Official Football Thread

And Belgium is getting on its way back, with a fresh young team, full of spirited attacking.
OK, they lost from Spain, but they had the better chances and were unlucky that one of their "clean" goals didn't count. Would be cool if the Belgians would reach a major tournament again (2002 was the last time). I still remember their 4th place in Mexico, 1986. Legendary stuff.
 
Forostar said:
Portugal - Albania: 0-0!  :)

@EW: Did you go to yesterday's match?
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Yes I was there, came back to Trondheim yesterday but was too tired to write anything here.

The match was pretty much as expected. Holland looked as if they would be pleased with a draw, and our team didn't look potent enough to break them. What really annoyed me was the fact that what could be a potentially dangerous weapon for us - attacking set pieces (Carew, Iversen, Wæhler and Hangeland are all excellent in the air)  - was wasted through crappy serves, time after time. When John Arne Riise had done three crappy free kicks/corners, why didn't anyone else take over?

Holland's goal came out of nothing - a good shot, could've been saved, but went in. Besides that, and the shot to the crossbar, Holland didn't create scoring opportunities at all (and then there was the dangerous situation in the last minute of the 1st half, which we created for them). At half time, I thought "typical 0-0 game". The 2nd half was a bit more open, but still no great football from either team. Holland because they obviously felt they didn't need to, Norway because we weren't capable.

So my short summary: Defensively, both teams were OK (except for the one occasion ...). On the attacking side, both teams were disappointing. And Holland seems to be on their way to securing 1st place before six games played. We will have to win the remaining games (except maybe Holland away, depends on how the other teams do against the Oranje) to claim 2nd, but we should really be able to do so ...
 
Did you notice this dirty foul on Babel? A deliberate step on his ankle.

I am not sure if Holland's goal came out of nothing. I actually missed the first 70 minutes because I never expected the match to begin so early!

In the last 20 minutes I thought that Holland was pretty much in control (don't forget that shot by Van Bommel, and if Sneijder would have given the ball to Van Persie who stood free as a bird..... they sure tried to make a second one!) but the referee could have given a penalty for Norway at the end. I am glad he judged well because because it really wasn't one.

The Norway coach should have brought in this sub (forget his name but it was foreign) way earlier. He was your best attacker and created the best chances.

I am not sure if Norway will reach place two. Some difficult away matches coming up.
 
I am not sure about it either ... in fact, I don't consider us favorites for 2nd now. We defend quite OK, but our attacking is lousy, even in the areas where we are expected to be good. We need to start the 2009 part of the qualifiers by beating FYROM. It's that simple (not that beating them will be simple, ask the Scots).
 
Genghis Khan said:
3. England is one of the best teams, at least right now.
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And this is down to Cappello. He has installed, in the words of Rio, more professionalism into the team. And I'm chuffed to bits.

12 points out of 12 - and three of them were away from home. And who cares if most of their goals come in the second half. :D
 
Did you guys ever hear of the German club 1899 Hoffenheim?

Check this out:

1. 1899 Hoffenheim      9  6  1  2  19  24-14
2. Leverkusen            9  6  0  3  18  22-11
3. Hamburger SV        9  5  2  2  17  15-15
4. Stuttgart              9  5  1  3  16  15-10
5. Bay.München          9  4  3  2  15  20-15
6. Hertha BSC            9  4  3  2  15  11-10
7. Schalke 04            9  3  5  1  14  12- 8

Old club, stronger than ever?
 
Today, the Norwegian season finished with the cup final. Vålerenga, who finished 10th in the league this year. beat the league champions, Stabæk, by 4-1! This was Vålerenga's fourth cup title, and Stabæk were denied the double in the season where they won their first league title ever.

Myself, I'm very pleased with the season as Fredrikstad FK finished 2nd. This is the first time since the 70's that the club finishes in the top 3. For the first time since the promotion in 2003, we have more wins than defeats away - and the home form has as usual been good with 9 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats (the defeats were against Stabæk who won the league in a very convincing way, and against Lyn in the final game of the season, after the silver medals were already secured). The only disappointment was the defeat to second-tier opposition in the cup quarter-final.

I must also add that I wasn't very pleased with yesterday. A bad hangover and Man Utd lost to Arsenal. In a match I didn't watch because of the already mentioned hangover. Even worse, a friend of mine who is Evertonian, attended the match and of course bragged about it a little ...
 
Eddies Wingman said:
I must also add that I wasn't very pleased with yesterday. A bad hangover and Man Utd lost to Arsenal. In a match I didn't watch because of the already mentioned hangover. Even worse, a friend of mine who is Evertonian, attended the match and of course bragged about it a little ...
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Looking forward to the big game on Tuesday?  :D
 
national acrobat said:
Forostar, I must ask you: what do people in Holland think of this plonker?
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?! This is fake, I guess :)

I have missed this film, and also the reaction in Holland, but to me it really sounds like a Dutchman talking English, heh!
 
Forostar said:
?! This is fake, I guess :)

I have missed this film, and also the reaction in Holland, but to me it really sounds like a Dutchman talking English, heh!
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Exactly! And no, the film isn't fake. He's just a complete idiot.
 
national acrobat said:
Looking forward to the big game on Tuesday?  :D
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But of course :) There is even a chance it will be shown on Norwegian TV. They usually broadcast one or two matches from each round of the League Cup. If not, it's down to the local English pub to see if one of their British TV channels gives it priority. I assume Arsenal vs Wigan will be their first choice as two Premiership teams are involved, but one may always hope. One may also always have a beer  :D
 
Forostar said:
But why an idiot? Because he does it on purpose? Perhaps it went by itself. :)
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To be honest, I would say it's more demeaning to the Dutch for an Englishman to speak English to the Dutch - in a woeful Dutch accent. There is now way he would have picked up that accent by now. Eventually, it may happen (remember Jan Molby's brilliant Scouse accent? Now that was genuine) - but not in a matter of a few months.

