Official Football Thread

Go Federer! I've always liked watching him play. He can do things with a racquet other players can barely imagine.

Nadal will remain number one, I think, but if he goes out early in Wimbledon as well that might change.
 
Sometimes I enjoy watching tennis, and not just women's tennis.  I rather prefer Federer to Nadal, I feel like Federer plays with more soul.
 
Federer is such a classy player, he's a real pleasure to watch, but Nadal is unbelievably athletic. I only follow tennis off and on, but hasn't Nadal usually come out on top in head-to-heads beteween the two, in the past couple of years? - there've certainly been some great finals involving Federer and Nadal in recent Grand Slams. It'd be nice to see Federer break the record of 14 slams, he's certainly a better player to watch than Sampras.
 
Federer has used to beat Nadal on grass, Nadal has had the upper hand on gravel. Wasn't last year's Wimbledon final the first time Nadal beat Federer on grass in a major tournament?

As for Roland Garros, the Swiss produced some great tennis in the final, but it was a pity thad the Swede couldn't give him more of a match, considering how well he had plalyed earlier in the tournament.

In an attempt to get this thread back on track - congratulations to Holland for being the first European team to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. I hope the players are still celebrating, so they have a massive hangover on Wednesday. We need those points, you don't  :D
 
Thanks!

Hey, 0-0 in Macedonia, I told you it wasn't easy, out there. :)

I don't expect much motivaton of Holland. But we'll see what happens.
 
It was a really lousy game, by both sides actually. The main problem was that the home team gave away lots and lots of space, and we didn't exploit it. Had we played like in the friendly against Germany last winter, we would've run over them. But the players actually looked tired (!). Very disappointing. I expect much more of them on Wednesday, but then the opposition is a wee bit sharper too. Unless they are suffering from hangover, of course  B)
 
Foro: The Dutch motivation is to continue with their 100% record. I fully expect England to do that on Wednesday as well - but with Croatia at home and Ukraine away after that, it may not continue.
 
It should. I hope some Norwegian TV channel decides to show it. Then we can at least get one match which is entertaining for us as well - I don't expect the encounter in Rotterdam to be anything but frustrating for our part. I'm going to buy plenty of beer before the match.
 
Albie said:
Foro: The Dutch motivation is to continue with their 100% record. I fully expect England to do that on Wednesday as well - but with Croatia at home and Ukraine away after that, it may not continue.
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As much as England players seem lazy and ineffectual compared to their Premier League selves, hopefully under Capello this won't be the case and they will continue to press on in each game. It seems to be more professional these days than under the previous two managers.

Forostar said:
Hey, 0-0 in Macedonia, I told you it wasn't easy, out there. :)
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As England and David Seaman found out a few years ago.
 
Forostar said:
I can't believe my eyes! Holland beat England in a cricket match! In England!
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And for all their hard work in beating England, the Dutch ended up succumbing to the might of Pakistan and finished bottom of the table. England win that group by beating the Pakistanis quite comprehensively.

But, the Aussies are out! And the other shock (but probably not as big a shock as the Dutch win and the Aussies exit), Ireland progress at the expense of Bangladesh.
 
Albie said:
And for all their hard work in beating England, the Dutch ended up succumbing to the might of Pakistan and finished bottom of the table.
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Yeah the victory vs England was too good to be true. Well, at least there are way less disappointed people in the world now. ;)
 
I have had a funny feeling now for a few days that Man United are on the verge of signing Torres from Liverpool. It would certainly be audacious and Liverppol fans would be screaming in rage if it happened.

Liverpool's owners are feeling the effects of the credit crunch and are looking at ways to refinance their debts. United have £100 million to spend following Ronaldo's exit and need to bolster the squad. Torres is world class, can score at  Premiership level and more importantly would be more of a handful against the likes of Barcelona.

I've been on ManUtd.com where they have a transfer specualtion page. Despite some papers suggesting Torres is in Fergie's sights, there is no mention of it officially. Coincidence? Or are Man Utd deliberately saying nothing so they can get on with negotiations quietly. Have Hicks and Gillet already been in contacting with the Glazers.

Personally if we could get Torres and a right winger, and with hopefully Owen Hargreaves back to marshall the midfield, I think we could take our crown back off Barca
 
I think the reason United don't comment on this rumor is simply that they will let Liverpool fans bite their fingernails. Besides that, I cannot imagine this happen. The price Liverpool would ask would be astronomical, far more than Torres is worth, and I doubt Torres would want the move himself. Also I don't think Ferguson will be allowed to spend all the £ 80 000 000 on new players - some of it will go to pay off debt and interest.

Strengthening the midfield should be the focus, as you say a new right winger would come in handy. Since Tevez is leaving it is also possible that a new striker would be on Ferguson's list, depends on how much he intends to use the youngsters next season.

As for Hargreaves, I read that he's doubtful for the first months of the 2009/2010 season and that he will certainly not be ready in August.
 
Forostar said:
With an average player like him? Sure.
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let's not get on a debate about Man U players again Foro, you still think Ji Sung Park is a good player :P Hargreaves is a full England international who can play at centre midfield, righ back, right midfield. He can take a pretty decent free kick as well.

I would agree that normally Liverpool would ask an astronomical price , however from what I have read, the owners are rather cash strapped at the moment and need money. £45 million would tempt them I'm sure.....
 
OK, let's say United are willing to pay an astronomical price for Torres and that Torres himself is willing to move (I doubt both, especially the latter) - still the Yanks who own the Merseyside club will need to consider the following:

- If they, on top of postponing the promises of a brand new stadium and loading debt onto Liverpool FC, agree to sell their biggest star player and possibly the most popular man in Liverpool - to Manchester United - could they ever set foot near Anfield again? Their popularity in Liverpool isn't much bigger than a certain Glazer's in Manchester, and selling Torres to the biggest rival would be the worst move they could do to improve on that. I'm sure they would check whether other big clubs like Milan (or even Chelsea) were interested.

I must add, I don't know why I spend time on debunking a rumor of Torres to Untied. Absurd rumors are going to be there until the transfer window closes in August, we'll just have to live with them.
 
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