"Bobby Zamora won't be England's third choice 'keeper.": South Africa 2010, World Cup Finals Anticipation Thread

Not because I'm particularly interested in it, you understand. This is merely an impetuous attempt to hurry this premiership season into distant memory.

He wouldn't be the worst choice.

MON AE URUGUAY. If club statistics tell me anything they ought to score at least five goals a game.

COME ON HONDURAS

EFF OFF SPAIN

i knock ju hunduras you fuckin cock-a-roach

Forgot to include an appropriately mirthful image in the initial post, as is the convention. mea culpa.

thread is premature, and this is a shameful political stroke imo

also imo-

we should have started a thread for each entrant.

if we are not given ILFootball, we must take it by force.

sry darragh but season 09/10 is ovah. chelsea finished top, man united second, spurs probably finished fourth and deservedly enjoyed their open-top bus ride through edmonton. happy w/ that?

if we are not given ILFootball, we must take it by force.

I thought about starting this on the church but opted against it. ooh look who's here:
http://www.theoffside.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/lalas-1994-world-cup.jpg

jesus christ the man just said 'probably' i will hunt you down and nail yr jinxmouth shut FOREVER DO YOU HEAR ME

ooh look who's here:
http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/6527/lalas.jpg

^^^ESPN panel t'other day was him and Robbie Mustoe - my heart sang

sry darragh but season 09/10 is ovah. chelsea finished top, man united second, spurs probably finished fourth and deservedly enjoyed their open-top bus ride through edmonton. happy w/ that?

― snakebite and a passable pinot noir (Upt0eleven), Sunday, 18 April 2010 23:51 (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

2pts between Bayern and Schalke, 1pt seperating Roma and Inter, 1pt between Barca and Real btw.

But to World Cup matters- we are all agreed that 66/1 on Suarez is the best bet we'll ever put a £1 on right?

Sam's five point guide to [World Cup team] pt. 1: Why Spain won't win the world cup-

1. No Torres? Of course, when Torres can't play Spain go for a more relaxed 4-5-1 bringing Cesc into the fold...

2. No Cesc. And Iniesta is struggling with injuries too.

3. Would you trust their full backs against the likes of Robinho, Ribery or Robben?

4. Ummm... Spain are cursed at World Cups? That's reason, right? I'm clutching at straws here, the first three are enough.

5. Why did I make this five points? Ok... no European team has one a comp outside Europe. Spain couldn't even beat fucking USA at the Confeds Cup! How are they gonna win it if they can't even within stand the water swirling a different direction and USA beating them, huh?

Prediction- 3rd place.

xp

if it's the last time i hear '66' mentioned on ilx until after the final then yeah, w/e.

if you mean top scorer then i reckon villa

Well I successfuly went for Villa at 14/1 at the Euros but I dunno, its never the same player to do it, is it?

^^^pretty stupid way of thinking about these things, i know.

Bookies don't lose money at this stuff, so go with value if you see it. Can't be convinced about Suarez just yet tbh, lol Kezman, Kuyt, Van Nistelrooy, etc.

yeah lol dutch football but the damage for top goalscorer is done in the group stages and uruguay's group involves south africa, mexico and domenech's france. expect dude to score hathatricks against all 3 tbh. After that it doesn't matter.

well hot damn if he's guaranteed nine goals then i'm on that action

On that same note, Rooney (if fit) and Higaiun looking good to pwn the group stages.

look u guys need to get over rooney now before the inevitable happens. this year has been his marcus stewart year, everyone gets a marcus stewart year. niall quinn had a marcus stewart year ffs. leave the poor fat bastard alone, can't you see the pressure is tearing him apart?

can't put money on argentina to do anything, tbh- they could win it, they could crash at group, either's as likely.

Sam's five point guide to [World Cup team] pt. 1: Serbia, the first of possible wildcards-

1. What a defence! Vidic! Ivanovic! Subotic! Dragon-dude-I-cannot-spell-the-name-of-who-plays-for-Sevilla! Pretty fucking hard to break down is my bet.

2. An exciting and creative midfield, incl. Kuzmanovic, Football Manager 2008's 7th favourite signing.

3. Zigic, he's got to finally live up to his potential at one point of his career, right?

4. <3 Stankovic, nary a classier midfielder in this world.

5. Srs, would you wanna piss off Vidic? Really?

God knows what I'm gonna do when it comes down to North Korea and New Zealand.

1. will suffer from suspensions when big 4 badge/prem refereeing bias removed.

2 ....

3 hmm big men strikers do ok at world cups, in my head. maybe.

4. yes i so like this guy.

5. it's basically a golf question- it's all about judgement of distance & pace

fancy a small bet on Humberto Suazo myself, about 80-1 at the moment. top scorer in the South American qualification, great scoring records at club level, first round matches against Switzerland and Honduras (although 2nd round probably against Brazil, who beat them home & away in qualifying. hmmm talking myself out of this now)

talking yrself out of things = not a bad way to spend a life, tbh, regardless of what motivational speakers would have you believe.

i am still determined to write the 'negative thinking' self help book, and really it's about time for it- 'Feel the fear and cop yourself on ta fuck'.

Switzerland renowned for being hard to break down as well. Will cover it in my five point 'why the fuck couldn't Big Phil play like this for Arsenal'.

Newcastle's Argentina defender Fabricio Coloccini faces a race to be fit for this summer's World Cup finals after he was almost certainly ruled out for the rest of Newcastle's Championship season with a hamstring injury.
Full story: Daily Mail

wtf maradona, why are coloccini and jonas still anywhere near yr team, srsly?

jonas- because he's class.

Jonas is kind of a dude.

I've turned this into an anticipation thread because at this rate the thing will be thousands of posts long by the time we get to the opening ceremony. New thread just before the tournament I reckon.

so fucking stoked for these guys:

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0gchehA521eyu/610x.jpg

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/06le02Fcb1bV1/x610.jpg

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/00da9l11Nj4xV/610x.jpg

the captain looks bad ass

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0ehC7L91Q2aPP/x610.jpg

I'm certain that North Korea are going to unleash a team of genetically modified supermen on us.

last I read they had to borrow kits to play a friendly in Venezuela

Sam's five point wall chart pt. 3: Picking a random team before I go watch The Damned Utd for the first time-

1. lol denmark. Remember back when the Laudrup bros and Schmiechal used to run the shop?

2. Yeah well now Bendtner is their best player! Bendtner!

3. It's a team full of hacky hack hacks incl. all the gang- rommedahl, kroldrup, other shitty players.

4. Some good 'uns as well though- Sorenson, Agger, Kjaer, Erikson...

5. Eto'o is going to make them his sexy fun time slave.

I'd quite like Denmark to win it, just for the worldwide bewilderment. I'd feel like it was a joke I could be in on, which I couldn't if it was Greece or Australia.

btw I worked out my starting England team for the WC

Rooney
Walcott Lennon
Barry Huddlestone Lampard
Cole Terry Ferdinand Johnson
James

subs
Hart Dawson Milner Gerrard ColeJ JohnsonA Defoe

also in squad
Camp Baines Parker Crouch

this is going with the wing-forward 4-3-3 theory, rather than a Heskeytastic 4-4-2, which requires a rather different squad

idea being that England need to play three in the middle and utilise the pace of breaking wing-forwards for best effect, as Lampard powers into the box at every opportunity and either Barry or Huddlestone moves forward to support depending on shape of play

the pace of our wing-forwards and powerful passing-range and presence of our central midfield are our tactical strengths and a Heskey-flavoured system would not work against the top sides IMO

Andy Johnson?

actually, cut Parker and include Shaun Wright-Phillips - CM is covered well, but we need more pace for if Lennon breaks

very funny a hoy hoy but Andy Johnson no longer exists :(

omg have you called fabio

you could prevent him making a terrible mistake with these informations

you approve, right

rly tho

        Rooney     Bent
         
 J Cole     Gerrard        Lennon      
A Cole     Huddlestone      Johnson
    
     Ferdinand       King       
             James    

Against smaller teams.

i approve of crazy football theories in general, tbh

Rooney/Bent is the slept-on combination of the summer. it will be MASSIVE

detailing the WC dreams of two awesomely-named lesser USA forwards, Edson Buddle and Herculez Gomez:

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/worldcup/story/041910-galarcep-buddle-gomez-making-world-cup-cases

my money's on Gomez

I'd also like a way to fit Nedum Onuoha in the squad as RB cover but England need to pick him sharpish or he'll play for Nigeria

I am not even joking about Huddlestone any more, btw - the prophecy's being fulfilled and he's a dead cert for the squad at least

Is it a 22 or a 23-man squad? If it's 23 Onuoha comes in. If not, ColeJ drops out and Onuoha comes in.

thudd unfortunately not a 'dead-cert' but he's more worthy of a place in the starting line up than gerrard or lampard i think. that's probably a challop.

Capello's naming a 35-man squad pretty soon, to be whittled down. Pretty sure one or two people in this thread stand a chance of getting into that.

Is the final squad 22 or 23? This is important.

What is Onuoha? Should pick those two German guys too. In fact, just write off this world cup & blood 23 binational youngsters.

Onuoha is a City youth-product who could choose England or Nigeria. He's probably the best reserve RB who identifies as a RB, although Steven Gerrard would play there in my team if Johnson was forced off.

