International Friendlies > 2010

[fkiely]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August Of late, yeah Italy have been poor but this squad is almost completely revamped and much better for it. The first eleven they'll start with tomorrow look very strong, especially going forward. They'll be out to impress the new man at the helm and some of these players have a serious point to prove. An inexperienced side but one who have the basis of a good solid unit. It could prove to be tepid, uneventful and dour game but I can see the Italians having more desire and that could swing it for them.

[Pay Day]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August France at 3.05 to beat Norway :eek will definitely be having some of that, (get on it quick that price is continually dropping universally). France Squad against Norway: Goalkeepers: Douchez (Rennes), Ruffier (Monaco). Defenders: Cissokho (Lyon), Debuchy (Lille), Fanni (Rennes), Mexes (Roma), Rami (Lille), Sakho (PSG), Tremoulinas (Bordeaux). Midfielders: Cabaye (Lille), L.Diarra (Real Madrid), Matuidi (Saint-Etienne), Mvila (Rennes), N'Zogbia (Wigan Athletic), Nasri (Arsenal), M.Sissoko (Toulouse). Forwards: Ben Arfa (Marseille), Benzema (Real Madrid), Briand (Lyon), Hoarau (PSG), Menez (Roma), Remy (Nice) Quite a lot of unknowns in the defence; but I think they have enough flair and creativity to outscore Norway, who are overly reliant on the ever-ageing Riise, injury-prone Carew and Gamst-Pedersen. France to beat Norway at 2/1 Betfair :hope

[FCP]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August

Event	Sweden - Scotland
Selection	Sweden
Strength	10/10
Date	11/08/2010
Bookmaker/Price	Eurobet @ 1.80
Reasoning	The goalkeeper David Marshall and the midfielder Graham Dorrans are the last to be added to the Scotland's absence list to this game where they face Sweden. Lee McCulloch, Alan Hutton and Andy Webster are also all confirmed absences. Craig Gordon and the defender Gary Caldwell are both long term injured and Scotland already knew that couldn't count with them. Scott Brown is doubtful and is a big doubtful to play. On Sweden squad, Johan Wiland, Tobias Hysén , Johan Elmander and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are back after missing the last game of Sweden. Like this, Sweden is expected to put his strongest team playing against a depleted Scotland so i think they are big favorites to win this game.

[FCP]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August

Event	South Korea - Nigeria
Selection	South Korea
Strength	10/10
Date	11/08/2010
Bookmaker/Price	Blue Square @ 1.91
Reasoning	Nigeria will present a team based on home league players to face South Korea on this friendly game. The caretaker coach, Augustine Eguavoen, named on total, nine players from Nigeria Premier League. Vincent Enyeama and Obinna Nsofor, also rejected the call to this game. Meanwhile, South Korea named a new coach, Cho Kwang Rae, and he named a very strong squad to face Nigeria, with many players that played the World Cup, where they were second placed on Group B. Between them, he named the stars of Manchester United, Park Ji Sung, and Monaco, Park Chu Young.

[dealer_dil]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August USA versus Brazil pick: Brazil win odds: 1.91 bookie: Ladbrokes Brazil has a new coach and many players who were not in the World Cup, but maybe should be - I'm talking about Pato, Neymar or Marcelo. Some new players like Sandro or Rafael could be more determinate to play for his country. Even without big names this squad still looks good, there are some solid centre back, good fullbacks (Dani Alves), midfielders, in attack Robinho, Pato and Neymar should be good. Only goalkeepers are question marks for me. Of course it always take some risk how they will play together for the first time. I'm optimistic in this case, because of couple of reasons. First, they are good players, many of them already played in big matches, there are also some experienced players who were on World Cup and other big tournaments so it's not case of Netherlands who will field only newbies against Ukraine. Second, they should want to show their new coach that are good enough to play in squad. Next World Cup will be in Brazil and that could affect on their imagination. On the other hand no more trust in USA National Team! They were great on Confederation Cup, true, but then were awful in most of friendlies, OK - friendlies are friendlies not big a deal. But then at the World Cup they were still very average and have many luck to win from Group C. They are not so solid as many people think. Brazil will be too solid on defence and I'm pretty sure that they know how to score a goal. USA play at home and this means that they must play a little more open game. Too bad for them:).

