England - Argentina

[Always Laziali]

The biggest match in the FIFA World Cup so far.We would be heavily boosted with the return of pacey defender Roberto Fabían Ayala and Claudío Caniggia with injury.It is very likely Gabriel Batistuta will play as a lone striker up front and Claudio López would be left out and be replaced by Kily Gonzalez after a dismay performance against Nigeria on the left wing.The match preview would be up very shortly.

[ahmed]

Forza Argentina ;)

[Roberto Abrego]

2-0 is my prediction.

[Always Laziali]

I would expect a bigger scoreline like 3-0 .

[Sergei]

England need a point at the minimum, i go draw 1-1 :)

[Always Laziali]

If England does not win or draw against Argentina,their world cup hopes are as good as ''dashed''.

[valdanito]

extremely bad news.......... Ayala (el raton) will not be fit to play! its official Placente will take his place we hope our defence can play like they did against Nigeria

[Roberto Abrego]

Originally posted by Sergei
England need a point at the minimum, i go draw 1-1 :)

Explain me how wil England will manage to score?

[Massimo]

3-0 ARGENTINA..........:D :smoking:

[Flukey Lukey]

Originally posted by HernanCrespo
It is very likely Gabriel Batistuta will play as a lone striker up front

I am suprised at that.
I would have thought Crespo would play.

[Flukey Lukey]

Originally posted by juan botello
extremely bad news.......... Ayala (el raton) will not be fit to play! its official Placente will take his place we hope our defence can play like they did against Nigeria

That is a huge blow for Argentina.
Is it 100% definate?

[Flukey Lukey]

Originally posted by Roberto Abrego


Explain me how wil England will manage to score?

I know you would be unfamiliar with the process of scoring a goal since you support Lazio and Argentina, and you come from Swededn;)

We have Owen, who will do what he did against you in 98.
If we get a free kick, Becks wil put it in, no doubt.
Also be aware of Vassell, he could prove to be the suprise factor.

BTW if Sol Campbell scores again and the ref decides to disallow it.
Can your team at least be fair and let our players back on the pitch before restarting.

[Always Laziali]

Owen is very small,Walter Samuel can easily take care of him.Beckham's freekicks will not scare Cavallero as he showed when he saved Okacha's thunderous effort.And finally Vassell,Zanetti has the pace to tackle him so,in terms of quality,Argentina are stronger.And read this report by Alessandro Nesta whose value increased by double after that match.




Italy's central defender Alessandro Nesta said to be satisfied for the performance of Azzurri's defence on Monday against Ecuador. Especially Lazio's captain explained in his opinion the defensive phase of Trapattoni's squad was not so accentuated like some paper figured out
"To talk of 'catenaccio' after the game with the South-American team, well, it let me think I have still to understand what that word means. But if 'catenaccio' is the way we played versus Ecuador, well, I like it, it doesn't look so defensive at all!"
The player then praised that he reputes the real weapon more of Italy, the attack pair formed by Francesco Totti and Christian Vieri
"They are incredible! I knew Vieri when he was playing for Lazio, but now he is even stronger, really one of the top 5 forwards in the world"
"Totti, then, is fantastic, to play together him gives you security. Every time he touches the ball, well, it could happen something good for our team!"
Finally Nesta pointed out which could be the strongest opponents of Italy for the final successes
"Well, first of all I think France is not dead yet, they can surely win both games they still have to play and go through. But honestly is Argentina the squad impressed me more, their roster is terrific!"

[Flukey Lukey]

Just because he is small doesn't mean anything.
Maradona was small. Untill he got fat. Size means nothing.
Three is a lot of differance between Okocha and Beckham and he will prove it given the chance. As for Vassell he could be brilliant or be completely taken out of the game.
One things for sure its going to be interesting and i cant wait.

[Always Laziali]

Owen loses the ball too easily,if you are skillful fine but if you are not......................

[Roberto Abrego]

Originally posted by Flukey Lukey


I know you would be unfamiliar with the process of scoring a goal since you support Lazio and Argentina, and you come from Swededn;)

We have Owen, who will do what he did against you in 98.
If we get a free kick, Becks wil put it in, no doubt.
Also be aware of Vassell, he could prove to be the suprise factor.

