大象传媒

Rumors are there a camera angle (released after the match and not part of the live broadcast) showing that the first England goal was preceded by a foul by Peter Crouch. Nothing from the 大象传媒 about that? Didn't see the tape so its hard to have an opinion ...

With one hand Crouch actually was yanking the defenders head by the hair while he jumped for the header. You can even see this on some of the pictures.

Probably won't have any consequences, though.

Being one fo the Ex Pat England Fans living in Australia, and having to get up at 2am to watch the game this morning, in real time the Crouch goal looked fine to me. (Through bliery sleep deprived wishful thinking eyes I admit). I've seen the still photo's and they look pretty damning. But remembering the 'Hand of God' incident against Argentina several World Cups ago, I frankly think it's about time some luck ran our way. No doubt at all about the second Goal. All credit to T&T though. They stuck to their game plan, but in the end their lack of options showed through. Where was Robinson when the "Cleared off the Line" incident happened? I haven't seen a replay which showed where he was. Close call or what? That definitely woke me up! Well done England 6 points. There are plenty of teams prepared to sacrifice scruples for points. Do we want to win or make up the numbers? My hope is that everyone wearing England regalia in Germany can conduct themselves like English Gentlemen. After all the war's been over a long time! Here's to a fair, trouble free, taking our luck when it comes our way tournament from here on in.

Australia and it's fans are fired up at the prospect of playing Brazil they can't wait. They must be mental! It just shows how nieve and ultra competitive this bunch of people are. With an atitude like that you never know what might happen. England could learn from the 'bring it on you bunch of pansies' attitude being demonstrated by the Australian team and followers. After all if it all goes wrong, then that's what's expected, but if they pull it off, we Ex Pat English will never hear the last of it. Either way, it will be an interesting fixture, if only for novelty value.

aussie! aussie! aussie!....oe!oe!oe!
bring it on, we have nothing to lose!!!
they (brazil) are the world champs and this is our first world cup outing in 32 years, so really, what do we have to lose???
bring it on!!!!!!!!

If Crouch's "foul" requires 15 replays and a special camera angle to see it, then I'd contend that it wasn't that much of a foul to start with. I didn't see that many complaints from the T&T players, either.

Dodgy decisions happen regularly in all sports at the highest level, and unfortunately some can totally decide the result, as was the case in rugby union several years ago: in a crucial England Scotland game where with seconds to go and Scotland ahead by a couple of points, the referee saw a player handle the ball on the ground illegally and gave a penalty to England who scored with the final kick and won the match, however on replay it was clearly Rob Andrew who was the cheating player. This was unfortunate but is a fact of sport and we would all like to believe that luck evens itself out in the end.
Other dodgy goals (Crouch's yeterday) may have a bearing on the result but by no means are they definite, and if a second clearly legal goal, of some quality, is then converted, it surely has to be admitted that the best team won...

... so can we please not hear anymore about the 'hand of god' incident!

It was years ago !! So unless you are refering to the Rob Andrew incident above (which was more recent, and actually decided the result), then can we give it a rest?

"(choosing instead to make public all Ricco had overheard them saying)"

Ah yes. Did you ask for permission? Including permission from the parents to report about the children? Did you identify yourself as 大象传媒 reporters? Did you clearly state that you intend to publish the conversation?

Do you remember this one:

/guidelines/editorialguidelines/edguide/editorialvalues/

Privacy Invasion - get a life!!

Not too bad I thought the game last night. A gradual improvement from the guys. I think it bodes well and we wouldn't want to peak too soon. Or maybe I'm just being optimistic. Bit concerned about Michael's form though, but I'm sure the lad will come good (Toon Army!).
The firm belief that we will win that ebbed away so recently is slowly creeping back...

Looking at some of the pictures, the T&T defender has his left arm pushing up on Crouch as much as Crouch is fouling him. The T&T team did not even try to play football but that's what we have to put up with - they will try to get in our faces. We need to play with a quicker tempo, like with the Premiership. I can't see many teams being able to cope with that.

Australia have the team spirit that could cause a shock, i see them going one up then attacking too much and it being a draw - as an italian i would rather see italy play brazil in the next round than australia, as i think italy can beat then and go on to win the cup.

