Weltschale Zwei Tausend Und Sechs

Thats, World Cup 2006 in German. The World Cup has been very entertaining so far except for Englands performances but who cares(they say), its the scoreline that matters.

During the group stages we witness huge thrashing from the stronger teams against the weaker teams with scorelines like 6-0, 4-1, 4-0 and so on...

But as we get closer to the Quater-Finals, the goals are getting lesser, defense are getting tighter and the teams are getting stronger. Germany showed great prowess in attack and good possession in midfield. They showed they can control the game with good possession and swift passing. They play a very fast game and was given freedom by their coach to shoot from all possible angles. So far their strategy has paid off handsomely and they are through to the quarter finals.

Germany will meet Argentina and England will meet Portugal in the Quarter-Finals and if England are to even have a snift at the Semi-Finals and beat Portugal they have better up their game and come up with better strategies and stop relying on long balls. Luis Felippe Scolari beat England the last time they met at the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan but with Brazil then. Will he make it 2 -0 this time.

So far the 4 teams that have qualified for the Quater-Finals only England are the less convincing winners. Germany, Argentina & Portugal all have very good possession of the ball with good passing play and are very fast when attacking. Although England are playing very unconvincingly but they still have the talismanic Wayne Rooney, the only player to cause problems for the opposing defense and creating chances for his side.

Tonite Australia take on Italy in a first time encounter in the World Cup Finals. Lets see if the Socceroos can beat Italy and go through to the Quater-Finals.