Off with his hand or Le Hand of GodFollow

They did win the Euros last time round, a competition arguably harder to win than the WC. neither Spain nor Brazil are "overrated". They are the two favourites by a mile, and not just according to me, but also to pretty much every bookmaker. It doesn't mean they'll win for sure, of course, but they're much more likely to win than portugal who are 100% reliant on one player.

Switzerland are pretty ****, Denamrk are ok but won't make it past the Quarters. The best African team is clearly Ivory Coast, it's a real shame they have such a tough group, otherwise I could see them make the semis.



You're entirely right that Zidane was sent off because the 4th official saw the headbutt on a TV replay from the touchline. He was sent off over a minute after the incident itself. It certainly wasn't "fair", since I don't think exceptions to the rules should be made purely for French players, but that's how it happened.

It's also stupid to think that it would've been "fair" to do that for Henry when it's clearly not allowed in the FIFA rules. Don't get me wrong, I'm 100% in favour of video technology, but it should be applied accross the board. Not only for ad hoc incidents involving French players

Anyway, back to nursing my hangover now

I don't think I've ever, in my 30 odd years on this planet, heard someone say that they enjoyed soccer because of the flow of the game.

Maybe I don't talk to the right people, though.

Also, I think Sepp Blatter is a gigantic Swiss cunt, but I guess that's another topic altogether.

So Pat, England to go out in the Semis on penalties?

Portugal is playing the underdog role, while Spain is the favorite. Every time any significant tournament rolls around everyone talks about how good Spain is and they always buckle under the pressure of being favored (granted the one exception to this is Euro 2008.)

Teams like Spain and Portugal play with passion, so if they are the underdog, this lights a fire under them and they over perform, and if they are the favorites then they get big heads and think it should be handed to them so they under perform (Confederations Cup.)

While Brazil is definitely one of the best teams in the mix, it would be disappointing if they won because the football world needs some diversity when it comes to champions.



If FIFA disregards its rules in overtime of the WORLD CUP FINAL then it has no basis to stand proudly on those rules where they may apply in future situations. Furthermore FIFA has already re-played a world cup qualifier in the past because of a poor refereeing decision.

So basically FIFA disregards or bends its own rules when it feels like it, which means they can't consistently argue that they are merely "following the rules" here.

Ireland got screwed, France got an easy draw.

So long as we're not betting actual money, I bet England will win.

Me too. It's about time him and Tom Cruise came out, and what better time to do it than during the WC?