BTW if Sol Campbell scores again and the ref decides to disallow it.
Can your team at least be fair and let our players back on the pitch before restarting.

i dont support LaZIO
i dont support Argentina

I am from Sweden and Owen doesnt do anything.

well lets wait and see if Beckham could do that?

[valdanito]

hahahaha hes been proven totally wrong, AGAIN.......:rolleyes: :D

[Always Laziali]

The only people who support Lazio and Argentina are Castroman,Sorin,Juan and me.

[Sergei]

Originally posted by HernanCrespo
The only people who support Lazio and Argentina are Castroman,Sorin,Juan and me.

Do you know Veron, he once play for lazio and argentina. I take him and his car to my house but he said no and pilis took me away :(

[Always Laziali]

How did you get him to come to your house?

[Roberto Abrego]

hahahahah

[Roberto Abrego]

Originally posted by juan botello
hahahaha hes been proven totally wrong, AGAIN.......:rolleyes: :D


just like his prediction :D

[Always Laziali]

Whose prediction?

[Flukey Lukey]

Originally posted by Roberto Abrego


i dont support LaZIO
i dont support Argentina

I am from Sweden and Owen doesnt do anything.

well lets wait and see if Beckham could do that?

I thought you supprted Lazio.
Oh well. I am getting you mixed up with Hernancrespo.

JuanBotello: how is getting people mixed up being proven wrong.

And, can someone answer my question. Is Ayala definately out?

[Always Laziali]

He is definitely out but the inform PLACENTE will replace him and don't worry we would have an extraman up to trash England.

[Always Laziali]

Pierluigi Collina, recently voted the world’s best referee, is ready to officiate the most high profile match of the opening round. And if previous Argentina-England encounters are any indication, the Italian referee will have his work cut out.

England fans have been waiting 16 long years to exact revenge for Diego Maradona’s "Hand of God" in the 1986 World Cup. Not to mention revenge for Diego Simeone’s over-reaction to David Beckham’s kick-out four years ago in France.

However, these darker moments almost overshadow some of the best goals ever seen on the world stage. The Michael Owen wonder goal in 1998 against Argentina was recently voted second in the best ever Finals’ goals. Predictably, the number one strike was Diego Maradona’s mazy run through half the English team to score past Peter Shilton in 1986.

This latest instalment in the saga sees England desperate for the win after the disappointing draw against Sweden last Sunday. Sven Goran Eriksson looks set to make some changes to the side that performed so badly in the second half against the Swedes.

It looks likely that Darius Vassell will be dropped and replaced by Emile Heskey up front, while Kieron Dyer will occupy his role on the vacated left flank. Eriksson could also replace Owen Hargreaves with the more experienced Nicky Butt. His club relationship with Beckham and Scholes could prove invaluable given the occasion.

Argentina’s 1-0 win against Nigeria has given them some breathing space in the "Group of Death." But a defeat to England in Sapporo this Friday would leave the group there for the taking. The team that beat the Super Eagles is likely to be largely unchanged with only Lazio’s Claudio Lopez being replaced by Valencia’s Kily Gonzalez.

Eriksson knows the Argentines well, having Coached the likes of Veron and Simeone. The power of Batistuta, who netted his tenth World Cup goal in three tournaments last Sunday, will no doubt worry the England manager.

But Eriksson knows that there are threats all over the park – with ex-Parma front man Ortega, Inter’s Javier Zanetti and with Lazio’s Hernan Crespo on the bench, England’s defence will have their hands full

Argentina, however, will not risk their captain Roberto Ayala. The former Milan defender pulled a thigh muscle before the Nigeria game and has been ruled out of the England match. Diego Placente will provide cover again, with Roma’s Walter Samuel moving to the sweeper role.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Argentina (probable): Cavallero, Pochettino, Placente, Samuel, Sorin, Simeone, Zanetti, Veron, Gonzalez, Batistuta, Ortega.

England (probable): Seaman, A Cole, Campbell, Ferdinand, Mills, Dyer, Butt, Scholes, Beckham, Owen, Heskey.

