Elliott, GameSpot UK
Posted Jul 5, 2006 9:45 am PT

A team from Portugal has won the Xbox Cup, an online tournament run by Microsoft using EA’s 2006 FIFA World Cup across Xbox Live. Mexico was beaten 2-1 by the Portuguese team.
Tujeni

All biases aside, clearly France has so far been playing the best and aesthetically pleasing soccer; ball distribution, team mate marking, defence, foot work, and downright commitment to score! What a pleasure to watch them play. This is what soccer is all about. Vive la France!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.worldcupblog.com P@TR!@

AMOR,RAY LOPEZ LA BANDERITA SALE DESPUES Q APRIETAS SUBMIT COMMENT AL LADO DE POSTED FROM
Cy

As a neutral follower, I really don’t think France deserved to win this match. The goal was scored of a penalty kick, created because of a mistake by Portugal’s back end player. Portugal’s front third was not doing anything to score either. Poor game. France has to step up in the final with Italy.
PFM

If the Portuguese team are a buch of cheaters, what we can say about France (penalty where?!?)
And what about Italy? How many games the Italian team have won with efficient “dives”?
Well, I believe the portuguese guys just like to be layed down on grass since they haven’t won any game diving on the floor.
Congratulations for France, I hope they win the final.
Murpoz

kela …do you really understand something about footbal…anyway what are you doing on this web…Go back watch Basket-ball… France won …and regardless what everyone says they will be in final…The french never played dirty…It is sport not politic..shame on you…
Bravo France good journey
Allez les Bleus!
Ray Lopez

Test for flag

Grecia La Banderita aqui–>
daniel

guys, in case you have not realised , diving was always and will always be part of the game !!!!!!
skillz

looks like the final is going to be battle of the euro queens
footbal-fan

PFM – no one argues about Italy, they all are bunch of divers just like your team (Portugal). My guess is that Shcolari made them watch too many old tapes of Italy. But you can never compare with Italy in diving anyway, they are MASTERS! Have you heard abo Roman theater?

But to accuse France in diving, this is too much. French play the most beatiful footbal in this WC.

If someone told me I would support France before this WC started, I would tell him he is crazy. But here we are, I am rooting for France from the moment they beat Brazil.
skillz

did you see henry go down and clutch his face against spain?
Tujeni

I actually think that France played less fluidly today against Portugal. I can think of at least a couple of reasons why that was the case. It was a very physical game – and they were pretty tired. Having scored the penalty, they got an itsy bitsy lackadaisical; I hope because they wanted to preserve their energy for the finals. At any rate, I am counting on them to come up big against the ALL TIME DIVERS. Vive la France!!!!!!!!!!
skillz

italians invented hip hop
Tujeni

And diving!
PFM

footbal-fan – Before the match with Netherlands no one have said that they (Portuguese)are a bunch of divers. What you think about this? Do you always follow the media opinions?
Tujeni

No wait, there is someting else called Floppers that was invented in Italy, is it not?
skillz

like porcupine quillz, im commin with the killz, repin italian villz, i aint action im pure stillz
Rubdaddy

No PFM but for me at least i just trust my 20/10 vision.
skillz

no one can even test my skillz
SharpShooter

Has anyone the boldness to say that the french don’t dive after seeing Henry beeing slightly touched by Ricardo Carvalho and fall down like a chopped off tree? Who throws the first stone?
Rain

And the dive in the Vs Spain game…
Tujeni

Just kidding. Back to soccer. I love soccer, played it as a kid, wished I was a professional player, but oh well. Watching people like Zidane play the game though, is such a wonderful experience. Just like watching MJ play basketball!
I love SPOTRS! Vive La FRANCE!!!!!!!!!!!
canadianfan

bad reffing again. henry stepped on and fell over carvalho’s leg. no penalty there.
skillz

it was actually puyols that henry went down on
footbal-fan

SharpShooter,

Henry did not dive, but did you see C. Ronaldo dive at least 3 times? Did you see Costinia to dive at least 4 times? Did you see Portuguese dramatically waiving their hands and aasking for a card or penalty after clear dives. It was ridiculous, Italians at least know how to make it look like real. Portuguese several times could not even do this. They deserved at least 3 yeallow cards for diving and asking referee for a penalty
flynn

“Cristiano Ronaldo goes down on his his knees…”

A familiar position for him.
footbal-fan

PFM, who said Portuguese did not dive before the game with Netherlands? How about the game with Mexico? It is just less known, becuase no one really was watching Portuguese before they made it from the group.

And to beat Iran, you dont really need to dive a lot.
Rain

footbal-fan you’re anti-Portugal, not a fan of footbal…
http://canada lg

for the people who say italy is known for diving have another drink. to the football fan in their mind the only team that does not dive is the team they support.going back to italy diving doesnot score goals or make saves.next to brazil the italians are the most decorated team so show respect for the next world champs

italy 2 france a big donut hole
skillz

i dont get it. why is being on his knees a familiar position
Tujeni

That’s what happens when people try to mimick others. They end up over-doing it. Portuguese players should stay away from diving, it is bad for their health!
footbal-fan

Flynn – you are right :) It will be even more familiar when he comes back to Manchester. He will probably need to be in that position couple of hours a day if not more :)
skillz

im mad skillz, startin up grillz, comin from the north and spreading chillz, what no one can test my skillz on the mic
Raybron

Here is an image of Carvalho tripping Henry for the legally blind and any moronic Portugese fans:

http://i6.tinypic.com/1z38g0p.jpg
SharpShooter

Portuguese players did dive a lot… but it had no influence on the final score! Henry’s oportunistic and world-class fall had a decisive influence!
shuai

