The Official World Cup Thread (no.1)

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(I put no.1 as I feel the mods will see fit to create a new one once this hits 20 or 25 pages )

I know the WC is still quite far away, but I'm really starting to feel the tingle now! Nothing stands up to the world cup in the sporting world. I just can't wait for it! You can feel everywhere starting ot get abuzz with it.

As a warm-up for the major discussions, I'm going to run down on the 10 teams I think have the best chance to win the world cup. Please anyone do the same or pick mine apart , it's all good for the discussion.

Argentina - Some quality play-makers, mixed in with some lethal forwards brewed together with the old fashioned Argie dirty, slimy, cheat-a-win style, makes the Dego's a team to be feared this WC. I just wonder if your Riquelme's and Veron's will be interested in fighting when the chips are down...
Leo Messi will be the star.

Brazil - The red hot favourites, and it's easy to see why! Ronaldinho, Kaka, Adriano, Juninho Pernambucano, Ronaldo (on his day) et al, these are all players with absolutely breathtaking ability. If these guys click and play their flowing, attacking football, I can't see any other finish to this WC than another Brazil win.
Ronaldinho will pull all the strings.

The Czech's - Strong, physical, no-nonsense, 'av it! style football. I laaarve it. I really like the Czechs as a team. They also mix some silky skills and good teamwork in with their physical nature. Perhaps these are the team to knock Brazil out for the rest of the teams? I think they have the ingredients to do it. Their strikers have a great record on the international stage as well. Great team these! Just maybe a couple of world class midfielders short of going all the way...
Tomas Rosicky operates their game from the midfield.

England - Strong keeper, strong defense, strong midfield, strong up front (pending Mr. Owens fitness). On paper, we should have a great chance. Unfortunately, the British media big us up and big us up until the players themselves seem think they hardly need to bother. Mix this in with an inept passionless manager making substitutions only he can explain, and this makes England the eternal chokers. This time around though, there is a real feel we can make things happen. In past WC's we've always had a decent side, but with a few players who weren't up to scratch. This time, we have quality allover. If we click, we can play great football and anything can happen.
Rooney is essential to any potential success. A big game player if I ever saw one.

France - They have the worlds greatest all-round striker in Henry, the worlds greatest goal-line poacher in Trezeguet and the worlds 2 greatest defensive midfielders. Fortunately, their defense leaves a lot to be desired. If you can get at the Frogs, they'll fold. Maybe...
Henry must find his club form.

Germany - Always crap on paper. Always not much of a chance. A few semi-good players, the rest average at best. Always manage to pull something out of the hat and make something of the tournament. Who has the balls to dismiss ther Gerries WC chances on home turf? I definitely haven't...
Ballack , 30 goals in 60 something appearances from the midfield. Stats speak louder than words. That's a phenominal record. If her doesn't play well, Germany will bomb. But he always does.

Holland - Blitzed the qualifyin. Great players. Internal strife usually lets this team down. But when you look at the squad of the players they have to choose from, especially attacking players, they really have to be considered as candidates. Maybe a Terry or a Samuel short at the back... we'll see.
Robben is the key here. If he starts being a mardy so-and-so like he is for Chelsea, he can more of a hindrance than a help. But if he turns it on, he can win football matches.

Italy - A great chance tis time around. They've managed to turf out dead wood like Vieri and got in a real goalscorer like Luca Toni. That can make all the difference. Especially when you have players like ADP, Gattuso, Pirlo et al hanging around the party, and the meanest defense in world football. Keep an eye out!
They will rely on Luca Toni finding the net regularly.

Spain - Probably worse than England at flattering only to decieve. They have some superb individuals (but also some donkeys). If they play well, they're capable of beating anyone with their great passing game. It's a question of whether or not they can do it...
Joaquin can run rings around teams when he wants to. Unfortunately, he's quite astonishingly hit and miss.

Ukraine (surprise package!) - THey qualified really well and have some fantastic players! Not to mentiona certain Mr. Andriy Shevchenko has the quality to turn a match on it's head on his own. I think these guys can really upset a few people.
Obvious one, Shevchenko will be essential. But he will be trying his heart out as this is his one (and probably only) world cup.

Other teams perhaps worthy of note are Portugal, Sweden and the Ivory Coast, all good teams in their own right, but I don't think they'll quite have enough...

 

It's not that far away. Only a few weeks really. The big question is really whether England can repeat 1966. Although it still only seems like yesterday (due to the constant dredging of stories from '66 in English newspapers), eventually there willl come a time when the 1966 heroes will all be dead and then it will seem like a long long time ago.