[Roberto Abrego]

Originally posted by HernanCrespo
Whose prediction?

Flukey Lukey´s

[Always Laziali]

There is one thing for sure,Flukey Lukey England is going to get thrashed!

[Flukey Lukey]

HI GUYS.

I just thought i would let you know that England won.

1-0.

Which proves that England are better than Argentina.
We totally outplayed you.

We deserved to win it 2 or 3 nill.

This also proves me right and you lot wrong.

AMWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Im so happy.

[valdanito]

congratulatiops

[valdanito]

06/07/2002. England might be World Cup contenders after all.

A 43rd minute David Beckham penalty kick was enough for Sven Goran Eriksson's side to defeat super favourites Argentina, and the negative fuss following their disappointing draw against Sweden is all of a sudden a very distant memory.

England are now top of their group with 4 points and just need a draw against already eliminated Nigeria to advance to the knock-out phase, while Argentina are the ones that could face a humiliating exit as they need to defeat the insidious Swedes on Wednesday to make it through to the second round.

Early in the match it appeared as if the paper predictions that wanted Bielsa's side as easy victors would turn out to be true. An unstoppable Kily Gonzales kept on breaking through the England defense to serve dangerous balls in the middle and fire missles towards the England net.

Luckily for the 1966 World Cup winners Batistuta's couple close range connections met David Seaman's arms, while the Valencia left wing's rockets ended just wide of the England net.

Things looked even worse for England when an injured Owen Hargreaves was forced to leave his spot on the pitch to Trevor Sinclair on 18 minutes.

But five minutes later the match's story line began to change. Michael Owen hit the post after he latched onto a Paul Scholes through pass, dashed into the Argentine box, and sent the ball under Walter Samuel's legs.

This event appeared to scare the Albino-Celestes, while England all of sudden began to look like a serious team again.

The next twenty minutes became a yawny affair, with Argentina's game pattern falling apart as Juan Sebastian Veron looked like the same disappointing player that was featured at Manchester United throughout all of last season.

The game looked headed towards a scoreless halftime, but in the 42nd minute Michael Owen entered the box and dribbled past PSG's Mauricio Pochettino, who foolishly stuck out his foot to send the 2002 Ballon D'or to the ground and force Italian referee Pierluigi Collina to award the penalty kick.

David Beckham stepped up to the spot and coolly slotted home England's lead.

At the start of the second half Pablo Aimar was on for Veron, but things didn't get much better for the South Americans.

England were firmly in control, coming close to their second of the evening on seven minutes when Beckham hit the side netting all alone in front of Cavallero, and on 12 minutes, when Teddy Sheringham, who moments earlier had replaced Emile Heskey, forced the Argentine keeper to make a fantastic save off the Spurs star's magnificent volley.

Bielsa frantically tried to fix things by replacing Batistuta with Lazio striker Hernan Crespo, but Argentina's problems weren't up front.

They laid instead on midfield, where the wings were unable to cut through England's defense as they did in the first half, while Simeone and Aimar continued to send predictable passes and crosses inside the English box.

It wasn't by chance that Argentina's best opportunity to level the score arrived off a corner kick that Mauricio Pochettino firmly directed towards the English net only to see David Seaman deny his effort off the goal-line.

The extremely tense final minutes of the match featured an Argentine offensive barrage that created little or no problems to the majestic English defense, and Sven Goran Eriksson was able to write another page of English football history following the 5-1 win in Munich achieved last September 1st.

[Sergei]

ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND

ENGLAND RUSSIA FINAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Roberto Abrego]

hahahahaha

[Roberto Abrego]

Hey Sergei,I am very happy beacuse yesterday Russia beat the crap out of Cameroon 6-1 but they didnt advanced,but Oleg Salenko scored 5 goals he is still the leader.

[Always Laziali]

Argentina boss Marcelo Bielsa believes a draw, instead of an England win, would have been the fairest result to come out of the match won by Sven Goran Eriksson's players 1-0.

"The first half was an even affair, but in the second, after suffering in the first ten minutes, we dominated, and therefore we deserved the draw. It is important to understand that a penalty gifted England the win," said Bielsa.