[Jase82]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August

France at 3.05 to beat Norway :eek will definitely be having some of that, (get on it quick that price is continually dropping universally). France Squad against Norway: Goalkeepers: Douchez (Rennes), Ruffier (Monaco). Defenders: Cissokho (Lyon), Debuchy (Lille), Fanni (Rennes), Mexes (Roma), Rami (Lille), Sakho (PSG), Tremoulinas (Bordeaux). Midfielders: Cabaye (Lille), L.Diarra (Real Madrid), Matuidi (Saint-Etienne), Mvila (Rennes), N'Zogbia (Wigan Athletic), Nasri (Arsenal), M.Sissoko (Toulouse). Forwards: Ben Arfa (Marseille), Benzema (Real Madrid), Briand (Lyon), Hoarau (PSG), Menez (Roma), Remy (Nice) Quite a lot of unknowns in the defence; but I think they have enough flair and creativity to outscore Norway, who are overly reliant on the ever-ageing Riise, injury-prone Carew and Gamst-Pedersen. France to beat Norway at 2/1 Betfair :hope

eh? A lot of these French players don't have any chance of playing again. This is a squad picked just for this friendly. Norway are undergoing a bit of a renaissance imo, so I see more value on their side. Although, I do see that the bookies have taken into account the French squad when pricing this game up.

[dealer_dil]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August Bosnia - Qatar Home win for me. Qatar has some strange results - they won against Iran (I remember so well that Iran came back from 0:2 to 3:2 against Bosnia) and Paraquay. They almost always lost some goals so I guess that they play very open game. It's good, because this style of play suits Bosnia well. Qatar is without any player who play in Europe. One or two play for rich club from Egypt. Bosnia will field the strongest eleven, after losses against Sweden and Germany away from home they back on their home soil to get good result before campaign for Euro 2012 qualifications.

[dealer_dil]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August Turkey - Romania GK: Volkan Demirel (Fenerbahce), Hakan Arikan (Besiktas), Onur Recep Kivrak (Trabzonspor); Defenders: Gokhan Gonul (Fenerbahce), Sabri Sarioglu, Gokhan Zan, Servet Cetin, Hakan Kadir Balta (Galatasaray), Ibrahim Kas (Getafe), Ismail Koybasi (Besiktas); Midfielders: Mehmet Aurelio (Real Betis), Selcuk Sahin, Emre Belozoglu, Kazim Kazim (Fenerbahce), Nuri Sahin (Borussia Dortmund), Hamit Altintop (Bayern Munich), Arda Turan (Galatasaray), Ozan Ipek (Bursaspor); Forwards: Mevlut Erdinc (Paris Saint-Germain), Halil Altintop (Eintracht Frankfurt), Tuncay Sanli (Stoke City), Sercan Yildirim (Bursaspor), Nihat Kahveci (Besiktas). I guess this is the strongest squad. Mehmet Topal is out, but he played rarely in first XI. GK: Bogdan Lobonţ (AS Roma), Costel Pantilimon (FC Timişoara), Mircea Bornescu (Rapid) Defenders: Ovidiu Dănănae (U Craiova), Cristian Panin (CFR Cluj), Gabriel Tamaş (West Bromwich), George Galamaz (Unirea Urziceni), Cristian Chivu (Internazionale Milano), Vasile Maftei (Unirea Urziceni), Răzvan Raţ (Şahtior Doneţk), Mihai Neşu (FC Utrecht) Midfielders: Răzvan Cociş (Al-Nassr), Bănel Nicoliţă (Steaua), Mirel Rădoi (Al-Hilal), Mihai Răduţ (Steaua Bucureşti), George Florescu (Alania Vladikavkaz), Gabriel Mureşan (CFR Cluj), Ciprian Deac (CFR Cluj), Cristian Tănase (Steaua) Attackers: Daniel Niculae (AS Monaco), Bogdan Stancu (Steaua), Ciprian Marica (VfB Stuttgart), Marius Bilaşco (Unirea Urziceni) Mutu is not in the squad for obvious reasons. If I'm not wrong this will be second match for Guss Hiddink as a National Coach of Turkey. In first match they lost against 1:2 to United States away from home. They play well in the first half leading 1:0, but unfortunately they did not converted another couple of chances to score. In second half Americans were better and won 2:1. I respect Mr Hiddink, he usually get a immediate impact on his new teams. He coaching well many NT like Holland, South Korea, Australia or Russia. Teams from different continents, different cultures. They always improved thanks to him. In Turkey case will be the same. This will be his first match at home, on National (?) Stadium so result will be important for morale of Turkey. Romania is very weak, they failed in qualification for World Cup 2010. Some really disgraceful results like lost 3:0 to Lithuania at home or heavy defeat 0:5 against Serbia. The atmosphere is far from optimistic. This year friendlies were also bad: They lost three times (against Israel and Macedonia at home and Ukraine away from home) and won once (against Honduras at home). So still big crisis in Romania NT. Turkey, on the other hand, should improve fast under their new coach. In my opinion they will start winning since game against Romania.