But the basic rule for betting on the soccer World Cup is to back whoever Harbourboy doesn't as I always come last in soccer World Cup picking contests. The year I backed the Netherlands, they were useless, and the year I backed France, they were hopeless, and the year I backed Brazil, their best players all fell asleep.

So who wants my kiss of death this year?

 

Oh man, it's WC time again already? So us Americans are going to have the WC shoved down our throat by all sports media outlets whether we want to hear about it or not? (And most of us couldn't care less about the WC.)

HB, I have a suggestion that should make everyone happy. If you don't have a problem backing a country that is an extreme longshot to begin with, pick the U.S. No one here will be upset if the U.S. team loses every single game, and that way you don't have to give the kiss of death to another nation that actually cares about soccer. Now, if you believe that you are obligated to select a team that actually has a realistic chance to win the WC, then I can't help you.

 

It's a similar kind of situatuon whenever the Superbowl comes around again for the 100 millionth time.
At least the rest of the world cares about the WC!

 

Actually, I think the disinterest here comes from the fact that we suck when it comes to men's soccer. It's hard to get excited about an international sporting event when the most likely outcome is yet another ass-whipping.

Of course, that doesn't explain the disinterest in female soccer, in which the U.S. team has frequently been on the other side of the ass kicking equation. Then again, there's a general disinterest in practically all female sports. Even female sports that have some level of popularity in the U.S., like women's tennis, the interest is generally less than on the men's side. So maybe the fact that they're good isn't enough to offset the fact that most people have a lower level of interest when it comes to female sports. Of course, that doesn't make sense either, because most people in the U.S. look at soccer as a sissy sport to begin with, so you'd think most people would find it appropriate that our women were good at it. *note: extreme sarcasm*

 

That's where Britain and US differ. Women here don't do sports. They're too busy binge drinking and getting knocked up.

'Soccer' is growing in America all the time (or so I am told). And, believe it or not, America has a pretty good youth side. The problem is that the MLS is of a very poor standard and its rules are pretty bizarre. It's run completely differently to most other football leagues in the world. That, together with no cup competitions in the area for them. Then you've got the FIFA rule that no under 18's from N. America or S. America can move to Europe and you'll see why the US football scene is quite held back. More and more MLS players are moving into Europe once they hit their early 20's now though. The problem is that not many clubs are willing to take a risk on them.

Being fair though, the US national team isn't *that* bad. Probably in the top 25 teams in the world. A problem they seem to be getting at the minute though is over-confidence. They are ranked about 5th or 6th in the FIFA world rankings, which are COMPLETELY flawed. Because of this, they seem to think they are actually a top team. They aren't. I don't like their chances in the WC either. They have Italy, Czech Republic and Ghana to get past if they are to even get out of the group stage... can't see it myself.

 

The only problem with this statement is that they have been making it since I was a kid playing in soccer leagues. I remember when I was a kid, that people were saying, "Wait another 10-20 years, when this generation of American kids grow up and then the U.S. will be competitive in world class soccer." It hasn't happened yet, and I have no reason to believe it will happen any time soon.

And that can hardly be considered a "power" bracket. It's not like one of the teams is Brazil, or France, or Germany, or really any other of the super powers in the soccer world. Italy is good, but you don't have to finish first to get out of the bracket - second will do. If you believe the FIFA rankings, then the U.S. should certainly be at least the second best team in that group, but chances are, they aren't.

 

I think part of the problem is that USA does not get excited about international team sports at all. They are much more interested in their internal club competitions. For example, basketball is a top sport but hardly any Americans care about the USA national basketball team (which finished lower than New Zealand in the World Championships a few years ago). On the contrary, in NZ, international sport is our favourite thing, supporting NZ teams in whatever sport they represent our country in (even the ones we suck at, like soccer).

 

Aldeth - The Czechs and the Italians are awesome. Ghana are proably a similar level to the USA .

 

I wouldn't bet any money on Spain. They suck at big tournaments because most of their players don't have much practical experience. Too many foreign players in the primera division.

The dutch team has no real chances, too. But that's traditional. By the way, I think they won't reach the last sixteen. Argentina and Serbia will make it.


Our team has the one big advantage: It's usually a real team, even if most of the players are very young. If they work together they can offset any disadvantages the individual players may have. The team did already show that it works.


IMO, following teams have a real chance on the title:

Brazil: That's a no-brainer. The only thing that can break their necks is the traditionally bad defense.

Argentina: Main favourite for me. The team is more complete than Brazil and the Argentineans can fight if they have to.

Czech Republic: As Barmy wrote, they have a team that works well together, as well as quite a few individuals that can turn any game alone.

