dom

Get over it.

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

#1 lehmann was horrible - this is the time to retire
#2 iniesta had like 4 perfect scoring opportunities but he was scared and cut back and messed up the scoring chances
#3 ballack was a beast - just going all out and fouling everyone lol
#4 spain were the best team and fully deserved the victory

F-C

Meh, let down match after all the great run ups to it. Why does the championship match always dissapoint?

iamhomin

I didn't think Lehman was horrible, he made some good saves, but that Torres goal was just too skillful to stop. Not only did he out maneuver Lahm, but he popped the ball just enough with a swerve to hit the of the side net. And Iniesta was garbage, he had way too many chances and all he did was waste time inside Germany's box. If Spain lost, it probably would've been Iniesta's fault..lol

Finally Ballack...I like the guy, but the whole game he was trying to intimidate the Spanish with his presence, but the truth is..he deserved about 5 yellow cards.

JediMindTricks

i always get this empty feeling after an international tournament.

whether it's the world cup, euros, copa america, or even the gold cup, i get really amped up for a month.

this past euro was very testing. i avoided all soccer websites during the day at work and watched the replays at home.

anyways, the end of an international tournament marks the beginning of the club season. and that means transfers galore.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/foot...ea/7482359.stm

chelsea sign deco.

lampard.

kosstick

Olympics?

JediMindTricks

i'll watch it because i think the US team actually has a really good team.

but it's not the same when it's just a group of U23's and a handful of "overage" players.

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

Deco already at Chelsea. Robinho in talks with Chelsea. Ronaldinho would love to be reunited with Scolari.

Chelsea for the title next year? - I think so

JediMindTricks

dude, everyone's in talks with chelsea during the summers.

by the way, if carvalho leaves, then no title.

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

^ o plz. Yes he is a good defender but last season was not his greatest at all. As long as Terry and Cech are there, they will be fine.

They just need to unload Shev, Pizarro aka slowest striker alive, Ben Haim, Sidwell, and Anelka

JediMindTricks

um, carvalho, not terry, held that back four together last season.

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

^ did you see terry's amazing header to stop ryan gigg's sure goal in the champions league final game?

JediMindTricks

yes i did.

but that was one game.

i said it was carvalho that kept the back four in check last season.

i also saw terry's pinpoint accuracy when he hit the post.

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

w/e... coulda happened to anyone. man u got hella lucky he slipped.

iamhomin

ManU got lucky when Drogba's and Lampard's shot beat VDS and hit the post...the missed PK had nothing to do with luck. Lots of English people suck at PK, period.

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

New FIFA rankings are out:

1. Spain
2. Italy
3. Germany
4. Brazil
5. Netherlands
6. Argentina
7. Croatia
8. Czech Republic
9. Portugal
10. France
11. Russia
12. Romania
13. Cameroon
14. Turkey
15. England
16. Scotland
17. Bulgaria
18. Greece
19. Mexico
20. Ghana

-USA is 30.... much lower than I expected.
-I can't believe Italy only fell 1

JediMindTricks

eh. we all know that FIFA rankings are

they had the US at 4th before the world cup.

JediMindTricks

http://www.freekickmastersusa.com/home.asp

going to this on saturday.

should be pretty exciting.

ronaldinho, ADP, messi, f.torres, pires, juninho, deco, kewell, and more.

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

WOW wtf is that like an annual thing?! never heard of it

JediMindTricks

this is only the second time they've done this.

the first time was in spain 3 years ago.

how or why it's in houston? i have no clue. but i'm glad it is.

it was originally scheduled for dec. 2007 but they had to postpone it due to la liga still being in season.

JediMindTricks

nevermind.

i'm interested in the olympics.

argentina:
GK: Ustari (Getafe - ESP), Romero (Az Alkmaar - HOL) e Navarro (Napoli - ITA);

D: Zabaleta (Espanyol - ESP), Garay (Racing Santander - ESP), Coloccini (Deportivo La Coruña - ESP), Fazio (Sevilha - ESP) e Monzón (Boca Juniors - ARG);

MF: Gago (Real Madrid - ESP), Banega (Valencia - ESP), Mascherano (Liverpool - ING), Riquelme (Boca Juniors - ARG) e Sosa (Bayern de Munique - ALE);

F: Agüero (Atlético de Madrid - ESP), Messi (Barcelona - ESP) e Lavezzi (Napoli - ITA).

brazil:
GK: Diego Alves (Almería/ESP), Renan (Internacional/BRA)

D: Alex Silva (São Paulo/BRA), Breno (Bayern de Munique/ALE), Thiago Silva (Fluminense/BRA), Ilsinho (Shakhtar Donetsk/UCR), Rafinha (Schalke 04/ALE), Marcelo (Real Madrid/ESP)

MF: Anderson (Manchester United/ING), Hernanes (São Paulo/BRA), Lucas (Liverpool/ING), Ronaldinho (Barcelona/ESP), Diego (Werder Bremen/ALE), Thiago Neves (Fluminense/BRA)

F: Alexandre Pato (AC Milan/ITA), Jô (Manchester City/ING), Rafael Sóbis (Real Bétis/ESP), Robinho (Real Madrid/ESP)

JediMindTricks

transfer market has been slowwww....

