He'd better not, Ronaldo is -censored- first class.

Can't believe he did that, although, I can. Just like Figo and his bunch, bah.

He better pray to god his deal with Madrid is on the card 'cos he ain't gonna be popular over here anytime soon.

....I personally aren't convinced that was a red card incident and I don't think the ref did until the cokc suck his nose in.

what part of stamping on someones nuts isnt a red card ?

Aye he should have done a Vinnie Jones and grabbed the guys nuts while the ref wasn't looking

Not convinced he purposely 'stamped' on him, he was int he middle of fending off 2 player and turning, he should have had a foul way before that anyhow.

....for as Im concerned he should have really given him something to bitch about !

Every bloke knows that it doesn't take a powerful kick to the nads to hurt.

Tbh its typical of English mentality that they have to have a scape goat for losing rather than take the loss & learn from it. Rooney did foul the guy, out of frustration at losing the ball & the ref would have red carded him regardless of what anyone on the field said at the time.

Ronaldo did what any other player would have done if they seen thier team mate kicked in the nads. Also after the game Ronaldo did an interview where he said that nothing bad was said the ref on his part & that he considered Rooney to be a mate.

Imho England haven't played at all as well as they should have on paper, which just goes to show that they deserved to lose overall. They were generally lucky to get as far as they did with all the really easy games they had. Ocassional flashes of great playing isn't going to take a team to world cup victory. Every english fan, & most soccer fans know that England suck at penalties, but still in that game there was a lack of will on behalf of the england players to go out & win the game. So the result was a forgone conclusion.

Rooney just did what beckham did back in 98, threw a paddy when it really wasn't right.. Beckham learnt from it and his dicipline now is pretty impeccible. Im sure Rooney will do the same.
I personally think the whole nad crunching was more accident as he did seem to stand on the guy's knackers then actually go out of his way to stamp on them.

England had some bad luck (owen) and never seemed to get their formation or player mix right. Rooney as the last man was always a bad move as he's not designed for that role. Lampard needs shooting imo his shots reminded me of being at school. Players like Lennon never got to show their full potential, much like the 17yr old lad (willcock?), all in all some bad tactical errors by sven imo, but then again i know fuck all, so who knows

I think if you look at the players in the England team, they are some of the best in the world. I just dont think they play well under Sven. Its a shame England are out. Hehe the Rooney incedant was shocker, its gotta hurt stamping on a guys nuts in boots with studs. Deffo a red card, accident or not.

England didnt really get into the tournament, and its a shame, different system to allow the players to play rather than forcing square pegs into round holes - who knows?:)

Anyway, what do i know:D

How can it be a red card if it was an accident?

Rooney was trying to keep his feet with 2 players trying to get the ball off him, at no point did it look like he deliberately stamped on the guy, when the ref blew his whistle I honestly thought it was to give England a free kick.

He shouldn't have pushed Ronaldo though and deserved a red card for that so no complaints really. Anyway none of that team deserved to get any further, England's entire performances were pathetic and for Gerrard to call them heroic shows how out of touch footballers can get.

This whole World Cup has put the nail in the coffin for me and football though. after 20+ years regularly watching Everton, the last couple of seasons in the Premiership and now this tournament have done what the toffees never managed. The incessant diving, clutching of faces and shitty referees have spoiled the game for me.

I'm not. Beckham may be thick but Rooney is thick and a thug. Atleast Beckham has looks on his side, Rooney is short and ugly which 9 times out of 10 makes the person a little ball of aggression anyways.

As for Owen being bad luck I have to say there's nothing bad luck about it, Owen played about 10 games all season, probably only played 1 or 2 before going to the world cup and was totally out of form, he should never have been in the squad and that's what makes me sick about every england team, they're picked on past merit not current form and ability. Rooney was taken with a broken leg ffs, what message does that send out to other strikers? We're so cofident you'll perform well that we're taking someone who may not be able to play at all but if he can walk we're drpping you for him. Nice.

I'd recommend a few seasons watching rugby union.


Pros:

Fewer to 0 thugs in the crowd
Drinking during the game
Cheaper tickets
More sportsmanship
No Diving
mixed fans for humorous banter

Cons:

erm - Dunno really - I've not found any so far

M

I didn't watch the game btw which is why there's no comment from me.

I thought Lamps look cabbaged all world cup and should've been rested. The balance was all off and Beckham was crucified incessantly when he probably was our most creative player, barring cole who turned it on for one game then found 2 players on him every time he got the ball.

I predicted this in work on friday morning. I said it would probaly be a Germany vs France or Portugal final.

It's interesting to note that the German League has hardly any imports, the fans all own the clubs so season tickets all remain low and the standard of football isn't particularly high. Yet when you look at the national team - there's some real stars in the line up. Klose, Ballack, Borowski, Lahm have all caught the eye. Our league is much 'stronger' but you have to say our national side lacks fluency because the league is so strong

M

My five eggs.....

Fecked up team selection on the striker front, totally. Should have taken someone like Darren Bent for options. England can't seem to make chances, string accurate passes together or score from good opportunities, which is pretty much football, right? For my money, Rooney is our only decent striker because he can do more than wait up front for a perfect delivery. Looking forward to new leadership.....

oh and I'd have included Lennon in the starting line up. Can't understand why him and Rooney weren't played together from the start.

I dunno about that, Liverpool have been lacking an out an out goal scorer for years now, someone who does fuck all but sit on the edge of the box and score goals. We've had plenty of players who track back and do fancy runs but it usually results in nothing and thus we rely heavily on the midfielders to score. England are in the same position. I don't think saying a striker isn't good because they don't track is right, imo Rooney isn't a striker, he's a center forward similar to Cantona etc, someone who sits behind the goal poacher and feeds them the ball but can score himself too.

Owen used to be the man for the job but now with so many injuries I'm not sure he can be relied on much longer. I suspect what happened to Robbie Fowler could well happen to him and it be his body that lets him down in the end.

hehe - I am with goosey on the rugby, though you cant watch it here I think:D Go Saints:D

you can mate

Canada have a rapidly improving rugby side and there is a small league over there asfaik

M

I happened to be at a concert on the night of "that incident" and in the words of the one I was watching (I'm not telling for fear of ridicule); "if that Portuguese b*stard ever has the misfortune to play in England, I hope that he gets a f*cking good beating".

He also said something along the lines of "England have played s*it for the past however long but at least we don't cheat, not like that f*cking b*stard Ronaldo"

In my opinion - watch Rugby

You were at the Elton John concert!?

Plus if the players do start fighting, the commentators usually brush it off by calling it 'handbags'. Classic

hehe you want ice hockey for fighting - class

Ice hockey is pretty cool to watch to be honest.

Speaking of Ice Hockey, I heard NHL was pretty much dead in the States since they had their year on strike. An American was telling me that footy ratings went through the roof when NHL wasn't around, and NHL isn't showing signs of restabalising...

Olavski is a real life american.

Does that make u an Olavski wannabe then?

Have you seen his house? Hell yeah

Ice hockey is very big here in candada I believe:)

Ratings are not good yet but it will never die and it's pretty sweet to watch, I love it. No diving, no asking for cards, no wining and you can hit people as hard as you want.


Oh and I love my pool.

Did Beans already move to the horrible country or what happened?

Not yet. STILL waiting on an interview date.

Don't worry, these interviews are piss easy, I was done in 5 minutes.

Although i hate footy and the whole debate, someone sent me this and I thought it would fit in here.



xxx

Hmm...this might not work 'cos never used image shack before...

someone sent it to me on an email.... It was called...Ronaldo apologises

Ren you are a fuckin' wonder! Paps a lucky man