SharpShooter,

Henry did not dive, but did you see C. Ronaldo dive at least 3 times? Did you see Costinia to dive at least 4 times? Did you see Portuguese dramatically waiving their hands and aasking for a card or penalty after clear dives. It was ridiculous, Italians at least know how to make it look like real. Portuguese several times could not even do this. They deserved at least 3 yeallow cards for diving and asking referee for a penalty

I totaly agree…. shame on ronaldo!! ridiculous!!
shuai

SharpShooter,

Henry did not dive, but did you see C. Ronaldo dive at least 3 times? Did you see Costinia to dive at least 4 times? Did you see Portuguese dramatically waiving their hands and aasking for a card or penalty after clear dives. It was ridiculous, Italians at least know how to make it look like real. Portuguese several times could not even do this. They deserved at least 3 yeallow cards for diving and asking referee for a penalty

I totaly agree…. shame on ronaldo!! ridiculous!!
PFM

Rain: Don’t worry about them. They must be english. I wonder what they are going to say when they lose two years from now in the EuroCup.
Cassie

Both teams played well. Both teams dive. It’s apart of the game. Always has been, always will be. Portugal could have gotten a few more calls. But I do agree that Portugal likes to dive, but some french players do as well. I hope Italy beats France.
FORCA
skillz

actually, next to brazil germany is the most decorated team
Tujeni

Skillz, it may look familiar, but it does not always work!
There is something else at work here, namely “by the sweat of your brow….”
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/jorgelarrionda isabel gomez

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/jorgelarrionda
skillz

i dont get what you’re trying to say tujeni
Joao the Sad

Well. Fair enough. The referee had no influence at all. France kept the result tightly: congratulations. Too bad that in the end of the game Scolari complainted about the referee: wrong. Portugal had no luck in the penalty, Carvalho missed the ball, left the leg and Henry goes down: its penalty alright. No penalty on Ronaldo. Too bad, i’m sad but not as sad as on the Greece game.
Angie M

Congratulations, France!!! And also congratulations to Portugal for making it that far. Also thank you to Portugal for not picking a fight with the French players after the game. You know the Italian press would have pushed FIFA to ban Zidane. So both teams displayed great soccer and great sportsmanship. Gracias.
Rain

@PFM: It just makes me sad, that kind of “blind hate”…
footbal-fan

Lg and others – yes, diving does not score goals. But diving and then requesting cards and penalties from referees in theatrical manner puts them under pressure. The referees are bad enough here, no need for additional pressure, but teams like Italy, Argentina, and Portugal get advantage because of that.
Tujeni

Well put, footbal-fan!
Raybron

“No penalty on Ronaldo. Too bad, i’m sad but not as sad as on the Greece game.”

I think the whole world was sad on the Greece game. Portugal may dive occasionally but it my whole family was upset to see a team that plays such an awful style (Greece) prevail over a generally exciting team (Portugal). That was very disappointing. Really an unfortunate tournament all around (well, except for fans of Greece from whom I will not take away their victory just because they used a style I do not like).
skillz

This is to everyone EVERY TEAM HAS DIVERS
Tujeni

What Greece game? Am I on the moon?
skillz

except that american dude, who had a bloody face, he was a pretty tough guy eh.
footbal-fan

Sharpshooter

Your logic says, if someone cheats but he is not caught he is not a cheater, right?
redheart

European cup 2004-final portugal vs greece
http://canada tony

and the oscar goes to….potugal, for their dramatic acting on the field? no for their comedic performance of dramatically acting on the field! they were making fun of themselves werent they,and seriously not trying to sell that crap? canada
Tujeni

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
France has no divers, what are you talking about?
Italy will not allow that to happen!
skillz

the euro cup game dude pay attention
Raybron

“This is to everyone EVERY TEAM HAS DIVERS”

Not the USA. I believe someone did a study on the WC teams and the US almost never dives. I guess that explains a lot about some of their performances. Heh.

There definitely are different degrees of “diving” though. There is accentuating a foul by drawing a little attention to it (and no US fans should have any problems with this since people do it in the NBA and NFL ALL THE TIME) and then there is dropping down without any account. The latter is certainly more offensive but it happens less than most people make it out to be.
SharpShooter

Greece Game: EURO 2004 finals
Cassie

skillz- american dude with bloody face is Brian McBride. LOL.

Tujeni- Euro 2004 in Portugal Final: Portugal vs Greece. Portugal lost.
footbal-fan

skillz – every team has divers, it is just a matter of how many. Portugal, Italy and Argentina has a lot, about 90% of a team. Others have couple of players at most.
Tujeni

European Cup
skillz

i agree the americans dont dive
Cassie

football-fan: i disagree that Portugal, Italy, and Argentina have 90% divers. Its mostly the mids. Usually about 5 players.
footbal-fan

About Greece game, I was rooting for Portugal and was very dissapointed, but again, back then POrtugal had a different team (less divers). I guess it must have been Scholari’s fault, that current team is such a shame. And he, himself is a disgrace to all Brazilians. He should have his Brazilian citizenship taken away.
Raybron

There is also going down on slight contact and pretending to be injured, which imo bothers me the most because it happens A LOT. And then the fans go crazy if the other team doesn’t stop play immediately but the guy gets up right after (Figo did this in the game today, but I can’t single him out because ALMOST EVERYONE does it). What annoys me most about this is that it is not only deceptive, fine whatever, but that it takes advantage of good sportsmanship (stopping play to help an injured player) though to be fair most of the time the guys are just tired and want a cheap rest. heh.
skillz

