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FIFA WC - Group B England/Paraguay/T & T/Sweden

Rotblatt Jun 05 2006 10:49 AM

A Stroll to Round 2 for the Three Lions? FIFA World Ranking England 9th Paraguay 33rd Trinidad and Tobago 49th Sweden 16th England should advance through Group B, particularly with "robotic" striker Crouch coming into form, scoring 4 in the last two friendlies. However, despite the disparity in ranking, there's no clear favorite between Paraguay and Sweden for the second spot. Paraguay reached Round 2 in each of the last two World Cups, and their strong play against powerhouse Argentina during qualifying (1-0 victory, 0-0 draw) shows that they're no easy mark. With key striker Santa Cruz apparently recovered from knee surgery, it could be a dogfight for second with Sweden. Meanwhile, Sweden managed no better than a 1-1 tie in a lackluster friendly against Chile, who had not scored since January 2006. Game to watch England v. Trinidad and Tobago on June 15 in Nuremberg. With most of T & T's players housed in England, expect some spirited play from the Carribean debutantes.

A Boy Named Seo Jun 09 2006 03:35 PM

KTE: Trinidab and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago is not the World Welterweight Championship fight on HBO this Saturday, but rather a pair of Caribbean islands located a mere seven miles north of Edgardo Alfonzo's homeland of Venezuela. It's home to the biggest Carnival (read: street party) in the Caribbean and is the birthplace of Calypso music. It turns out Chris Columbus not only "discovered" America, but he "discovered" Trinidad, as well, and claimed it for mother Spain in 1498. Way to go, Chris! Some 300 years later, French immigrants began to move to Trinidad, and in 1797, the British captured Trinidad, and Trinidad and Tobago both became British colonies in 1802. The influence of all three countries is still very prevolent today. The year the New York Mets were born, so too did Trinidad and Tobago become an independant member of the Commonwealth of Nations and in 1976, as the US celebrated its bicentennial, The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago was officially born. The day was August 1, 1976, the same day Skip Lockwood and your New York Mets dropped a heartbreaking, 11-inning, 7-6 defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies. Thanks, Seo, but what about World Cup info? Alright, alright, hold your horsies. World Cup info on Trinidad and Tobago is confined to this year's squad alone, as 2006 marks the debut for the country as a participant. But the Soca Warriors, as they're called, have certainly earned their spot in this year's tourney by busting up the Dominican Republic, St Kitts and Nevis, and St Vincent and the Grenadines in the first group series, and after getting a new coach (the Netherlands Leo Beenhakker), they beat down Panama in the qualifiers, lost a close 1-0 match to the USA, and finally beat Mexico, who'd defeated them in their three previous matches, to advance to play Bahrain, whom they defeated 1-nil to advance to their first World Cup. Was that a run-on? It felt like it. The Ancient Jedi Coach Beenhakker The Soca Warriors Giving the T&T offense their boom is veteran former Man U. star Dwight Yorke and Coventry forward John Stern, who's scored 65 career international goals. Dwight Yorke John Stern 37-year old West Ham goalie Shaka Hislop is the goalkeeper. Shaka Hislop Trinidad and Tobago are certainly underdogs, but have held their own against some bigger world powers and even snatched a couple of victories from more heralded teams. Take them lightly and T&T may very well explode a furious bomb of soccer prowess all over their unsuspecting opponent. Go Trinidad & Tobago!!!

Edgy DC Jun 09 2006 03:51 PM

'Cause I'm T & T! I'm dynamite! T & T! And I'll win the fight! T & T! I'm a power load! T & T! Watch me explode!

metirish Jun 09 2006 04:09 PM

Seo you do some fine work,"England vs. Paraguay" on ABC Saturday at 9AM.

metirish Jun 10 2006 12:52 PM

England the poxy fuckers beat Paraguay on a own goal...they are gettign lambasted in the English media right now.

OlerudOwned Jun 10 2006 01:57 PM

I've never seen people get so excited to play to a 0-0 draw. I can understand why they would be, it's just odd to an outsider of the sport. Also, a quick question, what's the "Caps" stat they keep showing. All I could tell from the England-Paraguay game was that Beckham was t-5th all time in English history, which doesn't help me at all.

metirish Jun 10 2006 02:27 PM

Back in the old days a player would get a "cap" each time he played for his country, they don't give caps anymore except for your first game but it tells how many times a player appeared for his country, Beckam is the 5th most capped player for England, and a quick guess would say he's behind Bobby Charlton, Bryan Robson, Peter Shilton and some old timer.

OlerudOwned Jun 10 2006 02:35 PM

metirish wrote: Back in the old days a player would get a "cap" each time he played for his country, they don't give caps anymore except for your first game but it tells how many times a player appeared for his country, Beckam is the 5th most capped player for England, and a quick guess would say he's behind Bobby Charlton, Bryan Robson, Peter Shilton and some old timer. Aha. Thanks.

metirish Jun 10 2006 03:10 PM

Here is what a cap would look like, basically it would have the Nations FA symol on it and the date of the game...