If england had a team spirirt they would do better, bar far the most impressive team has been argentina , italy and mexico

Crouch - jumping!?
The ITV commentators remarked that Crouch doesn't normally jump. Their post match coverage clearly showed how he got th at extra height - one hand on Brett Sancho's shoulder and the other firmly grasping his hair. What must the Argentineans make of it?

I watched the shot of crouch's goal that was played over and over on German TV last night and it looks really bad.

As crouch jumps up to go for the header he grabs the pony tail of Brent Sancho and pulls it back, twisting Brent's head around as he does it.

I've searched around but can't find the clip they were showing of it on German TV last night, I'll keep looking though.

Darren Ratcliffe - get a brain!

The England performance was slagged down again once again here in Germany.This being nothing unusual having lived in Germany for over twenty years one gets used to it.I believe the England game can only get better,Bring on Germany in the next round i say and stumm all the critics. Come on England..........Crouch goal was a foul but the ref didn,t see it,thats life.

Interesting story.

We ourselves ended up in a village called Altdorf just outside Nuremberg a few hours before kick-off and plumped for lunch at the local pizzeria.

Having ordered a couple of refreshing wheat beers and draped our England flag over the terrace railing, we were accosted by an elderly gentlemen who overheard us speaking English.

He promptly joined our table and proceeded to regale us with tales about the "un-Englishness" of our team, the merits of goose-stepping, the advantages of an Oxbridge education, sheep rearing in Sheffield and rescuing poor Blanka from Communist Prague in 1969.

FYI, his daughter also attended the 5th best school in England (somewhere in Salisbury). Turns out he's English and has been living in Germany for 40 years, is married to a German and is a furniture restorer. A genuine oddball.

Having returned from the Fan Fest in the evening, we were then accosted by two friendly - and slightly tipsy - locals dressed in medieval attire, who invited us to return next weekend to watch their performance of Schiller's Wallenstein.

Which is nice.

Absolutely - so many teams have got away with cheating against us, it's about time we got the rub of the green. What about Sol's goals in WC 98 and E04?

I agree with you Robert - bring on whoever wants to bring it on - we will be ready.

Darren Ratcliffe and Privacy Invasion - get a room!

How many times did Crouch get pulled up for fouls which were nothing?

And how many times do defenders get away with putting arms on strikers backs?

I saw Crouch pull Soncho's hair at the time and I thought a foul was going to be given, but luckily it wasn't.

I think the win was thoroughly deserved anyway. Nobody wants to see matches where one team defends for 90 minutes.

Nobody seems to question the fact that Ferdinand recieved an elbow in the back of the head during the 'clearance off the goalline incident'. It seems sad that people pick up on English discretions and ignore other incidents. The press and most of the country are far too eager to criticise. A direct comparison between the reactions of the commentary teams and press to the Swedish game later on which had a similar story to it is incredible. As long as our game rises to the standard of opposition we face then that is what is required.

I think this is what you're looking for

I'm sorry to say that anyone here who is defending England, their horrendous play and Crouch's foul is WRONG. England was terrible and did not deserve to win. The 1st goal should never have stood.

I am an engaland supporter living in Asia but I have lost respect for them. Shameful performance. However, the whole island of Trinidad should be proud. Applause !!

This worldcup is full of surprises and I strongly believe that my home country will go the finals, that is Ghana. Believe it or not our march against Italy is the best in the game so far. Goodos Blackstar, You country is proud of you.

Pretty conclusive - we cheated and got away with it... not cricket at all!
I thought that T&T were excellent yesterday. They were very well organised, and extremely hard working, and they made it difficult for England. T&T were decidedly dodgy when anybody ran at them - but as nobody ran at all until Lennon came on (weighed down by their wallets perhaps), that wasn't going to prove too much of a problem for them!
You can't read too much into the games so far - the results are what mattered.
Interestingly, Sweden look pretty awful as well, so that's a game to really look forward to....

whatever it takes England will go the finals. This cup is for either England or Ghana or Nobody. Keep it up my people

Hey,

After the disallowed headed goals against Argentina in WC 98 and Portugal in EC 2004, isn't it about time we got a rub of the green. The beeb clearly showed that Crouch was pulling his hair, but hey this is just like the diving debate. In these modern times you do what you can and you get what you get - sometimes its for you, sometimes against - remember hand of god and all that???? All that matters is the refs decision and that is final - it is in his opinion.

greetz Andy

Michael Owen should start against Sweden alongside Rooney. Crouch is just missing the target too often to be an advantage to England. The England practices probably consist of Lampard and Beckham firing balls into Crouch so that they deflect of him and into the goal!

