Put down your predictions here. W-D-L - Get out of group on goals. Who gives a shit about any of those other shitty ass countries? However if you feel the need, talk about how you think the sheltered nations will perform, you can make them as well. I'll go and say that Brazil get's its sixth star. This will be the coming out party for the diving queen.
I'm picking Brazil as well (unfortunately). I'm picking Ivory Coast to get out of group play for the first time.
Well, one thing's for sure, your lot won't get out of the group stage. Spain for me. Diego Costa has been banging them in like nobody's business this year. David Villa in his last tournament and they still have the midfield to end all midfields. I think they are stronger than Brazil and Brazil don't have the easiest group either with Croatia and Mexico to overcome. England to go out of the group stages with a whimper as usual. Last 16 at best. Iran to come second in their group!
United States finishes second in their group, and loses to Belgium in the round of 16. Spain over Brazil in the final.
Despite the form of Costa, it's Spain and he's not guaranteed to play. How many caps does he have? Less than 10 i think. Spain for me are past it anyway, obviously still dangerous but not the team they have been for the last 6years. History shows European teams have not won a WC held in South America, i expect that to continue. Hosts always get an extra lift and Brazil dont exactly need anything extra do they? Argentina have a wealth of attacking options with Messi, Aguero, Higuin, Di Maria etc and will rack up some big scores. Uruguy are a very handy team and if Suarez can recover from his injury and show the form he's capable of, they could contend for the trophy. Others to look out for, usual suspects of Germany who are the strongest European team, Holland are always handy and Ronaldo has the ability to drag Portugal to the semi finals himself. Belgium, for all their exciting players are facing a bit of an injury crisis. This is probably a tournament too soon for them. Ivory Coast need to do something this time while the stars are still playing. Looking forward to it, bring on Thursday night!
Brilliant performance by Oscar. Brutal dive by Fred. Every time I see Neymar I want to punch him in the face. Brazil's defence looked pretty shaky at times. Glad I got to see at least one game sober, bring it on!
For folks a bit unsure on the finer points of the game, this handy graphic is quite useful: http://www.theonion.com/articles/on...um=SocialMarketing&utm_campaign=Pic:1:Default
Well, the Netherlands just handed Spain a solid thrashing. Final was 5-1, but should've been 5-nil as Spain got a gift call on a non-penalty that gave them a PK. I've gotta say, this game surprised me quite a bit. The Dutch were rumored to not be as strong as they were 4 years ago.
That was insane. And it could easily have been 6 or 7-0. The Netherlands just dismantled Spain's defense.
I love the world cup! I watch every single game. Watching soccer, drinking beer, ranting in the red room on my mobile when the games are boring... This will be a good month! Sadly, many games start really late which makes getting up in the morning for work quite hard. Perhaps I should cut down on the beer... But soccer and beer belong together, there is no escaping it... Of course Switzerland will win the cup. Everything else would be a huge disappointment.
Is that 1-0 to me then? Saying that, Spain lost their first game four years ago and still went on to win the thing. Tonights the night though to see if the USA can live up to the big talk Anc and co have been giving them. 11pm on a school night and neither are major players so I'll just have to watch some highlights tomorrow. Looking forward to Germany v Ronaldo though.
Great draw for Iran. Off to bed now. I think Ghana are playing tonight. Good side. Hope they do well, but not significant enough a match for me to stay up.
Here's my take. Brazil - Defense is weak as usual. Not winning the Cup but im pulling for them for personal reasons. Spa in - they'll right the ship but come up short. England - younger but Rooney couldn't kick it in the ocean if there were no goalie in front of it. He nice passeslast game but just can't score. Going nowhere. USA - will lose in the 16's. They stink but Portugal is almost as bad. Portugal - After Ronaldo its a bunch of short bus riders. Done. Holland, Dutch, Netherlands - no matter what they go by this team is a serious team. I think they go very far but come up just short. Germany - They might be goose-stepping to the title except for the one team who will stop them. Argentina - It's their time and Messi will bring it home, much to the dismay of the Brazilians.
I thought Argentina's defending looked very dodgy. Keep that up, they have no chance. I'll post my thoughts after I've seen Belgium.
If we Draw against Portugal, then it comes down to GD (assuming a lose against Germany), so that would give us an edge (considering Portugal is currently -4 and we're +1).
Yes, however you have played Ghana, and Portugal have played Germany. You can’t really compare the results. I didn’t watch the USA game, only seen the goals. From what I read, USA played with a lot of heart and the players put everything into the game. They were still pretty poor though. Portugal, I did watch. Portugal were certainly not good but possibly made to look worse by playing against one of the best teams in the tournament with a man down for the majority of the match. Will be interesting to see how they bounce back against teams who should be weaker than them. One things for sure, the USA defenders who play against diddies and has beens week in week out in the MLS will not have come up against anything like Ronaldo if he hits top form. Will be an interesting group now, as Portugal are going to have to step it up.
Thoughts after one round of games……. (decent teams only) Argentina – looked very shaky at the back and didn’t threaten nearly as much going forward as I expected. Will need to improve Spain – as expected, a team on the way down. Started brightly against Holland and for the first 20 minutes were all over them. Got stung a few times on the counter and then the heads dropped. Very worrying for them. Germany – the German national team and German club football has been on the rise for the last 4 years. Easily dismantled Portugal, major contenders although don’t have an out and out number 9. Holland – Probably the performance of the first round of games, tight at the back, deadly on the counter attack and if Robben and RVP can hit form, have the potential to get to another final Brazil – nothing special in the first game and last night I thought Mexico shaded the game. Really need to improve. Fred is shite! Portugal – one man team and when he’s not in the game the team can’t compete with the big guns. Wouldn’t be surprised to see them navigate a few rounds but doubt they will contend Belgium – Didn’t turn up for the first hour. Very disappointing, need to improve if they are going to live up to the hype Italy – put England to the sword without much hassle. Could clearly step it up if required. Probably not the strongest of teams but its Italy afterall so wouldn’t be surprised if they are still in the mix come early July Chile – I was impressed with these guys against Australia, know how to play football, pretty technical, fast on the attack. Expect them to get to next phase and dependant on draw maybe the quarters. Mexico – written off before the tournament but were pretty impressive lastnight, not afraid to have a go at Brazil. The manager seems a character Uruguay – very disappointing without Suarez on Saturday, will really need to improve tomorrow or its home time. England – like Uruguay, all or nothing tomorrow.
Portugal will walk all over the USA. Ghana will probably come out of the pool with three losses, USA with two, Portugal with one and Germany with none. France should also come out of their pool undefeated, but that doesn't mean they'll measure up to Germany. (Won't stop me from rooting for them, though. )
Dam, I knew I forgot someone. France were actually pretty impressive. New formation and style of play, some younger players, definitely a team on the up. Can't see them winning it. Quarters probably.
