The Beautiful Game (everything soccer)

[Nyanna al'Meara]

WHOOO DUEL OF THE GERMAN COACHES

 

Hehe. I'm looking forward to this grouping :D

 

Also, poor group B... :P

[Tyzack]

Yeah...not good if you were hoping for an easy group stage...

[MasterAblar]

So for those of you who didn't pay attention to World Cup draw  , this is how it turned out:
 
Group A :
 
Brazil
Mexico
Cameroon
Croatia
 
Group B:
 
Spain
Netherlands
Chile
Australia
 
Group C:
 
Colombia
Greece 
Ivory Coast
Japan
 
Group D:
 
Uruguay
Costa Rica
Italy 
England
 
Group E:
 
Switzerland
Ecuador
France
Honduras
 
Group F:
 
Argentina
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Iran 
Nigeria
 
Group G:
 
Germany
Portugal
Ghana
United States
 
Group H:
 
Belgium 
Algeria
Russia 
South Korea

 

 

So.... this is going to be fun. The toughest groups to me are groups B, D and G. Very early but if I were to predict the results I would say:

 

Group A: Brazil and Cameroon advance. Brazil is an easy choice obviously, but the second is quite difficult. Mexico has been very poor lately, and Croatia hasn't impressed me much, so I'm going with Cameroon.

 

Group B: Spain and the Netherlands advance. Australia has no chance, but Chile could challenge the two European teams. Ultimately though they just have too much talent not to pass I think. There should be some nice football in this group though.

 

Group C: Colombia and Ivory Coast advance. A very hard group to predict. No team stands out, but none are bad either. I'm relatively confident about Colombia, but either Greece or Japan could snatch second place.

 

Group D: Italy and Uruguay advance. This is a very high level group. Italy will live up their Euro 2012 performance. Costa Rica will fare no better than Australia. Tough call between England and Uruguay, but the sheer attacking talent of Uruguay (Suarez! Cavani! Forlan!), gives them the edge.

 

Group E: France and Switzerland advance: A laughably fortunate draw for France, but one they can still screw up, seeing as this is after all France. Still I think they should make it through, followed by a solid Switzerland team. Ecuador are too limited, and Honduras won't do any better.

 

Group F: Argentina and Bosnia-Herzegovina advance. Argentina shouldn't have too much trouble. Difficult to choose between Nigeria who are champions of Africa and Bosnia, but Bosnia were very impressive in qualifying. Iran don't stand much of a chance here I'm afraid.

 

Group G: Germany and Portugal advance. Perhaps the most frightening group, these teams are either good or great. These teams all had a shot at the next round in any other group, but Germany and Crisita... sorry I mean Portugal, are just a class above. But the slightest misstep could be fatal.

 

Group H: Belgium and Russia advance. I'm pretty confident Belgium will advance. They're still a little young, but there's tremendous talent in that team. I think Russia will join them and break their curse in major competitions. Algeria and South Korea probably won't make it, but this group is pretty open.

 

 

Which means the Round of 16 will look like this:

 

Brazil vs Netherlands

Colombia vs Uruguay

 

France vs Bosnia-Herzegovina

Germany vs Russia

 

Spain vs Cameroon

Italy vs Ivory Coast

 

Argentina vs Switzerland

Belgium vs Portugal

 

 

I believe the Quarterfinals will look like this:

 

Brazil vs Uruguay

France vs Germany

 

Spain vs Italy

Argentina vs Portugal

 

 

The Semifinals

 

Brazil vs Germany

Spain vs Argentina (Not at all sure about this one)

 

The Final

 

Brazil vs Argentina

 

The Champion

 

Brazil (shocker I know)

[Suttree]

Look at that Group G for the US. Ouch....

[MasterAblar]

No kidding. Two of the best teams in the world, and Ghana who have basically knocked the US out of the last 2 World Cups. Just about the worst draw possible for the US.

[WWWwombat]

Lol @ Group G.  I'll probably have to pull solely for France too early again.