INEVITABLE SURPRISE PACKAGE in the 35-man squad - Lee Cattermole. Who obviously won't go to the WC.

also Roger Johnson

It's 23 and also lol yes, forgot Adam Johnson. Also y'all are batshit if you mention SWP. I'd much prefer an injured Beckham being given a spot for motivational purposes, or Ian fucking Wright, just because Capello lost his meds, to SWP.

Klinsmann and Adebayor for the BBC's punditary team.

Don't know what Klinsmann will be like but Adebayor is a ridiculous choice

klinsmann is excellent- very technical, tactical analysis. but then what d'you expect?

Typical Germans

well, this is it. wish rte would bring in someone like that for dunphy to play with.

Would be cool if someone got mourinho.

Yes! But he's too classy for ITV.

colin murray's too classy for ITV.

didn't think onouha was a rb by trade- isn't he a cb?

Yeah but this is in a world where Lampard and Cattermole are competing for the same position.

could read that as:

they don't play the same position

or

cattermole wtf?

I know beeb wanted mourinho..

True enough Mourinho would be amazing, does he do it for Portuguese telly?

Inter's performance this week has massively reignited my man crush on Jose. And his reference to Chelsea in the post-match interview as 'my boys' nearly had me sobbing into my Crunchy Bran.

Gah, David Moyes on Radio 5 and Mark Bright on actual TV, why?

toddler fright curfew

If O'Neill isn't on the Beeb, I'm watching ITV instead in protest

Real story = Seedorf launching sly bid to be first man to do punditry on World Cup, Euros, Champions League, African Nations Cup and FA Trophy for three different networks before he turns 40.

seedord- unification bid champion

I have procured my World Cup sticker album. If I don't get any doubles it will cost a mere £50 to complete.

By June 11th I intend to be fluent in the home towns, heights and birthdays of every player in the (likely) North Korean squad.

Turns out I will be in Austin, TX for the England - USA game. lolz.

Given that the Mexican national team was recently voted the most popular team in the US, you'll probably find more people rooting for El Tri.

I have procured my World Cup sticker album. If I don't get any doubles it will cost a mere £50 to complete.

Yeah, if my auntie had a dick she'd be my uncle.

I bought it for mah nephew and realised how ill-prepared for this World Cup I am, turning every page and being all "fuckin 'ell, Denmark qualified?"

I have hardly any doubles so far except about four of Mark Bresciano.

Also some Uruguayan dude who must be so flattered to be the most regular face on the production line.

I dunno, the little guy's two starter packs seemed to have a fair few doubles, but then he also stuck Torres in the wrong place so he's clearly doomed.

I have hardly any doubles so far except about four of Mark Bresciano.

ilactualfootball borad descrip

xp to dan, yeah, my impression is that will be a fun town to be in for the game.

i will be in the desert near marfa for the england - algeria and usa - slovenia games. i'm observing time and space, so i'll need to figure out how insane this would be given my sleep schedule, but i might drive to el paso or marfa for those games.

actually, what am i thinking? i should go somewhere for the mexico - france game.

Watching a guy in Mexican facepaint/flag get-up gasp in horror at Max-Rod's volley is my enduring memory of WC2006.

It was in a studenty pub in Birmingham, but even so.

afaik *all* games will be available on ESPN channels. The USA/Algeria & Slovenia games are both on at either 8 or 9 AM Central time.

Definitely go watch a Mexico game somewhere, it'll be crazy. Actually with Austin being such a college town there'll likely be a lot of USA USA USA types around too.

haha, watching indian google employees be baffled by raul being taken off in the final in a hotel bar in bangalore is my enduring memory of euro 2004. great days.

Raul is Greek?

no wonder they were so confused.

yeah, i've only been to austin in texas, but i guess that's likely to be the funnest place in the area to be for a usa game. never been there, but marfa might be a bit yuppie art community for a mexico game, but el paso is faaaaaar. this will involve much negotiation with co-observers because i will be dead the next day. i will find a texas thread to ask on about this if i can make it happen.

ha, who am i thinking of? some portugal player.

none of these: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/euro_2004/3860105.stm. not that enduring a memory then obviously.

how are Mexico now anyway? improved at all since Sven? kinda hoping they don't meet Argentina in the 2nd round again as don't suppose they could get revenge. Group A should be tight tho (hopefully not mind-bendingly dull).

Sorry for ruining memories.

you broke my heart.

Mexico is on a crazy run of friendlies at the moment, I think they play England sometime this month? They're playing Senegal in Chicago pretty soon too. They look a lot better under Aguirre than under Sven.

Crazy prediction - Mexico will go out in the second round.

The hosts always stagger through, so that means either French or Mexican blood in round one

i hope you're wrong. There's a first time for everything and this WC is the first time the host fails to get out of the group stage. In fact, is there a lace where I can bet on that and what are the odds, I feel like wasting money.

Really hope to see France and Mexico go through, they're two teams I support and they had to be in the same damn group!

wouldn't mind France going thru but only if it results in England knocking them out

I dunno, the little guy's two starter packs seemed to have a fair few doubles, but then he also stuck Torres in the wrong place so he's clearly doomed.

Trying to think of a Rafa joke but I've tried and tried for ages and come up with nothing.

hope france lose all three of their games.

They probably won't lose all three. They will however certainly bore to death everyone not rooting for them (ok maybe them too) through boring draws and an ugly victory at some point.

Mexico sell out new Meadowlands stadium for friendly w/ Ecuador

http://www.concacaf.com/javaImages/b6/3/0,,12813~8782774,00.jpg

loldraw, 0-0. let's hope they wear themselves out making money across the usa

Does anyone mourn when old US stadia get demolished?

i think we do for old old ones. what we built in the 60s and 70s were such crap though that everyone seems to be relieved when they're finally gone

http://www.nomas-nyc.com/img/p/16-124-large.jpg

Yeah, the true classics like Chicago Stadium, Tiger Stadium, etc.

altho old Giants stadium had astroturf and sucked, etc

most don't have a field big enough for teh futbol either

Does anyone mourn when old US stadia get demolished?

nah they just knock one out over the demolition video

OH GOD OH GOD EXPLOSIVES

BIG FUCKING EXPLOSIONS

WHO GOT THE DYNAMITE? U-S-AYYYYYYYYYYYY *groan of pleasure*

I was getting down to the masses of behemoth stadia in the US world cup bid, but then I read about this thing and feel kind of compromised

wtf carragher and not king, dawson, jagielka or any number of others? is this the result of another letter writing campaign or something?

darragh do u root for england @ world cups

i'd always maintain an interest, but tbh it usually depends on whether i'm listening to tyldesley or not.

England coach Fabio Capello is prepared to sacrifice Rio Ferdinand from his 23-man World Cup squad if the Manchester United defender is not fully fit for this summer's tournament. Jamie Carragher, Ledley King and John Terry have all been pencilled in to travel to South Africa.
Full story: News of the World

fyi rumour writers (AGAIN, srs why am i not paid as yr editor) - not taking rio because he is only able to play one game a week means that adding ledley king's name is stupid and you should be fired.

The injury to Gareth Barry is pretty worrying although it does raise the possibility of THUDD going to the World Cup.

Can someone explain the Carragher thing? He's just had a p. shit season, is too slow for rb and just not that good as a centre-half so...?

Not had that bad a season...agger/skrtel have been more at fault. At worst id say against weaker sides he can defo do a job.

I thought Jamie Carragher had retired from international football. Did I make that up, or has he pulled a [insert Rangers player of choice] and changed his mind?

Apparently capello called him up to get him to change his mind.

When is this ting announced?

Carragher is....ok, Ronan. There are many better CB's out there, although he's got experience on his side in a WC situation I suppose.

The Italian has been doing even more evaluation than we had guessed. For the past two years he has been involved in the development of the Capello Index that measures player performance. The data originates from television feeds that cover the entire pitch and he smiled at the thought of a player who had once misinformed him about the position he had taken up while not in possession. There is no hiding place now.

going only on press reports, but this 30-to-be-whittled-down-to-23 sounds like some str8 bullshit imo

Zola out?

Wrong thread

Wrong club, wrong man, wrong owners, wrong time, but Franco you're alriii-iight with me

Is anyone at all talking about Scott Parker for the England squad now Barry is out, or is he a blind spot on Capello's part?

I mean, there's no way in the world he can take both King and Hargreaves to the World Cup and I'd take Ledley without thinking twice.

Everyone has been talking about Parker, in fairness, at least all of the pundits I've seen/read.

Ledley King can't play two games in a week Matt, etc etc.

Spurs players that should be in the 30, IMO-

Dawson, King, Huddlestone, Lennon, Defoe.

Crouch will make it in because of his goalscoring for England, wouldn't argue that but I don't think he deserves to be there on club form.

Neither Crouch or Heskey are any great shakes at the moment, but if he's still not interested in Bent I would probably go Rooney, Defoe, Crouch and Agbonlahor. Not all at once.

No big man? C Cole surely ahead of Agbonlahor.

Enh, probably true, I haven't been paying attention to West Ham recently.

Gabby just seems to have become a decent all package of pace and Heskey-style muscleman hold up play, but I still kind of suspect Emile will get taken.

Nb I think Heskey is actually a good footballer I just don't think you should use up one of your 4-5 striker slots on a guy who's limped out of about half his recent matches.

C Cole got injured at just the wrong time, otherwise he'd have taken Heskey's spot.

Now I think prob Zamora should take Heskey's spot.

Wld have just about anyone able to hold off a defender in Heskey's spot ahead of Heskey, so could get behind Agbonlahor there too, better finisher and pace with it.

