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Borgetti is a beast, but Crespo still managed to juke him for a goal.

Watch out!
Tevez is coming in with fresh legs!

& Messi too...

what?!?

Wow! Simply wow. I can't believe that shot went in.

Yeah, HOLY SHIT!

I must also note, I live in South Omaha which has a huge (illegal?) Mexican population. They were out in full force earlier today, carrying the Mexican flag, drinking tequila and Corona, clashing with the out of towners here for the College World Series. Needless to say, the streets are of South Omaha are quiet now...

South Omaha

You can't see it but everything is in Spanish.

Another really good game, another great goal (two great goals, Marquez's finish was pretty impressive) and a Germany vs Argentina quarter-final to look forward to.

That's the best thirty minutes of extra time I think I've ever seen - usually it all goes tense and drab as the teams wait for penalties.

or like the f.a. cup when they were dead on their feet

Fucking Argentina. I was rooting for Mexico all the way.

Why would Mexico's coach sit Bravo down while competing against what is probably the strongest (offensively at least) team in the tournament?
Mexico's coach must be superstitious. He must've figured that Bravo had already gotten two goals & wasn't due to get any more or something. I heard nothing about Bravo being injured.

Anyway, my team needed Argentina to win.

Hip Priest's prescience is sending him straight to number one with a bullet.

I was wondering why Bravo didn't start either, though I don't think it would have mattered. Borgetti seemed too preoccupied with diving, and complaining with the referees to being any real offensive threat, sort of a downer.

The real question now: Germany or Argentina?

No, Argentina were fucking diving left right and bastard centre. They always do it. The referee wouldn't take his cock out of their asses either.

Well, they are playing in Germany; otherwise, I'd insist that Argentina is a lock.

Maybe you're right, but name something that came out of all those dives? Not that any of Borgetti's dives did either. But looking for the ref to give you PK instead of focusing on striking is a death wish. Thus, Mexico is done.


This is why it seens impossible to pick a winner. I think both of their defenses have looked suspect at times. Perhaps it will be a high scoring thriller. But if history does in fact repeat, these matches usually end up being dull.

England take on Ecuador in half an hour.

Ecuador had some excellent victories in qualifying (Argentina, Brasil), but nearly all of their points came from home, where they play at considerable altitude - a major factor for them (Bolivia have benefitted similarly in the past). But they are a young, fit team with some Premiership experience, and the possibility of a WOrld Cup quarter final is tempting for every team.

Alan Green, on Radio Five Live, just commented that 'to go out in the quarter finals against the Netherlands or Portugal will be dissappointing; to be beaten by Ecuador would be unforgivable, utterly unforgivable'. The atmosphere here is half excitement, half tension!

I'm very much looking forward to tonight's Netherlands vs Portugal game tonight; a really good team will be dispatched from the tournament and whoever goes through will have a lot of confidence.

MAniche (Portugal) is my captain today, but I'm still thinking of switching to either Gerrard or van Persie.

You nailed that Gerrard pick last time. I don't know whether to go with Lampard or Figo.

Oh well, I waited too long.

Now I have to choose between Figo and Van Nistelrooij.

Beckham with the set piece penalty kick...boom! I think Пятхъдесят Шест called that one.

People can talk all they want about what Beckham does off the pitch, and his annoying celebrity lifestyle, but tell me....what living player can strike such a great free kick like that on a regular???

Seeing him puke was a bit much though.

England 1 - 0 Ecuador. Random thoughts:

Lampard is an exceptional player who is having a bad tournament; for CHelsea, if he had those chances, he would have bagged a couple of goals. I really hope that he can find himself before the quarter final.

Michael Carrick put in a super performance today; held the ball beautifully, tackled well and passed better than anyone else on the pitch. Man-of-thematch perormance.

Rooney did well, I have to admit, but we didn;t get precise balls through to him; better service to Rooney = goals for England.

BEckham does justify his inclusion, in my opinion The one thing that's changed is the number of free kicks we win; a couple of years ago we were falling over around the opposition area and giving Beckham 10 -15 free kicks in good positions every game. That's why we were winning games easier. It's ungentlemanly, but it's how we built beckham's reputation. In fact, it's how we qualified for Euro 2004.

Ecudor played OK, but didn't really pick their game up towards the end, when they should have been pressing hard.

Sometimes it feels like you American guys get all the luck; the BBC refused to show the 'Beckham Barf'! I hear his movement was superb though...

I guess if you consider this lucky...aha

He was dry heeving for a good minute at that.

Aw...he didn't look happy for the rest of the match, did he? I was surprised he stayed on for as long as he did.

Terry got me -1.5 points (yellow f****** card!), Gerrard got me a whole 1 point. Got 4 players in tonight's game though.

Re-ask: was there a way to re-pick a whole suad after the group stages? That was the impression I got from the rules, and it affected my initial selection. Oh well.

Yeah, Beckham looked spent. And curiously Cole was taken out before him. I didn't understand that move. Also, the long sleeves in that climate could not have helped the cause.

