Player of tournament

[coolhandlaura]

at least it's not Kahn
he should have hold on to Rinaldo's shot that caused the first goal

ah jesus come on. ONE mistake. one bloody mistake is all he made in the whole tournament. Of course he deserves to be at least in the top two or three players of the world cup. He is an absolutely fantastic goalie, and i hope People dont turn around now, and forget everything hes done , because hes a fantastic goalie.

and im irish!

 

[Salome]

ah jesus come on blah, blah, blah
when you choke in the final you are not the best player of the tournament
period

I never said he wasn't the second best or whatever (though I don't think so)

and I'm not even Irish nor Portugese (also has got nothing to do with it)
so there

 

[sulawesigirl4]

Well if the final game has any bearing, I'd have to amend Kahn to Ronaldo.

 

[coolhandlaura]

hahaha choked, thats a good one!!

cuz you ARE jokin right??

NO??

did you just watch that ONE goal??
cuz he made, as always some exceptional saves in the first half.

and of course the mistake he made had NOTHING to do with the fact that the pitch was greasy as hell, and all the players were slippin and slidin (down!) on it??

theres no way he CHOKED.

ireland+portugal???wtf??lost ya there!!
unless youre talkin bout us and portugal qualifying for the world cup and the dutch,well.....,not.

i would never, ever be so low as to bring that up!!!!!! shit.....too late....

 

[rafmed]

Of course Ronaldo is the player of the tournament, a forward can fail several times, and still, being succesfull in some, be considered the best, a goal keeper can't do a mistake, it goes to the score.
Olli Kahn remains the best goalkeeper in the world, one play don't take that away, and he is best, not only for what he did in the 6 games prior to the final, he is the best for his performances not only with Germany but also with Bayern Munich. He almost singlehandled won the champions league 2 years ago for Bayern, and Germany would have never reached the final without him.

 

[coolhandlaura]

Of course Ronaldo is the player of the tournament, a forward can fail several times, and still, being succesfull in some, be considered the best, a goal keeper can't do a mistake, it goes to the score.
Olli Kahn remains the best goalkeeper in the world, one play don't take that away, and he is best, not only for what he did in the 6 games prior to the final, he is the best for his performances not only with Germany but also with Bayern Munich. He almost singlehandled won the champions league 2 years ago for Bayern, and Germany would have never reached the final without him.

i completely agree. i really have a lot of respect for kahn, im not sure ive ever seen a goalie like him..i just hope he isnt remembered in this tournament as the guy-who-made-a-big-mistake-in-the-final,or even The Guy Who Was Great Until The Final But Then Choked/Messed Up/Whatever.

on a lighter note, im delighted that only 2 R's got the ball past Kahn........Ronaldo and......ROBBIE!!!!!!!!!!!!

what an achievement!

 

[bullet the blue sky]

I'd also like to change my nomination from Khan to Ronaldo.

I think we saw Khan's weakness in the final. He is a very good shot-stopper and is good at punching, but his weakness is clearly his catching - that's why he opts to punch it all the time. Anyway, it came to handling Rivaldo's shot which was not one he could safely punch... and he spilled it. Of course, he had injured his finger, but there are nine other fingers on a human being so that shouldn't be an excuse.

I'm glad Brazil won anyway as they were clearly the best team in the tournament.

 

[speedracer]

I'd also like to change my nomination from Khan to Ronaldo.

I think we saw Khan's weakness in the final. He is a very good shot-stopper and is good at punching, but his weakness is clearly his catching - that's why he opts to punch it all the time. Anyway, it came to handling Rivaldo's shot which was not one he could safely punch... and he spilled it. Of course, he had injured his finger, but there are nine other fingers on a human being so that shouldn't be an excuse.

I'm glad Brazil won anyway as they were clearly the best team in the tournament.

Yeah, it was a fairly hard shot, but *I* could have caught that shot. I don't think it has anything to do with Kahn's hands failing him--I think he just lost his concentration for a split second.

 

[Salome]

and of course the mistake he made had NOTHING to do with the fact that the pitch was greasy as hell, and all the players were slippin and slidin (down!) on it??

since that ball never touched the ground I indeed do guess it has nothing to do with a greasy pitch
if he didn't choke then it still was a horrible mistake

keepers aren't allowed horrible mistakes
especially in the final (newspaper here headlines: "mistake Kahn decides final")

7 matches, 8 goals
who should be recognized as best player of this tournament?
you do the math

 

[coolhandlaura]

since that ball never touched the ground I indeed do guess it has nothing to do with a greasy pitch
if he didn't choke then it still was a horrible mistake

keepers aren't allowed horrible mistakes
especially in the final (newspaper here headlines: "mistake Kahn decides final")

7 matches, 8 goals
who should be recognized as best player of this tournament?
you do the math

but the fact that the ball was ROLLING AROUND on the greasy pitch would have made it very slippy no????????!!!!!!!!THAT was my point.

im not disputing that Ronaldo was joint or even best player of the tournament, im disputing that just because kahn made one, albeit very bad, mistake, he is being slagged off??

oh yeah, im SURE you could have caught it.......in your garden.
How can you underestimate the pressure of a world cup final??