I think my brain just isn't ready for the possibility of Zamora, it'd feel like some weird Football-Manager induced hallucination. It's probably actually quite sensible on his actual form though.

Similarly:

Paul Scholes is on the verge of an incredible return to international football, with Fabio Capello ready to name him in England's 30-man World Cup squad.

YAAAAAA

Going on rumours, there will be 30 amazing last minute picks in this squad, meaning no space for actual england players.

Setting aside his Europa league heroics Zamora's league form = 8 goals in a season for a team that finished 12th.

Better than Crouch, I suppose, who scored as many in a top four team.

Why is Paul Scholes under consideration even in this batshit rumour mill? We're not exactly short of quality attacking midfielders...

Yes, yes you are.

Agree with Onimo- 8 goals in a season for a team that finished 12th for a 'big striker' player ain't bad.

Scoring against the likes of Cannavaro, Juan and co when you have to turn it on midweek in big games >>>> missing twelve penalties against Spurs and being Emile Heskey etc. etc.

Plus yeah, 8 goals for a 'big man' who has had to largely play on his own (lol rip andy johnson) is p. good. Add in a superior team around him (As much as I like Nevland, l0u1s jagg3r and Murphy I think he'll get a few better chances with Rooney, Lampard and Lennon) and there is no reason why he shouldn't be unstoppable.

Don't get me wrong- Darren Bent simply has to go to the world cup as a 4-5-1 option against a high defence. Even Defoe has lost the ability to play facing the opposition goal.

FULL SQUAD:

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart, David James, Robert Green.

Defenders: Leighton Baines, Jamie Carragher, Ashley Cole, Michael Dawson, Rio Ferdinand, Glen Johnson, Ledley King, John Terry, Matthew Upson, Stephen Warnock.

Midfielders: Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Tom Huddlestone, Adam Johnson, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, James Milner, Scott Parker, Theo Walcott, Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Forwards: Darren Bent, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney.

fuckin hell, aside from carragher (and i kinda understand the experience thing there)

that's not bad at first glance

i mean lol fattey, first thing

and obvs one of dawson and king are gonna make way for carragher int he final 23 which is O_o.

DO NOT FUCKING UNDERSTAND:

Upson has had a shocking fucking season and deserves to be nowhere close considering the season the Brum centre halves had. He is inferior to them in every way. Hell I'd take Sol before I'd take Upson.

NO recognised midfield anchor man. I mean come on, Barry is a box-to-box type, Carrick is Pirlo is Pirlo was shit and THUDD is... well he's not an anchor man.

Wright-Phillips over Zamora? Bitch please.

You're on-point about Upson. You're completely off-point with the other two.

thread title came true p quickly eh

lj- so you are saying there is a dm there? i don't see one. or that swp deserves to be anywhere near this squad?

Barry, Carrick, Milner, Gerrard, Huddlestone and Parker can ALL play the holding role. Barry indeed is England's first-choice holding-player and has been so to great effect.

There were only going to be five strikers and SWP is not one of them. Plus he has pace, and can change games. Zamora over Bent or Heskey would have been the choice.

ok my bad there must be a need for 4 right wingers

Not seeing a DM in there is completely obtuse. Are you saying that you know what a DM is better than Capello? A DM doesn't have to be a monstrous pacy lunk; it requires good reading of the game and the ability to tackle, spread play and track the midfield runners. Plenty of those men can do this very well.

Didn't even notice Scott Parker, meh. Why he is there over Murphy I... I just don't get it.

tbh its still a pretty good squad, and i'm really glad that thudd should make the 23.

i thought Dawson was capped. was that England B only?

v glad to see Thudd and J Cole in there

Was more just thinking that w/ Johnson and a midfield that would prefer not to defend, it would be nice to have some fucker that would sit back no matter what. I guess I forgot Rooney can play that role.

everyone on that list plays in england, correct?

have my doubts that thudd will make the 23.

I think that the current trend in a 4 man midfield is for two central midfielders, not one DM and one AM.

IMO England lack a classic AM talent so two CM's from any of the above fulfil that.

Didn't even notice Scott Parker, meh. Why he is there over Murphy I... I just don't get it.

****uh****

(am qualified to speak on this one, and, like, uh)

wait who said that? i mean lol

parker fit is up there with Gerrard/Lampard for consistency, goals, drive imo

consistency of being rubbish ever since leaving charlton?

he's scored 2 goals this season btw. not really 'up there' now is he?

he's kept west ham up single-handed and been generally superb this season. he was really good for newcastle. stick to watching the top 4.

*meeeeow etc*

'single-handed'. cole, diamanti, green, specter, noble, brown, dictionary corner, the tax man etc. have no part to play?

Bobby Z would've stepped up, I'm taking this personally. Hope it inspires him to beat Atletico on Wednesday

Glad Scotty P's in the 30, pretty sure he should be in the final 23.

lol at the thought of Carlton Cole contributing to West Ham this season

cole, diamanti, green, specter, noble, brown, dictionary corner, the tax man etc

always injured, criminally overrated, error-prone, horribly inept, limited, lol, lol, lolololol

He scored as many goals for them as the whole Wolves team scored at home or something? Don't see why this wouldn't count?

I wonder at what point my opinions stopped being challops and just became mad trolling.

Oh well in that case no wonder West Ham finished so hi oh hang on

ok but you need more than an occasionally-fit striker to stay up and Parker was by universal consent West Ham's saviour and one of the better midfielders in the Premiership

'one of the better midfielders in the Premiership'

do you mean one of the better english bottom half of the table midfielders because lol not even better than bowyer

Dawson, Warnock, Huddlestone, Bent, Wright-Phillips, Barry or Parker, and Adam Johnson to fail to make the cut. If not Adam Johnson then Joe Cole.

Would take SWP over Theo "Okay I'm at the by-line, what am I supposed to do with it?" Walcott tbh

barry? because of injury? also warnock got an injury on the last day of the season didn't he?

u maaad xp

Yeah Barry doesn't look like he'll be fit in time, obviously he's there otherwise. Can't see both Barry and Parker going though.

Shit, just realised that Gareth Barry not going to the World Cup means we're one reliable penalty taker down before we've even started.

only Hargreaves can score penalties at this level so makes no odds

England ought to be so great at penalties with the players they have.

Warnock limped out of the last game and appears to have been carrying some kind of form-wrecking shin injury for most of the season anyway, he's a lock to go home.

xp -

I did have a kind of horrified fascination with Barry's penalty taking composure evaporating under the England Penalty Bottler Curse.

not even better than bowyer

only one of them left west ham for (what were then) lower things. but i don't know why i'm engaging with this because o_O etc

Warnock's penalty-conceding tackle against Man City should have seen him banned from international football for a year

Yeah, that was the worst, most cretinous tackle of the season, far ahead of all the ones that killed all those Arsenal players.

you do all realise Peter Crouch is going to take a 'miss and you're out' penalty in a shootout

moorbal, do the robot dance of shame

I think being eliminated from a tournament because of a chipped penalty might represent a baby step forward for England.

They were just too damn ballsy to win

I think being eliminated from a tournament because of a chipped penalty might represent a baby step forward for England.

^^^^^^^^^this

an age ago I was asking what was the best site for legit cheap football strips, finally re-found them

jomzajung.com, bornprosper.com, and bestway4you.com

Yeah, that was the worst, most cretinous tackle of the season, far ahead of all the ones that killed all those Arsenal players.

― Sammo Hung Parliament (MPx4A), 11 May 2010 14:04 (39 minutes ago) Bookmark

wtf i posted a pic of Benoit Assou-Ekotto upthread just today

SWP ahead of Walcott is not even challops.

carragher tho.

Here it the squad:

USA's 30-man Provisional World Cup Roster

usa 30 man

Goalkeepers- Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann, Brad Guzan

Defenders- Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Steve Cherundolo, Jonathan Spector, Jay DeMerit, Clarence Goodson, Jonathan Bornstein, Heath Pearce, Chad Marshall

Midfielders- Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Stuart Holden, Ricardo Clark, Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber, Jose Francisco Torres, Alejandro Bedoya, DaMarcus Beasley, Sacha Kljestan, Robbie Rogers

Forwards- Jozy Altidore, Conor Casey, Brian Ching, Edson Buddle, Eddie Johnson, Herculez Gomez

no charlie davies! damn he really must not be ready

i can kind of imagine him showing up at camp anyway

According to Ives he wasn't granted a full release from his club team.

Rogers and Findley are WTFs for me, and Beasley is lucky. Johnson has been scoring in Greece, maybe he can finally add something. So glad there is no Hejduk.

fyi british friends in case ur wondering where some of these dudes come from:
everton, wolves, aston villa
rennes, ac milan, hannover 96, west ham, watford, ik start (norway), chivas usa, fc dallas, columbus
la galaxy, fulham, borussia mönchengladbach, bolton, eintracht frankfurt, rangers, agf (denmark), pachuca, Örebro (sweden), rangers, chivas usa, columbus
villareal, colorado rapids, houston dynamo, la galaxy, aris (greece), puebla (mexico)

Rogers and Findley are WTFs for me, and Beasley is lucky. Johnson has been scoring in Greece, maybe he can finally add something. So glad there is no Hejduk.