 

 

That being said, this draw is an opportunity for the USA.  We have a better team than we've had in previous World Cups and we're fitter than most teams.  Beating Ghana would obviously be crucial as would be getting at least a point off of Portugal.  Germany is a terrible matchup for us, but it should be a fun game to watch.  The best I'm hoping for is 5 points and I'm expecting 4.  If we get 4, then scoring on Ghana and keeping Germany outside the 18 as much as possible will be critical.

[MasterAblar]

The US play Ghana first, then Portugal and finally Germany. So the US better hope like hell that Germany beats Ghana and Portugal so that they might go easy on the US. But even Germany's B team is terrifying so.... yeah. That said I agree that the US is doing well at the moment. Now they have to prove they can hang with the best at the highest level.

 

 

I think France will do well partly because:

 

1994: absent (thanks Bulgaria)

1998: champions

2002: out in the first round, failed to score a single goal

2006: finalists

2010: don't want to talk about it

2014: ???

 

You get the pattern

 

And the draw is also very favorable even in the round of 16, as long as France finish first of their group. Then they'll probably run in to Germany...

[WWWwombat]

If US gets out of Group G, we might actually make it to the quarters again.

[WWWwombat]

Also, we can tie or beat great teams from time to time, we just can't do it consistently.  And I'd rather play a less structured team than Germany.  Possession generally isn't our strong suit lol.

[Lilbaz]

Could have been easier for England and the US but in the WC you'll have to play good teams eventually.

[WWWwombat]

Yeah, England will have to step up.  If they underperform this time, they prob won't make it out.

[Lilbaz]

Even if we preform at our best it will be a struggle.

[MasterAblar]

And Chelsea fall! The Blues lose 3-2 against Stoke City. Manchester City could do no better than a 1-1 draw against Southampton. Manchester United have quite probably given up any hopes for the title after their 1-0 loss against Newcastle. Liverpool win 4-1 against West Ham and take 2nd place. Tottenham win 2-1.

 

Just about all of England will be rooting for Everton against Arsenal tomorrow. If the gunners win they go 7 points clear before two very important games against Chelsea and Manchester City.

[Lilbaz]

Good season this year. Wenger must be laughing his head off to the doubters (at the beginning of the season), although Everton will be difficult.

 

AVB has got some breathing space. What a difference a week makes, we're now 2 points off second.

 

The spotlight is on Moyes now at Man Utd, really has to get some results. 

 

long way to go still and there will be a lot more upsets.

[MasterAblar]

That crossbar is to be sliced into pieces, flattened, burned till it's nothing but dust, and finally buried deep in the North Pole. GOD DAMMNIT!!!!! 

[WWWwombat]

I have had a special soft spot for Arsenal ever since they had Henry.  I also love how they get good value out of their money.  I like most of the clubs in the Premier League except for the Manchester clubs and Chelsea.

[Lilbaz]

Did you know that Arsenal have a bit of blue in their crest as a thankyou to spurs for groundsharing during the war?

 

Lovely sentiment, but they could thank us better by moving back to south london :p

[Lilbaz]

Arsenal v spurs for the fa cup third round.

 

Bring it on Ablar!

[MasterAblar]

As long as you're playing Soldado we should be fine. 

[Lilbaz]

AVB, Steve Clarke and Jol all sacked.

 

Spurs appoint Tim Sherwood as caretaker manager. 

[Lilbaz]

Arsenal tottenham today in the fa cup.

 

Spurs have found some form under new manager tim sherwood and arsenal are flying at the top of the league.

[MasterAblar]

The great Eusebio, perhaps the best Portuguese player ever, died today at the age of 71.

 

 

Oh, and Arsenal won in case anyone was wondering.

[Lilbaz]

Boo!

[MasterAblar]

Now, now settle down. It's merely the proper order of things.

 

Also Juventus appear to be running away in Italy. Shame for Roma. It's incredible that with such an amazing start to the season they're now so far away from Juve. I mean this was their first loss!

[Markusson]

Hi everybody!! I love football (as good spanish) and I'm a big Real Madrid's supporter. In fact, I was in Glasgow when Real won the ninth Champions League against Bayer Leverkusen (with the awesome goal of Zinedine Zidane). I really think the next World Championship will be very interesting and I can't wait for the next summer to see it :)