Goodbye England & Brazil for World Cup 2006

Sedihnya aku bila kedua-dua team ni sudah out di peringkat quaterfinal. Apa boleh buat, sudah nasib. Itulah orang bilang yang bola itu bulat, macam-macam boleh jadi. Tengok saja Brazil, kalau ikut betul tiada team yang boleh match diorang. Siapa sangka France boleh kasi kalah diorang. Tapi kalau tengok game Brazil dengan France. France deserved to win the game.

Zidane was superb! so to Viera, Malouda and Ribery. I thought these four players were the prime mover for France. Their back four also outstanding. Not to miss Makalele stopping all the brazilian attacks. All that make Thierry Henry comfortably performs his striking role infront. I will not be suprised if the French team could win the World Cup again this time with this kind of display they had shown.

As for England, I thought they were unfortunate not to win the game against the Portugese. Again, they couldn't break their penalty jinx. I couldn't ask for more. They should win it in 90 minutes. Chances were wasted. And again, Wayne Rooney showed his immaturity by his sending off in the 2nd half. But I had to say, Owen Hargreaves was the best England player on the pitch in this game. He's everywhere. Stopping the Portugese, blocking the ball, delivering the ball to his striker and dribbling the ball towards the enemy's goal. He did everything for England. And he is the only one who scored for England in the penalty shoot-out. Feel sorry for him.

Congratulation to Portugal for the win. Scolari did it again. He is the master. Portugese football owes a lot to him. Without him, I don't think the Portugese will go this far, or even qualifiy for the World Cup. He brought them to the European Championship final last two years and he is showing his magic touch again in this World Cup. Would he becomes the only coach to win a World Cup with two different team? There is a possibility. I cannot write him off. With Deco and Costinha will be back for the semifinal against France, I am pretty sure they can spring some suprises for the French. One more thing, Ricardo, the Portugese's goalkeeper was the hero for his team in the penalty shoot-out, where he had saved three out of four of the English penalties. He was absolutely fantastic. World Class!

So, semifinal matches, here we come. Germany vs Italy and Portugal vs France. Oh my, I did not review for the other two Quaterfinal matches that include Germany and Italy because the result was what as I had predicted.

For the first SEMI match between German and Italy. I really hope that the Italian could beat the German. But the German plays on his home soil, so it looks really impossible to beat the German. I would be happy if the Italian could beat the German.

I also hope that Portugal could beat France in the second SEMI. Between this two, in terms of strength, it is almost the same. So, it will be an interesting match to watch.

Who will go to the final? If looks on paper, i think Germany will meet France. But I would like to see the Portugese meets the Italian in the final match. Everyone had a chance to become the next World Champion in here since Brazil was already out from this competition.

History is in the making. The German and the Italian are seeking their forth crowns. The French is also trying to emulate their achievement in 1998 by lifting the crown again for the second time around. And interestingly, The Portugese will put their name in the World Cup winner's lists for the first time if they lift the crown this year.

Superstitiously, Portugal will win the World Cup because they had beaten England in the World Cup. For the record, England had lost in the knock-out round of previous WC competition only to the eventual winner, reigning champions or former champions. Thus, the Portugese have a good omen on this. Only Germany, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil had beaten England in the round of 16, quarterfinal and semifinal. Italy did beat England in 1990 for third placing playoff. The 'Luiz Felipe Scolari' factor also plays part in here. The Brazilian born coach never taste a lost in World Cup tournament so far. Such a good omen for the Portugese team.

The German will win the cup because of the home soil advantage. In 1974, they won the cup when they were the host of the tournament. The last time Italy won the World Cup in 1982, before the tournament started, their football federation and league had been investigated for football corruptions. This year too, the corruption scandal hits back in the Italian leauge where several players from the top clubs had been investigated for match-fixing.

France is the outsider if looks from superstitious view.

So, the superstitious prediction, Portugal gonna win the World Cup! Yahoo!!!! Go! Go! Scolari!! The Brazil spirit still there! I do hope they win!