^^all of this. those first three have to be gone with the cut, right?

glad not to see adu, too

Goalkeepers- Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann, Brad Guzan

Defenders- Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Steve Cherundolo, Jonathan Spector, Jay DeMerit, Clarence Goodson, Jonathan Bornstein, Heath Pearce, Chad Marshall

Midfielders- Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Stuart Holden, Ricardo Clark, Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber, Jose Francisco Torres, Alejandro Bedoya, DaMarcus Beasley, Sacha Kljestan, Robbie Rogers

Forwards- Jozy Altidore, Conor Casey, Brian Ching, Edson Buddle, Eddie Johnson, Herculez Gomez

wait a minute wtf the list I saw had findley in place of casey

Brazil squad
Goalkeepers: Júlio César (Internazionale), Doni (AS Roma), Heurelho Gomes (Tottenham Hotspur)

Defenders: Maicon (Internazionale), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Michel Bastos (Lyon), Gilberto (Cruzeiro), Lúcio (Internazionale), Juan (AS Roma), Luisão (Benfica), Thiago Silva (Milan)

Midfielders: Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos), Felipe Melo (Fiorentina), Ramires (Benfica), Elano (Galatasaray), Kaká (Real Madrid), Júlio Baptista (Roma), Kléberson (Flamengo), Josué (VfL Wolfsburg).

Forwards: Robinho (Santos), Luís Fabiano (Sevilla), Nilmar (Villarreal), Grafite (VfL Wolfsburg).

Apparently Spain called 5 goalies?

I think Beasley's played well when he's played this year, but that's been like once a month.

is Adu actually getting a game for his glamorous Greek side? He's a complete lost cause by now, right?

he's still only 20

! easy to forget when he's been around forever.

no Pato for Brazil? is he injured again?

Adu scored at least one goal for Aris + a couple of set-ups. I could almost see him ahead of Rogers because we already have better wing players, but no one as creative in the center as Adu. Tough call.

Pato's already signed up to play in a glamor friendly vs. my Chicago Fire at the end of May, he's busy.

pato is not injured, as far as i know. dunga seems to like the older players, eg grafite over pato

Brazil: strong at the back, ropey going forward. Not going to win this thing.

yeah, the brazil squad looks surprisingly not scary.
spain on the other hand

Spain provisional squad:

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), David De Gea (Atletico Madrid), Diego Lopez (Villarreal), Jose Reina (Liverpool) Victor Valdes (Barcelona).

Defenders: Raul Albiol (Real Madrid), Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid) Cesar Azpilicueta (Osasuna), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid).

Midfielders: Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Sergi Busquets (Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Javi Martinez (Athletic Bilbao) Marcos Senna (Villarreal), David Silva (Valencia), Xavi (Barcelona).

Forwards: Santi Cazorla (Villarreal), Jesus Navas (Sevilla), Juan Manuel Mata (Valencia) Pedro Rodriguez (Barcelona), Dani Guiza (Fenerbache) Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla), Fernando Torres (Liverpool FC) and David Villa (Valencia).

Carlos Cuellar was robbed imo.

the list I saw had findley in place of casey

yeah, you're right, it's findley not casey

David Silva (Valencia), Santi Cazorla (Villarreal), Jesus Navas (Sevilla), Juan Manuel Mata (Valencia) Pedro Rodriguez (Barcelona)

vs

Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)

seriously, can anyone make a case for carragher's inclusion (playing out of position) ahead of jagielka, shawcross or the nevilles? what the fuck.

Aw, no Ronaldo in the Brazil squad.

no Ronaldinho either

no benzema for france. he's never been good in the national team and had a bad year at madrid but still, I'm a bit surprised and sad. but there's ben arfa who I kinda like (even though he plays for marseille and had a quite average season).

Brazil really should have played their fat/mental wildcard with either one of Ronaldo or Adriano though. Pity Dunga's so boring.

no one wants to see a relentlessly solid Brazil 1-0ing their way to glory.

who have France selected up front?

France squad:

Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Lyon), Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Cedric Carrasso (Bordeaux), Mickael Landreau (Lille).

Defenders: Bacary Sagna (Arsenal), Eric Abidal (Barcelona), William Gallas (Arsenal), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Rod Fanni (Rennes), Adil Rami (Lille), Sebastien Squillaci (Sevilla), Gael Clichy (Arsenal), Marc Planus (Bordeaux), Anthony Reveillere (Lyon).

Midfielders: Jeremy Toulalan (Lyon), Lassana Diarra (Real Madrid), Alou Diarra (Bordeaux), Yoann Gourcuff (Bordeaux), Abou Diaby (Arsenal), Yann M'Vila (Rennes), Florent Malouda (Chelsea).

Forwards: Sidney Govou (Lyon), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Thierry Henry (Barcelona), Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea), Djibril Cisse (Panathinaikos), Andre-Pierre Gignac (Toulouse), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille), Hatem Ben Arfa (Marseille), Jimmy Briand (Rennes).

Heurelho Gomes!!! World Cup!!!

I am so happy right now.

What happened to Benzema? Is he injured or just rubbish now?

xxp Cissé. lol

Rod Fanni (Rennes)

Puerile lol.

Benzema doesn't play with Real so he's out. he has never been good or anything with France. And I think Domenech doesn't like him to much. Quite saddened by the absence of nasri amongst the 30.

Baaderonixx: while I'd usually agree with your "Cissé lol", in this case i really hope he does play. For one, it'd be nice for him, after having missed 2 WC because of a horrible leg injury and a three game ban (iirc). Also, he's like the only French forward who gives everything on the field. Henry? lol! Anelka? guy barely runs in a game. Gignac? He's scored like 5 goals at best in Ligue 1 (too lazy to check). I know that Cissé is kinda lol, will probaly be the player offside the most times in the world cup and everything but at least he really wants to be there and he won't half ass it like the other forwards do. And well, if you look at his career, he scored in almost all his clubs, even though most of the times he was mocked and all.

I really like that spelling of Squillaci

That Brazilian back line is incredible, they'll win the World Cup based on that alone.

Heurelho Gomes!!! World Cup!!!

well he is in Garth Crooks Team of the Season oh wait

Quite saddened by the absence of nasri amongst the 30.

me too. it's unfortunate

Rod Fanni (Rennes)

Puerile lol.

He really needs to startle Clive Tyldsley with an ambitious long range drive that clips the post at some point in this tournament.

no Cambiasso or Zanetti for Argentina. Maradona, you are a retard.

Zamora apparently called Capello to rule himself out through injury?

ah balls don't tell me he's actually gonna have to take Bent?

don't think Andy Cole's ruled himself out yet?

It's Andrew

Gomes isn't going to get a game ahead of Julio Cesar is he?

Carragher thing- nah, still not working for me. If Capello wanted to get on the phone to a retiree then Luke Young was better in more important positions. The thought of one of Dawson/King dropping for Carragher just baffles.

Drew up a "want" first XI vs a "likely" first XI in the pub last night but Carragher doesn't make either of them tbh

Yeah but he's got to have been guaranteed playing time imo. Which is bollix

I think if he plays his habit of dragging dudes down on the edge of the penalty area might become an exciting talking point as we limp out in the 2nd round

Would be interested in the odds of a J Carragher red card at the World Cup. Speicla interest bets are always a good way to maintain interest in a tournament we're not at.

Wonder what odds you can get on Gerrard not getting a kick?

Gerrard Rooney front two imo

Think Heskey will start and have no prob with that considering it worked in the qualifiers. Capello is totally about system over ability.

Ideal team:

Hart, Johnson, Terry, Ferdinand, Gashley, Milner, Barry, Lampard, Lennon, Heskey, Rooney.

Gerrard on the bench. So not gonna happen though.

Don't see the hugely compelling evidence that Gareth Barry is a WC starter.

Think it's on the Heskey logic where things seem to tick over nicely enough with him in and if it ain't broke don't fix it.

on one hand yeah fine

otoh it's a shitty reason not to bring huddlestone to a world cup.

I feel like whatever inexplicable involvement Carragher has aside, absolutely nothing surprising will happen involving England in this World Cup.

Man remember when everyone was like expecting a Dave Kitson call-up

Michael Carrick being shit all season is a worse reason.

carrick hadn't entered my head tbh. i mean yeah wow.

Barry could yet prove himself too injured to go. I feel like there's gotta be one other guy who gets knacked in training; Milner getting crocked paving the way for Exciting SWP has an air of inevitability to it.

But hey at least we might get the four year overdue resolution to the Plucky 13 Year Old Theo Walcott Goes To The World Cup narrative arc.

But (and it's a big but) he's actually shit at football innee

We'll all be eating our words when he gets to the byline and sets up the fourth goal against Slovenia.

wd like a Scott Parker - Lampard centre pair assuming Barry is too broeken to play

I'm getting so much press in this thread!

Scott Parker plays for West Ham, silly. They nearly got relegated.

Also: shut up about the Socceroos being boring, we can't lose if nobody gets it pass Schwarzer.

Don't see the hugely compelling evidence that Gareth Barry is a WC starter.

Capello has selected him in every game he was available.

Badly phrased by me.

I can't see why. He's not the defensive screen he's made out to be, and his footballing ability seems to have regressed at City

England don't have a Makelele or a Gilberto Silva let alone a Roy Keane though, and in the absence of them Gareth Barry will have to do. Parker probably the next best thing. Capello doesn't seem interested in using a Carrick/Hudd deep lying playmaker in the first team.

Worst case scenario - Gerrard and Lampard reprise their fruitful partnership in the middle of the park

Can't see a place for Gerrard based on his club form this season, never mind his shit international record.

