Football

[Revan]

Brazil, England, Czech Republic, Holland, Germany and Italy will be the big teams that can win it.

Not entirely. Nobody suspected Korea four years ago - and they got to the semi's. And in the same way no-body thought Greece were going to get anywhere 2 years ago.

Ukraine have a good team on them - I think they might be in with a shot.

[Queeaqueg]

Everyone knew Korea were cheating. The Ref was on their side. Greece got lucky. Something like that will not happen this year.

[Warmark]

Everyone knew Korea were cheating. The Ref was on their side.

[Nav]

Went to the biggest football match of my life at the weekend. Stockport played well against Carlisle but couldn't quite beat them, fortunately Orient beat Oxford so they went down instead. The pitch invasion at the end was great and the County and Carlisle fans both applauded each other (they were confirmed as Champions).

Great job County, but don't ever do that to us again!

[Queeaqueg]

The England squad has be named. Here is the 23 man squad:

Goalkeepers
Paul Robinson - Tottenham
David James - Man City
Robert Green - Norwich

Defenders
Gary Neville - Man United
Rio Ferdinand - Man United
John Terry - Chelsea
Ashely Cole - Arsenal
Sol Campball - Arsenal
Jamie Carragher - Liverpool
Wayne Bridge - Chelsea

Midfielders
David Beckham - Real Madrid
Michael Carrick - Tottenham
Frank Lampard - Chelsea
Steven Gerrard - Liverpool
Owen Hargreaves - Bayern Munich
Jermain Jenas - Tottenham
Stuart Downing - Middlesbrough
Joe Cole - Chelsea
Aaron Lennon - Tottenham

Forward
Wayne Rooney - Man United
Michael Owen - Newcastle
Peter Crouch - Liverpool
Theo Walcott - Arsenal

Coach - Sven-Goran Eriksson

Standby
Scott Carson - Liverpool
Michael Dawson - Tottenham
Nigel Reo-Coker - West Ham
Jermain Defoe - Tottenham
Andy Johnson - Crystal Palace

No Mention
Shaun Wright-Phillips - Chelsea
Ledley King - Tottenham
Darran Bent - Charlton
James Beattie - Everton
Kerion Dyer - Newcastle
Scott Parker - Newcastle
Kerion Richardson - Man United
Phil Neville - Everton
Joey Barton - Man City
Kevin Nolan - Bolton[/u]

[Cail]

Is Rooney going to be healthy by then?

[Warmark]

Doesn't look likely, its just a waste of a squad place taking him.

Its a decent squad, but they never win it.

[Revan]

Is Rooney going to be healthy by then?

It looks doubtful.

Everyone knew Korea were cheating. The Ref was on their side. Greece got lucky. Something like that will not happen this year.

Regardless, Greece won it. Korea got to the semi's. It doesn't matter about the means, just the result.

[Queeaqueg]

Here are some of the other squads named(that I know of):

USA
Goalkeepers: Kasey Keller (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Tim Howard (Manchester United), Marcus Hahnemann (Reading).

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Cory Gibbs (ADO Den Haag), Chris Albright (LA Galaxy), Eddie Lewis (Leeds Utd), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege), Eddie Pope (Real Salt Lake).

Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (PSV Eindhoven), Bobby Convey (Reading), Clint Dempsey (New England Revolution), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), John O'Brien (Chivas USA), Ben Olsen (DC United), Claudio Reyna (Manchester City).

Forwards: Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards), Brian McBride (Fulham), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards)

Holland
Keepers: Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United), Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax), Henk Timmer (AZ Alkmaar)

Defenders: Khalid Boulahrouz (Hamburg SV), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Barcelona), Tim de Cler (AZ Alkmaar), Kew Jaliens (AZ Alkmaar), Jan Kromkamp (Liverpool), Joris Mathijsen (AZ Alkmaar), Andre Ooijer (PSV Eindhoven), Johnny Heitinga (Ajax), Barry Opdam (AZ Alkmaar)

Midfielders: George Boateng (Middlesbrough), Mark van Bommel (Barcelona), Phillip Cocu (PSV Eindhoven), Nigel de Jong (Hamburg SV), Denny Landzaat (AZ Alkmaar), Hedwiges Maduro (Ajax), Wesley Sneijder (Ajax), Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg SV)

Strikers: Ryan Babel (Ajax), Romeo Castelen (Feyenoord), Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Ajax), Dirk Kuyt (Feyenoord), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Arjen Robben (Chelsea), Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (PSV Eindhoven).