England: Yeah, well. What shall I say? Always a good team, but to cocky most of the time. They lacked spirit in the past few years (and luck before that). If they put the allures of, they have a chance.

Italy: Third favourite in my book, after Argentina and Brazil. They don't use the Catenaggio anymore. Not much at least. That means pleasing and efficient forward oriented football. The only thing that can stop the team from reaching the semi finals is a bad referee.

Germany: Additional to what I wrote above, our team plays at home. That should be a big moral boost. If Ballack does not get injured and Kahn is not nominated by Klinsmann, they can go far. If they survive the round of sixteen. (Italy or the Czechs.

 

if you care, Aldeth, U.S. is being grouped under group E,

Italy
Ghana
USA
Czech Republic

Each team play against another once in the group stage, win gets 3 pts, tie gets 1 pt, lose gets none and the highest points of two of any group get to advance into "playoff" stage. goal difference is the tie breaker.

So, group E is not a comfortable place to be in. Italy will surely advance unless God intervened. The rest (u.s., czech and ghana ) is more of less fair game. The big match, in all group events for that matter, would be U.S vs Czech. Whoever wins this one gets 99.99% of the chance to get into playoff. Pay attention to the broadcast of this match, this is the must watch match at this moment.

 

Unless Ghana turn out to be the surprise package of the tournament (there's always one big surprise team - which neutral nations like NZ love to support - last time it was South Korea)

 

come on, you ain't helping, you see, i am trying to make an American watch football.

 

My apologies to the Czechs. I had no idea they were one of the premier teams. I did say that the Italians were good though. If you asked me for a list of the best soccer teams in the world, the Czechs wouldn't have made my short list. If I were to make a list of the best teams, I'd say Brazil and Argentina would be among the best, and the Brits, French, Germans, Dutch and Italians have historically always fielded very solid teams as well. Of course, this is coming from an American who only knows slightly more than the average American concerning soccer. Of course, considering the average American knows nothing, that doesn't speak well to my knowledge base.

While the U.S. may not get into international sports as much as most other countries, I will say that the WC has a bigger following than most other soccer events. The reason for this is that currently, no major TV network broadcasts pro soccer matches, but the WC will be broadcast. So there is at least the opportunity to see some of the WC games, whereas you have no chance of seeing most pro matches.

If you want to watch pro soccer you have two options - if you have a satellite dish, you can purschase the league pass. It costs something like $120 for the year, but with that investment you can watch any and all the pro soccer games you want to. Your only other option is to purchase individual matches on pay-per-view. With the sport being not too popular, most Americans are not going to fork over money for a sport they aren't that interested in. Oh, I suppose there is a chance of a third option - you may be able to get a live feed over the internet, but I don't know for sure.

So the main problem with getting Americans to watch soccer is that it isn't readily available to them. The pay-per-views are a total ripoff. If you have any interest in watching more than a few matches, you're much better off purchasing the package instead of purchasing individual events. The problem there is, not everyone has a satellite dish, and not many people are willing to fork out $120 for soccer. And I fall into that category. I will gladly pay $200 per year to purchase the NFL Sunday Ticket, which lets me watch all the American football I want. I cannot, however, justify the $120 for soccer.

 

Keep an eye out for Ivory Coast, their frontline with Kalou, Drogba, and Kone is awesome, and can give any team's defense one hell of a night.

 

The Brits?
Us English have a strong team, but the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish are very poor.

 

Come on Barmy, show some egotism! I know that Great Britain refers to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (along with the other little islands that are not part of the island proper), but trust me, when us Americans refer to Britain, we aren't talking about Wales, Scotland or N. Ireland. If we were, we'd mention them specifically. When we say Britain, we are specifically referring to the English. You guys are the only ones over there that really matter to us.

 

Awww, how sweet!

In the words of the great George W Bush "You're from Wales? What state is that in?"

 

Nice thread Barmy! To bad that Denmark didn't qualify this time... I would put my money on Italy, or perhaps Brasil. I think Brasil have too many winners to make it, but still, they said, they would go for a win in Europe.

 

The dutch are the best attacking side. we have 15 star attackers, but alas a defense made of butter. ans as always ego first, teamplay last. I am ducth and so sick and tired of seeing them fail every time when the going gets though. We are the champions of the friendly matches.

example: A simple header, high, and a long underway before it reaches the defender. He has time to read the comics in the paper. No one nearby, 6 players with the same color shirt around, one not. Guess to which player he heads it?

We will get to the 1/8 or 1/4 finals and f*** up like we always do. We have never won in overtime. we have won once with penalties. (1/4 euro 2004)But still, once they came trough in 1988.

I pray for one thing, please(add deity of choice), please not the Germans.