[Deano86]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August Just a bit of info for you lot on the Italy team. Mostly new changes, partly because we needed it, and also because some World Cup members are not ready yet. The likes of Pirlo and Gilardino would still be called, but are not fit enough. It will be an exciting era, and for many starting off with a win at Upton Park against a tough African side would be a good start. The likely team on paper is: (4-2-3-1) Sirigu; Motta, Bonucci, Chiellini, Molinaro; Palombo, De Rossi (Capt.); Pepe, Cassano, Balotelli; Amauri. I think the outright win for Italy is a risky bet, I would much prefer the draw no bet for an Italy win at this stage. Italy historically normally draw friendlies, although this may be a little more than a friendly, it is probably a trial for most of these guys at the start of the Prandelli era. Selection: Italy draw no bet @ 1.53 (Stan James)

[ultravires]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August Italy vs. Ivory Coast This is certainly the most intriguing friendly of the lot this week. This game has been two years coming for most Italy fans. The Lippi reign is over and Prandelli has swept aside a lot of Lippi's players. In the spirit of revolution he has even called Amauri, though I do not agree with that at all. It is exciting to think of Balotelli and Cassano potentially linking up like Cassano once did with Totti. There is though a more realistic slant to this match tonight. There is a lot of pressure on these new players as the whole of Italy will be focussed on this friendly tonight, particularly on Cassano and Balotelli. Most of these players have never played together at all. Coupled with the fact Italy are usually underwhelming in the August friendlies, I don't really know what to expect. Deano has already pointed out the expected starting line-up. It'll be nice to see Sirigu play. Marchetti was shaky when playing in the WC so Sirigu could make himself Buffon's understudy. Chiellini will need to lead the defence as he is by far the most experienced. Motta, Bonnucii and Molinaro are all talented but obviously have never played together and don't have too much experience for Italy. All have Juventus links with Motta, Chiellini and Bonnuci expected to line-up this season. A key area to watch will be the midfield duo of De Rossi and Palomobo. They are only playing together because Pirlo is injured but I think it will be a very good partnership. In Italy's last few games De Rossi has had the task of holding the midfield by himself due to Pirlo's lack of physical presence and when he hasn't been able to do that the defence found 5 or 6 players running at them which is obviously a huge problem. Mexico particularly ran Italy ragged prior to the WC. Palomobo is a big physical guy who loves everything about being a destroyer. He has done so for Samp to great effect. He should free De Rossi up to link the midfield and attack. The area everyone will be looking at is Balotelli-Cassano-Pepe-Amauri. Cassano is potentially the no.10 Italy have been crying out for. Beside him Balotelli is a physical presence with pace, strength and great technical ability. Pepe too is a pretty standard winger so Cassano should have outlets when he finds himself on the ball. Amauri is a physically capable striker, who also has a better touch than most. He had an awful time last season but has started this pre-season well so it could be the fresh start he needs. All of these players have something to prove. Balo and Cass will have all eyes on them due to their rejection from Lippi. Amauri will have to show he was worth Prandelli calling him even though he is Brazilian and Pepe is the least stable of the four so will have to prove his worth. All in all we have a talented group of players but 100% untested. The only area I have a confident read on is the midfield. IC are a very physical side so it is key that De Rossi and Palombo are able to hold this area together. If the attackers click then Italy could be very exciting to watch but you cannot expect them to click instantly. This match is just the first in a long preparation to Euro 2012. Another thing to consider are the changes that will likely be made. I don't know just how many Prandelli will make, but being a friendly you would expect quite a lot. The rest of the squad is as follows: Mirante, Viviano (GK's), Cassani, Astori, Antonini, Luchinni (DF's), Montolivio, Marchisio, Lazzari (MF's), Quagliarella, Rossi, Borriello (FW's). The defenders are particularly weaker generally. I don't rate Antonini at all, Cassani is solid but Luchinni and Astori are very inexperienced at this level. Midfield is more familiar. Montilivo and Marchisio have never really impressed but are good players. I think Lazzari will definitely get on as he is a trequartista and that is a position Prandelli will definitely want to try out. Borriello will only come on if Amauri comes off. Quagliarella probably for Pepe and Rossi for Cass or Balotelli or Amauri. The squad players are significantly worse than the starting eleven so I would worry slightly about just how many changes are made. The Attackers are still of good ability but the defence and midfield would worry me a bit. This is the start of a long journey with a lot of excitement and expectation so it could inevitably be an anti-climax. I am happy enough to see these players selected and just watch so I am not going crazy betting on this match. I actually think there could be goals in this game for both teams. IC are far from great at defending and they could themselves hustle an untested defence, particularly in the second half if changes are made. With their quick and direct attacking they could cause problems for sure. The prices on anything to do with Italy have taken a bit of a hammering. I would warn against backing Italy outright purely because of the unknown factor. You can get some draw cover with -0.25 (1.80) but that has taken a bit of a hammering too. My overall feeling for the match is Italy early on with IC worrying later in the match. I have taken: Both teams to score - 2.00 - 4/10 - Bet365 Correct Score - 1-1 - 6.00 - 1/10 - Bet365 Best of luck, don't go too heavy on this match would be my advice as I don't know what to expect myself. EDIT - one extra bet - HT/FT (Italy/Draw) - 15.00 - 1/10 - Bet365