The 'socceroos' shirt is pretty classy, I will give your boys that xp

England don't need a Makelele, they don't have a Makelele, and I don't know that the next best step is just to pick their best Makelele impersonator.

Huddlestone is the form 'sitting back' midfielder in the league. The fact that he does a lot more on top is a bonus.

The 'socceroos' shirt is pretty classy, I will give your boys that

If by "classy" you mean "much like something you'd seen worn by an over-35s five-a-side team".

^^^ zing writes itself

I resolve to tell it like it is during the World Cup.

o those straight talking aussies eh

lols at the Carra hate.

Recognising that the dude is a slow clumsy foul machine /= hate

I can forgive him one below par season. For the past 12 years he's been awesome.

okay, maybe Bobby Charlton deserves a squad place then

Hahahahahaha.

I kinda hate him tbh, I irrationally hate any player that gets away with blatant shit persistently. So '12 seasons of awesome' = denied, imo.

It's always good to know if it's 0-0 at the end of extra time you can bring him off the bench to calmly dispatch his penalty though.

Is funny because he missed penalty!

someone explain to fat sam that paul robinson is simply the most gutless goalkeeper in the world and can't actually jump

and that's why bringing him to a world cup would be a mistake

Never thought I'd see you accuse Paul Robinson of lacking a gut.

it's ironic innit. but he's actually not as fat as he was either.

metatarsal alert? John Terry?

this is a thing.

wayne bridge a possible injury replacement now?

^max lols

Haha, oh yes.

John Terry has today taken a knock in training and has gone to hospital for a precautionary scan on his right foot.

He left Cobham walking freely in a protective boot, and we await the results which are expected on Thursday.

bridge for lols and because it makes sense, tbh

Nice to see Bill "Stash The" Cash bigging up the Big Society New Politics on BBC News.

lol wrong thread innit

gut feelings- will bridge agree to join with the squad in terry's absence?

will capello really ask him? seems a ridiculous step to take for a back-up lb.

I wouldn't've thought so, despite his kind words at the time he doesn't seem like the type of guy who'd go cap-in-hand.

If only he was a bit softer though, then he might've let Terry stay on as cap'n when he blubbed, leading to max hilarity now

hard to believe Scholes retired from international football 6 years ago

not when you remember that he played on the friggin left

cap-in-hand to scholes & carragher this week alone.

bridge is clearly the preferred back-up option in a troublesome position.

does anyone actually give a shit about the Capello Index? Numerous hacks stressing how embarrassing and a worrying lack of judgement it is for the manager. Really?

If it turned up a load of evidence that a squad member wasn't playing well and was still getting in the team then, yes, it could be hugely divisive, especially if a paper ran with the story.

Meh

really, though- hacks incredibly po'd about looking so fuckin stupid by not being fed the 30 mnan squad days in advance.

Don't all Premiership clubs (or the ones that can afford it anyway) use prozone type things in training these days anyway? I don't really see what the big deal is.

Oh wait yeah now I remember- the highest profile use of prozone-type-stuff-if-not-prozone in training is rafa this season isn't it? With his 'you didn't run much in training, i'm giving your place to Babel' tactics.

i kinda had that reaction too, unless it's just a website that gives capello's marks out of ten every game. that could be fun.

Sorry, going back to Carra, how can you say he's been persistently shit? I know it's a game of opinion, but have you actually watched him consistently for the past 12/13 years?

"gets away with blatant shit"

the very occasional, accidental side headlock of opposing centre forwards for example.

John Terry nearly broke James Milner's leg and didn't get sent off. "Getting away with blatant shit" means fucks all.

it means exactly what i mean it to in whether i hate a cunt or not.

terry- at least goty some of what was coming to him, takes the edge off.

also- str8 up better defender than carragher tbh

I watched a lot of Liverpool: The LOL First Half Of The Season and Carra was fucking dreadful. My Liverpool supporting mates thinks he should only be back-up. Really who the hell picks a World Cup squad on what happened over a decade? Fat Ronaldo and Roberto Carlols aren't going because who the fuck cares what happened in 13 years if the past couple weren't up to scratch? They aren't suddenly going to turn back into the player they once were.

Remember Zidane at the last world cup? Carragher was awful though, agreed - I thought he would probably retire, he just seemed to have lost totally all the attributes he ever had. He's been getting caught out of position less, but he's still far too slow. Imagine him one-on-one with Torres in the quarters

Zidane in his last season = worth making a film about. Not exactly a drop off in ability or form.

I hated that film. Carra = worth writing an autobiography about.

Its not even about Carragher's form so much as what Capello's policy has been. So far its been fairly logical watching for form and consistency then selection for several competitive and friendly games...in turning to him this late in the day he has broken this in a pretty big way when he was not involved in the campaign. It almost smacks of desperation and the first sign of lacking in confidence in what he is taking to South Africa. Turning to Scholes (a player who nearly retired for good at the end of this season) is equally as worrying.

Having said this he is the kind of person who could take a look at him, come to his senses and then not take him...hopefully he would not have promised him a 95% chance of taking him by just coming out of retirement.

Nigeria have 11 strikers in their 30 man squad.

what's the average age?

Huddlestone is as worthless as carra against top opposition, Moreso given lack of experience.

He couldn't even assert himself against the titanic might of man u's midfield, you wouldn't have even known he was playing in that game tbh.

I mean seriously can we make a spurs board to siphon off this stuff...

Yeah, really don't think Huddlestone should go to the World Cup, the England midfield just isn't set up for a player like that and he isn't mobile enough to do the screening role against top quality opposition.

I'm not sure Carragher should be there either, but if Ferdinand and King both get injured mid-way through the tournament he's got to be a better option than Matthew Upson.

It's not about his screening, tbf- against smaller teams (which are the majority of the opposition a top 10 in the world team face) his distribution merits a squad place. We're not judging Carragher on his first touch or anything, without truly bizarre refereeing standards he's a liability.

Huddlestone had a rubbish game against Man U, he was p good against Chelsea, Arsenal and all the other teams we managed to beat to finish int he top 4.

Berbatov quits international football.

Karma keeps giving it back to this dude, but really what a fuckin waste.

damn wanted him to score against England in the qualifiers having moved to Bayern

You move in some mysterious ways, sometimes.

Just wanted to say to Coalition (Remix) and Black IP's, sorry for being a knob yesterday. I was having a rubbish day, bad hay fever, banging headache, Liverpool are fucked in so many ways, and my sister's dog bit me. No excuse for getting narky though, hope I didn't piss you off.

What kind of dog?

jeez relaaax man it's all gravy itt- tbh lfc fans getting kind of a kicking form all directions atm, so feel free to let off steam as & when necessary imo.

take yr lead from local garda imo, there's a dude that can rock with the tantrums

Berbatov quits international football.

Why? To focus on his burgeoning club career or because he's sick of standing on the edge of the box making petulant flouncing gestures at the ineptitude of his Bulgarian team mates?

Sick of all the abuse, I'd imagine. He was p. unpopular during the last campaign iirc.

http://chicagoist.com/attachments/Marcus%20Gilmer/2010_05_13_WGN_oops.jpg

LOL @ Americans

Decided I'm supporting the US seeing as how they've got a Wolves player in the squad.

xpost Chris it's all banter no worries

In that case, I'm picking South Africa to win it all.

xpost Welcome aboard! He'll probably never see the field, tho there is a lot of debate whether he'll be #2 instead of Guzan.

Yeah, I was a little surprised he made the squad tbh but I work with an American guy and we were having fun today winding up people in the office.

Besides Howard (and Friedel who is lolretired) there isn't anyone else who had the kind of year he had at that level. Guzan doesn't really play. I'd take the metalhead gun nut over Troy fucking Perkins any day.

Decided I'm supporting the US seeing as how they've got a Wolves player in the squad.

This reasoning leaves me with: Denmark (Morten Rasmussen), South Korea (Ki Suen Yeung), Greece (Giorgios Samaras) or Cameroon (Landry NGuemo, who appears to have changed his name to Joel according to the official lists submitted to FIFA).

Also according to FIFA, Edson Braafheid is listed as Celtic rather than Bayern, but he's shite and only on loan, so fuck that.

You could go with former Celts and support Chris Killen's New Zealand.

hahaha. no.

(I quite liked Chris Killen)

If hudd is good enough for smaller teams so is carra. This nonsense about referees is moronic ilx bullshit.

hahaha at that "South Africa" pic

hope tonight's PL$ Loan Store league clash was a rout for Partly Cloudy over the Low: 49°

Capello apparently considering playing three at the back if Gareth Barry isn't fit, which may explain the Carragher call-up.

Between that and trying to call up Scholes, Capello musta got a bit misty-eyed and nostalgic looking at a 1998 Panini album or something.

Suggest he brings Le Tissier along in case it goes to penalties, and maybe bring in some extra income for the FA by hoofing the ball into touch eight seconds in and making a load of cash off a bent spreadbetting ring as a result.

Dion Dublin could do a better job than Rooney, totally.

chris sutton's a good sqaud choice tho

You've missed a word before "job" there.

xp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quGNb11P_3M

Little dude is paying so much tax he can only afford shorts :(

http://blog.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2010/05/03/cover_vanityfair_500.jpg
They're ready.

Oh Jesus, my eyes !

http://forums.gameon.co.uk/images/sigs/Rasher/ronaldo-sneaks-a-peek.gif

perfect post

Stop this! Stop this now! SBs all round!