Cracking stuff it would seem Fletch is a natural in front of the lens! Loving the music where doo you get it from?

To all those moaning about Crouch it's a footy match, a contact sport. This time Crouchie got the upper hand next time it'll be the defender getting away with a slight tug of the shirt. If you don't like it watch crown green bowling but that can get pretty wild at times as well.

some of the comments here seem to be from people watching through red rose coloured glasses, but Davinho...... can't argue with you mate, that's pretty much the story so far..

A hint of sarcasm at the end perhaps, but I think the England Sweden game could be great.

I'd not even mind if England won....if it led to England/Germany in the next round.

As long as Crouch doesn't start scratching and biting players...

Privacy Invasion must be 38 and still living with his / her parents.

Unbelievable.

This is a pleasant read, keep up the good work fellas!

The whole event so far is great here in Germany. I went to Frankfurt and saw an England team struggle, but they came away with 3 points. Last night I watched at the Fan-Fest in Stuttgart and saw a ropey performance until just before Rooney appeared ... but again they got the 3 points.
As regards to 麓bring on Germany麓 .. not so sure myself. They are the masters of `luck` and I would prefer to meet them as late as possible.
They have far more pressure on them than the English team ...

Can anybody give me the official time of Peter Crouch's goal, was it in the 82nd or 83 rd minute, as the minutes and seconds, Lots of side bets on this
Cheers

Useless comments for the most part.

Stop being a bunch of whingers, did you ever play sport? its a goal, you win some, (hopefully not, but) you lose some. The attitude of - "how can you support 'foul' play is ridiculous, no one condones what PC did, but if (or when) England win the world cup then you will all celebrate. And if you don't and prefer to sit on your high ground, I hope you take a book cause its gonna be mighty lonely - in fact go there now and leave the football blog to people who watch/play/enjoy football, whether it be good/bad or foul!

Don't you just loathe the comments like "I'm an England supporter and I think they were disgraceful; should all be shot and every other team in the world is better than them." Just because you say you support England is it supposed to add more weight to your arguement? I'm a supporter and I say we're useless therefore it must be the truth. Get a life!

We were poor and Crouch did foul but it would have been almost impossible for the ref to spot it. Just as referees all around the world for the last 100 years have missed fouls, diving, spitting and a host of other problems. They've disallowed good goals and given bad goals both in favour and against England and every other team that's ever played football. Get over it. The ref wasn't bad at all.

I just wish England were as perfect as all the moaners teams seem to be.

It is sad that the refs..eyesight did not allow them to see Crouch's foul..as he headed the ball into the net. Soca Warriors should be extremely proud of what they accomplished! They have done the Caribbean proud!!

It is sad that the refs..eyesight did not allow them to see Crouch's foul..as he headed the ball into the net. Soca Warriors should be extremely proud of what they accomplished! They have done the Caribbean proud!!

Crouch was fouled a number times in the penalty box during the game, but nothing was given. These things happen, that is football. Crouch worked hard, credit to him and the team, they never gave up. They improved with the subs and got what they deserved in the end.

Other positives, more chances than you can shake a stick at. But, it was frustrating that so many opportunities went begging. A team that doesn't create scoring opportunities will (in general) not score goals.

The England squad did not look ragged or clueless like they did back in World Cup 2002. They held their shape well, but it was only when we went 442 that we had real width, pace and some decent bloody crosses.

Lennon, and Downing: Both great. Good to see Rooney too, even though he wasn't fit, he committed defenders and that alone gave us options.

Negatives: Lampard had a howler, Gerrard was too constrained in front of defence. Carragher was willing, but not effective enough going foward. Ashley Cole failed to complete a single cross to an England player in or around the T+T goal area (I am the only person who notices this? Cole's completed cross rate is dismal for England). Robinson flapped at a couple, not good. Beckham's free kicks and corners were pretty much all poor.

Finally, the cleared-off-the-line incident: the T+T striker played the ball with his upper arm.

Fouls get committed, some are seen some not. I would be unhappy if we benefitted from a deliverate handball (you know who you are Diego!) or from a deliberate dive to win a penalty (Joe Cole take note!) or get a player sent off but pushing and pulling going up for high balls happens and it probably a unfortunate yet unavoidable part of the game.

