The Official Football/Soccer Thread: 2017-2018 Season
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unclesox:
Germany lose Ballack for opener 8 June 2006 by AFP Germany captain Michael Ballack has lost his battle to be fit for Friday's World Cup opener against Costa Rica, manager Jurgen Klinsmann said on Thursday. "It seems that Michael Ballack cannot play against Costa Rica," Klinsmann said at a press conference on Thursday. "He only trained for 30 minutes on Wednesday and then had to pull out. "We wanted Ballack on board as he is our captain and leader but it is important that he recovers. "We want him to get back to full fitness so that he can be fit for the other games in the competition."
Reports from Friday?s edition of German newspaper "Bild" suggest that the situation has changed overnight. The 29-year-old midfielder, who has missed the majority of training over the last few days due to a calf injury, is quoted as saying: "I have undergone intensive treatment and am feeling great again with no pain at all. I want to play!" er... 3 1/2 hours until kickoff!
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Okay, here are my predictions for today & the weekend for now: - Friday 9 June Germany 2 - Costa Rica 1 Poland 1 - Ecuador 0 Saturday 10 June England 2 - Paraguay 1 Trinidad/Tobago 0- Sweden 2 Argentina 2 - Ivory Coast 1 Sunday 11 June Serbia/Montenegro 1 - Holland 2 Mexico 2 - Iran 1 Angola 0- Portugal 3 -
90 minutes to go!
According to German magazine SportBILD, the Opening Ceremony is expected to go as follows: 16:25 - Start of the ceremony -- Show act (20 minutes), likely to be a gig and the name I've been hearing is... Right Said Fred?! Are you kidding me?! 
-- Presentation of the trophy with well over 100 former World Cup winning players -- German chancellor Angela Merkel to open the tournament, followed by a welcome speech by Federal President Horst Köhler. -- Performance of official tournament anthem: "Zeit, dass sich was dreht" ("Celebrate The Day") by Herbert Grönemeyer featuring Amadou & Mariam -- Performance of official tournament song: "Time Of Our Lives" by Toni Braxton & Il Divo -- "Sawker"-obsessed Macca board poster unclesox runs naked onto the pitch with the phrase "McCARTNEY MESSAGE BOARD RULES!" written on his back as the national teams of Germany and Costa Rica walk out. WOO HOO! -
Haha, that would be soo cool. I could be the star of the party I'll be of to in a minute, boasting that I know this crazy guy and also post on this message board! Here's my prediction for today's games: Germany - Costa Rica 3-0 Poland - Ecuador 2-1 -
The parade of former players who've won the World Cup is going on now. Beautiful stuff... HEY, THERE'S PELE!!
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Let's see. Do I have everything?
Yup! That should get me through today's first game. -
unclesox:
unclesox:
Germany lose Ballack for opener 8 June 2006 by AFP Germany captain Michael Ballack has lost his battle to be fit for Friday's World Cup opener against Costa Rica, manager Jurgen Klinsmann said on Thursday. "It seems that Michael Ballack cannot play against Costa Rica," Klinsmann said at a press conference on Thursday. "He only trained for 30 minutes on Wednesday and then had to pull out. "We wanted Ballack on board as he is our captain and leader but it is important that he recovers. "We want him to get back to full fitness so that he can be fit for the other games in the competition."
Reports from Friday?s edition of German newspaper "Bild" suggest that the situation has changed overnight. The 29-year-old midfielder, who has missed the majority of training over the last few days due to a calf injury, is quoted as saying: "I have undergone intensive treatment and am feeling great again with no pain at all. I want to play!"
Official lineups have just been released. Ballack is NOT in the starting eleven. C'MON TICOS!!
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I hope Costa Rica will play their best football today
, and Germany their worst 
! Go Ticos!!! -
Match #1 1st Round - Group A München - Allianz Arena GERMANY -v- COSTA RICA [size=1] .............  kickoff: 18:00 referee: Horacio Elizondo (Argentina)
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I hope Germany play well!! Talking of food: we're having some BBQ, salads and beer later - kinda like a World Cup Barbecue.
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Kickoff, yeah, yeah, yeah!!!!!!!!!
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Match has kicked off.
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3' Frings 30-35 yd shot from center just over bar 6' Lahm shot from left corner edge of area dips over Porras into right corner of net Germany 1-0
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10' Thru ball has Klose pressure Porras, ball breaks free, Klose gains possesion and blasts high 10 yds from right side 12' Against the run of play, Wanchope breaks offside trap on counter and slots past Lehmann from 18yds center 1-1
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15' played 1-1
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17' Low cross from right finds Schweinsteiger who advances, cross into middle for Klose to hammer home right footed from 12 yds center Germany 2-1 What a start to the tournament!!
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22' Podoloski chests down and slams left footed shot from 25yds center straight to Porras 23' Schweinsteiger shoots right footed from 25yds left-center, ball rebounds off Porras' chest, ball cleared into touch 30' Fonseca yellow for time wasting
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37' Friedrich shot from 25yds right-center well high over bar 38' Schweinsteiger cross from left, ball bounces thru for Friedrich to shoot right-footed against defender, hand ball appeals denied 40' Podolski free kick, 20yds right-center, left-footed over right side of bar 43' corner right side, outswinging by Schweinsteiger, thru to Metzelder whose left-foot attempt screws well wide 45' played 1' injury time remain
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Halftime Germany 2-1 Costa Rica 1-0 : Lahm 6' 1-1 : Wanchope 12' 2-1 : Klose 17'
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Germany with much more of the play and opportunities, but Ticos are looking dangerous trying to counter the offside traps. Off to replenish myself.
![http://www.3dflags.com/media/icon/classic/g/3dflagsdotcom_gerna_2faws.gif[/img]](http://www.3dflags.com/media/icon/classic/g/3dflagsdotcom_gerna_2faws.gif%5B/img%5D){kind=link}