Hey cassie are you trying to test my skillz, cause you know i can thrillz
redheart

you are all diving.
Allez france
http://www.myspace.com/myxyouthfulxheart Cassie

LOL
No skillz, just letting you know the name of the bloody american. LOL
PFM

Well, I just wanna to congratulate France and Italy.
They’ve won all the matches on the WC and diving is a part of soccer (football) game.
Vive la France
Forza Italia
skillz

oh, uhh, alright, thanks anyway

thats why they call me skillz
Tujeni

Diving and flopping which is the same as cheating, basically, is about the most off-putting behavior in soccer. The Italian players should really soak that up. They are clearly talented, but their shenanigans are just too much to bear! Vive la France!!!!!!!!!!!!!
skillz

you see what i mean though, eh cassie. no one wants to test skillz, rappin with fish gillz
Tujeni

And about diving, France has only one diver on their roster, and that’ their fan – Me. And it happens when I am so mad at the diving theatrics of the Italian players that I dive for the TV, wanting to smash it with my head!
http://www.myspace.com/myxyouthfulxheart Cassie

lol.
yeah, i see what you mean. youve got phat rhymez yo.
http://www.worldcupblog.org/daily-wrap-up/july-5-the-daily-world-cup-wrap.html July 5: The Daily World Cup Wrap – FIFA World Cup 2006 – World Cup 2006 Blog

[...] France vs Portugal | LiveBlog | France World Cup Gear, Portual World Cup Gear [...]
PFM

All the teams without exception have divers (US included) and they are there only for diving. Remember the goalkeepers.
PFM

All the teams without exception have divers (US included) and Remember the goalkeepers. They are there only for diving.
skillz

cassie you were my biggest fan
skillz

does anyone think that the swedish are divers
Tujeni

No way, it’s too cold up there!
skillz

interesting thought tujeni
skillz

Does anyone want to hear more of my rhymes? Tujeni im looking in your direction, cassie, anybody
Tujeni

Besides it takes special skillz to dive. About the only ones who have perfected that art are the so-called Azurris. Vive la France!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
skillz

Hey, I dont dive for nobody, but i will jive just for about anybody
Tujeni

Au revoir Skillz. Over & out.
skillz

Hey cassie, it was that veggie burger comment wasnt it
http://canada lg

hey tujeni i guess you will be diving to shut your tv when france gets their buts handed to them
PFM

Does anyone here like scuba diving?
http://canada lg

maybe tujeni does
PFM

skillz: the swedish are divers too.
Remember Sky jump
PFM

All the people in the world are divers.
Ms. Catenaccio

oh no some Schwanzsteigende Rooney fan put Cristiano Ronaldo on e-bay…

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/05/ronaldo_transferred/
Angie M

Thank you, Ms. Catenaccio, for the link. I was laughing my a$$ off.. pretty funny
Titang

Not so sure we deserved that victory but please C.Ronaldo would you mind stopping diving on each action!!!
Allez les Bleus, I hope we’re gonna beat la squadra azura!!!
And I love soccer!!!!
Tom

Hey Rayborn — There are literally millions if not billions of people in the world who “anecdotally” saw the same thing I did; a classic dive a la Australia-Italy, where the player (in this case Henry) decided to “draw the foul” to try to get a PK rather than play on. The fact that the Portuguese in your bar “got very quiet” after seeing the replay a few times doesn’t mean anything more than that they resigned themselves to the fact that the call had been made, there was nothing they could do about it, and play on–after all, there was still plenty of time to reverse the result.

If the fact that Carvahlo “made contact” with Henry in some fashion in the area (which is about all that one can say from the video) was automatically a penalty, then there were plenty of penalties to be had against the French as well, all of which you would call “dives” by the Portuguese players. For all the officious references to the rule book that I’ve seen on this board, there’s clearly a great deal of latitude involved in whether to call a penalty or not. In most sports, the referees believe they do their job best when they are unnoticed; in this sport, they apparently believe they are intended to be active participants in deciding the result.

Fut-ball fan, calling other people “idiots” is a really good argument. I can only assume your suggestion that I “go watch hockey or basketball” is a reference to the fact that I’m an American. Well, guess what: the four most populous countries in the world are China, India, the United States, and Indonesia. The three largest economies in the world are the United States, China, and Japan. In none of these countries is soccer the unchallenged top sport (in most of them it’s not the top sport, period). I love soccer more than any other sport out there, but if it’s not cleaned up and cleaned up soon [how many games were decided by the referees in this tournament? A higher proportion than any sporting event I've ever watched, that's for sure] we will all be looking up at basketball or some other game in a generation.
Raybron

Here you go Tom, why don’t you show this to your fictional drinking buddies that you make up for the purposes of supporting an incredibly weak argument:

http://i6.tinypic.com/1z38g0p.jpg

Guess that’s not a foul in your book.

Do you by any chance believe that Maradona’s “Hand of God” actually involved God?
Raybron

Hot New Sport:

Tom’s Football- “Where kicking directly at an opposing player’s leg in the penalty box is allowed!” It’s hotter than “old” football and more brutal than American football!

Catch the action today with Tom and his drinking buddies!
skillz

i have never seen an italian or portuguese player take a dive. it simply doesnt happen.
skillz

that penalty kick in the australia game was legit. you are not allowed to be in the way of an attacker when he is headed for net. you cant get in his way and although the aussie never touched him he was trying to defend agisnst the attacker which isnt allowed in the penalty area.
Me AKA Eu

it’s not bad losing that I have when I say that Portugal deserv to win…If that penalty was scored, we should have AT LEAST ( and this should be underlined…) 2 penalty scored, too.France “dived” much more than the Portuguese players, and the referee was clearly on their side…AND WHAT ABOUT THE FRENCH PRESS? JEEZ!!they’ve reached the point to insult a Portuguese player!! . Something about Maniche “barking”. That’s just not dignefying -.-’. It was a really cheapshot (even for the french xD).beside that, as if this wasn’t enough, the french press was allways understimating the team of my country and is TRULY annoying-but I guess that was the purpose.
SO…SCREW THE FRENCH TEAM AND THEIR LAMME PRESS
jak

skillz you’re baised big time! Italians are the father of diving and acting in Football ( Soccer ) Portugal on the other-nad dives like there’s no tomorow Italians must’ve influenced them!
skillz