[againstallodds]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August USA V.S. BRAZIL - BRAZIL @ 1.91 ladbrokes Whenever i see USA play, i find they have a very huge problem in their scoring department. They just do not have a natural finisher in the team. I strongly believe that this will be their Achilles Heel tonight. Brazil may not have an experienced defense but judging from their line up, they have a natural finisher in Pato. When i saw Pato's goal against Arsenal during the Emirates cup, i was pretty impressed with his game. I wont be surprised to see a winning goal from him tonight.

[Pay Day]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August

eh? A lot of these French players don't have any chance of playing again. This is a squad picked just for this friendly. Norway are undergoing a bit of a renaissance imo' date=' so I see more value on their side. Although, I do see that the bookies have taken into account the French squad when pricing this game up.[/quote'] I admit it is quite risky and I only bet with low stakes but I feel there is value. I think the players will be extra motivated to impress Blanc and pressure will somewhat be off from the usually demanding French support. As I said there are some very good individuals in attack so I can see them outscoring Norway. I am surprised to see Norway are only one place behind France in the FIFA Rankings but these rankings just confuse me. Norway lost their lost game 1-0 to Ukraine in Norway and before then sneaked past Montenegro 2-1. They have not qualified for any major competition since 2000 . They finished joint third in their last qualification group which was dominated by Holland- tying with Scotland and just ahead of Macedonia and Iceland.

[payday]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August

USA V.S. BRAZIL - BRAZIL @ 1.91 ladbrokes Whenever i see USA play, i find they have a very huge problem in their scoring department. They just do not have a natural finisher in the team. I strongly believe that this will be their Achilles Heel tonight. Brazil may not have an experienced defense but judging from their line up, they have a natural finisher in Pato. When i saw Pato's goal against Arsenal during the Emirates cup, i was pretty impressed with his game. I wont be surprised to see a winning goal from him tonight.

i think the motivation is on the U.S side.for brazil is just another friendly,but for some american players could be one in a life time chance

[againstallodds]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August

i think the motivation is on the U.S side.for brazil is just another friendly' date='but for some american players could be one in a life time chance[/quote'] Well, you know what they say about opinions and assholes... I guess for Brazil, this is a relatively new team. Whether they get to play in the next confederation cup starts with this performance. I really do see Joga Bonito in the line up.

[Ciclon]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August Ireland - Argentina (from http://argentinapreviews.blogspot.com/ ) Most players called for this friendly arrived on Sunday or Monday, so there wasn't much time to do any serious trainings, but the confirmed lineup would use a 4-1-4-1 tactic (4-3-3 for others) with : Sergio Romero - Nicolas Burdisso, Martin Demichelis, Walter Samuel, Gabriel Heinze - Javier Mascherano - Lionel Messi, Ever Banega, Fernando Gago, Angel Di María - Gonzalo Higuaín/Diego Milito The only doubt is on the main striker, because Higuain arrived with a minor injury after a friendly he played with Real Madrid vs LA Galaxy. There's an obvious tactic change from the team that played on the World Cup, with Banega and Gago joining Mascherano in midfield to help him with the defensive responsibilities. Carlos Tevez , with flu symptoms probably won't travel to Dublin. The rest of the squad is : Mariano Andújar, Maximiliano Rodríguez, Jonás Gutiérrez, Mario Bolatti, Javier Pastore, Sergio Agüero, Fabricio Coloccini, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Pablo Zabaleta, Emiliano Insúa. On a secondary note, Ireland's coach Giovanni Trappatoni had to be hospitalized because of food poisoning, and the team could be coached tomorrow by his assistant, Marco Tardelli.

