SWEDEN-ARGENTINA [Spoiler below!]
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1-1 Ouch I think I just blew a blood vessel! Was that nerve wrecking or what? The last minutes I was standing in the doorpost kind of peeking in at the TV from afar. Well, and we are through. Who would have thought it when we saw our group. Even though we walk in the valley of the shadow of Death we will fear no other team. This match was “won” because of several things.
[ul]
[li]Our golie playing a very good game. Hedman has been a bit hesitant in ealier games but pulled it together this game. Did you see the save on the shot at the end of the game? Niiiiice…[/li]
[li]Aggresive strikers. We almost scored the 2-0 goal twice in the second half. An excellent performance by Andersson that hit the crossbar after Argentinas golie got his index finger nail on it. Also Argentina got really close to putting the ball in their own net after an acrobatic sideline run by the reserve Johnson (who the hell is he?).[/li]
[li]Mjällby “the power plant” and Jakobson. The middle defenders were absolutely dominating in the middle. [/li]
[li]Svensson and Linderoth are proving themselves as capable defensive midfielders. Could we please forget about Daniel Andersson now, pretty please?[/li]
[li]Teamwork, these guys work like a team. You can see that the players are working for eachother.[/li][/ul]
On a side note, the penalty was a fair enough call but why the F*** wasn’t the goal disallowed. Crespo clearly started towards the goal way to early and got to the rebound a week before any one could possibly get there. The line referee has ONE thing to look at and he can’t even do that. Putz! send him home pronto!
It looks like we can play on the break and this is good news.
Oh yeah, did I mention that we frigging WON the group of death? Well we did… Got to go and have a heart attack now…
WHOOOHOOOO! I never dared dream of it but it happened! The Swedish team got Argentina off the tournament!(And England, I know:D ) It is what? 40 years since Argentina never got past the groupplay? Whohoooo!
Yes, the Argentina goal should have been disallowed and the booking of Larsson was ridiculous. Do you think we’ll be seeing much more of that referee this year?
Crespo definitely started onto the goal way way too early. It’s a penalty for F’s sake - you can’t do that!
Well done Sweden!
I’ve got to say though, I’m kind of glad that you’re playing Senegal in the heat of the day, and we’ve got Denmark in the evening. Senegal worry me. They’re skilled, fit, fast and fearless.
It’s nice to see the Swedes move on to the next stage - but I have to add, it’s also the first tournament ever where the Swedes actually play some attractive football.
So all in all, good go, although I’m still in shock that both France AND Argentina have been kicked out in the group stages. What a shocker!
I just find the Argentineans so infuriating. As mentioned, Crespo at the penalty kick was outrageous.
Ddin’t see enough of the game to really comment, though.
However, wouldn’t this be a good time to be hanging out at a bar in Stockholm ! An afternoon between a couple of blonde goalposts would be just the ticket…
Coldfire, your brain is going all fuzzy from those morning games you’re watching.
Pull out that USA '94 highlights tape and remember the grace and power of Dahlin. It was only the semi-final that was boring. And I seem to recall Brazil having a lot to do with boring soccer that game, too. And wasn’t there some cheeky little blonde dude named Brolin…
What is the World Cup? Never heard of it before. What? are you saying that teams all over the world gather in one place and compete. Is this a new tournament? Never herad of it?
Jokes aside congrats Sweden and specially England, it seems you finally got your revenge. Anyway the gods themselves wanted us out of this cup, in fact Jupiter himself was wondering in mount Olympus: "What else can we do to this boys, they are having a terrible 2002. What will we do? Force them to default their debt? Nope alredy done that. I have it!! a new president… nope they had 5 different this year… Wait!!! I know!!! yes!!! those useless playboys (Crespo and batistuta) won’t be able to score.
London calling we usually found english infurating too. We are just too eductaed to mention it.
I DO feel bad for Argentina today, Estilicon. Lord knows your country has been through a LOT lately. It was gutwrenching to see the despair on the faces of those watching in Buenos Aires. Freezing their asses off in the middle of the winter night, clad in the most beautiful jersey in the world - the noble blue-and-white. Only to then see your team lose it all.
It’s a damn shame Argentina couldn’t deliver. They’re always one of my favourites, and always will be. At least in 1998, they could leave the tournament with their chins up (and I’m not just saying that because they lost to Holland ;)).
But now that our future Queen is an Argentinian native, I feel even more “connected” with your country, for some reason. I’m eagerly looking forward to a rejuvenated Argentinian squad in 2006. With that world cup so close to me, I’m gonna do my damn best to see them again.
I only saw them play once, in a friendly match right before Euro 2000, playing Holland in Amsterdam. They were magnificent. Redondo is one of the greatest midfielders ever. Bati scored, and so did Davids. I could live with the draw, and saw two great teams duke it out right in front of me. It was a beautiful evening.
Argentina deserve what they got. I just saw a replay of the Sweedish goal, and was reminded that the Argentines never even moved, let alone jumped, to block the kick. At least Nigeria were jumping to try and stop the Beckham specials…
The Crespo goal was ridiculous was ridiculous, and so were the ESPN broadcasters here in the states. I am not sure of their names, but I think one is Seamus, and they are English and they said NOTHING about the fact Crespo was in the area well before the kick was taken. Worse, they were critical of the Swedish defenders for letting Crespo go in unmarked. Open your eyes! Thankfuly it changed nothing.
They did call the Larssen yellow ‘bizarre’ wondering what the ref was looking at.
Seamus Malin and Tommy Smyth never work together, because they are both “color” commentators. I forget who Seamus Malin is paired with this tournament, but I like him because he is knowledgable, and quite obviously from somewhere where they speak English, not American. But they did manage to miss the fact that Crespo got away with the sort of encroachment that is a blatant violation of Law XIV, but is never called. I’d have thought Malin would have at least made a comment, though likely understated. He’s a bit of a dry, quiet man, especially compared to the excitable Mr. Smyth.