Jak, the italians and portoguese are the only two countries that dont dive or cheat.
skillz

in fact everyone knows that the italians dont dive. and thats a fact. Yes, i win.
Me AKA Eu

For God sakes, men!Dind’t you know that the professional players of ANY sport are trained to fake faults?!?!and we are’t so bad as you say -.-’ did you really saw the game???O_O The francius abused in that…and their goal was a proof of that ¬.¬
jack

i dont get why people make a huge deal about dives. quit complaining. i mean maybe im biased because im an italy fan, but shouldnt everyone be complaining about refs if they call a dive as a foul? i mean, if a player can get the call obviously they are going to do it..
and it doesnt matter if the australia-italy game had a legit foul. if neill had just stayed on his feet nothing would have happened, so its really his own fault that it was called.
also, even in the picture of the portugal-france game, its really difficult to tell if it was a foul. its not a good angle
Rui

If soccer keeps going like this, it won’t be the greatest sport in the world for too long.
So much envy regarding latins. Why?
Because we are better looking?
Because we have more technique? Because we really know how to work the ball around?
Because we play with so much more style?
Yes, it was a penalty by Ricardo Carvalho, yes, there is also a penalty on Ronaldo, but the fog didn’t let the referee see that one.
France played inside their own area for the whole second half, Portugal had the best chances but didn’t score. They were just unlucky.
Still, Cristiano Ronaldo is an amazing entertaining player, with a level of technique that belongs to the top ten players in the world.
Portugal produces this type of players, lots of technique, entertaining, aggressive, searching the goal. ‘Brasil’ is the best team in the world because is the mix between the Portuguese and African players, it’s genetics. France takes players from Africa, naturalizes them, and then wins games (even with a great amount of luck). So today Portugal played better, was the best team throughout the whole match, but lost against the almost french team.
At least Portugal plays with Portuguese players (born in Portugal), a team filled with technique and happy ‘futebol’, that I am proud to watch.
And yes Portugal played really bad against England. It was a bad day for some players and without Deco and Costinha, it’s not the same. Just imagine England playing without Gerard and Lampard, and there you go.
As for Rooney, the bread maker, doesn’t even deserve a comentary. English hooligans should drink less beer and be more respectful of other cultures. The sad demonstration of hooliganism you gave in Portugal 2 years ago really showed me what a bunch of ridiculous drunks you are. No wonder english girls come to Portugal in the summer to ‘have fun’.

VIVA PORTUGAL e Forza Italia!

Rui – Portugal
skillz

portoguese invented hip hop, football, and salsa dancing
jaclyn

saying that they were the SOLE inventors of hip hop, football, and salsa, might be a bit of a stretch…
jaclyn

its a different style of play.. its more stratigy and less heart
skillz

you dont get much diving with the swedish, ukrainian, or germans. I guess they’re just a little tougher and dont go down as easily.
jaclyn

wow i cant spell. strategy. and i meant with the germans and ukranians.. i guess the clocks are off
jj

Oh how sad… For now Portugal realize how it feels to have the ref not calling their way. If you need to talk, you should try and call England. They know all about it.
skillz

nordic teams and teams from eastern europe and even the english teams just tend to dive less than the other teams from europe.
skillz

interesting point jaclyn, but i think the portoguese have too many individuals that want to score and they dont play as a team and this is why they can never seem to achieve anything on the world stage.
stanyvonne

The Uruguayen referee Larrionda should have been suspended for life 4 years ago and not for 6 months.How can FIFA assign incompetent people like him to World Cup matches,let alone the semifinals??? The slo-mo clearly shows that Henry stumbled over Carvalho’s foot after the latter took the ball away from Henry.If there was a foul at all it was on Henry. This jerkref also went crazy in USA match against Italy by madly disbursing yellow ( and red ) cards.
jaclyn

its not just the ref though.. portugal had good chances, they just couldnt get it in the back of the net. even with france’s AWFUL keeper. hopefully italy will be able to capitalize on it in sundays final.

forza italia
jaclyn

although i have to say.. cristiano ronaldo (dos santos aviero) is really hot. and talented too.
(am i the only one who doesnt think thats fair? hot, rich, and talented?)
skillz

i agree jaclyn, but my point is that they dont play as a unit, everyone is just trying to obtain glory themselves, the french were a little less selfish on the ball and thats why they achieve so much on a world stage.
skillz

barthez already has a world cup and euro cup championship to his name so i think its unfair to call him terrible and i think being the rational person that you are you would agree with me.
jaclyn

oh i know what you mean, and i agree. portugal was pushing but it was more individuals attacking that the team as a whole pushing forward.

if they get united, they are a fairly young team and should stick around for a while…
skillz

another interesting point jaclyn. i know its very unlikely, but maybe if they had a german or swedish coach they can go all the way next time.
Tom

Like I said elsewhere, Raybron, your little picture proves nothing. If I had time, I could collect several hundred hours worth of video of soccer games in which much worse happens in the box and nothing is called (including in this game). In the full video, it’s clear Henry was barely touched and could easily have continued–he chose to dive (he’s on record as saying he’s decided to become a diver) and was rewarded for it. Scolari agreed it was a penalty only and explicitly because if it was, there could have been many more called on the French defense that weren’t. For someone who likes to belittle other people on the basis of their nationality, your naivete about the so-called clear and unambiguous rules governing penalty calls is touching.
jaclyn

they dont even need a new coach necessarily — they have one of the best in the world. but i think its just something that will come as they get older. its almost a maturity thing.
it even seemed to rub off on figo.. even though figo is zidanes contemporary, zidanes play and ability to spark the french offense was better than figos attempts.
im somewhat proud my cousin named his son after zidane. (his name is alessandro zinadine zidane…)
skillz