Many people were left wondering why Veron was not on the pitch when the second half kicked-off.

Bielsa explained it was simply for tactical reasons.

"He had problems imposing his creativeness. Things like this happen at a World Cup."

[Always Laziali]

Argentine legend Diego Maradona, initially barred from Japan because of his past history of drug abuse, will be allowed to enter the country after all.

Justice Minister Mayumi Moriyama approved his entry to Japan to watch Argentina in the World Cup finals.

Maradona, who guided his country to World Cup victory in 1986, is expected to arrive in Japan on Monday.

Officials at the Justice Ministry were not immediately available for comment.


Why didn't you let him in earlier to watch the game,things might have been different.

[Always Laziali]

Manchester United's Swedish youngster Bojan Djordic was very critical to teammate Juan Sebastian Veron after the Argentine's lacklustre display against England today.

The Man Utd star was substituted at half-time in the game that England won 1-0.

"Veron was a flop in the first half," Djordic told Swedish TV4.

"He was totally marked out of the game by the England midfield where he was up against several of his teammates.

"Veron is not very popular among the Man Utd fans as he has failed to live up to his enormous price-tag," Djordic added.


He has no right to criticize Veron.He is lousier than Veron in terms of skill and maturity.What does he know about flopping.He should see how he played for Lazio!

[Sergei]

Argentina wont win group or qualify :( i had £32 on them winning world cup, i also had free coca cola tshirt:mad:

[Flukey Lukey]

Originally posted by HernanCrespo

Why didn't you let him in earlier to watch the game,things might have been different.

Well, it was a choice between him, and another 1000 Argentinian supporters.

[Flukey Lukey]

Originally posted by HernanCrespo
Manchester United's Swedish youngster Bojan Djordic was very critical to teammate Juan Sebastian Veron after the Argentine's lacklustre display against England today.

The Man Utd star was substituted at half-time in the game that England won 1-0.

"Veron was a flop in the first half," Djordic told Swedish TV4.

"He was totally marked out of the game by the England midfield where he was up against several of his teammates.

"Veron is not very popular among the Man Utd fans as he has failed to live up to his enormous price-tag," Djordic added.


He has no right to criticize Veron.He is lousier than Veron in terms of skill and maturity.What does he know about flopping.He should see how he played for Lazio!

Dont be stupid.
He has as much right to criticise him as anyone.
He must know a lot about flopping because he plays for manure and is absolutely correct.
Veron was crap, he gave the ball away every time he it.

[Always Laziali]

Originally posted by Flukey Lukey


Well, it was a choice between him, and another 1000 Argentinian supporters.

If he was allowed in,he would give Argentina the motivation to win England!

[Always Laziali]

Originally posted by Flukey Lukey


Dont be stupid.
He has as much right to criticise him as anyone.
He must know a lot about flopping because he plays for manure and is absolutely correct.
Veron was crap, he gave the ball away every time he it.

But if you are lousier than a person,you don't go to him and say you s***.It is totally uncalled for and this portrays an arrogant attribute on your part.

[Roberto Abrego]

Originally posted by HernanCrespo
Manchester United's Swedish youngster Bojan Djordic was very critical to teammate Juan Sebastian Veron after the Argentine's lacklustre display against England today.

The Man Utd star was substituted at half-time in the game that England won 1-0.

"Veron was a flop in the first half," Djordic told Swedish TV4.

"He was totally marked out of the game by the England midfield where he was up against several of his teammates.

"Veron is not very popular among the Man Utd fans as he has failed to live up to his enormous price-tag," Djordic added.


He has no right to criticize Veron.He is lousier than Veron in terms of skill and maturity.What does he know about flopping.He should see how he played for Lazio!


Djordjic is an exellent player right now he is in loan at Sheffield Wednesday.

He is a very temperate player,he doesnt need to crtizied a more experienced player than him.


he is so childish that he was going to accept to play for the Yugoslavian u-21 squad just beacuse he wasnt on the Swedish squad yet.He was claiming a euro 2000 spot hahaahah.