[I am IM]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August Anyone got the squads of Russia versus Bulgaria? I'd fancy a home win for 1.53 @Pinnacle. For me Bulgaria is a pretty poor team, at least compared to the Russians.

[dealer_dil]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August

Bosnia - Qatar Home win for me. Qatar has some strange results - they won against Iran (I remember so well that Iran came back from 0:2 to 3:2 against Bosnia) and Paraquay. They almost always lost some goals so I guess that they play very open game. It's good, because this style of play suits Bosnia well. Qatar is without any player who play in Europe. One or two play for rich club from Egypt. Bosnia will field the strongest eleven, after losses against Sweden and Germany away from home they back on their home soil to get good result before campaign for Euro 2012 qualifications.

1:1 FT :@ It seems that Bosnia is unable to won friendly when they are big favourite and their rivals are nobody. They were lazy, without many chances, defence of Qatar was erratic and Bosnia should won easily.

[PoltergeistRO]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August

Romania is very weak, they failed in qualification for World Cup 2010. Some really disgraceful results like lost 3:0 to Lithuania at home or heavy defeat 0:5 against Serbia. The atmosphere is far from optimistic. This year friendlies were also bad: They lost three times (against Israel and Macedonia at home and Ukraine away from home) and won once (against Honduras at home). So still big crisis in Romania NT. Turkey, on the other hand, should improve fast under their new coach. In my opinion they will start winning since game against Romania.

Romania is weak or maybe your Poland is weak? Friendlies are friendlies and a bad campaign can be forgotten with a perfect one. Our objective is to qualify for the Euro. Turkey also lost the qualification to the World Cup! Romania is never weak. Just because we don't sell our players outside this doesn't mean our football is weaker. We have great wonderkids and we don't sell them for 1-2 million of euros like some of our neighbours do... They are also very well paid with 300-500k salaries! You are one of the gamblers that watch only the results and don't care about the form. With Macedonia wasn't home pal, was in Austria, with Honduras the same. Against Israel and Ukraine many players were tested like in the previous games. Romania after the EURO was weak because we needed a fresh blood... This roster from tomorrow is very strong, I can see Romania scoring many goals... Bogdan Stancu-Marica-Daniel Niculae are forwards in fantastic form in this moment! Our midfielder became better and better and we have doubled positions. I will come tomorrow with a preview and with my bets!

[PoltergeistRO]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August one of my tips will be Romania to score @ 1.50 8/10 this will be my main bet for tomorrow... and I am pretty sure we will score at least 2!

[Jase82]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August

one of my tips will be Romania to score @ 1.50 8/10 this will be my main bet for tomorrow... and I am pretty sure we will score at least 2!

Would you mind please giving us some additional reasoning for this bet :ok Any future posts without reasoning, will unfortunately be moved to the midweek bets thread.

[dealer_dil]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August

Romania is weak or maybe your Poland is weak?

Yeah, my Poland is also weak. Probably even worse that your Romania.

[Mahno]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August

Yeah' date=' my Poland is also weak. Probably even worse that your Romania.[/quote'] Nah,you are ok boys...Italy is weak :lol Another pathetic performance,soon they will play on empty stadiums...

[tebor]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August England v Hungary - Back under 3.5 goals (Betfair @1.49) England are as short as 1-4 with some firms to win this match which is a ridiculous price considering the circumstances. Those being England were woeful in South Africa, scoring only twice in an easy group and being humiliated by the Germans in the 2nd round. Are Hungary really that much worse than Algeria??? I don't think so. Also, this is a shadow of the full first team squad. As far as I'm aware there have only been 3 forwards named for this, Rooney, Zamora & Carlton Cole. Darren Bent has withdrawn injured. No way Rooney will play the full 90 mins if any of the game at all. So this means an experimental forward line with 2 players that aren't exactly prolific at club level. The defenders named (Terry, Dawson, Cole etc) are experienced enough to deal with Hungary and I can't see them scoring. However, the experimental nature of this game, in which the players will surely be holding back for the weekends opening premier fixtures, and the lightweight front line means I can't see England getting many either. The 1.49 available looks good value & is only there because of Englands stupidly short price. Fill yer boots!:dude