now that i think about it, you’re right they do have an excellent coach. i guess it could have gone either way, portugal made it very close to the final and had a strong tournament, their next game versus germany will say a lot about how they can bounce back.
jaclyn

yeah. im just looking forward to the final. i hope italy will really take advantage of the french keeper. maybe its good luck for italy.. every twelve years they make the final. (’82, ‘94, and ‘06) this time theres no brazil to get in there way.. they are the only team to beat italy in the final.
skillz

i am also looking forward to the final, i just hope its a good, fair game. i have a feeling that it might be very cautious on both sides, but you are right barthez has been known to screw up and buffon is the best in the world. Ukraine was the closest to scoring on him (three times) and had him beat a couple of times but it hit the crossbar. the ukrainians were a little unlucky that game, they played very well.
jaclyn

i think that how cautious the players are depends on the ref. no one wants to be sent off during the final.
buffon is brilliant. hes one of my favorite players, but he definately shouldve been kissing the crossbar during the ukraine game…
Ai Lin

It was NOT a decisive win by France against Portugal. I watched the slow motion playback and there was no deliberate foul by Carvalho. The referee was biased against Portugal. You could see it in the faces of the French players after the match that they did not feel as though they deserve to win. They were just lucky.
skillz

Ai Lin, it may have not been a decisive win for france, but portugal didnt do anything either. i think your comments are a little harsh and you should apoligize.
skillz

jaclyn, you seem to know what your talking about, and make insightful comments.
jaclyn

skillz is right .. just because a win wasnt decisive doesnt mean they didnt deserve it. i didnt see any portugues shots in the back of the net either..
jaclyn

and thank you skillz
skillz

lets all hope for a great final, without controversy
mojo_lo

well, everyone can have an opinion. personally, i don’t think Ai Lin’s comments were harsh, and he definitely didn’t say anything that warrants an apology. France didn’t have a decisive victory, but Portugal didn’t deserve the win either. That was a silly tackle in the box, which I think was a bit of an accident, and not malicious in any way. However, because Henry’s leg was clipped, the referee was justified in calling a penalty.

What Portugal should be upset about is that instead of trying to win balls in the penalty area, they tried to get a card out of the ref. If only they had put the same passion into aggressively trying to win the ball, they may have scored one or two. I was rooting for Portugal, BTW.
Ai Lin

I meant it wasn’t a convincing win in the France vs Portugal game. Like the Australia vs Italy match, the referee gave a penalty kick which decided the game outcome. Perhaps there should be 3 referees who make the final decision whether a penalty kick should be awarded and it should be after viewing the playback in slow motion.
Ai Lin

Skillz, I don’t think my comments were harsh. I am pretty neutral and would have been happy if either won but feel that it was not a convincing win by France.
mojo_lo , by the way, I am a Chinese lady living in Australia.
http://canada tony

ai lin if the ref was biased against portugal,as you claim then how come he didnt send any of them off,with all the dives they took he could have justified at least a couple of reds. whether the french won decisively or not is open to opinion, but there is no doubt portugals theatrics would never be enough to fool all the refs all the time!
http://USA Masano Karim

Ai lin, although you are claiming that you are not biais, I see otherwise. What do you call a convincing win? The one you can logically put together at your will? The one that suit your penchant? The one you only can feel? Forget those tortuous thoughts reflecting more the way you want things to be than they really are.
Let’s do an anatomy of what occured around this game. First, the pre-match comments
1-Scolari gave the edge to the French
2-History wasn’t on the Portuguse side
Second, during the game
1-The French were as motivated and committed as the Portuguese and played a smarter game
2-The line-up (4-2-3-1)allowed the Bleus to impotent Deco, Maniche and Costinho
About the goal
1-The PK was correctly called (Carvalho intention wasn’t in trial but his action)
2-The “diving was a Portuguese monopoly (How many time the replay showed us the real action contrary to the Portuguese bunch claim? Even on Miguel getting hurt by himself (e.g. Nesta, Owen) the same bunch was claiming a call
About the behavior
1- I praise the 28 players for their sense of fair play
2-I send the Portuguese bench to the gallows for their lack of sportmanship (throwing a water bottle into the field by rage)
About any legitimacy over winning if there is one
1-At the soccer altar, Portugal national team in not a powerhouse (first time runner up since 1966)
2-The French has something to show for it
About the future
1-Portugal has a much brighter future if they find someone like Scolari because with Portugal which is a soccer nation, you will always find wonderfull talents
2-France has a lot to do in that regard
About reading people mind
1-How could you pretend detecting some “shame” in the French players eyes.
2- I saw the sweet taste of pride after a greaty achievement
About you and me
1-At this stage, I come to every single match with 2 possibilities (Win and loss)
2- You don’t
Let’s celebrate the French win with a loaf of bread, un peu de fromage with a Portuguese wine.
“Soccer is the greateast adventure of mankind after the trip to the moon” Aboubakar Kante (Guinean Football commentator)
2-
sourav

it was a boring game unlike the italy germany one, france squeaked through and as I had mentioned earlier portugal’s lack of strikers cost them.
Scolari i thought missed the boat by not pulling Figo off and getting another striker in earlier, maybe sambroa and pauletta should have continued
i was rooting for portugal and it is sad the number of finals/semifinals reach and not win anything.
pluit

I agree. The ref should be suspended for life! He cost a nation (Portugal) a fair chance to go to the final because he made bad and wrong decision. On second thought, we should investigate him for bribery and scandal. Who knows he received money to help the france???????
mojo_lo

Ai Lin, apologies. sometimes we forget that there are ACTUALLY women on this board.

sourav, agreed that this was a boring game. i’m looking forward to the Italians squeezing the ball through the seam and getting past the defense. they get a lot of offsides, but when it works, it works. keeps the spectator on the edge of their seats as well.
zieie

chirstiano has done nothing wrong why are people aganist him.he is a young talented boy cool down to earth.people are jeoluse of him DONT WORRY YOU WILL BE THE STAR IN YOUR CAREER.germans love you but the cannot get you that is why they are hostile to you.Relax and have fun.
roger

Great dive by Thierry Henry, almost as good as Grosso’s. Are they related? Thanks to slow-motion replays we now can see the acting in all its unglorious manner.
LOKi01

zieie,

Because he is a ‘me’ player and not a team player.