As for the QPR/Man U match, let's see if the R's can match the Shrimpers of a few seasons ago! Still the only club in the English league (or perhaps in Europe) with a 100% positive record against Man U. :D
 
Albie said:
To be honest, I would say it's more demeaning to the Dutch for an Englishman to speak English to the Dutch - in a woeful Dutch accent. There is now way he would have picked up that accent by now. Eventually, it may happen (remember Jan Molby's brilliant Scouse accent? Now that was genuine) - but not in a matter of a few months.
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But that's someone picking up an accent in a foreign language, not one he's spoken for 50 years.

As for the QPR/Man U match, let's see if the R's can match the Shrimpers of a few seasons ago! Still the only club in the English league (or perhaps in Europe) with a 100% positive record against Man U.
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We held a record against Man U for quite a while, the last player to score a hattrick at Old Trafford (until Ronaldo did it a few years ago for Real Madrid). Dennis Bailey scored three in a 4-1 win! New Years Day 1991, a game which I watched at my uncle's house (he's a United fan); unfortunately I wasn't really old enough to appreciate the result.

I'm gutted I can't make it up there, as I can't get two days off work. You never know, we might pull off some sort of shock.
 
I wouldn't even call it a shock if QPR win the match - United are likely to use some reserves and against a Championship side in decent form that can cost.

I just found out that no Norwegian TV station is showing the match and it didn't look like the local Englishman had found a channel that shows it either - they only had Arsenal vs Wigan on their schedule tonight. Crap.
 
Eddies Wingman said:
I wouldn't even call it a shock if QPR win the match - United are likely to use some reserves and against a Championship side in decent form that can cost.

I just found out that no Norwegian TV station is showing the match and it didn't look like the local Englishman had found a channel that shows it either - they only had Arsenal vs Wigan on their schedule tonight. Crap.
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QPR are 8/1 to win, that's got to be counted as a shock. ;)
"Decent form", perhaps at home, definitely not away. Look at our record:

W  D  L  F  A 
1  3  4  2  8 

Only two goals scored away all season.

And let's face it, Man U's reserves aren't youngsters without a full appearance to their name, most of them are full internationals: John O'Shea, Johnny Evans, Ji-Sung Park, even Tevez could be counted as a reserve at the moment!

It's not on telly here either, so I was counting on live-footy.org, but it doesn't seem to be on there either. Usually you can get a link to a foreign transmission.
 
One of the most impressive attackers that I ever witnessed in the Premier League calls it quits:

Striker Cole retires from playing

Former Manchester United, Newcastle United and England striker Andrew Cole has retired from playing.

Cole, who won 15 England caps in a glittering career, left Nottingham Forest in October after failing to make an impact at the Championship club.

The 37-year-old scored a total of 289 career goals and won five Premier League titles, the Champions League and two FA Cups while at Manchester United.

In his 19-year professional career he played for a total of 13 clubs.

"It's not an ideal ending but I wouldn't change a thing, I've lived the dream," Cole told The Times newspaper.

Cole failed to score in 11 games for Forest after joining the club in July and his contract was cancelled by mutual consent after only three months.

The 37-year-old will now look to pursue a career in coaching or management.

"I've all this experience and I don't want to keep it to myself," said Cole.

"I want to give something back, I don't think this is the end of the Andrew Cole story. Hopefully it's a new chapter."

Cole started his career at Arsenal but only made one appearance before moving to Bristol City in 1992, and it was there he made his name, scoring 20 times in 41 league appearances.

His performances at Bristol secured him a £1.75m move to Newcastle United in 1993 where he became a fans favourite and established himself as one of the best strikers in English football.

Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan controversially sold Cole to Manchester United after just two-and-a-half seasons at St James' Park and it was at Old Trafford where he enjoyed the most successful period of his career.

Scoring 93 league goals for the Red Devils, his partnership with Dwight Yorke was a key factor in United's treble-winning season in 1998-99. He also won four other Premier League titles and an FA Cup winners' medal in 1996.

But despite his success at club level, Cole struggled to establish himself in the England team, scoring just once in 15 appearances.

After leaving United in 2001, Cole went on to play for Blackburn, Fulham, Manchester City, Portsmouth, Birmingham, Sunderland and Burnley before joining his hometown club Nottingham Forest in July, 2008.

But after finding his first-team appearances limited, Cole decided to call time on his 19-year playing career.

Cole's Premier League scoring record of 187 goals is bettered only by Alan Shearer, who has 260.

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Cole won five Premier League titles with Manchester United
 
A big round of applause for Andy "in offside 90% of the time, wasted loads of chances and still scored a lot" Cole  :applause:

national acrobat said:
And let's face it, Man U's reserves aren't youngsters without a full appearance to their name, most of them are full internationals: John O'Shea, Johnny Evans, Ji-Sung Park, even Tevez could be counted as a reserve at the moment!
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Now, when I say reserves I'm talking players who are not usually in the 16-man squad for matches. Players like Possebon and Wellbeck who started against Boro. Definitely not players like Tevez or O'Shea who are the first to enter the first 11 if anyone gets injured. I'm just curious which youngsters Ferguson will pick for tonight's game. I'm sure he will rest at least four of the regulars.

Of course, it will be a surprise if QPR win, but I've seen bigger surprises and I won't go hang myself if it happens. (Well, I didn't hang myself when United lost to Liverpool either - and that's much worse than a defeat against QPR would be)
 
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