[The Abacus]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August Mexico vs Spain This game interests me a lot. It has barely been mentioned but i see it as a great value bet. Spain are world champions and are the best team in the land. They are playing Mexico in their first official game as World Champions in a friendly to celebrate 200 years of Mexican Independence from Spain. They game will be played at the Azteca stadium, Mexicos record there is as good as any National teams. They are a real force and play with a new found power and confidence. They have lost on only twice there in the last 10 years, once vs Costa Rica and once vs Paraguay. They have beaten the likes of Brazil, Argentin and a host of other top teams. They will be playing Spian in mid afternoon local team in the searing heat of Mexico City and at altitude. I'm not disputing Spain's team and the squad they have brought although still very similar to that which was in SA is missing the likes of Iniesta and Torres. The game will be played in a packed house with over 100,000 screaming Mexicans wanting a party. The Mexico squad is also strong and the coach has given youth a chance by dropping the likes of Blanco. Dos Santos, Vela and Hernandez will want to show what they can do vs the best. Interm Manager Enrique Meza will want to show his Mexican team has what it takes to beat the best. With Barca, Real and other top clubs not happy about this friendly game being played so far away and in such difficult circumstances i feel Mexico win at 13/5 (hills) is super value. Most of the Spanish players will be either just back into training or be going pretty much from the beach to this game. Casillas has already stated that the players are still tired. Not ideal preperation. With Mexicos home record and the various other circumstances i sense the home win. My only worry is that its Spain's first official game as world champs and they may want to show their quality, but my feelings are that won't be enough. 13/5 Mexico win (hills) 4/6 Mexico win or draw (hills) for cover Good Luck

[FCP]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August

Event	China - Bahrain
Selection	China
Strength	10/10
Date	11/08/2010
Bookmaker/Price	Ladbrokes @ 2.00
Reasoning	After the World Cup, the national teams are back to action. China receives Bahrain in this friendly game.I have every reason to believe that the China is not afraid of Bahrain. They recently defeated 3-0 Bayer Leverkusen and got a 1-0 away victory over France. China will take this game to test some young players but also Bahrain will do the same. Bahrain won't play with his best line, and some of their best players didn't traveled to China with the team, so i have to give miy pick to the hosts in this game, as they, even with many youngs, are playing good football in the hands of the national coach Gao Hongbo.

[aka haldan]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August

Romania is weak or maybe your Poland is weak? Friendlies are friendlies and a bad campaign can be forgotten with a perfect one. Our objective is to qualify for the Euro. Turkey also lost the qualification to the World Cup! Romania is never weak. Just because we don't sell our players outside this doesn't mean our football is weaker. We have great wonderkids and we don't sell them for 1-2 million of euros like some of our neighbours do... They are also very well paid with 300-500k salaries! You are one of the gamblers that watch only the results and don't care about the form. With Macedonia wasn't home pal, was in Austria, with Honduras the same. Against Israel and Ukraine many players were tested like in the previous games. Romania after the EURO was weak because we needed a fresh blood... This roster from tomorrow is very strong, I can see Romania scoring many goals... Bogdan Stancu-Marica-Daniel Niculae are forwards in fantastic form in this moment! Our midfielder became better and better and we have doubled positions. I will come tomorrow with a preview and with my bets!

Ooh my country fellow, it is sad for me to argue with you, but our team is weak. As a matter of fact this is the weakest one in my 25 years of watching football. Imagine how comfortable I was seeing France and Serbia’s performances during World Cup and knowing these teams finished above us in the qualifying group.

“… our midfield became better and better …” Unfortunately, it went from bad to worse, without any good defensive midfielder or a creative one. Don’t say Radoi is experienced or Florescu has potential … We are below sea level in the midfield …

We have a goalkeeper that hasn’t played more than 90 minutes during last year. We have a decent central defender Tamas pairing with a good Chivu. Still, this is not Chivu’s usual position at his club. We have a decent Marica and Niculae in attack, but they are not complementary to each other, so they usually don’t work well together. The other players are just not worth to be mentioned at all. Don’t say Tanase, Nicolita, Deac or Bogdan Stancu are good promising players. They are at least 22 years old now and mediocre at best … They should have “exploded” by now. They appeared as promises, but never succeeded in reaching next level.

We don’t sell players … yes because almost nobody wants them. Even when we sell them, they are back after a year or two. We sold Ionita to Koln. Let’s see if he stays there more than a year.

