EndScore

World Cup Champions - Italia

Posted by Sean O'Connor
Categories: Championship, Soccer

While much of the United States was out enjoying a beautiful summer Sunday afternoon, over 1 billion people worldwide were witness to a dramatic World Cup finale.  The World Cup has only been decided in a shooutout two times previously, once with Italy losing to Brazil in the 1994 World Cup.  Congrats to Italy on 5-3 shootout win over France for their fourth World Cup Championship.

This match was the perfect ending to an incredible month of World Cup action.  Despite the poor showing by the U.S., the Europeans showed the rest of the world why this is still their sport and kept us entertained (and distracted) during those early morning weekday matches. 

There were a ton of great moments during this Cup: Ghana, Austrailia, and Ukraine advancing to the Round of 16 for the first time ever, the amazing game winning goal from Argentina against Mexico, the shootout between England and Portugal, a red card for Wayne Rooney, the United States giving Italy all they could handle, France knocking off the heavily favored Brazilians, and a German team that far exceeded their own national expectations.  Unfortunately, this World Cup will be forever remembered for the brutal head butt that yielded French star Zidane a red card in the overtime period of the final.

Forza Italia.  I bet the streets are still sticky in Firenze, Roma, Torino, and Milano this morning.

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Unthinkable Zidane

Posted by Sean O'Connor
Categories: Athletes, Championship, Soccer

A classy way to end your career.

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World Cup Profile: Luca Toni

Posted by Sean O'Connor
Categories: Athletes, Championship, Soccer

World, get to know Luca Toni! The star Italian striker could have a very big say in who ends up World Cup Champions when France and Italy battle it out on Sunday evening in Germany.  Toni has risen quickly to stardom in Italy after years milling in the Serie B and later Serie A. 

Fully utilizing his tall build (6’4"), he burst onto the stage this year scoring 31 goals for Fiorentina (Florence’s squad) in the Italian Serie A.  Fiorentina, after many dismal years, rode Toni to a 4th place finish and a qualification for the Champions League next season. Toni won the European Golden Boot, scoring the most goals in any of the European Leagues. 

Toni scored his first goal of the World Cup against the Ukraine in the Round of 8, and then added another later on in the same match. 

If Italy is going to beat France they will need a stellar performace from both Toni and Francesco Totti up front, and continued tough defense.  Through six games, the Italian defense has yet to yield a goal (other than the own goal they spotted the USA in the first round). 

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Forza Azzurri

Posted by Sean O'Connor
Categories: Soccer

Wow! The World Cup is really heating up, and we can thank ESPN 360 for the ability to watch football in the middle of the work day.  Italy won today on a dramatic 95th minute penalty kick after playing down a man for entire second half.  A gutsy performance by the Socceroos was negated by Francesco Totti’s game winner.

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World Cup Round of 16 Participants

Posted by Dennis Velasco
Categories: Playoffs, Soccer

1st bracket
Germany vs. Sweden
Argentina vs. Mexico

2nd bracket
Italy vs. Australia
Switzerland vs. Ukraine

NOTE: Winner of the 1st bracket will play the winner of the 2nd bracket in the semi-finals.

3rd bracket
England vs. Ecuador
Portugal vs. Netherlands

4th bracket
Brazil vs. Ghana
Spain vs. France

NOTE: Winner of the 3rd bracket will play the winner of the 4th bracket in the semi-finals.

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US a Ghana

Posted by Sean O'Connor
Categories: Editorial, Kudos, Soccer

Getting bounced from the World Cup seems so final.  When you loose, there is no “next year.” You are dun-ski. The only thing I can compare it to is loosing in the NCAA Tournament.

These two events are the most passion filled tournaments on the planet, and it’s too bad that most Americans will tune the World Cup out at this point. Players wear their hearts on their sleeves and their countries flags proudly on their chests. The World Cup is a special tournament where one goal or one missed call by a referee makes the difference in winning or losing it’s any teams match. Truly, “one game changes everything.” There are no seven game series to make sure the best team eventually wins more games than the inferior team.  It’s about getting hot, and getting some breaks- just like the NCAA Tournament.

For Ghana, a country smaller than Oregon and a population of less that 25 million, to beat the United States is an unimaginable upset. I’m all about Cinderella’s - I was at Gonzaga for the initial Elite 8 run, afterall.  For that reason, and for the fact at their entire country was watching the match today (and will be celebrating with pride for the next week), a part of me is happy that Ghana won today.

As they move on to the knock-out stages of the World Cup, I hope the clock never strikes midnight for this squad.

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Summertime…

Posted by Sean O'Connor
Categories: Editorial, Fantasy, MLB, NBA, NFL, Soccer, Trades

Yesterday was the first day of Summer.  Two days ago the NBA Season came to an end with the Miami Heat’s first title, ending a flat out fantastic NBA Playoffs.  Three days ago the NHL Season came to an end as the Carolina Hurricanes won their first Stanley Cup title behind the heroics of a rookie goalie.