Its like when beckham got sent off four years ago. It was a stupid mistake. if he had have missed the penalty against argentina this year the hall he got would have happened all over again!! i hope this doesnt happen to Kahn. and Bullet, before you think im attacking your country again, im just using it as a n example. I could have used Baggio missin the penalty in 94, etc,etc, but we didnt see the media reaction at first hand over here.


Ps who SAVED at least 8 or 9 definate-goals-if-it-hadnt-have-been-for-Kahn?????????????

 

[Salome]

I have done a lot of goalkeeping myself
Kahn didn't mess up that ball because the ball was slippy, he didn't get his body behind the ball the right way (the ball didn't slip out of his hands, it bounced off from his body)
a fault a keeper shouldn't be making at that level
and one that does disqualify him from being the best player in the tournament when he makes that mistake in the final
Kahn has got fine reflexes, is great at positioning himself, but I have got to agree with Bullet that he isn't the greatest in catching balls

I never dismissed Kahn qualities
I still don't think a goalkeeper can make such a mistake in the final and still be the best player of the tournament

 

[brettig]

just because kahn made one, albeit very bad, mistake, he is being slagged off??

Seaman was slagged off for making one mistake too. I think its notable that the two most costly goalkeeping errors of the cup- Seaman's v Brazil and Kahn's last night, both came right after both hand suffered injuries to areas that wouldve been crucial in their efforts to save- Seaman's back and Kahn's hand.

 

[cloudimani]

god theres so many...

DAMIEN DUFF
SHAY GIVEN
ROBBIE KEANE
STEVE FINNAN
STEVE STAUNTON
MATT HOLLAND
MARK KINSELLA
GARY KELLY
NIALL QUINN

AND THE REST OF THE BOYS IN GREEN!!

 

[cloudimani]

I think you're being totally unfair to Kahn, ok he made a mistake, but he wouldnt have been in that position if Hamann hadn't been messing about with the ball in defence. Plus Kahn had had his hand trod on by a Brazilian player earlier in the match (cant remeber which) Kahn made numerous saves in the first half to keep Germany in contention, it seems its the ones who dont know much about the game that are hopping all over him.
If you're going to bring mistakes into it, Ronaldo missed 2 excellent chances 1st half, so it shouldnt be him either.

My nominations would be Kahn, Ronaldo, Ronaldihno (def. not Rivaldo, I dont think he had a very good tournament at all, I even forgot at times that he was playing in the final...and he disgraced himself on numerous occasions)

Most promising: Damian Duff, Coly (Senegal). not many actually, this isnt a world cup that will live long in the memory for reasons other than bad refereeing and the poor performance of the big teams

 

[follower]

I think you're being totally unfair to Kahn, ok he made a mistake

I think you guys are loosing something here...there was another one. Remember?

Brasil 2 x 0 Germany

Think about that one. It was not Kahn?s fault. It was nobody?s fault. It was a result of creativity and talent and 3 men working together...Kleberson, Rivaldo and Ronaldo.

Right?

 

[speedracer]

Seaman was slagged off for making one mistake too. I think its notable that the two most costly goalkeeping errors of the cup- Seaman's v Brazil and Kahn's last night, both came right after both hand suffered injuries to areas that wouldve been crucial in their efforts to save- Seaman's back and Kahn's hand.

If you asked Seaman about Ronaldinho's goal, I don't think he'd use his back injury as an excuse--he'd just say he misread the shot.

 

[speedracer]

I think you guys are loosing something here...there was another one. Remember?

Brasil 2 x 0 Germany

You know what we mean. Once Brazil got the first one so late in the match, Germany had to push more attackers up, leaving them more vulnerable in defense.

Think about that one. It was not Kahn?s fault. It was nobody?s fault. It was a result of creativity and talent and 3 men working together...Kleberson, Rivaldo and Ronaldo.

Right?

I agree--there wasn't much Kahn could have done about the second goal.

 

[Salome]

it seems its the ones who dont know much about the game that are hopping all over him.
If you're going to bring mistakes into it, Ronaldo missed 2 excellent chances 1st half, so it shouldnt be him either.