I don’t want to continue. I don’t say Romania is a sure victim in this match because I don’t know many things about Turkey and I never bet only knowing one side from two.

Good luck and don’t be angry with me. :ok

[PoltergeistRO]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August I don't agree with you and we didn't selll because our owners asked fantastic prices. Until the crisis, Becali from Steaua refused offers of 10 mil of euros for Radoi, for Goian asked 10, they became old and plafonated. This happens now with Craiova, had an offer of 7 mil of euros from Bayern for Florin Costea and refused. Our managers were also asking a lot of expensive commissions, were greedy see Becali, not like the Croat ones for example who were really pro and sold for big money even probably didn't have our large area. Also nobody wanted to pay so much because they were afraid that our players will not confirm. IN THE PAST EVEN OUR BIG FORMER PLAYERS LIKE RADUCIOIU OR DUMITRESCU for example had problems with the adaptation! Do you really think somebody is stupid to sell Bogdan Stancu for 5 mil of euros? or Tanase for the same price when we paid 2 million of euros for 50% of him? We have tons of wonderkids, but our there are too many scandals in Liga 1 now. Or were last season when we also had poor coaches at the teams from Bucharest and others too. This is the 1st season when we have good coaches and the youngsters like Torje or Stancu became very well the season. Don't tell me we don't have awesome players for selection, we didn't have so many after 2000 with Lita, Trica or Pulica, small players not taller like now! WE DON'T FIND 2 GOOD PLAYERS ON EVERY POSITION FROM SUCH A DATABASE? here is my list, but only of youngsters: GK: Pantilimon, Tatarusanu, Lung Jr, Lungu (the first 3 of them are world class goal-keepers) DF: Matel, Sepsi, Parvulescu, Latovlevici, Ciuca, Barboianu, Luchin, Gaman, Mera, Mardare, Cordos, Gardos, Alexandru Iacob, Daminuta, Sarghi, Homei, Dananae, Ripa MF: Alexe, Tanase, Deac, Firtulescu, Ochirosii, Radut, Brata, Florescu, Andrei Ionescu, Bicfalvi, Prepelita, Bourceanu, Onicas, Ropotan, A. Muresan, Chipciu, Szekely, Roman, Nicolita, Torje FW: Ionita, Costea brothers, Stancu, Bud, L.Ganea, Sburlea, Hora, Raduta, Alibec I WONDER HOW MANY TEAMS FROM EUROPE HAVE THIS AREA OF SELECTION! AND I CAN FIND MORE IF I SEARCH! I CAN FIND 60 GOOD YOUNGSTERS AND AT LEAST 15 FROM THEM BEING WONDERKIDS... ADD THE PLAYERS WHO ARE CONVOKED NOW TOO, with experience... how can you say Romanian doesn't have players? :spank you just a fan of Romania when they play good, that's all... we have a great team, but we had problems with the management and it wasn't silence for work! I think you forgot that we were undefeated in almost 20 matches at Under 21, and we played away in England, Holland, France, Italy. IT WILL BE SAD IF WE WILL NOT FIGHT FOR THE SEMIFINALS AT THE EURO IN THE NEXT 3-4 YEARS!

[PoltergeistRO]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August

“… our midfield became better and better …” Unfortunately, it went from bad to worse, without any good defensive midfielder or a creative one. Don’t say Radoi is experienced or Florescu has potential … We are below sea level in the midfield …

