Lyon

They are, but the ban is still there if you go over the limit during the group stages. This is the last game where the yellow cards from the group stages are counted.

Yeah, not too bad really. I mean this with the upmost respect for the other sides but a road to the semis where you have to face Germany/Ecuador and then Portugal/Holland isn't that bad. I am only saying that because considering the fact that this is the World Cup you are always destined to meet good sides at that stage, but to avoid the very best is quite nice.

Surprisingly positive actually. Most believe that they will still qualify and that yesterday was at least an improvement and they showed that they can play some decent stuff. Obviously some of them think that they really shouldn't have blown it last night, but having said that they also feel it is a blessing in digsuise that Zidane is suspended for the next match which will hopefully see the team move to a 4-4-2. Really surprisingly calm.

You want to place some money on that?

Usually 3-0 is the standard, though I wouldn't be surprised if they were simply removed from the competition and the group fought about between the three fo them.

No, because a France win against Togo would mean that would France also have 5 points.

It is more than likely that they will still go through. As long as they win against Togo they will probably finish second in the group behind the winner of the Swiss v South Korea match. I don't know what happens if that is a draw as well, does it then go to goal difference?

Always great to see teams that are in complete control blow it. It will be interesting to see how the Viera "goal" is dealt with now, knowing the French press they'll be calling for blood more than cursing their luck. As for a Barthez howler, I really don't think he was at fault there. The touch took it above him and he just stuck up a hand, sometimes you would tip it wide or over, others you just don't get enough on it, not really his fault. I would be more interested to know why Gallas pulled out of taking a swing at the ball rather than placing any blame on Barthez.

I apologise for not doing a preview, it totally slipped my mind and I only just thought of it while watching the game. France are currenty winning 1-0, though should be 2 as Viera's header crossed the line. Much improved performance compared to the boring show against Switzerland.

Brazil have looked quite ordinary, how anyone can class them in the same league as the likes of England is beyond me.

Unlucky Aussies, you didn't deserve it. Could have been quite another story had Kewell not fluffed that chance. Agree that the officials were horrible, you weren't allowed to touch the Brazilians, ridiculous. Poor showing again my Brazil, but the Aussies will have won their place in a lot of people's hearts today. Must add that I like that Emerton, he seems to be a decent player.

Yeah, if both England and Argentina win their group they will play in the final, while if Germany win their group we will play Ecuador in the last 16 if we win ours. This is the World Cup, you are going to have to play and beat good teams if you want to win it.

You've only got one point American. As for Keller being one of the best keepers in the world, I'm not so sure about that one. He was really only called on once to make a save during the match which he did well. Have to agree with USAblue when I saw the goal I did think back to the Cisse goal. I still think all three red cards were deserved. As for the USA being the only team that didn't get the rub of the green with officials, they were quite lucky with some of the times that the Italians were called offside.

They still did their best not to score. African sides will always create chances though I have to say that the Czechs simply didn't turn up today. Perhaps they will really suffer from not having their first choice of strikers, though they should be fit for the knock-out stages (if they make it, which I have to say is now in considerable doubt).

I would agree with that.

Personally I thought that the ref got everything right tonight. De Rossi had to go and so did Mastreoni (if you slide in with studs showing you are always asking for trouble, add to that the fact that you are going in with two feet, late and one foot slightly off of the ground and you'll be lucky to get away with it), while Pope, given his experience, should have known better than to have gone in for a tackle like that having already been booked, both bookings were deserved. It would have been nice had the officials managed to keep the Italian play acting under wraps, but I don't think that is really possible and they never got away with anything that was too serious. As for the goal, the player was certainly "active" or whatever term we are supposed to use now. Have to say French TV only showed it twice so maybe when I see it again in the morning some of the details I thought to be so might be wrong, but though he didn't touch the ball (or did he...really don't think he did) it appeared as if he tried to flick it (though was that his attempt to get out of the way?), but even if neither of those are true the fact that he was stood directly in the line of sight for the keeper, right through the path of the ball and so close to the goal means that he has to be considered active in what happened.

I actually thought it was a funny little S&M joke. Leanardo seems to be growing into his role, good choice by the BBC.

Well Portugal seem to have a bit of the England syndrome at the moment, but they did what they had to do today and can now look forward to the next round and possibly the prospect of playing Argentina. That could be a great game, I have no doubt that with the attacking talent that Portugal have that they will come good and become more entertaining as the tournament goes on.

Yeah...rub it in.

Better than Spain and Italy yes and were the most convincing of that lot in qualification, though because of the weakness of England's group that means nothing really. Overall strength in depth, same reason why most people you hear talk, be they current or ex players or just folk in the media. Now that isn't to say that is the only reason I believe that, but there is just a quality in that England starting 11 and even on the bench that puts them slightly ahead of those sides.

No, as in they had only played one game in this tournament.

Best goal ever? Think that is going a bit far.

If you look at it that way not much seperates most players in this world cup. When you really look at sides it is easy to pick holes, if you look at Brazil I can't see a single defender there who would make it into the English backline. There is no perfect team out there, but England are one of the top three and in my opinion those three are slightly ahead of a following pack which is then virtually impossible to seperate. As for the lack of silverware being down to lack of talent, I woudln't agree. I am not saying that over the past few years we have always been overflowing with talented players, but we are always good enouh to be able to do something, the fact that we have not won anything for 40 years is the result of poor management and underperforming. If we win this World Cup I won't be of the view that we won it despite having SGE at the helm and if we fail it won't just be because of him. We have a squad of players with a huge amount of talent and if they aren't able to produce the goods when they cross that line then that is their fault.

Let's hope they sort themselves out. Prove all the doubters and naysayers wrong.