# England World Cup squad named: **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 9, 2002, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061 "2002-05-09T12:29:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061/41 "2002-05-12T11:59:24Z")
**London\_Calling** , **Coldfire** : > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by L\_C_: > You know, I’m not sure myself – the distance is obviously set in yards rather than metres (who’d pick 9.15 metres ?). Then the penalty area is 22 yards The penalty box is 18 yards front-to-back - it’s a _cricket pitch_ that is 22 yards long. Maybe that doesn’t seem an obvious number either, but it is three times the size of the goal area and remember that the rules were laid down in the days of dozens and half dozens, so maybe it makes sense after all. As [this site](http://www.fifa.com/fifa/handbook/laws/law.1.frame.html) confirms, the pitch dimensions and markings are measured in Imperial units and their metric equivalents are also given. Hope this helps. **TwistofFate** : I hope Ireland do well, and in particular that Lee Carsley plays well for you, but he’s been such an intermittent presence this season that I can’t make any promises. Seemed to do OK yesterday though. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061/42 "2002-05-12T13:40:01Z")
I was looking for the full swedish squad, and came across the BBC “your voice” section on the Swedish squad, which had this beauty written on it "I personally think that Sweden are over rated. Larsson is going to be up against world class defenders and not those the he plays against in the SPL. Couple that with players who play bit players in average teams (Ljunberg) the one exception, I feel they will fall at the first hurdle and England will conquer at relative ease with or without Beckham and Neville. Ben Haden, England " I wonder who he supports??? :rolleyes I think England, like Ireland, face three good games. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061/43 "2002-05-12T14:27:01Z")
I’ve seen Kennedy play a couple of times this season (a workmate is a huge Wolves fan) and he looked quite decent – much better than in his Liverpool days. ---
**Author:** ![ObiWan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e47774/32.png) [@ObiWan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ObiWan)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061/44 "2002-05-13T09:50:41Z")
**Larsson, Crespo and Keown** I’ve got a feeling that’s why Keown was picked, to do a specific job against a specific threat. He is a much better man-marker than either Sol or Rio and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him start against Sweden and Argentina. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061/45 "2002-05-13T11:36:26Z")
Hey, that’s funny, we always call the penalty box (“Seaman dribbles inside the box”, I just remember that as I was typing :D) “the 16 meter area”. It’s actually 16.5! A SCAM I say! Deceived, all those years! Friggin’ Imperial bastards and their weird ass measurements. 🙂 Ah, the world cup. Oh, to have my team in it. ☹ My heart is with Ireland, but my money’s on Argentina. Most of all, I’m just looking forward to seeing some exciting matches between the top teams of the planet - playing the greatest game in the world. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061/46 "2002-05-13T11:48:56Z")
Thanks for sorting that out **everton**. Can’t go wrong with good ol’ Imperial ! 😃 Yep, I remember there were a lot of ‘Seaman’ jokes at one time - mostly involving the manager and the youth team… I suppose we need to start thinking about whether to organise a SD league for the World Cup. Anyone remember the thing we had for Euro 2000…how did that work… - Predicting the exact result = 2 points - Predicting just the winning team = 1 point - Predicting a draw, but not the right score draw = 1 point Not sure about that though ??? Of course, this time there are more groups, matches and possibly dopers…might be a problem ? ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061/47 "2002-05-13T12:24:33Z")
We didn’t really score them, but we did the predicting game (with varying results) in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=27077) started by our own White-n-Green Yankee Paddy, **ruadh**. At the very least, we shoud come up with a World Cup Drinking Game, too. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061/48 "2002-05-13T12:51:37Z")
Oh my God. I was reading the thread I just linked, for old time’s sake. Guess what I said? > [@](#): > > I think it’s fair to see Holland’s qualifying for the 2002 World Cup looks pretty damn easy 😃 So much for MY knowledge of football. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061/49 "2002-05-13T13:22:28Z")