So, as the seasons and sports officially transition, what are sports geeks to look forward to during the summer of 2006? Here is my Top 11{ref1} list for what to expect during upcoming 3 months.

11. MLB All Star Game and Home Run Derby: There is usually at least one memorable moment from the All Star Game and Home Run Derby. In Pittsburgh this year.
10. MLB record watch: Can Barry Bonds catch the Babe? Will Ichiro break more records.  Someone will set a record, surely.
9. Wimbledon: I don’t even know who the tennis stars are these days, but I’m looking forward to the traditional 6:00 am breakfast for Wimbledon.
8. NFL Kickoff Weekend: The return of professional football will signal the next season change.
7. Return of NCAA Football and the Longhorns defending their first title in years: We’ll find out a lot about this team on September 9th when they host Ohio State.
6. The British Open: Can Phil make up for his debacle at the US Open?
5. The NBA Draft: Who will draft the Stache? Who will draft the next Sam Bowie?
4. Fantasy Football Season: Ah, the best time of the year.  Productivity goes down and trash talking goes up.  Everyone thinks that they can be the next best Billy Beanesque type General Manager.
3. World Cup Quarterfinals: The action really heats up and the top teams have to be on their game to move on.
2. World Cup Semifinals: Can the United States advance further than they ever have before? They have yet to reach the final 4, this might be the year.
1. World Cup Finals: Seriously, it doesn’t even matter who is playing. This is the number one event of all of 2006.

It’s gonna be a hot summer, enjoy!

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Tap The Schedule And Twist The Cap: 6.11.06

Posted by Dennis Velasco
Categories: Athletes, MLB, NBA, Soccer

FIFA World Cup: Yesterday’s matches was just as eventful as the first day’s.  Trinidad and Tobago played to a scoreless draw against a strong Sweden team, who just couldn’t take advantage of their opportunities.  However, Shaka Hislop did take it to another level tending goal for T&T.  The England/Paraguay match was odd in that, within three minutes of play, a David Beckham kick deflected off of Carlos Gammarra’s head into Gammarra’s own goal.  And the scoring ended there with England winning 1-0.  The Argentina contest with Ivory Coast pretty much went as it probably would have with the young, but talented Argentinians winning 2-1.  Here are today’s matches:

*Group C: Serbia and Montenegro VS. Netherlands
*Group D: Mexico VS. Iran
*Group D: Angola VS. Portugal

NBA Finals: In Game One of this final series of the NBA, the Dallas Mavericks won 90-80 against the Miami Heat.  The Mavs’ Dirk Nowitzki had a subpar game, but “The Jet,” Jason Terry turned it up and scored 32 points, seemingly not being capable of missing any shot that left his hand.  Credit must also be given to the Mavs’ defense and Erick Dampier for doing better than expected and not totally succumbing to the force that is known as Shaquille O’Neal.

Click to continue reading Tap The Schedule And Twist The Cap: 6.11.06

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FIFA World Cup Review: Argentina 2, Ivory Coast 1

Posted by Dennis Velasco
Categories: News, Scoreboard, Soccer

Group C: This is a strong grouping here in Hamburg with Argentina, Ivory Coast, The Netherlands, and Serbia-Montenegro.  In fact, it’s arguably one of the more difficult ones, in the World Cup.  Argentina came into the tournament having won twice, last time in 1986 with the legendary Diego Maradona, but this is a very young team that is on its way up.

This was a very well-played match with Argentina coming out on top, thanks to goals from Hernan Crespo and Javier Soviola in the first half of the matchup.  Didier Drogba scored the lone goal for the Ivory Coast in the 82nd minute of the game, but by then, it was too late.

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FIFA World Cup Review: England 1, Paraguay 0

Posted by Dennis Velasco
Categories: News, Scoreboard, Soccer

Group B: Poor Paraguay captain, Carlos Gammarra.  He was a part of history twice in this matchup with England, but it definitely was not good things to be a part of.  Less than three minutes into the match, Gammarra inadvertently headed a ball off of a David Beckham kick into his own goal, which became the fastest own-goal in the history of the tournament. 

And when the English team took the field in the second half, they played flat thanks to the rise in tempature and since no one else for Paraguay scored, Gammarra directly affected history again by this match being the first one decided by an own-goal.  However, Gammarra shouldn’t hang his head for putting his team in the predicament of losing a game that could be critical in a three match-up group playoff to see who moves forward into the next round.  If it wasn’t for Gammarra, I doubt Paraguay would be in the World Cup right now.

England is now 3-0 in World Cup play versus Paraguay.

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