And he is a diver.

A ‘me’ player isn’t as bad as a diver, something he doesn’t have to do because he is a very talented player and can be a great player. But no matter what he does on the pitch all he is remember for is all the ‘catty’ things he does.

Hopefully he can grow out of it as he gets older.
Freddy

I really dislike games where dives that results in penalties/free-kicks and worse of a, a goal.

I think players should be penalized heavily for faking. They are playing for their country and not for themselves alone. But again, it is not easy to discern from the camera alone or even on the fields (as most cameras show how referees can be fooled).

Furthermore, I think bad tempered and self-centered players like Rooney, Ronaldo, etc. should be benched for good! Congrats to the referee for making the right decision to give Rooney the red card!
http://www.southafricalogue.com/features/wily-scolari-stalks-france.html Wily Scolari Stalks “France” – Features – 2010 World Cup, Features, France – South Africa Logue

[...] LiveBlog: France vs. Portugal [...]
CTL

Henry did not “dive”. He was tackled, and he went down in the box. That means a penalty, its as simple as that.

To dive means to go down in a heap without any contact or minimal contact. The referee is the one to decide how much that contact was.

For any striker worth his salt, the intention is to gain as much advantage as possible within fair means. Henry did just that, but only by a whisker.

So sorry Carvalho – you win some, you lose some.
CTL

Henry did not “simulate”. He was tackled, and he went down in the box legitimately. That means a penalty, its as simple as that.

To “simulate” means to go down in a heap without any contact or minimal contact. The referee is the one to decide how much that contact was.

For any striker worth his salt, the intention is to gain as much advantage as possible within fair means. Henry did just that, but only by a whisker.

So sorry Carvalho – you win some, you lose some.
LiverpoolFC

I’m glad Henry dived against Portugal, no wonder there wasn’t many complaints from the Portuguese players :) to be fair though there was a slight touch on Henry and good on him, he’s taking on FIFA now, his defence would be I used to be a clean player, i didn’t get penalty’s awarded, i’ve seen how Italy got thru to the final so I shall do the same for my country. Fair enough until FIFA suspend teams such as Italy who blatantly dive and make a mockery of the whole system. Good on ya Henry go the FRENCH!!!
Toast

First things first: Congratulations to France.

Did Henry dive? Yes. Was it a penalty? Yes.

Henry embellished it. I don´t think the Ref went for the embellishment, because there was no yellow for RCarvalho.

Portugal were the better team yesterday, but the French defense played well. We will go for third place now, and we have lot´s of young talent. I was expecting WC´06, but i´m young – I´ll settle for Euro´08 AND WC´10 :D

Good luck in the final for both teams. Portugal – Germany, with less tension on the players should be a better game to watch though :D
jaclyn

LiverpoolFC. i dont understand why you are talking about italy making a fool of the entire system? it was as much neills fault for falling when it wasnt necessary that the foul was called in the australia-italy game as it was grosso trying to sell a call. he was in the way of the forward trying to move on goal. and from the refs angle it looked like neill grabbed grossos legs. of course that was a foul. maybe im biased because im an italy fan but the way i see it, australia didnt know what they were doing. it was tactically stupid to fall and it was stupid to kick the ball around midfield waiting for the italian defenders to get back in position when you are a man up. maybe im wrong, but the way i see it, italy didnt do anything to make them ” diving cheats ” or whatever you want to call them.

and the ref in the germany-italy game was fair and italy still won. so its not like they only win when they dive.

kthx
http://yahoo.com SSENKANDWA TOM

I,for one thing france deserved da penalty kick.Coz it was obivious dat Cavarloh fouled Henry iam sure even amad man can testify dat.So with am against does who urgue dat da refee was just bias 2 Portugal dats being weird.TOM.
Rain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLBJxermIso&search=portugal%20france%202006

After viewing the front replay… what a dive… :S
Vitor Reis

Hello, first of all congratulations to Portugal,
the portuguese made a great
championship , and lose with
honour, to france i say this:
yesterday , all of the world
see the football played by the
french. they need penaltys
to win Portugal in two semi
Euro and now World Cup, they suck.
The Portuguese Selection will
continue to strruggle until the
end. Força Portugal
( obrigado Cristiano, Ricardo Figo e Miguel, foram vocês , para mim o elo mais forte desta
nação que se vai ainda revelar
a melhor da Europa
mojo_lo

i originally thought the ref was justified in calling a penalty b/c Carvalho did clip Henry (slightly). Looking more carefully, I think that Henry had no chance to get that ball. His touch was a little too hard so that it was too far out of his range to recover. Henry realized this and thus decided to dive. Bad Call.
Suzy