In case you haven't noticed, I've all but abandoned my fantasy team because I am lazy and/or forgetful. I don't even want to log in and see the damage.

That's a shame - you can set your line-up days in advance, using the calendar, to save the need for logging in daily. Get involved again, see what happens...

We should set up these board leagues for other sports events, when possible.

I know I think it is too late for today, but tomorrow, I will take the plunge and log in. 'See what happens.'

Anyway, kick off in about 40 minutes. This should be a classic! Thinking of how Holland's Euro 2004 run was ended by Portugal, and this is supposed to be 'the' tournament for Portugal. Great players and fans on both sides. Again, no reason this should not be a great game.

It's not too late for tonight's game - you have right up until kick-off!

THere have been a number of great games at this World Cup, and this one is potettially the best yet, between two teams whom I personally rate very highly. Great players on both sides, as you say - so many, in fact, that even the substitutes (especially for Portugal) would walk into many starting line-ups. I've read that the Netherland's plan is to have this young squad ready for serious contention at the next World Cup, but I'd say that whoever wins this match has as good a chance of the title as they'll ever have.

Wow, 8.5 for Beckham today, and 7 from Ashley Cole.

All I've got for the second game is Nistelrooij. Is he even playing?

van Nistelrooij is on the bench, I see.

Maniche (my captain) has -3 for the yellow card (:mad:) but +5 for the very fine goal (:)), so at the moment it's OK.

Portugal illustrate why England are unimpressive; England are almost playing perfect passes, almost making perfect runs, whilst with the Portuguese some of the play is perfect - that goal was a treat, far prettier than anything England have done thus far.

Portugal 1 - 0 up at half time, but - shock - Costinha has been sent off, so the Netherlands have a numerical advantage of their own for 45 minutes.

Costinha plays for one of my favorite Russian clubs.

Odd seeing Holland without the orange.

The second half should be very wide open. Holland had better get a goal. No excuses. Except for the crossbar...as they've just hit it.

EDIT: and a clanker!

Portugal 1 - 0 Netherlands

Portugal: 9 yellow cards, 2 red
Netherlands: 7 yellow cards, 2 red.

The referee was brandishing the cards from the start, but to be fair,
a. they were for incidents that were indeed technically yellow-card offences
b. there should have been two direct red cards in addition to the others; Cocu's wrestling attempt and Figo's (albeit harmless) headbutt.

The first half was characterised by skill; great movement by both teams, and Maniche's goal was a treat to watch. At half time it was Portugal's Costinha had been sent off and it looked possible that we would have a drab 45 minutes ahead. But not so; until about the 80th minute, Portugal pushed for a second with just as much conviction as the Netherlands pressed for an equaliser. Then it all happened - fouls, arguments, pushes, niggles, wrestling, arms in the air... 'acrimonious' is the best word for the final 30 minutes.

It was great. It was exhilarating. It wasn't pretty, certainly, and it's not the way one would like to see at every game, but the tournament is the richer for this match; it's a good talking point, something that will be remembered, and for all the bad displayed on the pitch tonight, it has to be said that very few of the challenges were especially bad or threatening of injury. The stats are the result of niggling and a card-happy referee rather than (for the most part) any real nastiness.

Sad to see a talented Netherlands team go out, but it has to be said that Portugal are blessed with a truly awesome squad who might just use tonight's result to drive themselves onto great things. They'll have to be careful of yellow cards against England on Saturday though, as they could find themselves in the semi-final missing several important players if they get past us.

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink has pehaps the finest surname in the tournament.

Maniche is a footballing giant- he's talented and passionate, he can score goals and the rest of the team clearly believe in him. Man of the match again - maybe he'll end up as man of the tournament?

Ricardo Carvalho deserves mention too - he managed to keep calm (avoiding being booked) whilst being very effective. Well done.

Rather a large post. Sorry.

Love.

Sad ending.
The referee lost it all completely.
Costinha deserved to be sent off during first half, no problem, he acted stupidly thrice.

Now during second half, the ref should have called both captains and ask them to get their teams quieter.

See what Deco did : he's running towards Van der Sar, he has eliminated a defender, and is about to be in a position from where he could think of trying his luck. The referee whistles, to see if a Portuguese defender, in the other half of the field, is doing OK. The ref interrupts the game.
Now the def is fine. Deco expects the Dutch to leave his team the ball but they rush towards Ricardo. That ain't fair play (but they might have had Figo's attitude towards Van Bommel - clemently punished - a few minutes before in mind). Deco loses his temper, commits a fault. Fault for which he could have received a red card. But the ref gives him a chance and holds out a yellow one (did Mr Ivanov feel guilty? did he understand Deco's disappointment?). As a result, Holland contests, Van der Vaart is booked too, yellow card, for talking. Severe tackle (risks of injuries for the players) = yellow; remarks to the ref (nothing of the sort) = yellow.
And that's when the match ended.

I lost track but Portugal received at least 9 yellow cards.