The Big O Jun 10 2006 03:39 PM

metirish wrote: Back in the old days a player would get a "cap" each time he played for his country, they don't give caps anymore except for your first game but it tells how many times a player appeared for his country, Beckam is the 5th most capped player for England, and a quick guess would say he's behind Bobby Charlton, Bryan Robson, Peter Shilton and some old timer. Bobby Moore of course

Rotblatt Jun 10 2006 05:24 PM

England looked pretty bad in their match this morning. They were clearly content to sit on a 1-0 lead and didn't do much to create opportunities. They're lucky to come out of it with 3 points. A pretty poor match over all, if you ask me. Especially when compared to T&T v. Sweden, which was just phenomenal. Hislop, a late replacement for injured keeper Kelvin Jack, was masterful in holding off some relentless and creative attacks by Sweden. What was almost as impressive to me was the ability of T&T to create some chances in the second half while playing with only 10 men for the second half. An enormous upset for T&T. The way they literally threw themselves into the match made it just a joy to watch. It'll be tough to repeat this level of intensity, but after today's heroics, all their games are pretty much a must-see for me.

Willets Point Jun 15 2006 01:50 PM

England's good. After an 83-minute deadlock they score a goal despite playing against two other teams. Goal by Crouch who I want to call Bertie for some reason. And another one just now by Gerrard. England up 2-0. CONCACAF weeps.

metirish Jun 15 2006 01:52 PM

On this showing though Engerland are not long for this WC...

Elster88 Jun 15 2006 01:58 PM

]CONCACAF ???

Willets Point Jun 15 2006 02:02 PM

Elster88 wrote: ]CONCACAF ??? I don't remember what all the letters mean but CONCACAF is the continental zone for North America, Central America and the Carribean. There are 6 zones total based loosely on the 6 inhabited continents and each zone gets a certain number of teams depending on the quality of soccer play in that region (thus Europe and South America get the most teams). This year CONCACAF has 4 teams in the World Cup and I'm rooting for any of those teams that don't rhyme with Texaco to advance to the next round but so far Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago, and the USA have played like crap.

metirish Jun 15 2006 02:02 PM

CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football)

Willets Point Jun 15 2006 02:09 PM

metirish = a wealth of knowledge (or a good Googler).

Rotblatt Jun 15 2006 02:27 PM

Amazing job by T&T (and Hislop, once again!) to hold off England for so long. Crouch apparently kicked away several fine chances for goals before finally connecting--it sounds like he had some serious chokes. England's definitely going to have to kick it up a notch once the knockout round starts, but if Rooney can get back into form, it'll certainly help. It's a good sign that he felt well enough to play today as a sub. WP, I wouldn't say that T&T played like crap. Holding Sweden to a tie--when down a man--was frankly heroic, and keeping England off the board for as long as they did was impressive as well.

metirish Jun 15 2006 02:42 PM

Rooney getting back into form is a big if, especially as today was the first real action in several weeks, and that's part of the problem for England, they are depending on the likes of Rooney and Owen who are just coming back form injuries.....

Willets Point Jun 15 2006 03:05 PM

Rotblatt wrote: WP, I wouldn't say that T&T played like crap. Holding Sweden to a tie--when down a man--was frankly heroic, and keeping England off the board for as long as they did was impressive as well. You're right I was projecting the USA & Costa Rica's performances on them. Still don't think that Trindidad and/or Tobago will play in the knock out round.

metirish Jun 15 2006 03:13 PM

]metirish = a wealth of knowledge (or a good Googler). Well not Google but Wikipedia...

Willets Point Jun 15 2006 04:03 PM

The Sun commentators are quite bored with the Sweden/Paraguay game. They were quite the homers for the England game though. I should be glad it's not ABC at least.

Willets Point Jun 15 2006 05:01 PM

Sweden wins on a late goal. I followed a baseball game, three soccer games, voted in three BLC match-ups and still got some work done. I'm going home.

Willets Point Jun 20 2006 11:11 AM

Funny commentary from the Guardian. The debate is whether England would be better off finishing 1st or 2nd in their group and the possibilities of facing Germany, Argentina, and/or Brazil in the knock-out rounds. Which leads to this comment: ]Christ, isn’t there any way England can win the World Cup without facing any good teams? I mean, the Pittsburgh Steelers are world champions and didn’t even have to take on the London Blitz.

Willets Point Jun 20 2006 04:28 PM

England & Sweden tied at 1. Paraquay scores their first goal and leads 1-0. Both games about 20 mins into the 2nd half. My hopes of Trinidad and/or Tobago advancing are wasting away.

Willets Point Jun 20 2006 04:41 PM

England's playing to win and break the tie!

Willets Point Jun 20 2006 04:47 PM

England's playing crappy defense and allow Sweden to tie!

Rotblatt Jun 20 2006 04:49 PM

I feel bad for T&T. They played their hearts out against two great teams and are now about to lose to a medoicre Paraguay, when a win might have allowed them to advance to the second group (IF England holds up against Sweden). Cuevas adds a second goal in the 86th minute, and it's just about over for T&T. sigh.

Willets Point Jun 20 2006 05:03 PM

England ties Sweden 2-2 and Paraguay defeats T&T 2-zip. Group B is complete. Team MP W D L GF GA Pts England 3 2 1 0 5 2 7 Sweden 3 1 2 0 3 2 5 Paraguay 3 1 0 2 2 2 3 Trinidad and Tobago 3 0 1 2 0 4 1 Sweden meets Germany on Saturday Ecuador faces England on Sunday

Willets Point Jun 21 2006 09:27 AM

Bad news for England. Forward Michael Owen is out for the rest of the tournament with a knee injury.

metirish Jun 21 2006 09:36 AM

Which infact the English press are trying to tell people might be a blessing in disguise.....now Rooney and Crouch can play upfront...

Frayed Knot Jun 21 2006 09:39 AM

No Michael Owen They'll have no more Michael Owen No Michael Owwwww-en Now they've got no Michael Owen

Edgy DC Jun 21 2006 10:05 AM

T & T got a draw. They must have challenged Petty.