I’ve been reading all these comments that people have left and i can’t believe what rubbish i’ve read. The french player Henery is a sick, dishonest and disgusting excuse of a football player. Ricardo Carvalho slipped and fell and did not intentionally trip him…he saw the oppurtunity and decided that he’d be a dirty pig and DIVE…A VERY FAKE DIVE. The ref was crap 2…anyone could see that it wasn’t a penalty and the falt made on Cristiano Ronaldo some time after DESERVED a penalty 100% more than Henery. Time and time again Portugal is robbed…they are the team in the world that play the most beautiful football….they produce the best players and by now should have more than a dozen titles won. I’m surprised that they even came this far, i would have thought that they would have been robbed sooner. FIFA should tell teams that they don’t want them in the world cup instead of robbing them when they are one step away from taking out the cup.
All you people that have said bad things about Portugal, things you know nothing about you should shut your dirty mouths and concentrate on your teams that didn’t get as far as portugal, not because they were robbed like Portugal BUT BECAUSE THEY SUCK AND DON’T KNOW HOW 2 PLAY FOOTBALL. As for the French Coach and players they 2 should shut their mouths because it is not nice before a game to bad mouth the other team and the coach (like they did about portugal)and concentrate on themselves. If one day…and i hope soon…FIFA recrutes someone that picks good refs and does not favour countries then the talented portugal will win…because that is what they deserve, and they have been deserving this for a LONG LONG time.

as for the person Masano Karim that wrote a blog entry above…remember this
1. Portugal may have only been in the world cup 4 times but in 1966 against England they were robbed a penalty just like today….and that is why victory against England is SO SO SO SWEET.
Plus you said that Portugal is not a power house but they were in the final in the Euro 2004.

2.You also said that the portuguese players threw water bottles on the field in rage: well obviously they were going to…they were robbed of entering the final of the biggest soccer tornament…i wouldn’t b surprised if they threw the bottle at the ref, or several bottles for that matter.

3. You said that history wasn’t on their side…well history wasn’t on the Australian side and they still made a FANTASTIC world cup campaign.

4. For your information Portugal has way more talented players than france including
* Cristiano Ronaldo
* Deco
* Figo
* Maniche
* Pauletta
* Ricardo (the Goal Keeper)
* Ricardo Carvalho
* Nuno Valente
* Nuno Gomes
* Simao Saborossa
* Luis Boa Morte
* Tiago
* Petit
* Fernando Meira
* Helder Postiga
* Paulo Ferreira
* Hugo Viana

AND MANY MANY OTHERS

and the portuguese definately don’t practise dives in their training sessions like the french and the italians.

5. Maybe by the way that you took the french side when they were the bad guys…you could be french but your comment comes from America. And let me remind you that during the time America played they were never ever robbed…the refs did clean games…. I GUESS THEY JUST SUCK AND CAN’T PLAY FOOTBALL FOR SHIT. Maybe thats why you feel the need to target other teams when yours just sucks.

Next Euro and World Cup justice will be done and Portugal will dominate.

I LOVE PORTUGAL and well done to the players and fans who supported them.
AND shame on the people that put Portugal down. I’ve been reading all these comments that people have left and i can’t believe what rubbish i’ve read. The french player Henery is a sick, dishonest and disgusting excuse of a football player. Ricardo Carvalho slipped and fell and did not intentionally trip him…he saw the oppurtunity and decided that he’d be a dirty pig and DIVE…A VERY FAKE DIVE. The ref was crap 2…anyone could see that it wasn’t a penalty and the falt made on Cristiano Ronaldo some time after DESERVED a penalty 100% more than Henery. Time and time again Portugal is robbed…they are the team in the world that play the most beautiful football….they produce the best players and by now should have more than a dozen titles won. I’m surprised that they even came this far, i would have thought that they would have been robbed sooner. FIFA should tell teams that they don’t want them in the world cup instead of robbing them when they are one step away from taking out the cup.
All you people that have said bad things about Portugal, things you know nothing about you should shut your dirty mouths and concentrate on your teams that didn’t get as far as portugal, not because they were robbed like Portugal BUT BECAUSE THEY SUCK AND DON’T KNOW HOW 2 PLAY FOOTBALL. As for the French Coach and players they 2 should shut their mouths because it is not nice before a game to bad mouth the other team and the coach (like they did about portugal)and concentrate on themselves. If one day…and i hope soon…FIFA recrutes someone that picks good refs and does not favour countries then the talented portugal will win…because that is what they deserve, and they have been deserving this for a LONG LONG time.

as for the person Masano Karim that wrote a blog entry above…remember this
1. Portugal may have only been in the world cup 4 times but in 1966 against England they were robbed a penalty just like today….and that is why victory against England is SO SO SO SWEET.
Plus you said that Portugal is not a power house but they were in the final in the Euro 2004.

2.You also said that the portuguese players threw water bottles on the field in rage: well obviously they were going to…they were robbed of entering the final of the biggest soccer tornament…i wouldn’t b surprised if they threw the bottle at the ref, or several bottles for that matter.

3. You said that history wasn’t on their side…well history wasn’t on the Australian side and they still made a FANTASTIC world cup campaign.

4. For your information Portugal has way more talented players than france including
* Cristiano Ronaldo
* Deco
* Figo
* Maniche
* Pauletta
* Ricardo (the Goal Keeper)
* Ricardo Carvalho
* Nuno Valente
* Nuno Gomes
* Simao Saborossa
* Luis Boa Morte
* Tiago
* Petit
* Fernando Meira
* Helder Postiga
* Paulo Ferreira
* Hugo Viana

AND MANY MANY OTHERS

and the portuguese definately don’t practise dives in their training sessions like the french and the italians.

5. Maybe by the way that you took the french side when they were the bad guys…you could be french but your comment comes from America. And let me remind you that during the time America played they were never ever robbed…the refs did clean games…. I GUESS THEY JUST SUCK AND CAN’T PLAY FOOTBALL FOR SHIT. Maybe thats why you feel the need to target other teams when yours just sucks.

Next Euro and World Cup justice will be done and Portugal will dominate.

I LOVE PORTUGAL and well done to the players and fans.
wEND

:
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Neil

Suzy – I’m not sure I follow your piece. Who’s your favorite team?

Really, such an unbiased, one-sided diatribe is worthless. What’s worse is when a writer uses CAPITAL LETTERS to accentuate points. It’s as if you are trying to convince yourself that the rubbish you are writing is actually true.

