Gonzo

The girls backed Spain, because the octopus said so. Most of soccer-mad Thailand put money on Spain, because the octopus is always right. The octopus predicted the winning team of all six Germans games at the World cup correctly. It had nothing to do with us Germans being ugly bastards. Go to any bar in Naklua and the girls will tell you they dislike the English guys. Go to a bar where there are mainly English speakers the girls will say the opposite. If you really want to know where the best-looking guys come from, ask the girls to consult the octopus. Most of the players on the German team were actually Poles or Turks. They are even uglier than the players from Holland

You have not won the trophy yet. Wait until Sunday before you start celebrating. I will be barracking for Holland. Germany played a dismal game tonight and where is Cheshire Tom with his prediction, that Puyol would be the weak link in the Spanish team? Tschüß

If I were Reneener, living in Holland, I would not hesitate to be blown by any of those four girls. I would be happy to have the BJ in public and have it shown on youtube. Speaking of youtube. Joekicker's video convinced me that that goal was offside. When I watched that game yesterday, I thought it might have been offside. The video has me convinced, that it was offside and it was not a passive offside either.

You did not have it all your way against a surprisingly strong team from Uruguay, winning 3:2. The ever reliable von Robben is the best player of this World cup. He never fails to score when it matters. He does the same for Bayern Munich when he plays in the Bundesliga. I am glad Munich managed to sign him up for another 4 years. Von Bommel picking up a third yellow card for Holland in the last few moments of the game was unnecessary and probably undeserved. The game was shown live on Australian TV thanks to a British feed here in Thailand. I was lucky to switch briefly to Aussie TV to find out I could watch the match with English commentary in my condo. Congratulations.

Double post

Silly me, I must be getting soft in the head. I forgot about the draw, which makes it a 3 horse race at full time. I must have been thinking about the eventual winners, if there is extra time or a penalty shoot out. Thanks for the website. The difference in the odds between the 21 betting firms is amazing. There are a couple of companies , where you can get 19:10 on Germany, which is close enough to the 2:1 you mentioned. Many of the odds are only marginally lower, for anyone wanting to back Spain. The bookies have it all worked out, taking the draw into consideration. Betting is a mug's game. I used to bet on horses when I was a young lad and then switched to playing black jack in the casino. Fortunately, I woke up and realized that there was no chance of winning in the long run and took an interest in the stock market, where I did very well for many years. Gains from the stock market and a well-paid job allowed me to make some good investments in property and other investments and I could retire at a relatively young age more than 10 years ago. Unfortunately, the markets have now turned into the biggest casinos in the world. I am still a long way in front, but still had to make adjustments to my lifestyle. I would not want to see another prolonged downturn, like we had in the last three years. I guess I am not the only one. Having said that and thinking back, the happiest period of my life, was, when I had no money and lived from paycheck to paycheck.

Hi Wacmedia, I would love to get 2:1 in a two horse race. I cannot get through to any betting site here from Thailand, as the Thai Government seems to have blocked all of them. According to the on-line newspapers, most betting agencies are less generous than your Betterbet. Ladbrokes had Germany at 2.9 and Spain at 2.67 a short while ago, with a draw paying 3.30. I think Spain will win, with one German key player suspended and another injured. Nevertheless, if there is anyone in Pattaya prepared to give me odds of 2 to 1 on Germany, I would be all to happy to accept such a bet up to a limit of 100 K. Everybody seems to be getting a hiding on the stock market again, so loosing another 100K on a wager would not make much difference. Any bet would have to be done in a discreet way, as not to alert any authorities. Ladbrokes have Uruguay at 7.2, which sounds like another good bet. Holland at 1.67 are a stupid bet at odds on in another two horse race, in my opinion. Who would want to outlay say 10 000 Baht to win 6700 Baht? I would not mind a wager on Uruguay at such good. The Uruguay team are a bunch of mongrels and will try every dirty trick in the book to outsmart Holland. It would only need another yellow card to van Robben, Holland's best player, from a bad refereeing decision, to see him red-carded and Holland could then be in trouble.

