and about the winners of Euro 2008 qualifying automatically for the world cup... are you sure? I've not heard that one before, and even the world cup winners have to qualify for the world cup these days.
anyway, I wouldn't actually mind seeing the Germans do well (though perhaps this isn't a trait looked favourably on in an English football fan), though I'd rather Spain (or Holland, now that I've had a good look at them) won it. Or maybe even Turkey... I like watching Turkey. Podolski & Klose were 2 of my favourite players in the last world cup; they were a great partnership. I'm not even missing England being part of this competition all that much.
I think 2006 was the first world cup where the previous champions had to qualify. Seems fair to me - partly because the teams strong enough to win the tournament are probably strong enough to get through the qualification stage. It's in their own interests, in a way - it helps keep them sharp; if they didn't have to qualify, they wouldn't play much competitive football in the 2 years up to the tournament.
How do you rate Germany's chances against Portugal? I think they might struggle... and your goalie is a nutter; I'm still waiting for him to do something crazy. I think Podolski's your best chance (perhaps that's stating the obvious); I've been disappointed with Klose and Gomez so far.
Indiana has standard internet access from what I can tell. My concern was that I wouldn't have access in my dorm room. It turns out that I do, which is pleasant.
and about the winners of Euro 2008 qualifying automatically for the world cup... are you sure? I've not heard that one before, and even the world cup winners have to qualify for the world cup these days.
anyway, I wouldn't actually mind seeing the Germans do well (though perhaps this isn't a trait looked favourably on in an English football fan), though I'd rather Spain (or Holland, now that I've had a good look at them) won it. Or maybe even Turkey... I like watching Turkey. Podolski & Klose were 2 of my favourite players in the last world cup; they were a great partnership. I'm not even missing England being part of this competition all that much.