really? creation midfielders: Radut, Adrian Cristea, Apostol, Florescu, Andrei Ionescu if he will play at Steaua, even Tames. you need just 1 offensive midfielder + reserve, in a system of 11 players, 4-4-2. left midfielders: Tanase, Alexe, Deac right midfielders: Torje, Szekely, Nicolita, Roman defensive midfielderS: Radoi, Muresan from Cluj, Ropotan, Muresan from Gloria for tomorrow a midfield: Tanase-Radut-Muresan(Radoi)-Nicolita will be just great or this team is good too: THAT'S BULLSHIT THAT WE DON'T HAVE A TEAM! even some players were not convoked, it is still a very good team... it is not my fault that Piturca and Lucescu Jr are overrated coaches like Boloni is for example too (just decent good coaches)! the only coaches for the National Team should be the best ones from Romania: Lucescu Senior and especially Dan Petrescu... i mean, who can make quarters or semis at a final tournament! i hope i am wrong and Luce Jr will make a good work here... for me the friendlies are equal to 0, but at the national teams, the friendlies are POINTED, so tomorrow we want a win here! and WHO THE **** IS HIDDINK? at the World Cup in 2002, his South Korea had an easy group, after that won 2 matches with the referees, especially against Italy. Russia of Hiddink lost 0-3 with Romania until the EURO 2008 and at the Euro had an easy group. the same Russia conceeded 4 or 5 goals against Spain in groups. I wonder what they would have did against Italy, France and Holland in our group. same Russia of Hiddink lost the playoff against Slovenia... yes, he is still a decent coach but not such a fantastic one, he is slightly or more overrated! remember our Liga 1 last year and our national team, we had the same problems with the scandals that Turkey has now and we had bad results after a good start. probably the organisation of Hiddink will limit the loss of Turkey tomorrow, but it will be still a loss! Turkey also lost the qualification for South Africa... you don't see what an overrated team has Turkey? no wonder they didn't qualify! nothing came from Under 21 even on juniors they are pretty strong, but more lower levels. Altintop brothers? both reserves are their teams? or the same Servet? same Volkan as goal-keeper, not a fantastic one. i wonder how Emre is not regular. :))) Arda Turan the plafonated guy from the Turkish League or the same old Mehmet Aurelio. only Tuncay is dangerous or not anymore! Kazim Kazim who is not fantastic... we have bigger chances to qualify to the Euro than Turkey! AT LEAST THE ROMANIAN SIDE HAS MORE FRESH BLOOD THAN THE TURKISH ONE! we surely not lose tomorrow... Romania tomorrow with Marica, Stancu or Daniel Niculae will be lethal on counter-attacks! PS. Turkey didn't defeat Romania in the last 35 years! TIP: Romania to score @ 1.55 8/10 on Gamebookers TIP: Romania DNB @ 3.25 6/10 on Bet365 TIP: Romania over 1.5 goals @ 3.75 2/10 on Bet365 TIP: Romania -1.5 @ 10.00 0.5/10 on Bet365 (this is for fun)

[PoltergeistRO]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August then you take Turkey to win, bigger odds 1.85... I will take Romania to score @ 1.50 with more money and I will win my bet from the 1st half! :cow PS. you are surely the same Aka Haldan (Dinamo fan), if you talk about the players from Steaua. yes, Torje is better than Nicolita and he isn't convoked, but he isn't constant yet. but Stancu is awesome player, how can you say he is mediocre? the same for Radoi. hahaha! :) Tamas is a former Dinamo player, but I can't tell he is bad in this moment because I am objective... YOU ARE NOT FAIR! at the national team we should be objectives...

[dealer_dil]

Re: International Friendlies > 10th - 11th August Slovakia versus Croatia Slovakia: Goalkeepers: Jan Mucha (Everton), Dusan Kuciak (Vaslui), Dusan Pernis (Dundee United). Defenders: Peter Pekarik (Wolfsburg), Martin Skrtel (Liverpool), Tomas Hubocan (Zenit St. Petersburg), Kornel Salata (Slovan Bratislava), Radoslav Zabavnik (Mainz), Marek Cech (West Bromwich Albion). Midfielders: Miroslav Karhan (Mainz), Juraj Kucka (Sparta Prague), Kamil Kopunek (Spartak Trnava), Marek Hamsik (Napoli), Vladimir Weiss (Manchester City), Stanislav Sestak (Bochum), Miroslav Stoch (Fenerbahce). Forwards: Erik Jendrisek (Schalke), Filip Holosko (Besiktas), Robert Vittek (Ankaragucu). Croatia: Goalkeepers: Vedran Runje (RC Lens), Danijel SubaÅ¡ić (Hajduk Split) Defenders: Josip Å imunić (Hoffenheim), Jurica Buljat (Hajduk), Ivan Strinić (Hajduk), Vedran Ćorluka (Tottenham), Gordon Schindelfeld (SK Sturm Graz) Midfielders: Darijo Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk), Ognjen Vukojević (Dynamo Kiev), Tomislav Dujmović (Lokomotiv), Danijel Pranjić (Bayern Munich), Luka Modrić (Tottenham), Drago Gabrić (Trabzonspor), Niko Kranjčar (Tottenham), Ivan Rakitić (FC Schalke 04) Forwards: Ivica Olić (Bayern Munich), Mladen Petrić (Hamburg), Mario Mandžukić (Vfl Wolfsburg), Eduardo da Silva (FC Shakhtar Donetsk), Nikica Jelavić (Rapid). Kovac and Kriżanac who often played as centre backs during the last qualifications are not in the squad