Excellent thread, unregistered/ **Coldie** - honestly, we won’t tell the Child Support Agency. Anyway…nice to relive the memories of that tournament. Cheers ! So, last time we did this: Exactly the correct result predicted = 3 points Almost correct\* = 1 point Wrong result = 0 points \*(Almost correct =. (1) the right winning team but different scoreline, or (2) a draw but a different scoreline than predicted) And the final results from Euro 2000, ever so slightly embarrassing as they are: Coldie – 12 pts Crusoe – 12 pts Twisty – 9 pts London\_Calling – 8 pts Is it to late to demand a recount ?: I suppose we could start a thread and see who’s interested… ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061/50 "2002-05-13T13:50:10Z")
Boyakasha! ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061/51 "2002-05-13T14:08:30Z")
I’m in. ---
**Author:** ![ObiWan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e47774/32.png) [@ObiWan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ObiWan)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061/52 "2002-05-13T14:15:25Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by **Crusoe** _ > > I’m in. Sounds like fun, me too. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061/53 "2002-05-13T14:20:46Z")
Definitely!! BTW, thanks for bumping that thread and reminding me of more innocent times… Ruadh was flathunting, Spiny Norman had a girl that wasn’t Shayna, Crusoe was MattK and I went by my real name… ah… the good old days… ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061/54 "2002-05-13T14:40:41Z")
… and I didn’t exist ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061/55 "2002-05-13T14:48:37Z")
Hey, you’re here now, and that’s what counts! Can I join in too, even though my tiny little compost heap of a country didn’t even qualify? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061/56 "2002-05-13T15:38:45Z")
Heap? Don’t flatter yourself. Ho ho. Anyway, we must have the joint winner in again. Otherwise my upcoming victory will be hollow indeed. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061/57 "2002-05-13T17:20:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TwistofFate \* > \*\*BTW, thanks for bumping that thread and reminding me of more innocent times… > > Ruadh was flathunting… \*\* Ha. How timely. I saw yesterday that the odds for winning the thing were: Argentina 4-1 France 5-1 England 10-1 Ireland 66-1 USA 125-1 Bloody South Africa were ahead of us! :mad: But we weren’t the worst (I think that was Senegal, but I could be mistaken). Personally I think France are gonna do it again. ---
**Author:** ![ObiWan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e47774/32.png) [@ObiWan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ObiWan)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2002, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061/58 "2002-05-14T12:49:32Z")
[hijack] The legendary Valery Lobanovsky has just [died](http://www.soccernet.com/europe/news/2002/0513/20020513lobanovsky.html). ☹ His '99 team is the one I’ll remember, especially Shevchenko and Rebrov up front who were deadly all season[sup]1[/sup]. As a team they were about the best in Europe (a hell of an achievement) and I would have liked to have seen them beat Bayern in the semi-final; the 3-3 first leg was a great game. A unique man and a _top_ class manager with a style very much his own; the game will miss Valery Lobanovsky. [sup]1[/sup] Probably one the best striking _partnerships_ of any team in the couple of years. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![ObiWan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e47774/32.png) [@ObiWan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ObiWan)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2002, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061/59 "2002-05-14T12:55:38Z")
**missing word** …one the best striking _partnerships_ of any team in the **last** couple of years. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2002, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061/60 "2002-05-14T13:35:01Z")
Oh referee ! Ramon Vega and now Rebrov…dear oh dear. This thread isn’t quite going in the direction I’d like… Shame about Lobanovsky. Don’t know why but the name always made me smile (in a schoolboy humour kind of way he sounded like a Russian porn star). Probably just me. I hope he’ll be watching from the great dug out in the sky…lob on, or not. So anyway, there’s a few of us up for a repeat of Euro 2000. Unless someone else is keen, I’ll knock up a thread early next week (for the predictions, etc). Stills seems a little premature… At the moment then, we have: **Coldfire Crusoe Kabbes London\_Calling ObiWan TwistofFate** Didn’t **ruadh** excuse herself last time on some spurious pretext ? :D. I wonder if she’ll let us see what she’s made of _this_ time… \ A little less conversation, a little more action please… Come on, come on… \ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-world-cup-squad-named/108061.md?page=4)