The Dutch are out of the tournament with less than that. Van Basten didn't lose his temper. Wonder what both coaches are gonna say about the game.

Maniche's goal was a beauty. Tiago cooled things out a bit when he walked in. Meira remained calm.

Van Bronckhorst sitting by Deco and Boulharouz, staring at the scene made me believe that they agreed on one point : Mr Ivanov won't be in Germany tomorrow.

Impact on our little lot : yellows & reds.

To think that both teams were good (see how Miguel managed to prevent Robben from being dangerous).

From the FIFA match report:

Cautions
VAN BOMMEL Mark (NED) 2', BOULAHROUZ Khalid (NED) 7', MANICHE (POR) 20', COSTINHA (POR) 31', COSTINHA (POR) 46'+, PETIT (POR) 50', VAN BRONCKHORST Giovanni (NED) 59', LUIS FIGO (POR) 60', BOULAHROUZ Khalid (NED) 63', DECO (POR) 73', SNEIJDER Wesley (NED) 73', VAN DER VAART Rafael (NED) 74', RICARDO (POR) 76', NUNO VALENTE (POR) 76', DECO (POR) 78', VAN BRONCKHORST Giovanni (NED) 95'

Expulsions
COSTINHA (POR) 46'+ 2Y, BOULAHROUZ Khalid (NED) 63' 2Y, DECO (POR) 78' 2Y, VAN BRONCKHORST Giovanni (NED) 95' 2Y

I thought the Australia - Croatia match could not be topped for obsurdity, but this one takes the cake.

What's with Portugal acting as though they had just won the cup at the end of the game? A little premature for celebrating like that.

All in all, I think this was a blessing for England. Considering all the yellow cards, and both red cards being handed to key players for Portugal.

what a buzzerbeater ending.

lucky for italy that the ref was spanish i guess. it seems who the referee is may determine the outcome of some of these games. i wasn'table to watch the whole game this time, so i was wondering how the stoppage time went almost five minutes. anyway, i was hoping italy would win.

what was up with totti afterwards?
was he biting his thumb as a "fuck you" to australia or was he sucking his thumb there?

I found out (just in time for the Ukraine game) that my set-up for the day hadn't been processed, so I've missed out on 10.5 (TEN AND A HALF) points from this afternoon's game. Miffed? Youbetcha!

What on earth were Australia up to? If you'd tuned in after the (completely ludicrous) Italian sending-off, would you have noticed that Australia had a numerical advantage? Towards the end, when Australia had free kicks in the Italian half, why were they playing the ball back to the half way line? THey get through the first round showing passion, commitment and a great attcking spirit (ie by exploiting their strong points); so they totally change their style for this game and go out. Go figure.

A shame, really, as they were one of two underdogs teams (the others being Ukraine) who had looked capable of surviving beyond this round.

What on earth are the referees up to? I used to be a sports coach, and I have a pretty good understanding of the laws of the game; I can assure you that tackling an opponent is not an offence, and does not warrant a red card. Likewise, running into an opponent who's on the ground, then falling over him, is not a valid way to get a penalty. That was only ever the case in Sensible Soccer (remember that? Get into the area, wait till someone slides in to tackle you and run into him. PENALTY!). Maybe that's being used to train the referees?

This tournament is full of great football and ungreat refereeing.

Ukraine have started against Switzerland. Come on, Sheva!

I'm afraid this tournament will go down as the the one the referees ruined. I kind of remember the same sort of talk after the 02 World Cup too. Maybe it is not avoidable, with it being such a huge tourament.

Switzerland - Ukraine may be the most boring game yet. Looks like penalty kicks are on their way...

this SUI/UKR game is exhausting & sloppy

going to penalty kicks no doubt
(which favors Ukraine i think slightly)

As we type...

Atari, you're watching the ESPN broadcast, correct? Are you tired of the U2 songs? Why must they play U2 over and over and over?????

it could be worse

Yet, it could be better.

Even the PK's were lackluster!

Good for Ukraine though.

Waheyyyyyy! Even if my captain did miss a penalty (OUCH!), Ukraine are through and I'm very happy about it.

A nervy match, both teams scared of losing, and Sheva and Rebrov get to play a quarter-final for my fantasy team!

Bet the Ukranian goalie scored a few points tonight.

I doubt many had him as their keeper. But yes, he would have given someone tons of points.

I'm happy for Ukraine too. I can't imagine they will get past Italy, but you never know. The last three World Cups have had an upstart team in the semifinals. Perhaps it is Ukraine this time around.

Maybe it is - Italy haven't impressed that much, have they? Ukraine have only played well in two games out of four, but that's two more than Italy, really. If Ukraine go out looking for the win then they can do it - solid goalkeeper (one of the best at the tournament), excellent defensive capabilities, a wonderfully skilful midfield and good old Sheva up front. Also, Arten Milevskiy cam on a substitute tonight and hinted at strength in depth. They've got it in then to get to the semis, no question.

Tomorrow is Spain vs France and Brasil vs Ghana.