1. I am not hopping on Khan
I might be in a moment though if I should get sufficiently pissed off
2. I enjoyed the way you threw that "dont know much about the game in there"
thumbs up
3. unfair it may be, but that is the difference between a goalkeeper and an attacker
an attacker is allowed a few mistakes as long as he scores enough goals
a keeper isn't allowed 10 great saves (though Kahn didn't make 10 great saves yesterday) and then mess up a easy shot
and I'm not just making this up
every goalkeeper (even the ones that do know a bit about the game) will tell you the same thing

 

[AcrobatMan]

i will still go for Kahn because he saved more goals which ordinary goal keeper would have not saved than goals Ronaldo scoring which ordinary striker would have not.. about the miss, he probably just let one in while ronaldo missed 3-4 which ordinary striker would have put in the net..RONALDO is a CLOSE
second

 

[follower]

Am I the first?

Despite what he said the day before the final match I would like to say congrats to Olliver Kahn, he?s a great goalkeeper, no doubt.

You know, Ollie could learn something with Bono...When asked by a poor boy living in the slums of Rio what he, Bono, didn?t have that he would like to have he answered the boy..."I think, uh... humility".

 

[cloudimani]

I think too much is made of Kahn's comments before the final, there's always some banter before a big game, its just posturing really. I doubt if the Brazilians are totally innocent of that given they were acting like they had already won the cup before the final.

It could be said that trying to teach footballer's humility is akin to teaching supermodels modesty.
Away from the game though its a different matter, Kahn seems like a really nice and down-to-earth guy.

 

[sulawesigirl4]

Interestingly enough, the German guy I sat next to at the pub watching the Cup said that Kahn isn't NOT such a nice guy. Not that I'm assuming they're personal friends, but apparently that was his impression having lived in his home country and following the sport.

But whatever...he's definitely a good goalie. Shame about the mistakes in the game, but he shouldn't feel too bad...if not for him, the team would not have BEEN in that game.

 

[follower]

But whatever...he's definitely a good goalie. Shame about the mistakes in the game, but he shouldn't feel too bad...if not for him, the team would not have BEEN in that game.

And that's the reason why he so deserved the prize. IMHO

 

[AcrobatMan]

belated..congratulations follower ..so how did u party..is the party still on..

 

[follower]

belated..congratulations follower ..so how did u party..is the party still on..

Yup, always my friend

In fact our Sele??o landed in Brasil?a, our capital, a few hours ago, and they paraded heading to Planalto, the presidential palace. Lots of people celebrating all the way from the airport to Planalto.

Now they are on their way to Rio, they are supposed to arrive there in a few minutes. After Rio they go to S?o Paulo and then they are free to come back to their families. Everything has been shown live by Brazilian TV.

The problem is...I'm still at work, damnit

Btw, thanks AcrobatMan from Mars

 

[AcrobatMan]

Btw, thanks AcrobatMan from Mars

Unfortunately our planet didnt get any representation in ur FIFA world cup else we would have beaten BRAZIL 5-0... Just kidding..
Well done Brazil Well done the R's

 

[cloudimani]

Interestingly enough, the German guy I sat next to at the pub watching the Cup said that Kahn isn't NOT such a nice guy. Not that I'm assuming they're personal friends, but apparently that was his impression having lived in his home country and following the sport.

Er well I'm in Germany atm and I'm going on all the times I've seen him on tv lately, he's always come across v. well, and I think the Bayern and Germany fans I'm staying with would most likely agree with me.

 

[sulawesigirl4]

Er well I'm in Germany atm and I'm going on all the times I've seen him on tv lately, he's always come across v. well, and I think the Bayern and Germany fans I'm staying with would most likely agree with me.

Like I said...I don't know the guy personally. I do know that I wouldn't want to be a striker trying to get a ball past him though.

 

[follower]

Now they are on their way to Rio, they are supposed to arrive there in a few minutes. After Rio they go to S?o Paulo and then they are free to come back to their families. Everything has been shown live by Brazilian TV.

LOL at my own post...that WAS the original plan...but they are STILL in Bras?lia, 4 hours after their arrival...more than 150 mil on the streets, nobody feels the need to be in a hurry...poor guys, they must be very tired, but all we can see are smiles in their faces. A nice thing to see...and more half million are waiting for them in Rio...and another half million in S?o Paulo.

 

[rafmed]

If you asked Seaman about Ronaldinho's goal, I don't think he'd use his back injury as an excuse--he'd just say he misread the shot.

I don't think any of them Seaman and less Olli Kahn are using anything as excuse.

In any case, there is BIG diference between Olli Kahn and Seaman...