Cheshire Tom made a very good point in a previous post. Germany won the U 21 World Cup last year with ease. Joachim Löw must have had a good look how some of the young lads performed and then came to the conclusion that it was time to rebuild the German side with fresh blood. Germany did not look that impressive at the 2008 European championship, despite reaching the final. No matter how good stars, like Rinaldo or Lampard and the likes have performed over the last 10 years, a gifted and ambitious 20-year old kid will run the older blokes off their feet. Rooney looked such an exciting player, when he started to make a name for himself, quite a few years ago. In this world cup he looked like a tired old man without the support of the imported superstars at Man U. Playing for your country, means the coach can only rely on homegrown players. I think the German coach realized, that by picking half a team of highly talented new,young and enthusiastic speedsters, playing alongside some established and experienced stalwarts, like Schweinsteiger, Friedrich and Klose, he could not only have a winning formula, but also build a new and a winning team for the next few years as well. Soccer is played at a lot faster pace, than it was a few years ago. If Ballack were totally fit and available for the next game against Spain, I think the coach would leave him sitting on the bench. I will be surprised, if Ballack will be the captain of the German team for Euro 2012, or even playing and he might as well forget about the next World Cup in Brazil.

No offence taken about your cynical jokes. I have spent too much time on message boards to be offended by a bit of harmless banter. I am presently watching the Spain versus Paraguay game, which seems to be less interesting after watching the Germany-Argentina match. It is almost 2 AM this Sunday morning here in Thailand, so I might as well go to bed and find out in the morning, which team will be Germany’s opponent in the semi-finals.

I was born in Munich, but left for Australia when I was 18 years of age. That makes me a German Australian. I am the proud holder of an Australian passport and support both Australia and Germany in most sporting events. I still speak Australian English with a bit of a German accent. I have never been back to Europe for more than 40 years. I hope that satisfies your curiosity about the Aussie flag. Thanks for letting us borrow von Robben at Bayern München. He won us another Bundesliga title this year.

I remember that game like it was yesterday. I rushed home from work late at night Australian time, so I would not miss the start of that match on my small black and white TV. I managed and was immediately traumatized when Germany conceded a goal in the first minute of the game without having touched the ball. Gerd Müller and Kaiser Franz Beckenbauer won that game for us, against that wonderful Dutch team. I am still talking about that game with my Dutch friend, who lives in a condo near Soi 12 on Jomtien Beach Road, not far from my place. Steven and I worked together on the waterfront in Darwin for 33 years. Another similar encounter between our countries is a possibility. I think Steven would want to kill me, should Holland loose again. He comes from Groningen and is therefore a bit thick in the head. I hope he does not read what I just said.

Die Hand Gottes. I feel elated about Germany having won, but saddened about young Thomas Müller getting a second yellow card for that handball, which was a very harsh decision by the referee from Usbekistan. Thomas Müller from Bayern München has been one of the discoveries of this world cup. He is now banned from playing in next Wednesday's semi-final. Joachim Löw copped a lot of flack for picking him in the first place. Our coach deserves all the credit for picking all those youngsters and making this new German team into such formidable opponents. I don't want to be whingeing, but not having Thomas available in the next game, could make a huge difference to our chances of reaching the final.