Both look strong.

[Revan]

The USA got pretty far last world cup. They've actually got a pretty good squad. I'm saddened that so few Americans will even know there is a World Cup going on, let alone their team is playing in it.

[Queeaqueg]

Here are a few more interesting squads that have been named:

Australia
Goalkeepers: Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough), Zeljko Kalac (AC Milan), Ante Covic (Hammarby)

Defenders: Michael Beauchamp (Central Coast), Craig Moore (Newcastle United), Lucas Neill (Blackburn Rovers), Tony Popovic (Crystal Palace), Mark Milligan (Sydney FC)

Midfielders: Marco Bresciano (Parma), Tim Cahill (Everton), Scott Chipperfield (Basel), Jason Culina (PSV Eindhoven), Brett Emerton (Blackburn Rovers), Vince Grella (Parma), Stan Lazaridis (free agent), Josip Skoko (Stoke City on loan from Wigan Athletic), Mile Sterjovski (Basel), Luke Wilkshire (Bristol City)

Forwards: John Aloisi (Alaves), Harry Kewell (Liverpool), Archie Thompson (PSV Eindhoven), Mark Viduka (Middlesbrough), Josh Kennedy (Dinamo Dreseden)

Sweden
Goalkeepers: John Alvbage (Viborg), Andreas Isaksson (Rennes), Rami Shaaban (Fredrikstad).

Defenders: Erik Edman (Rennes), Petter Hansson (Heerenveen), Teddy Lucic (Hacken), Olof Mellberg (Aston Villa), Mikael Nilsson (Panathinaikos), Fredrik Stenman (Bayer Leverkusen), Karl Svensson (IFK Goteborg).

Midfielders: Niclas Alexandersson (IFK Goteborg), Daniel Andersson (Malmo), Johan Elmander (Brondby), Mattias Jonson (Djurgarden), Kim Kallstrom (Rennes), Tobias Linderoth (Copenhagen), Fredrik Ljungberg (Arsenal), Anders Svensson (Elfsborg), Christian Wilhelmsson (Anderlecht).

Strikers: Marcus Allback (Copenhagen), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Juventus), Henrik Larsson (Barcelona), Markus Rosenberg (Ajax).

Spain
Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Jose Reina (Liverpool), Santiago Canizares (Valencia)

Defenders: Antonio Lopez (Atletico Madrid), Pablo Ibanez (Atletico Madrid), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Juanito (Real Betis), Asier del Horno (Chelsea), Joan Capdevila (Deportivo Coruna), Michel Salgado (Real Madrid), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Javi Venta (Villarreal)

Midfielders: Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Jose Antonio Reyes (Arsenal), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Xavi (Barcelona), Joaquin (Real Betis), Luis Garcia (Liverpool), Xabi Alonso (Liverpool), David Albelda (Valencia), Ruben Baraja (Valencia), Marcos Senna (Villarreal)

Forwards: Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid), Fernando Morientes (Liverpool), Raul (Real Madrid), David Villa (Valencia)

Argentina
Goalkeepers: Roberto Abbondanzieri (Boca Juniors), Leonardo Franco (Atletico Madrid)

Defenders: Nicolas Burdisso (Inter Milan), Gabriel Milito (Real Zaragoza), Fabricio Coloccini (Deportivo La Coruna), Leandro Cufre (AS Roma), Roberto Ayala (Valencia), Gabriel Heinze (Manchester United)

Midfielders: Maximiliano Rodriguez (Atletico Madrid), Esteban Cambiasso (Inter Milan), Juan Pablo Sorin (Villarreal), Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal), Luis Gonzalez (Porto), Lionel Scaloni (West Ham)

Forwards: Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Hernan Crespo (Chelsea)

Sweden is in England's group. Australia have a good squad.

[Warmark]

Middlesbourgh lost 4-0 to Sevilla in the Uefa Cup Final.

[Warmark]

Scotland won 5-1 against Bulgaria in the Kirin Cup.

[Queeaqueg]

I have just been to see he Women's England team own at St. Mary's Stadium(Southampton FC ground). It was good, won 2-0. I feel sorry for Middlesbrough. It was nothing to do with Sevilla being good but more that Boro were so poor.

[Revan]

Middlesbourgh lost 4-0 to Sevilla in the Uefa Cup Final.

*sigh* That must have been a bitter pill to swallow,

[Warmark]

Scotland drew 0-0 with Japan and wint he Kirin Cup!