What kind of dog?

― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 13 May 2010 13:00 (2 days ago

A chihuahua. Evil, evil dog.

Ballack out, natch.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1278706/FA-chief-Lord-Triesman-Spain-bid-bribe-World-Cup-referees.html

This Triesman shit is gold.

ITT: me gettin' worked up :(

England's Bid for the 2018 (Football) World Cup

newspaper reports topical 'news' (debatable), news at 11.

So Kevin Prince Boateng, now a Ghana international, who will possibly be meeting his German international brother in the World Cup, has injured their best player and talismanic presence. Bet that family will be a lot of fun round the dinner table for the next few weeks.

After the diagnosis of national team doctor Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt today, a complete healing of the injury is expected. Ballack's return to training is possible at the earliest in eight weeks.

Fantastic name.

he's not a new thing, he's been around quite a while, i'm pretty sure?

but yeah great name, like an irishman called paddy-seamus mcleprechaun or something

my friend just put money down in Vegas on Germany winning the world cup. clearly this is his fault.

Nah, surely no Ballack works to their advantage? Like there is def. a place for Ozil now they don't have to worry about finding a place for that dude who has been off-form for the past three years?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8689245.stm

^^^stfu. stfu. stfu. stfu. stfu. stfu.

G. Neville: telling it like it is. Not sour about his own exclusion at all.

lj otm

The Argentina coach Diego Maradona insulted an injured cameraman after accidentally running over his leg ahead of announcement of the albiceleste World Cup squad.

Driving to yesterday's news conference in Buenos Aires, the 1986 World Cup winner was surrounded by journalists. One was hit and he fell to the ground.

According to a witness, Maradona's car rolled over the lower part of the cameraman's leg. "What an asshole you are," Maradona shouted from the car. "How can you put your leg there where it can get run over, man?" Paramedics attended to the cameraman, who was taken away for further treatment.

maradona otm

Actually-pretty-good Nike advert (feat. Focus, brilliantly):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idLG6jh23yE

when's squad announced? friendlies etc?

Expecting to see news on the Jenas and Keane front soon.

Beautiful rumour about a swap deal for Ashley Young.

That'll drive MPx4A crazy with desire, for a start

I give you high-budget Nike shenanigans and you want to take the thread off-topic, wonder why I bother really

not watching that at work, would be ruined without sound.

anyway, that's a delicious rumour and it should be savoured imo

WRONG THREAD.

I want to start a USA squad thread called "No further Adu"

(For transfer gossip, not Nike ads, which have become an integral part of World Cup build-up).

eh fuck it IS the wrong thread, my bad.

BUT IT WOULD BE THE RIGHT THREAD EXCEPT FOR THAT FUCKER HENRY LET'S NOT FORGET

advert is ridic. ronadlinho not even in the brazil squad. stupids.

He isn't? Him, Torres, Ballack, Zanetti, Senna, the Irish, who else?

watched the video- even without sound, that's amazing

bobby zamora

haha dmac the sound is actually awesome

liverpool arent going to the wc 2010

Other formerly great players not going to the World Cup - Totti, Van Nistelrooy, Viera, Zanetti, Riquelme, Beckham, Owen, Adriano, Original Fat Ronaldo, Raul, Del Piero, Paul Robinson. A whole generation going over the hill at once.

Also Cambiasso.

the best dmid in the world last season, not good enough for maradona tho

John Aldridge

Do we have enough defenders to pick an XI that would win the WC out of those guys?

hahahaha oh shit

a combined 'rejects' team as official wildcard entrant would be the BEST THING EVER

like, after all the squads are named, some renegade boss picks a best of the rest and they COMPETE

Cruyff with Gene Hackman as his Lieutenant

The Dirty Dozen XI

loooooooooool

Add that squad, and a squad picked from the countries that didn't make it.

huge lols

i wish thousands of Irish fans were going over just to boo at France games

thousands of french are going for that very reason

touché

surprisingly comprehensive article (for USA Today) on the WC's effect in the USAUSAUSA

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/2010-05-20-2579614231_x.htm

didn't realize 'arry Redknapp had been involved in NASL

also: http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2010/05/21/a-world-cup-miscellany-group-c/

twas the beginning of a magical career
http://www.soundercentral.com/museum/1978updatesDec03/HarryRedknappSeattleSoundersReservesCoach1978.jpeg

Lass Diarra is out. Bummer

I just had the re-realisation that this World Cup will be Arshavin-free. :(

someone more knowledgeable than me has to do one of those fancy formation things for the teams of players left out and players whose nations didn't make it, just so we can all dream of what could be in a Hollywood / WWE-run World Cup.

              van der sar
Ivanovic      Mexes           Corluka      Zanetti
        Cambiasso              M Diarra
                     S Keita
Nasri                                    Arshavin
                      Dzeko

hows that?

How's that?

It doesn't have Modric, that's how it is

It has Keita.

Think it's kinda cheating to put assorted Croats, Russians and Bosnians in there, but even then surely there's a better centre back than Corluka to put there.

Ronaldinho doesn't even make the rejects XI ;_;

Still, he's in the shiny new Nike ad, so that's ok.

lol modric was the name that made me start doing it but by the time i made it through thinking of any centre halves i'd forgot him

xps

Nasri's not a very good right winger. Ronaldinho, Adriano, Fat Ron are all locks for such a team also.

Give it another few days, and you could add THUDD and King too.

And yeah I'll rep for Corluka at RB but naaaah.

Corluka, King, Dawson, Bale

Back four ^^^

mk ii

             van der sar
ivanovic      mexes         alex   marcelo
                   cambiasso
              modric       nasri
arshavin                            dinho
                    zlatan

bench: ????, zanetti, corluka, keita, diego, dzeko, berbatov

hmmm, seb frey for back up keeper, also cassano should be somewhere.

too many nasri's fyi, also top heavy with arshavins imo

wtf alex didn't go?

Rejects XI from teams who are ACTUALLY COMPETING:

Van de Sar, Bosingwa, Mexes, Grosso, Zanetti, Cambiasso, Ambrosini, Ballack, Ronaldinho, Adriano, Cassano

Whacking in a load of players from teams who didn't qualify is too easy, dudes.

Yeah, there's scope for two separate teams as suggested above really.

Brazil/Italy/Argentina pwning the rejects team

totti >>> zamora >>> adriano

also diego >>> nasri >>> ballack

also marcelo >>> grosso

Ballack is cheating, a little, shd only include players who were fit for selection.

totti >>> zamora?

ur challopsometer is broek

OK

Teams of injured players (Note to self- Ask Janet Street Porker about Adriano's eligibility)

Teams of countries-didn't-qualify

Teams of rejects

Any other categories that only myself and Sam are gonna bother doing more than once and forgetting.

Can we get a poll out of this?

Actually it's a bit unfair to put Ballack in there given he'd be a lock for the squad had he not been injured. Put Diego in there instead.

Team of dudes who didn't qualify for the competition = unlucky, son
Team of dudes who were injured for the competition = unlucky, son
Team of dudes whose managers decided they didn't need = interstng

injured players:

              ????
rooney        ????         ????     ????
                   ballack
   awww who cares, rooney looks fucked so england are fucked
messi               ????             ????
       does benni mccarthy being too fat to run count?

too*

Ok rejects teams prioritised I can dig that.

rejects:

          van der sar
zanetti     mexes      alex    cissokho
          cambiasso ambrosini
          NASRI YEAH I SAID IT
dinho                          marcelo
              cassano

i wasn't being a thread Nazi just saying that a team of dudes who weren't deemed good enough to make the cut wd add an extra frisson to the tournament. or an extra 20 stone in Ronaldo's case.

20 stone of brilliance

Gary Neville's gonna be on here in a minute, ranting in all caps.

Yeah Zanetti hasn't got much to fear there. He's older and not shit.

Gary Neville's gonna be on here in a minute, ranting in all caps.

Before I had to make a new googlemail account and go to the effort of signing up a new sock, that would've been true.

Just realised EVDS has actually retired, who's the best keeper to have been rejected?

ya you're all right, the rejects team is much more interesting (although I'm sure a languorous Adebayor & Berbatov frontline would be something to see), all your efforts in putting it together are much appreciated.

I hadn't realised that Mexes didn't make the French squad. Just three centre-backs and one of them uncapped? Is there a story behind no Mexes or is it just Domenech classique?

Mexes didn't go in 2006 either.

I think he'd been slightly patchy wrt temperament up until the past few seasons though, and the options at CB in 2006 were stronger (in my head)

Shame Boumsong isn't in the squad, that would be maximum roffles.

Has van der Sar retired from club footy too? No way is Almunia getting in any of these teams.

frey

Brad Friedel maybe?

Retired, though?

Friedel's still International class easy, US are spoilt for choice goalie-wise really.

Failed basketballers

Ireland- Failed GAA players

England- Failed footballers.

In a nutshell

Wish Friedel had English nationality :(

I was gonna suggest he was holding out for a callup to go kill some arabs, then i lolremembered that u guys do that too!

"Players who wd easily take their position in the England team if they weren't retired/dumped/injured/Korean"

I personally have never killed an Arab tbh. Glad to be schooled on senseless violence tho.

Sensible violence will be the next great human social jump.

"Players who wd easily take their position in the England team if they weren't retired/dumped/injured/Korean"

Not Nasri.

hargreaves?

Alexandre "King Boy" Pato to lead the rejects line imo.