I cannot believe you said that. Did someone hack into your account? Cheers

After elevating Brazil to super heroes yesterday, I have now egg on my face. Why did Brazil put a curse on themselves by wearing ugly French outfits? I watched the game on our new LG TV at home in Thai language, which I understand hardly at all. It was especially annoying when they called Kaka Gaga. My Thai girl is an ardent soccer supporter like no other Thai woman I have ever met. Her son was recently accepted into the Thai Navy and plays for a football team in Bangkok as a goal keeper. That and his unusual big size for a Thai, probably landed him the job not so long and he now works mostly at the Navy headquarters in Bangkok as a guard. During basic training in Sattahip he was paid 75 Baht per day and the recruits were eating shit food. I was funny when he stopped over on his way to Bangkok and showed us how they were treated at meal times. They had to slap their lower arms together, shouting: Eat to live, eat to live, eat to live, before getting permission to eat the lousyl food, which had The commentators at the game did not help much by calling Kaka Gaga throughout their commentary. A Germany versus Holland final would be a bonus, but I am not overly optimistic about Germany's chances against Argentina. A Dutch mate called me and reminded me about a cheeky state made afer our win in 1974 against the favourites. When I came to work the following day after our win, I proclaimed cheekily that it had been a great honour for Holland to have been able to play on the same football ground with Germany. A couple of flatlanders nearly tried to strangle me, before other blokes pulled us apart. Congratulations Holland. You guys played a great second half and deserved to win. I loved playing soft ball and later baseball. American occupation forces borrowed the football ground next to hour home for their games and let us have their discarded or damaged gear. My most prized possession was a newish right-handed glove. I had to learn how to throw with my left hand, when I played for a junior team as a shortstop. I also played the game at club level in Australia, where it is a more popular sport than what people think it is. I also played Football and Australian Rules at amateur level, as well as basketball and table tennis. I was a keen surfer and diver and would suggest that MM should start a dedicated sports section.

History is on your side. In the 15 World Cups since 1950, Spain has never won anything. The never even made a semi-final. Brazil made 8 semi-finals, won 5 world cups, were runner-up twice and finished in third place once. Germany reached 10 semi-finals, won the cup 3 times, were runner-up 4 times and finished in third place twice with one fourth placing. England, with a bit of luck, won the cup in 1966 and were runner-up in 1990. If you want to know how other countries went, look at the Wikipedia link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup

Another unimpressive win by Holland, beating a weak Slovakia team 2:1. There is no way Holland will lift the cup on their present piss-weak form. Their only player showing good form was van Robben and the Dutch goalkeeper, or should I say goaltender. He denied Slovakia, by making a couple of good saves.

Sorry about my mistake. I forgot to Google and the old memory is not getting any better. By the way, I watched almost every game of the 2002 World Cup on the big screen at Tim's Bar Beer a GoGo on Second Road. Tim's used to be a terrific place to hang out in those days, but didn't I spend some money on the check bins, enticed by the well-trained girls by the old dragon.

I had no problems understanding what Stefan was trying to say. English is not his first language. What is yours? You are getting more cantankerous by the day. It probably comes from sitting 15 hours in front of your computer every day, reading, writing and nitpicking posts from other members. :

If I remember rightly, that 5:1 England win was only a preparation game for Germany's 2006 world cup campaign, where England failed to qualify for the tournament.

Good call to pick Germany. They played the best game of the tournament so far tonight and totally demolished England 4 : 1. Take no notice of the German haters on this board. They are only jealous. The goal not given to England tonight, which bounced well inside the German goal, was sweet revenge for the 1966 world cup goal, which was gifted to England. Actually 1966 was the last time England beat Germany. Winners are grinners.

Our boy from Rayong was probably sexually abused by his "soccer" coach, when he had a try at the game as a junior. It seems he didn't enjoy the experience of receiving anal intercourse by his mentor and has had a pathological hatred of the game ever since. What other reason could there be for someone to vent one's anger to post hundreds of negative articles about a game most of the world loves with a passion.

Good video, mate. On the other hand, one has to remember that the annoying instrument was an Hungarian invention, used by your countrymen to repulse the invasions over the centuries to ward off the foreign hordes . It did not work then, but seems to be an effective tool to annoy some people following the world cup in South Africa.

You are wasting your breath on someone with almost nothing between his ears.

What about the ref yesterday? He saved Italy from defeat by gifting the cunts a penalty, when another Italian turd took a dive. Now they will probably still qualify for the last 16, the cheating cunts. They conned the ref in a similar fashion when they played Australia in 2006. The Italian team and their supporters are the lowest of the low. Italy, your previous world cup wins count for nothing.

Well done by our Kiwi mates. If there is one team I really hate, it has to be the Italian team.