The pre-game report, on American TV, just said "Brian McBride may be the best American soccer player no one has ever heard of." I feel like I'm in on the ground floor, here. American soccer. Who knew.

Talk about waiting until the last minute.

No. Its Edie Johnson!

Why not, why not indeed!

Ballack is out for Germany. Isn't it curious how pre-tournament injuries so often affect the star players?

Radio 5 Live said thatGerrard will be playing tomorrow.

SHIT WHAT????

Ballack out?!?

I must revise my line up in a hurry!!!

BBC say:

Michael Ballack sits out the opening World Cup match between Germany and Costa Rica in Munich.

The Chelsea new boy and Germany skipper has a calf strain and has been rested, with Tim Borowski stepping into midfield for the hosts.

Costa Rica had doubts over keeper Jose Francisco Porras, midfielder Mauricio Solis and defender Gilberto Martinez.

However, all three have been passed fit and start in a team featuring former Manchester City striker Paulo Wanchope.

Go Ticos!

what a boring opening ceremony, no-one apart from the US in 94 has ever done a good one

They don't televise that here.

And if I remember correctly, they didn't televise the one on our own soil in 94.

German manager Jurgen Klinnsman has been much-derided, as I'm sure you know (unimpressive performances, Klinnsman living in California). Today he was asked what the headlines in the German newspapers would be after the tournament. He said: 'You Did It'. Time will tell.

Sven says Gerrard will play unless his injury 'flares up overnight', so still some doubt, obviously.

Nice shot from the opening ceremony:

the american opening ceremony had diana ross taking a penalty. The plan was she hit it into the net and because of how hard she kicked it the net would be broken in 2. She put the ball wide but the net broke apart anyway. I found it hilarious, but i was 10 at the time

Has anyone watched that programme about Sven Goran last night on Channel 4?I've found it hilarious.

You mean the one where Diana Ross put a penalty wide from about three yards out?

HAHA

Instead of any kind of pre-game, they are interviewing Dutch Sumo wrestlers on ESPN. What the hell? One of their nick names is Dr. Love.

the match is on espn2 & they have a pre-game going on already

That little menu thing that keeps coming up on ESPN2 is obnoxious. It take up half the screen.

Damn. Wanchope is my only player in this game. Germany looks like it's going to dominate.

what a GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL

SWEET! I like soccer now.

I actually want Germany to win, but as long as Wanchope does well.

this is a great one!


textbook goal there too.

good old 'chope

Half time. So far it's the best opener in a long time.

Costa Rica ned to be more effective in the final third of the pitch - all of their attacks are breaking down, it's too easy for the German defence. The Germans are also being allowed too much time and space. Good entertaining match though. Good to see Wanchope (formerly of Manchester City, of course) doing well. He was onside for the goal, and took it nicely.

anyones fantasy team effected by the score so far?
Scoring Details

Attacking Stats
Goal(including Penalty Goal) (G)5pts
Assist (AST)3pts
Shot on goal (SOG)3pts
Penalty Kick Missed (PKM)-5pts

Defending Stats
Tackles Committed (TKC)1pts
Foul Committed (FC)-0.5pts
Yellow Card (YC)-3pts
Red Card (RC)-6pts

Goal Keeper
SpecificSave (SAV)2pts
Penalty Kick Save (PKS)8pts
Goal Allowed (GA)-3pts

SpecialMcDonald's Team Captain2X pts per matchday

I've an assist for schweinsteiger, and a goal let in by lehmann. don't know about shots attempted/tackles won yet. I wonder if shots attempted means they have to be on the goal/saved by keeper/on and off target

for people watching in the uk, wehn mark lawrinson is in the commentary box, do you ever notice him laughing at the other commentator's "funny" remarks off mic?

germany are for the chope

nobody had Frings did they?

A 40-yard shot by a midfielder to secure the opening match for Germany in the 2006 World Cup opener in Munich is sure to get loads of extra "fan points" if this works anything like NFL fantasy football.

for anyone wondering
Statistics from all of the matches at FIFA World Cup Germany™ along with updated team points and Public and Private Group standings will be available within 12 hours of the final whistle of each of the evening matches

I have 2 goals with Wanchope. Don't know if he had shots/penalties and whatnot.

Happiest man on earth right now = Oliver Kahn.

He looked more than happy!

schweinsteiger assist on that one too

This whole thing makes things more horrible than they should be, was I repeating to myself...
I've got these same 2 German players in my virtual team, am really glad of Schweinteiger's actions & feel sooo sad Lehmann didn't stop anything.
I can't help being French saying it ain't fair.
Seriously the impact of the virtual game on my reaction to the real one are different.
Lahm's goal, Whanchope's second (mostly for the way he received the ball) and Frings' were all great.
It was a surprise, though, with a team as slow as Costa Rica, that Germany got in danger. Next games against Poland & the rest are gonna be interesting, the central defense's too loose.
Costa Rica played the same as against France a few months ago, seemingly nonchalant, causing problems, scoring, but not winning (yet).

Ha ha, splendid stuff - the Poles have left star Rasziak one the bench (he's in my team, of course). What on earth? Maybe he'll come on.

Costa Rica need to learn about man-marking, no question about that.

Poland have started OK against Ecuador, but have fallen behind. They're playing well enough at the moment though.

how's ebi smolarek playing? he's in my team.

germany's central defense looks really poor... that can really break them up after the first round. i had lahm in my team though and think i'll get points for 1 goal, 1 assist and at least 1 shot at the goal. not sure if the assist counts though because it touched the head of one of the players from costa rica before klose headed it in.

Did anyone catch the commentators just now? I don't know if it was only ESPN2, but:

---
"The world's first oil well was drilled by a Pole"

"Really...I thought it was by a bit."

"I mean a Pole man, though I'm sure a pole was involved as well."

"And I said bit, not Brit."
---


Haha I thought that was funny.

Yeah, the two the called that Poland - Ecuador game were much better than Marcelo Balboa and the other moron. Unfortunately the two of them will probably call all of the US games.

What a let down for Poland.

yeah, i was surprised, they hit the bar and post though unlucky both times

Poland were unlucky, but by the same account Ecuador have got more to offer than many expected.

The best opening day in recent memory - two good, contrasting games. I enjoyed the second, as there was a great clash of styles.

The TV types were saying that Poland are effectively out, but the fact is that Germany showed defensive frailties, so there may be a chance of a point there.

Looking forward to the weekend games.

boo hoo

I wish there were more games on today....what a tease.

Wait untill after the opening round, when all of a sudden there are days with no games at all. You'll feel that. You get you life back, but for a while you forget what it was that you used to do with it.

When are we given our points?