- nasri finally signs with arsenal

- ronaldinho goes to ac milan
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...ngland&cc=5901

rumors have robbie keane wanting to go to liverpool, his favorite club.

barry and ronaldo are still at villa and manutd.

uzzmaan

transfer market has been really slow. i've been reading rumors every single day, but there haven't been that many deals happening.

JediMindTricks

as usual, i think once the big names go, things will move quickly. i mean, teams are already starting preseason.

i stop reading the rumors because they're always the same. that's why it kinda surprised me that the R10 deal actually went through.

iamhomin

To change the topic a bit, Freddy Adu isn't young anymore, yet his sensation has died quite a bit. Even in games he has played, he wasn't nearly as impressive as people expected..so the question, will he ever change the "image" of American soccer?

Lister00169

True, but the trainers in the MLS and in the U.S. in general are sub par. If he really wanted to expand on his skills, he should spend more time abroad.

Serie A or La Liga would have been perfect for their fast, finese style football.

He's not strong enough to handle EPL defenders, who's tactics are more strength and marking focused.

Lister00169

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...ngland&cc=5901

I am super excited for the Keane, Gerrard combination! I feel bad for Gareth Barry as the whole ordeal has left him on the outside in Villa, to which I blame Rafa and Martin O'Neil.

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

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OUCH

JediMindTricks

i'm going to disagree here.

first of all, will he change the image of american soccer?

and he's only 19. if 19 is not young, then what is? he's younger than fabregas, messi, etc.

and of course the hype has died down. playing in MLS for 4 years will do that to you. people wanted immediate success from him.

with that said, i think his first season at benfica was a success to some regards. sure, he didn't play as much as we hoped, but 1) he was playing behind rui costa, and 2) he was playing on a struggling benfica team that had to fight to the end. a team like that isn't going to play a 19 year old that's somewhat unproven.

however, i think he's in a great situation at monaco now. ligue 1 has shown that it can be a great league for younger, unproven players before moving on to bigger leagues. and ligue 1, itself, is a big league too. it's not in the "big 4" but i believe "experts" rank it as the 6th ranked league in europe.

you say he hasn't been as impressive as many expected.

1) what did people expect? if people expected him to be the next pele or maradona, then of course, he's doomed to fail.

2) i'd disagree and say he has really impressed fans of the US men's national soccer team. if you're a member of bigsoccer.com, you'll see that he has won over many USMNT fans, and they're screaming for him to be a starter now.

remember, he has just broken into the senior squad after excelling in last summer world youth cup and leading the US to the quarterfinals in a competition where he schooled brazil.

did you watch the US' string of friendlies in may and june against england, spain, and argentina? adu was one of the few bright spots from those matches in which the US were horrible, poor, and promising. he showed something that is clearly lacking amongst american players: the ability to take a defender one on one, vision, and a link between the defense and forwards.

so will he change the image of american soccer? probably not. some would argue that altidore is the real hope for american soccer.

but he's still young, and he's got a bright future ahead of him. and this is coming from someone that's not even much of a fan of adu's.

Lister00169

Keane is now a red!

20.2 million with incentives.

JediMindTricks

thank goodness for benitez's rotation policy.

here's hoping keane gets as much time as voronin...

Lister00169

I think Voronin is waiting to shine given the right amount of opportunities.

If Crouch complained about wanting more play time, Voronin has more of a right to get the right amount of minutes on the pitch.

F-C

Victory for the clubs.

JediMindTricks

moonraker

epl season underway now with the community shield and i'll come out and say now that i think chelsea takes the title this year . they're hungry, they've got a great manager now and assuming they dont have a long period adapting to any new system, they should take it.

utd have shown already (even though its preseason) that without rooney or ronaldo in the squad that they have trouble scoring, which is not reassuring. defense is solid but the attacking flair is not there if injuries hurt the squad.

also, even though tottenham are expected to 'challenge the top 4' practically every year, i actually do think they have a shot this year. ramos has assembled quite a squad

curious to see how arsenal does with the player exits they've seen. don't think it will affect them too much but ya never know

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

^ i like your thoughts.

My tops:
1. Chelsea
2. Man Utd
3. Liverpool
4. Arsenal
5. Tott
6. Everton
...18 - 20: Stoke, Hull, Bolton

gocubsgo55

1. Chelsea
2. ManUre
3. Liverpool
4. Scum
5. Arsenal (sadly)
6. Villa
...
18. Stoke
19. Bolton
20. Hull

But then again, I said Arsenal would finish 5th last year too, and Citeh and Villa would be high. I think Arsenal will be outstanding, next year (if they keep who they have, stay healthy, and get one more solid midfielder). Also, if Gareth Barry goes to Liverpool, there are rumors of Xabi Alonso going to Arsenal.

JediMindTricks

1. chelsea
2. man utd
3. liverpool
4. arsenal

Lister00169

1. Liverpool
2. Man U
3. Chelsea
4. Arsenal

Lister00169

^
EDIT: I hope this Gareth Barry ordeal ends. We need to keep Xabi since Stevie G. is on the hurt. It was amazing the reception he got during the 1-0 win of Lazio. Also, the owners need to get their stuff together and finance the damn stadium.

DIC - WE NEED YOU!!!