As long as we've just seen our two worst performances of the tournament then I'm a happy man. If they were the best two then roll on August ;-)

The video was quite clear - shown on ITV and I believe later on the beeb. Crouch grabbed a handfull of dreadlocks and used the leverage to get himself up. Clear foul.

Ho hum.

Crouch was fouled multiple times in the box by the same defender, including being held down by both arms on a previous chance disabling Crouch from jumping.

Just logged on from work and this is all very interesting reading. Overall the 2006 world cup has been excellent and from the people I have been speaking with most feel that England can get to the final. Lets hope so!

What about Crouch's so-called foul...i think its about time everyone got off the anti-England bandwagon and got behind the team.
Ok-they're not playing the best just now, but the league doesn't lie - England have qualified with a game to spare (and no goals conceeded!!!)
You don't win world cups for playing exhibition football - you win world cups - as Chelsea did the Prem League, by winning matches.
England are undefeated in 9-in-a-row now, i can't believe thats not good enough for some of the plastic people spouting off about how they play bla bla bla...
If you don't like it turn it off - otherwise, wrap the georges cross around you and support your country!

Even though as a Scotsman we still want the Germans beat. How come the German press is complaining that Crouch committed a foul? I didn't hear any complaints from them when the hand of God was used.

I've heard plenty of ridicule over the years about CONCACAF qualifying. Take that T&T team, put them on a hard patchy field in Port au Prince at 33+ degrees, and surround them with 25,000 drumming fans and a ref predisposed to spot hairpulls . . . .

I wonder if Horst looked like Jurgen? Was it immediately apparent that they were brothers? Does Horst think that Germany will win the World Cup?
A fascinating little tale!

Certainly was-I remember Steve Finnan tugging Kiki Musampa's hair and conceding a foulg just over a year ago. For Sweden, Lampard has to be dropped in favour of Carick and while it should be a certainty that Rooney will start, I for one would not complain if Owen was dropped. He needs a wake up call and you'd hope for a reaction from him when he springs off the bench, cementing and rekindling the potential devestating partnership between him and Rooney.

I am not an England fan, but I do think that England didn't play nearly as badly as some seem to think. Also, this is England; they play nordic style football - what are fans expecting?

England had a few good chances - they created a lot of opportunities and had a bit of bad luck finishing. T&T got lucky a few times. However, it is not incidental that T&T have yet to score a goal in the tournament.

I am not an England fan, but I do think that England didn't play nearly as badly as some seem to think. Also, this is England; they play nordic style football - what are fans expecting?

England had a few good chances - they created a lot of opportunities and had a bit of bad luck finishing. T&T got lucky a few times. However, it is not incidental that T&T have yet to score a goal in the tournament.

Hi guys

I am gonna be travelling around germany for the last 2 weeks of the tournement like yourselves are doing and i have one massive question which i cannot find the answer to..

will i be able to tune into five live or other stations such as talk sport when im out in germany on my DAB RADIO...ive heard i can from some sources but others say no..as you guys are out there, can u try for me?!!!!

cheers lads

Andy. I've just asked Ricco, who knows a lot more than me about these things, and he seems to think not.

Apparently you will be out of transmitter range.

Sorry.

Robert, if you have lived for 20 years in Germany and think England performances are always "slagged down", you either live in a British enclave (perhaps the military?) or have a woeful grasp of German.

In my experience, Germans generally tend to hold all things English in ridiculously high regard; the commentary in televised England v Germany matches is invariably far less partial than anything served up by Motty et al - they positively worship some of the England players; and such England-bashing as exists in the German tabloids is (a) nothing compared to the efforts of Fleet St's finest and (b) only started in reaction to decades of the latter.

Unfortunately, some Brits will be only too pleased to believe the worst about the nasty Krauts and the cycle of xenophobia against a nation that actually likes us continues. WC 2006 was meant to break through some of the tired stereotypes; fancy giving it a go?

Robert, if you have lived for 20 years in Germany and think England performances are always "slagged down", you either live in a British enclave (perhaps the military?) or have a woeful grasp of German.

In my experience, Germans generally tend to hold all things English in ridiculously high regard; the commentary in televised England v Germany matches is invariably far less partial than anything served up by Motty et al - they positively worship some of the England players; and such England-bashing as exists in the German tabloids is (a) nothing compared to the efforts of Fleet St's finest and (b) only started in reaction to decades of the latter.