Fine, you LOVE Portugal – but that does not mean anything about a) their talent or b) their proclivity for “gamesmanship” and diving. Other than Italy, no team exploited the dive more in World Cup 2006 than your beloved Portuguese. Luis Figo showed flashes of the player he once was, but every time he was dispossessed, he fell and looked to the referee’s assistant for a call – as though it were impossible that he could have been stripped, plain and simple. In the second half against France, a ball bounced near the far touchline, head-high between Abidal and Figo. Abidal used his head. Figo used his boot – and hit Abidal. Not intentional, just high. He was whistled – and then proceeded to complain about the call. Please. He’s been playing too long not to know.

Ask yourself: would Zidane or even classic fakers from Brazil argue such a call? Not a chance.

Later in the half, Figo sends a bender into the box. Both “C-Ro” and another Portugal middie jump to head the ball. Both miss. Ronaldo falls to a heap, having not made contact with another player.

He cannot believe he was not awarded a PK.

Please counsel yourself. Love Portugal as fervently as you do – but be honest and objective enough to realize that, aside from Italy, they are an exploitive team of divers and fakers – which is too bad because it spoils from the quality they shows on the field.

I see you did not mention “Big Phil’s” physical attack on the (albeit hideous) Uruguayan referee after the game.

That shows class, huh?
http://canada tony

neils reply to suzy sounds spot on, i didnt read all of her rant though as so many of ronaldo and portugals male and female, but mostly female fans babble on about how great they play and no way do they ever cheat, that its hardly worth reading the lunacy, im sure that was the gist of her posting, im not out to offend, but the site has some great feedback and interesting commentary, cheerleeding is not worth you posting(suzy et al) and us reading.
Jim Houghton

Have you guy heard that Mike LoPresti of USA today is a child molester?
http://Portugal Bruno

Just a few words to say! france, doesn’t realy deserve to be in the finnals, doesn’t deserve to win the cup, they have no team, no qualities, they have wining with a huge help of the referees, and that, is not fair for other teams! Italy, beware for those unprofessionals, they might bought the match referee again!
http://Portugal Bruno

Go home you french pigs, where you should be for a long time!!! it seems the referee wasn’t in your side this time! and about zidane, he showed the real prfessionalism of france!!! ITALY ITALY!!!
nuno fafe

now, after justice has been done, france has lost with italy, and zidane show to the world that he is a fair player when he assault the other player.french people are this way, when the refery is not helping, they try to destroy things. well pigs, u have lost.go home.loosing the final is so much painfull.i hope u have bad dreams for a long time.this time zidane doesn t made any miracles. u still want him for president?dont think so.i am portuguese, and we deserve to lost with germany, because we played poorly. But with france??this kind of games are games to score 1 or 2 goals. the game is very tactical at the semifinals, and when a penalty is invented, and next france go all to the defense, is very difficult to win even playing much much better.scolari sould put away pauleta a long time a go and use nuno gomes.in 5 minutes scored a goal, i knew he will.but mits are mits, and next time pauleta, please play better.you know, being the best striker at france isnt very difficult. and why didnt figo played from the beggining against germany.scolari, a yellow card to u.we have great players, but deco this time was very far from his best and ronaldo seemed imature.my pain has gone at some time.and you frenchies, your pain is much vivid.i am enjoying to know that millions of frenchies are suffering right now.next time we play, you are dead.we could lose with everybody, but with you, never again.hope the plain with the team fall in the champs elisés
nuno fafe

e bibá nossa selecção, não vai tardar muito a concretizar todos os nossos sonhos.os portugueses têm orgulho em vocês. Putos que agora sois esperanças, pusei-vos finos, o futuro passa pelas vossas pernas.deixaide-vos de merdas como este ano, se assim for nunca mais teremos equipas de jeito.ja ha muitos anos que desliguei do futebol que só me fazia sofrer.este ano voltei a vibrar e a reviver a alegria do futebol. a próxima vez desligo de vez.como eu há muitos.em espanha os estádios estão cheios não é por gostarem mais de futebol que nós, é por terem mais dinheiro. viva o benfica
nuno fafe

é nestas alturas que a gente tem pena que a gestapo não tenha arrumado com mais franceses.maldita a hora que se safaram alguns
Maurizio Cascapera

The French coach can best be described as a plastic puppet with s.. for brains. Zidane is a loser pig who can’t take the pressure… Take this: YOU LOST AND DEAL WITH IT, although hard for both of them, try to do it like a man.
Nick

Everyone defending Italy or Portugal I have a couple of words for you “go f##k yourselves you hopeless cheating bast*rds, learn how to play football the way it should be played, not the c. ronaldo diving way. visit http://www.ihateronaldo.com”
And all of you saying Zidane is a pig and sh*t like that, well out of materazzi and Zidane, materazzi is the biggest most f?#ked up cheating rotting bast*rd pig. Should provoking players be allowed in football “NO” well materazzi did just that. What would you do if someone called your sister and mum a prostitute and you a terrorist “head butt them!” probably not but you wouldnt just walk away, you would do something about it. France deserved to win the World Cup Final and Australia deserved to win against italy. One last question if there is a football player lying in the middle of the field and doesnt move and the opponent runs and trips over him, is that a foul “NO!”
well italy did not deserve a penalty or the win and Australia would’ve won 2 – 0. italy hould have been out of the world cup long before the finals. italy vs portugal would not be a football match it would be a match of ballat dancers and divers and foul mouthed f*gs, all the players will be lying on the floor pretending to be hurt. And if you haven’t notice that when i write Zidane or France Or Australia I use a capital letter but when i write materazzi or italy or portugal or c. ronaldo i use little letters coz they they are so rubbish that they dont deserve the effort of pressing shift.