Mexico and Portugal will equally be tough opponents for Holland in the next round, but I'm specifically cheering for Holland to win today because... IF they win today, and then IF they beat Mexico, it'll set-up quarterfinal match-ups of Holland-Germany (one of the biggest international rivalries on ...

Vonlanthen transfer from PSV to Salzburg:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story ... 85&cc=5739

Bottom line for me after the U.S.-Italy match... it was a game to be proud of for Americans. It was an extremely intense battle, and the team showed enormous heart, character, and fighting spirit. This was the kind of match that people will talk about for a long time and is what helps build soccer c...

Regarding the ref in the U.S.-Italy match... First, here's an article about Larrionda published before the 2002 WC: Thursday, January 10, 2002 Update 2002: Uruguayan referee suspended By Dale Johnson The Uruguayan FA have this week suspended five of their top officials for six months - including one...

The TV commentators in the U.S. seemed to spend an excessive amount of time in the first half slamming Heitinga... "by far the biggest liability on the Dutch squad" was one quote.

How much did Ajax pay for him, if anything??

Interesting that he was only signed to a one-year contract.

The Americans today were taken out back, behind the woodshed, and given the Old Yeller treatment. Brutal. I thought they'd be more competitive than that and put up a decent fight... but it was men v. boys, pros v. amateurs. :pukey: And congrats to the Aussies!! Great finish to the match and great re...

robben was a little selfish, but anyway... I've heard/read a few commentators make similar remarks today, and I don't get it. If Robben had an ineffective day, wasn't creating a lot, was going nowhere with the ball, was losing the ball a lot, and yet was still being selfish and not passing enough.....

The most overrated team, in my opinion, is France. They're good, but not great, and not one of the top teams. Playing on home field in 1998, combined with someone poisoning Ronaldo, has unfortunately created a massive chasm between expectation and reality for the last eight years.

Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but I'm going to say Italy doesn't even advance from their group. Czechs and USA to advance.

Group C and E are easily the two toughest groups, so those are the ones holding the most interest for me (man, I hope Italy don't advance). The other groups are pretty boring, and will only get interesting when/if there is an upset or two.

And Shevchanko just now signed with Chelsea, too. 30 million pounds transfer fee going to Milan.

I know the club never officially discloses transfer fees, but "unofficially," how much did Ajax pay for him?

I would still like to see Kromkamp as the new RB.

Everyone overrates Argentina and Brazil. Ok they're good and better than many of the European nations, but their qualification was a one way ticket, and they don't play attractive football. Argentina... I somewhat agree with you. A good team, but not great. In my opinion, they're a team to make the...

Well, that sure is a twist... after it was reported in the last couple days that he had signed with Ajax. Not one of my favorites, so I'm not overly heart-broken to see him go, but still, if it's true that he is gone to Nantes, I wish him all the best for his future career.

I note in my paper today that Escude was given 8 out of 10 and rated agood defender who is attracting better clubs. I dont want to bring this up again but dropping him and then seeing our defence being poor most of the season and indeed after Christmas having to play Reserves is bad management just...

Reports in England indicate that Everton is already hoping to sell Andy Van der Meyde (he has only been there for 9 months), and their asking price for him is 2.5 million euros.

Davids played a lot older and slower for Spurs this season than he did the season before he arrived. He wasn't one of their strongest players this year, and he's on the decline. His knowledge, experience, and tenacity would be great for Ajax next season, but his actual playing ability would not impr...

I'm not a big fan of Lindenbergh or Boukhari, and I'm not big on the idea of getting Davids... otherwise, I like your team quite a bit, Goblin (with a couple replacements for the ones I mentioned above).

philippe schreef:
Cup finals are always exciting

Always? Really? Every single one? Ever?

Sevilla seems on its way to the UEFA final against Middlesbrough. Nice :) Yes. And Escudé played the whole game, including extra time. Good for him. I'm very pleased to hear that. (P.S.: what about that Middlesbrough win... F*cking amazing...) K. They did it in the last round against Basle, too!! ...

I pretty much agree with others here. He's an okay player, but not great. If he were exceptional, then yes, keep him of course. But with greater competition I see him as a fringe player coming off the bench sometimes, and to be honest, I'd rather have some of the young guys like Anita and Sarpong fi...

Change is needed or the Ajax we have known and loved is going to sink into the seas of mediocrity Mediocrity is a state of mind, a lack of ambition. We reached the peak when Koeman said before the Bayern-Ajax game something like" do not expect too much from those young players, I don't think we can...

Bottom line... ... the playoff(s) system is a horrible, terrible, horrible, disgraceful, horrible, embarrassing, horrible, and pathetic (did I mention horrible?) addition to the league landscape. The final league table should detemine who goes to the CL, UEFA Cup, gets promoted, etc. End of story. T...