[Queeaqueg]

Two Cup finals yesterday. First the FA Cup Final between Liverpool and West Ham. It was 3-3 at full time and Liverpool won 3-1 on Penalties. The other cup was the Scottish Cup between Hearts and Gretna. It was 1-1 at full time and Hearts won 4-2 on Penalties. One last major match now before the World Cup starts. That is the UEFA Champions League between Arsenal and Barcelona. I would like Arsenal to win but it will be Barcelona.

[Queeaqueg]

Here is France squad:

Goalkeepers: Fabien Barthez (Olympique Marseille), Gregory Coupet (Olympique Lyon), Mickael Landreau (Nantes).

Defenders: Eric Abidal (Olympique Lyon), Jean-Alain Boumsong (Newcastle United), Pascal Chimbonda (Wigan Athletic), William Gallas (Chelsea), Gael Givet (Monaco) Willy Sagnol (Bayern Munich), Mikael Silvestre (Manchester United), Lilian Thuram (Juventus).

Midfielders: Vikash Dhorasoo (Paris St Germain), Alou Diarra (Racing Lens), Claude Makelele (Chelsea), Florent Malouda (Olympique Lyon), Patrick Vieira (Juventus), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid).

Strikers: Djibril Cisse (Liverpool), Thierry Henry (Arsenal), Franck Ribery (Olympique Marseille), Louis Saha (Manchester United), David Trezeguet (Juventus), Sylvain Wiltord (Olympique Lyon).

[Queeaqueg]

Here are some more squads:

Czech Rep
Goalkeepers: Jaromir Blazek (Sparta Prague), Petr Cech (Chelsea), Antonin Kinsky (Saturn Ramenskoye)

Defenders: Zdenek Grygera (Ajax Amsterdam), Marek Jankulovski (AC Milan), Martin Jiranek (Spartak Moscow), Radoslav Kovac (Spartak Moscow), Pavel Mares (Zenit St Petersburg), David Rozehnal (Paris St Germain), Tomas Ujfalusi (Fiorentina)

Midfielders: Tomas Galasek (Ajax Amsterdam), David Jarolim (Hamburg SV), Pavel Nedved (Juventus), Jaroslav Plasil (Monaco), Karel Poborsky (Ceske Budejovice), Jan Polak (Nuremberg), Tomas Rosicky (Borussia Dortmund), Vladimir Smicer (Girondins Bordeaux)

Forwards: Milan Baros (Aston Villa), Marek Heinz (Galatasaray), Jan Koller (Borussia Dortmund), Vratislav Lokvenc (Red Bull Salzburg), Jiri Stajner (Hanover 96)

Germany
Goalkeepers: Jens Lehmann (Arsenal/ENG), Oliver Kahn (Bayern Munich) Timo Hildebrand (VfB Stuttgart).

Defenders: Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Robert Huth (Chelsea), Marcell Jansen (Borussia Monchengladbach), Per Mertesacker (Hannover), Christoph Metzelder (Borussia Dortmund), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Jens Nowotny (Bayer Leverkusen).

Midfielders: Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Tim Borowski (Werder Bremen), Torsten Frings (Werder Bremen), Sebastian Kehl (Borussia Dortmund), Bernd Schneider (Bayer Leverkusen), Thomas Hitzlsperger (VfB Stuttgart), David Odonkor (Borussia Dortmund).

Fowards: Miroslav Klose (Werder Bremen), Lukas Podolski (FC Cologne), Mike Hanke (VfL Wolfsburg), Oliver Neuville (Borussia Monchengladbach), Gerald Asamoah (Schalke 04).

Brazil
Goalkeepers: Dida (AC Milan), Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Rogerio Ceni (Sao Paulo)

Defenders: Cafu (AC Milan), Cicinho (Real Madrid), Lucio (Bayern Munich), Juan (Bayer Leverkusen), Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid), Gilberto (Hertha Berlin), Cris (Olympique Lyon), Luisao (Benfica)

Midfielders: Edmilson (Barcelona), Juninho Pernambucano (Olympique Lyon), Emerson (Juventus), Ze Roberto (Bayern Munich), Gilberto Silva (Arsenal), Kaka (AC Milan), Ricardinho (Corinthians)

Forwards: Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Robinho (Real Madrid), Ronaldinho (Barcelona), Adriano (Inter Milan), Fred (Olympique Lyon).

[Warmark]

Apparently a Linesman for the Champions League Final has been spotted wearing a BArcalona top.

Not the most impartial.