England XI vs Mexico: Green, Johnson, Ferdinand, King, Baines, Walcott, Milner, Carrick, Gerrard, Crouch and Rooney.

Mexico: Ochoa; Juarez, Osorio, Marquez, Salcido; Torrado, Castro, Giovanni, Guardado; Franco, Vela.

'course that's from the guardian and the beeb says something different

Weird game, Mexico looking really good and losing two really shitty set piece goals.

haha yeah this game is completely upside down

good grief

Not really able to watch, but was that a handball on Crouch's goal?

yeah

got so bored watching this i turned it off during the celebrations for the first goal. its like schteeeve's former friendly glories.

Not really able to watch, but was that a handball on Crouch's goal?

Handball on Crouch's offside goal.

this will end 2-2 is me guess

wtf @ incredulous "he's given the goal!" - that's what happens when someone kicks the ball into the net!

Well that was the strangest half of football I've seen in a while. Bring on the Thudd

lol, i've actually managed to miss all 3 goals due to nipping out for pee and cooking

With Green still lying in goal holding the ball, just in case it wasn't obvious enough.

The red and white t-shirts looked nice.

btw this is an object demonstration of the fact Frank Lampard is actually very good

i've just noticed that Southgate looks exactly like a woman at work

Players who really really need a good game tonight - Baines, Carrick, Walcott.

Player who could score 6 and still start on the bench in SA - Crouch.

Crouch scores so many utterly dreadful goals, it's kinda who he is, and I love him for it

this one wasn't as bad as his one vs Andorra after he'd had an absolute shocker of a game

oof there goes my prediction

That was amazing from Johnson.

This Mexican defence is awful though.

last half-hour was stultifying, also Thudd got bypassed every time England got the ball. hoof up to two sub-6 foot forwards. awesome.

Did Leighton Baines play the whole game? Curtains for Warnock, if so.

baines wasn't very good, one barnstorming run and several notable slip-ups

Yeah but you'd think Capello would at least give Warnock a run-out in the race to become the "please fuck don't let Ashley Cole get injured" option.

steven gerrard should be the emergency full-back on both sides

I was pleased to see Rooney doing that very thing in the new Nike advert

excellent goals by di maria and aguero
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/5771047/

Q)I was interested in your opinion on Lucas Barrios, Argentine by birth but now holding a Paraguayan passport. He has a very good scoring record in German football for this season and was the surprise inclusion in the provisional Paraguay World Cup squad. Can you see him muscling out the front line who helped Paraguay to the top of the South American qualification or will he have to settle for a supporting role? If he does, I can see him propelling his adopted nation deep into the tournament.
Brent Horner

A)He has a Paraguayan mother, so there is nothing fishy about his inclusion. An interesting case. He has always scored goals but it was only when he did it for a big club (Colo Colo in Chile) that people started to take notice. I think that is because he looks ungainly, as if he was running in Wellington boots that are too big for him.

He will have a chance with Paraguay - remember that Salvador Cabanas, top scorer in qualification, is recovering after being shot in the head and will miss the World Cup. With Santa Cruz, Haedo Valdez and Cardozo, Paraguay have strength in depth with their strikers, and Barrios will have to make a quick impression in the warm up friendlies, against the Republic of Ireland this Tuesday and then Ivory Coast and Greece. As an outsider, he'll have to do better than the others to get into the first team in South Africa, so his World Cup starts in Dublin.

fucking hell. and wayne bridge thinks hes hard done by

Mexico were pretty great, but may lack an aerial threat/defensive option somewhat.

meh, losing team to some shitty xi != pretty great.

Ledley King seems to be getting a bit of flak- can't say as that I thought he was any worse than any other member of the defence, seemed to get in the way of a lot. Left outnumbered by the Mexican attack a lot, it seemed. Turned twice, so loses marks for that, did knock in a decent headed goal though.

Was anyone apart from Green/Johnson/Gerrard any good? Seems that Rooney is picking up plaudits for doing the square root of fuck all.

or so it seems.

I've never liked the England team but I've really found myself warming to Gerrard.

Does Gerrard's face always look like death warmed over though? His pallor last night was almost frightening.

Yeah, he never has the complexion of a healthy man.

See also- J Cole, and Milner.

It's crazy! It's like he was doing some pre-match mime work and forgot to bring his cold cream.

To be fair, Milner was hewn from the living rock of Stone Henge so it's kind of understandable.

And J. Cole likes to remind people of his successful former career playing Herman Munster.

well done cape verde islands

Does Gerrard's face always look like death warmed over though?

He's, uh, got a lot on his mind

Ironically

Does Gerrard's face always look like death warmed over though? His pallor last night was almost frightening.

He got a head knock and a hero bandage early on, maybe he was feeling the effects.

I think he's still feeling the effects of that Pancake his wife had earlier

Pretty sure tha' Milner was brought fully-formed up from t'pit myself

had always assumed that joe cole just had a major CONTROVERSIAL MODERATOR EDIT

btw Gerrard's diving. Someone's gotta have a word about the starfish thing, it's embarrassing.

That's not diving, that's being "clever"

It's only 'clever' if it doesn't make you look 'stupid'.

Much like Terry/Carragher's 'robust' tactics, and Rooney's tantrums, I wouldn't mind seeing a few refs impose themselves on Gerrard's theatrics this Summer.

more negativity from the press/media than usual towards England, for a 3-1 win. jus sayin.

I don't think you will be seeing refs clamping down on diving in this World Cup. I seriously doubt that is going to happen.

Better a 3-1 win than a loss, agreed.

Performance was p. terrible though. No pressure friendly at home before WC.

The consensus was that midfield were a bit shit, basically, right? But England didn't have their top-flite midfielders playing! So... like, duh.

so the winners were terrible and the losers were pretty great. ah football.

Eh Mexico's defense was not great and they seem to lack a striker of any calibre whatsoever...!

xxp- Midfield, defence and strikers were shit, for the most part

blueski- pretty much what happened, tho- and I'm england-neutral.

mexico lacking height somewhat, must be said.

they seem to lack a striker of any calibre whatsoever...!

World Cup will be full of teams like this, youmarkmywords

Mexico managed to pass it through England's defence with ease several times and but for poor finishing and good 'keeping could have scored 3 or 4 in the first half. But England didn't have (all) their top-flite defenders playing.

Also Blanco looks like he's Vince Vaughn's dad or something, he's gonna need a hip replacement if he tries his hop ever again.

Wondering who will be anchoring the midfield at the weekend? Assuming England play as close to a first team as possible... Scott Parker didn't make it on the pitch yesterday and he still seems the closest thing for a like-for-like Barry replacement.

Not really sure what England fans, or press, expect from England - they invariably win these friendlies after all - even if they are often outplayed, England score goals and a lot of these supposedly technically superior teams don't. No-one's seriously expecting an England team to "turn on the style" are they?

not without huddlestone

pre-tourn friendlies are usually quite bad. take out the 'pre-tourn' there i guess. still pissed off at the FA for not arranging friendlies with Italy and, of course, Scotland.

King poor, Carrick poor, Baines awful, Milner nonexistent, Walcott average, Rooney tired, but Johnson and Lennon could be fun.

I love pre-World Cup friendlies. Remember England losing to Tunisia before Italia 90 and everybody screaming 'ROBSON MUST GO!'

And then he went.

Did Carrick and Milner actually both start as holding midfielders? Couldn't really make sense of the formation because Mexico dominated on the edge of the England area so much that it was pretty much every England man behind the ball.

The best bit was when Gareth Southgate said Mexico were 'continental'.

Didn't say what continent tho, did he?

have you ever noticed that every country to win the World Cup has bordered at least one other country? thanks Scotland and Wales we couldn't have done it without you

What marks out of ten are the papers giving Adrian Chiles?

The One Out of Ten Show

foive

I like Adrian.

Hold on here, "Chris"? Christine B. is that you?

Barney Ronay thumbs up in the Graun.

I mean say what you want, it's keeping Steve Rider off TV.

I don't really think Milner is a serious option anywhere in central midfield just yet, maybe on the left at some point. Don't really think Carrick should be on the plane. Johnson looked very bright when he came on and nearly created something, Lennon better and more effective than Walcott from the instant he came on.

There's a lot of shit in that 30. Do they have to take 23?

Panini expect it

In which case, David Beckham is on the plane and we only have one keeper.

Was Gerrard's inability to stay in position on the left the reason for the lack of balance in the 1st half? Or was it just that the central midfield hadn't any presence?

We may never know.

Really can't work out the final 23, the way I see it either King, Carragher, Adam Johnson, Joe Cole or Walcott has to miss the final squad. I'm assuming Matthew Upson is going however well he plays.

Don't think both King and Carragher will go, and Jamie was asked.

Walcott ahead of Cole ahead of Johnson for Capello, I'm guessing. Which is exactly wrong.

King - scoring but then missing the cut seems unlikely
Carragher - announcing comeback and then missing the cut would be humiliating
Johnson - cya
Cole - necessary on the left imo
Walcott - over SWP on the right

Carragher - announcing comeback and then missing the cut would be humiliating

Exactly why it needs to happen imo.

Anti-Scouse conspiracy

The could play Johnson-Cole on the right and Cole-Johnson on the left. Or is it the other way round?

Rumour is that Carragher selection is one of Rio's greatest ever punkds.

If Carrager misses the cut, Gary Neville will be running up to his front door screaming and then celebrating right in front of his wife.

