Saudi Arabia vs. Tunisia
One for the die-hards, but Tunisia is worth watching. Really, they are.
posted by gooner71 @ 11:43 AM
Lakenheath Old Boys
We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Lakenheath Old Boys
We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
Contributors
Previous Posts
- Spain vs. Ukraine
- Brazil vs. Croatia
- France vs. Switzerland
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- Baddiel and Skinner's Great WC Moments!
- Italy vs. Ghana
- USA vs. Czechs
- Australia vs. Japan
- Predictions Game Update
- Portugal vs. Angola
20 Comments:
I'll set my stall out early doors: The continual ability of the Saudis to qualify time and time again from the weakest region in the world pisses me off no end.
The Saudis haven't been watchable since '94 when Al Jaber scored his wonder goal. Since then they've been the whipping boys of France '98 and Japanorea '02. In 2002, when the Germans were stuffing them, the complete disorganization and unprofessionalism had me cheering on Klose who nearly got his golden boot for that tournament. He got close strictly on the bassc of slaloming around Saudis with the technique of a training ground practice dummy. And there's a special ring of hell reserved for Al Deayea, the Saudi keeper since 1920 or so. At one time and because the Saudis count training sessions as full internationals, he was the highest capped player from any country. If picked today, it will be his 182nd appearance. Really.
So please join me in my sincere wish that Tunisia absolutely muller the Saudis and that FIFA finally wake up and reduce their conference's representation so that another team serious about preparation, technique and participation may go to S. Africa in 2010 instead of them.
Hey ya, I'm not really arsed about this one so I have to admit that I took a long lunch break and did some errands. Just got back and have half an eye on this one. Probably the worst match on paper in the tournament. Don't know much about these teams. Trabelsi's a familiar name but I don't follow Ajax well enough to have a good idea about him. You?
So d'ya reckon that this Tunisian side can bump Ukraine out of second spot. I worry that they might fold after that drubbing this morning.
Even steven so far in this one. Saudis getting a few free kicks in dangerous areas and the Tunisian keeper doesn't look so clever.
Hey AZ! How's Zurich today? So, what kind of coverage of you getting over there? It can't be worse than the Shep Messing horror show for this one.
GOAL: 1-0 Tunisia; Nice ball into the box and super instinctive strike from Jaziri ,almost a scissor kick. Good stuff!
Let's hope that this means that the Saudis are to be mullered today. I'm with Gooner Steve; it's completely tedious that they're allowed to qualify year after year.
This Jaziri bloke is having a blinder. He just ran straight through the Saudi backfour and was only stopped by a cynical challenge. Ref waves play on.
Yellow card for my boy Haggui; that could hurt the Tunisians in their third match. Saudi free kick to come....
And another yellow for Bouazzizi.
Nice shot but collected easily by the Tunisian keeper.
Did you catch any of the Spain game this morning, AZ? They were on fire!
This is turning into to an Arabic language version of a caged death (or dearth) match. I wish I could patch into the Al Jazeera coverage. The tackles are flying in and I've lost count of the free kicks. The ref's been very lenient not to book several players.
Half-time: 1-0 Tunisia. Fairly uninspired stuff. I agree with AZ's comment about the free kicks. If you were to give Becks - or a number of other free kick experts - that many chances in front of goal, they'd pot one or two.
I hear you, AZ. If you can't have technique than at least get stuck in. The American boys could learn from that.
Second half starting again. Can the Saudis get back into this one? Let's hope not.
One question - did President Bush give a good luck call to the Saudi coach before the match? Just wondering...
GOAL: 1-1. Great equalizer from Al Qatani. He took a nice cross from the right and rifled a flick into the top of the net. Game on!
Al Qatani has just won himself keys a brand new palace in Riyadh and ninety virgins in Paradise.
Agree with you, AZ. Tunisia lulled into a stupor by the pace of the match. Lovely finish from Al Qatani, though, I have to admit.
A score draw would actually suit Ukraine because now a draw and a win might be enough to go through for them. I can't see anyone beating Spain on the form that they showed this morning. So a win against Saudis and a draw against Tunisia might be enough. Goal difference could be crucial though.
Gooner, are you taking a kip through this one?
Said, the SA keeper seems to have done himself an injury. He'll take some time off the clock while he's getting treatment on the pitch. Have you noticed that the refs are not nearly as fanatical about getting injured players off this time? They seem more persnickety about the consumption of water during the match.
Cheers, Trev. Good to have you on board. You're not missing much. A hard fought score draw between two Middle Eastern/North African teams - where have we seen this before?
To be fair the Saudis are finishing stronger and have just thrown on their veteran star of qualifying. I reckon that they know that this is their best chance of winning a match.
GOAL: Saudis 2-1. Roy of the Rovers stuff as the Saudi sub al-Jabeer comes on and stuffs a shot in with his second touch. The Saudis have stolen it.
first chance i've had at the computer since my anti-saudi rant.
fair play to them, even the saudis are better than the tunisians who are really awful. if you told me that they'd all had the all you can eat lasagna at the Canary Wharf Marriott prepared by Pat Rice himself, i wouldn't be surprized.
lemerre really lost the plot. this was completely under control for the tunisians at the half. what did roger do to them at the half? make them witness their dogs being put to sleep? and why did he replace bouazizi who was just everywhere and disrupting the saudis every time they meander into their half?
Ohhh, lovely, that bolton bloke just equalized with seconds left.
nobody deserves to win this though.
I can't see either of these teams progressing. The Ukes must be in a much better mood after watching this. Sheva and their keeper could beat either of these teams.
Full-time: 2-2. Agree with Gooner Steve. No one deserved to win that one. A thrilling finish to a quite ordinary match all in all.
Sir Trev, priorities have certainly changed over the years as well as scenaries, but I'm fortunate to be in a field that all but shuts down in the summer months just in time for the World Cup. If they played the tournament in October, I'd be buggered.
That said, I'm off to run a few more errands before the Germans run out against Poland in an hour.
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