Even thought he is going to be a great player.

[Always Laziali]

When he is on the same level or better than Veron than he criticises him but now he should keep his mouth shut.

[Flukey Lukey]

Going by the performance v England he is on the same level as Veron, or better.

[Flukey Lukey]

Originally posted by HernanCrespo


If he was allowed in,he would give Argentina the motivation to win England!

I was joking, allow me to explain: Maradona has become so fat now that he would need 1000 seats to be able to get in the ground.

(Argentina wouldn't have 'won' England anyway)
( in case you didn't know it was 1-0 to England.)

[Always Laziali]

So what!Don't forget he dribbled past 6 players and scored for Argentina.He isn't that fat!Look at Owen,he is so thin such that he can fool the referee when he goes down.

[Always Laziali]

Franz Beckenbauer shared opinions on the World Cup 2002 in his interview to Sport 1.
"World Cup is the showcase of the world soccer, however what we observe now, is that Zidane, Figo and Beckham are injured or overdone. This is really a bad advertisement for the World Cup."
Bayern Munich president called for a round-table discussion with the participation of representatives from FIFA, national leagues and a number of federations, to think about possible ways of cutting the crammed full soccer calendar.
Beckenbauer also reflected on World Cup refereeing:
"When the match ref is from Africa and linesmen from Asia and South Africa help him, then the communication problems are unavoidable. Meanwhile, in Bundesliga and Champions League, there is a try-out system: the match referees are always from an arranged group."
The champion of 1974 also criticized the actions of the well-known Italian ref Pierluigi Collina in Argentina and England match.
"Collina's penalty awarded to England has lately been a major topic for discussions. Thus, one of the world's best refs was misled by Owen. However, there are still a lot of refs who are generous on awarding penalties."


Look at this,even Beckenbauer has said that Owen had exaggerated a lot so my watching of the reply 7 times was useful.

[valdanito]

eveb him..........:rolleyes:

[Always Laziali]

Yes,the greatest defender in the world has admitted that Owen acted and fooled Collina.

[valdanito]

there isnot much more to say

[Always Laziali]

Maybe so but i just don't understand why English fans still don't think they won Argentina by luck.

[JD]

and Argentina weren't lucky when a blind ref never saw Maradonna punch the ball in2 the net - or Simeone pretend 2b shot when Becks tickled him?

games r won and lost on small details
we won u lost get over it

[Flukey Lukey]

Originally posted by HernanCrespo
So what!Don't forget he dribbled past 6 players and scored for Argentina.He isn't that fat!Look at Owen,he is so thin such that he can fool the referee when he goes down.

Can you take a joke?

I was talking about now, not when he was playing.

I can see why the japanese/koreans want him to come mind you, the pie sales will rise 200%

[Flukey Lukey]

If Ortega 'dived' to win a penalty in the next round would you complain? I dont think so. Stop looking at through Argentinian glasses and look at it from a neutral point of view. It was a penalty, he may have exagerrated, but so does everybody.

[Always Laziali]

If Ortega had dived,i wouldn't be happy with the win but the fact is we were screwed by Collina.

[valdanito]

everybody looks at things from their angle! from where they want to see it and not always we are honest

[Flukey Lukey]

Originally posted by HernanCrespo
If Ortega had dived,i wouldn't be happy with the win but the fact is we were screwed by Collina.

At least be honest. You wouldn't be happy with a win?

Anyway Argentina are famous for cheating.

[valdanito]

well! english talking about chaeting! this is amazing.....:rolleyes:

[Flukey Lukey]

Originally posted by juan botello
well! english talking about chaeting! this is amazing.....:rolleyes:

Cheating (ea not ae)

[valdanito]

my mistake!

nice comback! :rolleyes:

[Flukey Lukey]

Thank you.

You like rolling your eyes dont you?

Here, let me try: :rolleyes:

WOW!!

[valdanito]

yes I do


imamazed an english can do it

[Flukey Lukey]

I was too. But i gotta say that the typing certainly took it out of me. :rolleyes:

Woo!! and again.

[Always Laziali]

Originally posted by Flukey Lukey


At least be honest. You wouldn't be happy with a win?