They should play all of the Johnson-Cole combinations it will really mess up the opposition?

xpost while john terry will be shagging his wife

King's goal is an irrelevancy imo. He had one of his poorer displays of the season.

Still think he should go, but if Capello is going to treat that as his audition (though that seems unlikely alongside Rio, surely he's going to be playing with Terry if at all) then he didn't really impress.

Team of Johnsons/Coles

                  Got nuthin
Johnson     Johnson    Got Nuthin    Cole
                 Johnson
Johnson (can also swap with cole)      Cole (can also swap with Johnson)
          Cole       Cole        Johnson

that's not a bad team, tbh. probably swap thudd for johnson, bring in green and rio.

http://www.oklahomahistory.net/ttphotos7a/ColeJohnson.jpg

Carragher has to go, because he is cover at right back. that means it's king or upson, and although king is a better player he's also injury prone. they can't take two crocks (Rio+King) so Upson goes over King.

johnson is barely cover at right back, and he is the right back.

carragher will go, because capello is going to bring him. there's no actual reasoning behind it.

why not take two crocks, if they're world class crocks? cover for each other.

Because if they both get injured and Johnson gets suspended, you're only left Terry and that isn't completely unlikely.

If Carragher does go and ends up facing Dani Alves or anyone with a bit of pace, it's going to be horrible

I nicked all of this from a comment on the Guardian by the way, I don't actually have an opinion myself.

Because if they both get injured and Johnson gets suspended, you're only left Terry and that isn't completely unlikely.

Wait a minute, is the squad likely to comprise of only three centre halves?

in the world cup you play like 6 games maximum right? is injury really such a concern?

rooney can cover right back anyway

david james can go up front. fat frank in goal

My worst England XI from that squad.

Green, Carragher, Upson, Dawson, Warnock, SWP, Carrick, Parker, Walcott, Defoe, Bent

'Wait a minute, is the squad likely to comprise of only three centre halves?'

Yes, if you include Carragher as a right back. So you have:
RB: Johnson, Carragher
CB: Terry, Ferdinand, Upson
LB: Cole, Baines

This means you can take an extra midfielder. But if you replace Upson with King you suddenly have two very injury prone CBs, one of whom cannot possibly six games in three weeks or whatever he might be expected to do.

Pete W I think I've only just twigged who you are. Did you Twitter that exact same XI a week or two ago? I'd say Crouch and Bent would be a worse front pairing than that, maybe Heskey and Bent too.

Carragher has to go, because he is cover at right back. that means it's king or upson, and although king is a better player he's also injury prone. they can't take two crocks (Rio+King) so Upson goes over King.

Yeah I would agree with that. Unless Capello drops an extra midfielder/winger.

'Pete W I think I've only just twigged who you are. Did you Twitter that exact same XI a week or two ago? I'd say Crouch and Bent would be a worse front pairing than that, maybe Heskey and Bent too.'

I so did, I thought you knew it was me which was why you followed.

Last time I had Hudd instead of SWP in the first XI, and didn't want to repeat for fear of riling darraghmac.

By the way, anybody know of a site that'll be streaming tonight's match between CZE and USA?

I so did, I thought you knew it was me which was why you followed.

Hah, no as a matter of fact - I think I followed when you stopped using your old work Twitter. Just took a while for the penny to drop.

My worst England XI from that squad.

Green, Carragher, Upson, Dawson, Warnock, SWP, Carrick, Parker, Walcott, Defoe, Bent

that team would beat the starman xi tbh

'Wait a minute, is the squad likely to comprise of only three centre halves?'

Yes, if you include Carragher as a right back. So you have:

or include him as a player that could also play cb if there was that many injuries?

didn't want to repeat for fear of riling darraghmac.

:) I don't hold any flame for Huddlestone fitting into the current England team, they haven't enough movement around him tbh.

haven't enough mcdonald's vouchers around him

I dunno, when the bloke on the Guardian site said it, it made perfect sense. To be honest, I'd just take Dawson/Upson for shit and giggles.

Dawson & Upson have the same unfortunate knack of making silly mistakes at vital junctures. Dawson also tackles through his man the whole time, which wouldn't endear him to Capello.

drudgesiren.gif

Ledley King confirmed in the squad

"King is an important player and he is a good player," said Capello. "I decided before the game King would play for the full 90 minutes against Mexico. Now he can train for the rest of the period we stay in Austria.

"We have another match on June 6 or 7 when we get to South Africa and he can play then."

So Carragher, King, Terry, Ferdinand, Johnson, A Cole, Baines for the defence.

Missing anyone/ unsure of Baines but I suppose not much choice there.

Okay let's have a stab at this:

GK: Green, Hart, James
D: Terry, Ferdinand, A Cole, G Johnson, King, Carragher, Upson Baines
M: Lampard, Gerrard, Lennon, Walcott, Milner, Carrick, Parker or Barry, J Cole
A: Rooney, Heskey, Defoe, Crouch

(That's what I think it will be, not what I think it should be)

By the way, anybody know of a site that'll be streaming tonight's match between CZE and USA?

espn 3
atdhe dot net
iraqgoals dot net

When I saw the teamsheet last night the first thing that occurred was that this was last-chance time for Carrick and Walcott. But then I didn't actually end up watching, so no idea if they passed or not. Carrick's been woeful for a long time, I was surprised to see him on there at all.

GK: Green, Hart, James
D: Terry, Ferdinand, A Cole, G Johnson, King, Carragher, Upson Baines
M: Lampard, Gerrard, Lennon, Walcott, Milner, Carrick, Parker or Barry, J Cole
A: Rooney, Heskey, Defoe, Crouch

this squad has every potential to completely out-do gazza's dentist chair incident

Theo was poor. He'd beat one man (yay!) then either try and beat another and fail or his final ball would be pants (meh).

not enough gentalia reference there

Gentalia? Who does he play for?

rumored to be sitting out tonight's USA/CZE match: Jozy Altidore, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley and Carlos Bocanegra

Italian bloke, won the World Cup in '82.

xp

rumored to be sitting out tonight's USA/CZE match: Jozy Altidore, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley and Carlos Bocanegra

Hmm that's pretty much everybody I know of

Yeah, they (along with Howard) are pretty much locked-in starters, I guess teh Bob is going to start players who are still being evaluated.

USAUSAUSA: Guzan; Bornstein, Onyewu, Goodson, Cherundolo; Beasley, Edu, Torres, Holden; Johnson, Buddle

When I saw the teamsheet last night the first thing that occurred was that this was last-chance time for Carrick and Walcott. But then I didn't actually end up watching, so no idea if they passed or not.

Walcott didn't do his case re: final delivery any good, but kept his fullback busy.

Carrick- probably actively harmed his chances, if that's a possibility at this late stage.

the stream i'm watching is picking up the audio of some pretty weak american heckling: "hey cech what're you doing?"

USA nat'l team supporters always have the worst chants. The whole "clap clap clap-clap-clap" thing always gets to me.

If Gomez doesn't go to SA it'll be some bullshit.

saying they have chants is giving them too much credit.

Yeah, they're assholes, I gave up on them ever wanting to stand w/ them after hearing "INS" chants at a game against Honduras here in Chicago.

Cheryl Cole won't be going to the World Cup 2010

Cheryl Cole Fights For Dis Ting 2010

http://imgur.com/LguTn.jpg

Loving the new Nike advert. Cronaldo gets to be on the Simpsons, Ronaldinho gets his stepover to be a goal celebration in a country that doesn't care about football, Rooney gets to beat StevieMe at ping-pong.

Was it Stevie Me? Thought it was Federer!

i do declare we did this upthread

Is it? Soz, I was only watching it as an embed.

However, Sneijder, who is currently with his national team preparing for the World Cup, said on www.inter.it: "I will remain in Milan.

"I have experienced a fantastic year, clinching three trophies and now Inter will have to defend them. They will do it with me."

Sneijder really doesn't know how to do contract negotiations, huh

xxxp

Not only that, he also gets to be Bonnie Prince Billy
http://www.the90thminute.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/wayne-rooney-fail-beard.png

Or Ned Kelly

AND WE CAN STOP OUR WHORING

http://www.revelinnewyork.com/sites/default/files/597804.jpg

USA roster

Goalkeepers- Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann, Brad Guzan

Defenders- Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Jay DeMerit, Steve Cherundolo, Jonathan Spector, Clarence Goodson, Jonathan Bornstein

Midfielders- Landon Donovan, Michael Bradley, Stuart Holden, Maurice Edu, Ricardo Clark, DaMarcus Beasley, Benny Feilhaber, Jose Francisco Torres

Forwards- Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, Herculez Gomez, Edson Buddle, Robbie Findley

Findley is still a wtf imo. Brian Ching isn't much better but at least he has experience on his side.

yeah, i kinda ching but thought he did well yesterday. tough on him not to go.
really hope bornstein does not play a minute in SA.

kinda *hate* ching

really hope buddle starts given his current form and his play with donovan. wouldn't be surprised if he scores more than altidore.

Yeah, I figured Ching was a lock after last night. Glad Gomez made it above all else. They're weak as hell at left back if Bocanegra isn't ready to play.

Jozy's red card in Hull's relegation match was really unimpressive, temperament-wise

Definitely not a good moment to be sure. Did the dude who threw the ball at him get tossed, too? I'm sure Jozy will be a little more level-headed in the WC.

they're ready!

http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2010/0526/soc_jv_usteam_576.jpg