Unfortunately, some Brits will be only too pleased to believe the worst about the nasty Krauts and the cycle of xenophobia against a nation that actually likes us continues. WC 2006 was meant to break through some of the tired stereotypes; fancy giving it a go?

Not that fussed about the fact that Crouch's goal stood, thats part of the game. However, the fact that he resorts to pulling hair (bearing in mind these weren't Brazilian or Italian defenders - they were from Trinidad!) is just deeply, deeply sad. Doesn't inspire a whole lot of confidence either! Peter Crouch, quite the role model!

Fact is - England have absolutely no chance of winning the thing. Before Paraguy I would have said, maybe 10%, but the two performances have made it clear, England aren't good enough. Its odd - the players are good enough but the team is a joke and a good team won't need penalties this time around.

England won the match by 2-0. It is true that this score does not show the whole picture of the match as Trinidad and Tobago was going to make another history by holding up England鈥檚 win. Though, Crouch made some unbelievable miss but he is the person who gave a relief to English fans and Rooney was not in his best performance he was very careful and he did not go for any hard tackle.

Enjoyed reading everyones comments, one thing is lacking though. John Terry has by far and away been our best and most convincing player so far. In both games he played out of his skin and made up for some of hi team mates dismal displays. In my opinion he does not get the praise he deserves. Reckon he should be our next captain once Beckham departs. Only one with the guts to do the job to the standard required

You Britts are a wierd lot.
You still cribb about "the hand of god" goal yet when one of your own does it, you yell "it's just a game". Get a life !! Anyway the team has been playing really bad, no way they will go beyond the final 8.

Please don't call them Brits. I'm Scottish and British. Not English. A TV pundit today said that Crouch's hair pull was "clever". In that case so was Maradona's hand ball.

For those who missed the 'Hand of Crouch'..
See it now..

Hi,
I am from trinidad and tobago and have been reading the blogs/posts concerning crouches hand on hair goal. I have noted with interest the defence and the disgust of his actions. Whilst devastating to us I think in the heat of the game players are going to foul others to achieve a goal, it is not necessarily malicious, a passionate player is thinking just to score or prevent a goal. I do not think the ref. cheated ( especially knowing, via television, his calls will be microscopically analysed) its the way the game goes, before hi tech television coverage these incidents would have been a dime a dozen with no proof or evidence for bellyaching by the aggrieved parties.Its a game its supposed to be fun good luck to england to defeat sweden so we can take care of paraguay and hopefully the two teams will meet again and we will settle the score the way we should on- on the field.
PS sancho should probably shave his head if he is marking crouch again though - just a precaution.
Good luck England Good luck Trinidad

Come on people. We are England, not Brazil. We play well organised, workmanlike football, score most of our goals with long balls directly up the middle of the park, and usually, until a goal is scored, the game is like watching paint dry. But the result is what get's written in the record books! That's how we play as a team. Our individual ball skills have improved over time, which is why we can now challenge the likes of Brazil, but when the game is close, we close up shop and work the ball. This team has more individual tallent than probably any other England team ever, and so it's proving a bit harder to get them to gel. Brazil are notorious slow starters, as are Italy, for exactly the same reason. Individualist players take a bit more time to gel into a well oiled machine.

Being a committed football fan living here down under, I have been up all night every night watching every game so far played. I have noticed that some referees are blowing up for challenges where the challenging player takes the ball, and the disposessed player falls over, regardless of whether there was physical contact or not. Last night the Brazil vs Australia game was made the better for a referee who knew what a fair physical challenge looks like, and didn't buy into all the diving and falling over in the first 15 minutes. This stopped the players from falling over like dominoes in a stiff breeze and allowed for some fantastic tackles, where both players tried to stay on their feet and win the ball. Watch out for German Referee Markus Merk. He knows his stuff from what I've seen. His guide dog deserves extra biscuites and a new squeaky toy today!

yo heres one to think about. Are you ready for the next world cup! no stadia! no infrastructure! no soccer team! dreary south african winter! for us south africans, Germany 06 is putting on an awsome show. oh the heat the heat.

You really missed out, you should go back to the bakery and try some cakes when they're open - bienenstich if they have any!