Anyway Argentina are famous for cheating.

Yes that is how i think.If Argentina won by cheating i would be very worried and unhappy about the team.

[JD]

so u aren't proud of the '78 and '86 teams which have been proved2 have cheated

[Always Laziali]

Yes.I am not at all proud of them.But if England cheats like that and win the world cup,they will never gain my respect at all.

[JD]

no one will care2 remebr how penalties in group games r won if their country wins the WC. Owen didn't cheat he was touched by a foolish challenge from Pochettino - if u challenge in the box and don't get the ball u run the risk of conceding a penalty that is football. Punching the ball in2 the net isn't part of the game but I'm sure it doesn't devalue either winning Mexico '86 or Maradonna's performance 2 most Argentinians.

[Always Laziali]

Look there is a difference between a dive and a foul.I guess you should see the game again.

[JD]

listen m8 no matter how many times I watch it we will still have won and you will still have lost - try and come 2 terms with it.

[Always Laziali]

You won by an undeserved penalty.

[JD]

we deserved 2 win

[Always Laziali]

You may have played better but that penalty was so undeserving.Stop arguing now okay?We should concentrate on the next games and stop whining about the previous.I don't see many people posting in the England soccer forum.

[JD]

I'm not whining I'm very very happy about the previous result, the only whinings have been Argentinian Xcuses.

U have better players but we had the bettr coach - if Ericksson was in charge of Argentina and Bielsa England the score would have been very diffrnt!!!

[Always Laziali]

Maybe so.It would be great to have a coach like Eriksson

[valdanito]

england cant even get an english coach! thats proves what a bad variety of selection u have

[JD]

maybe Sven Goran Ericksson can go on to sucesfully manage more than one big national team. If he won either this world cup or Euro 2004 in Portugal with England - the countries first ever foriegn manager, other big countries may reconsider their no foriegner policy. He knows a lot of the Italian and Argentinian players or possibly Portugal a country he has many contacts in or most obviously his homeland Sweden (not a huge power but you never know). No manager has ever won things with two countries. If any1 manged 2do that thry would have to be Xcptd as best of all time.

[Always Laziali]

He can.He has coached Lazio before he knows many Argentinians like Veron,Almeyda,Crespo,Lopez,Simeone and Castroman

[JD]

maybe Italy is more likely though - England pay him over £2M a year - the only reason the Argentinian FA gave Bielsa the job was that he was very cheap. The Italian FA would outbid anyone 2 get their man if they decided he was who they wanted.

[Always Laziali]

Hopefully Bielsa gets sacked and Argentina signs a reliable man like Passerella or Bianchi.

[JD]

Passarella is just as bad - he wouldn't play Redondo - apparently he said anyone with long hair was gay and he wouldn't have gays in his team. Not exactly reasonable

[Always Laziali]

Not true.He groomed Crespo and he became the player he is today.I think you have got the wrong impression of Passerella.

[JD]

I just remebr the statements about longhair and issues with Redondo - 1of my favourite players

[Always Laziali]

Maybe you mixed up Passerella for someone else!Redondo is good but he needs to play regularly for a club.

[JD]

don't worry m8 I know exactly who Passarela is - Redondo only isn't playing because of serious injury. He was first choice in Real Madrids CL winning midfield (remebr that absolute toasting he gave Gary Neville at Old Trafford) and AC Milan spent a lot of money hoping to make him the lynchpin of their midfield.

Without the injury he sovered with Milan he would definitely played4 Argentina

[Always Laziali]

Maybe so but there were players like Almeyda and Simeone who were quite good at lazio but Simeone didn't deserve to start.He had only played a few games for Lazio last season.

[Flukey Lukey]

Originally posted by HernanCrespo
Maybe so but there were players like Almeyda and Simeone who were quite good at lazio but Simeone didn't deserve to start.He had only played a few games for Lazio last season.

I agree Simeone looks past it now. But it was your coaches fault and that is the man who your hopes were on. He failed.

[Always Laziali]

He made the right choices at the qualifers by using the right team and formation but at the world cup,he looked a lousy coach.