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World Cup is OVER - let's share out thoughts together

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  • jackjackjackjack Member Posts: 3,251
    +1 for Hand-Egg
  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    @#$%#%%!@ing Ronaldo. He broke my heart today. At least they only managed to draw, so now if Atleti win against Malaga we can draw against Barca and still win it.

    I can't believe La Liga will end like this. Too much drama for me.
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    Shouldn't the counter be at 37 days?
  • karnor00karnor00 Member Posts: 680
    booinyoureyes said:


    Will Disappoint
    -England: They are England

    I'd have to disagree with you on this point. My expectations of England are so low that they would struggle to disappoint!

  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    For England its always been "it will be different this time"
    However, that used to be the case for Spain, and look at them now. Who knows?

    eh.... I still say England will not make it past the group stages. I know I said Uruguay had problems, but they still have more superstar talent than England.

    I agree with almost all the rest of @bengoshi‌ 's picks, though I am not convinced that the Dutch will get past Chile and I think Portugal will not win it. I see what Bengoshi is saying, but they need Ronaldo to play well *every game*. If he has an off-day they don't have much to take his place, and even if he plays well and scores a double, that still does not guarantee their progress if the other side runs riot over their midfield. Plus, the inevitable Pepe red card will not help!

    They need to play Tiago in midfield. He's been so consistent for Atleti this season.
  • DungeonnoobDungeonnoob Member Posts: 315
    I think we need a poll in here so we can predict and support our teams and perhaps a poll for wildcards,
    what say you??? But i leave that to you experts:P
  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    edited May 2014
    bengoshi said:


    There're 32 teams in the tournament. And if you say some teams cannot win it, so they don't deserve to be in a poll, remember Greece in Euro 2004, so everything is possible.

    Who ever said they couldn't win it??????????????
    :)
  • DungeonnoobDungeonnoob Member Posts: 315
    Go England go!
  • KamigoroshiKamigoroshi Member Posts: 5,870
    Still no Principality of Sealand?
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,724
    WooHoo! 30 days left. Just merely a month;)

    I congratulate every Man City fan and sorrow for Liverpool fans. Never say die!

    BTW, for all of those who say England is ... England, here's an interesting twist:

    Austria last won Eurovision Song Contest in 1966, the year England won the World Cup. And now Conchita Wurst makes it 2 Eurovision Song Contest wins for Austria. Maybe it's an omen?

    Also, what is interesting is that the win for Conchita seems good for Champions League finalists Real Madrid as well as Atletico which is currently in pole position in La Liga. In the same 1966 Real won their European Cup while Atletico were Spanish champions that year.
  • Belteshazzar89Belteshazzar89 Member Posts: 11
    Good to see other fans getting excited for the tournament. A few of my general opinions:

    Asian football will fail to impress. I wasn't impressed in the qualifying rounds, and there are too many other good teams. I predict 0 Asian teams make the Round of 16.

    The picking of groups based on regions needs to be changed, perhaps to picking based on FIFA Rankings. I know many people don't like the FIFA Rankings, but picking based off of those rankings would make for more even groups than what we have now.

    There won't be any major disruptions or disasters during the World Cup. Though there were protests and disturbances before, Brazil isn't going to allow anything to blemish this tournament, even if they have to really crack down on a protest or two.

    I'll save the rest for later.
  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    Dear Felipão,
    I find your lack of Miranda and Felipe Luis disturbing.
    Thanks,
    Boo
  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    @bengoshi‌
    I didn't even realize that David Pizarro had returned to the national team. He had retired from international football about a decade ago because he clashed with the coach. Apparently he came back last year, so I'm surprised by his omission.

    One area in which I respectfully disagree: I don't think the Dutch side looks strong at all. I can't think of a single one of those defenders that would start for any other contending nation, and I think losing Strootman was a huge blow to their midfield. Sneijder is way past his best and bordering on obscurity playing in Turkey (he plays for a great team, but outside of the big five leagues is just not where you wish to be if you are a competitive footballer).
    That said they have an attack that any country would envy. If they had someone to create for them then I'd give them a better chance, but now they need Robben and Van Persie to perform miracles!
  • Belteshazzar89Belteshazzar89 Member Posts: 11
    BS89's Guide to the Bottom Teams From Each Group

    Though there are always surprises at every World Cup, I find that the bottom team is much easier to predict than the top team, though there are always exceptions. Nevertheless, I think I've got most of the groups' bottom teams pegged.

    Group A: Cameroon

    Cameroon had the lowest FIFA ranking at the time of the draw, and though we can always debate that position, they are certainly no Brazil. They had a goalless draw at home with a Tunisian team that was only there in the first place due to all kinds of shenanigans in their previous group, in which both the Cape Verde Islands and Equatorial Guinea fielded ineligible players (and therefore forfeited games). Cameroon then won the away tie 4-1. They are the bottom team from Africa, despite having players at good teams (Barcelona, Chelsea, Marseille, Lyon, Schalke 04, etc.). Since qualification they lost to Portugal 5-1. Even Mexico can beat this team.

    Group B: Australia

    I found the Socceroos quite unimpressive in qualification. They have Tim Cahill at NY Red Bulls, and a few other players at decent teams, but struggled in a group with inferior teams. In qualifying, they lost to Jordan, and tied Oman twice. They constantly had to come back from behind. They were down to Iraq before scoring twice late to win, and they were down 2-0 to Oman before coming back to draw. Since then they had a 3-0 lead on Ecuador at halftime, only to lose 4-3. This is all to say, they aren't going to have much success in a World Cup group with Spain, The Netherlands, and Chile.

    Group C: Greece

    This is probably the hardest pick in the tournament. I think Colombia will definitely advance, and that the position of the other three teams is anyone's guess. Though part of me wants to pick Japan as the bottom team of this group due to my general perception as the AFC as the weakest confederation in football (excluding the OFC), they didn't have too many hiccups in their qualifying campaign. Greece's group in qualifying consisted of one great team, Bosnia and Herzegovina, themselves, and one other contender, Slovakia, and three bottom teams in Latvia, Lithuania, and Liechtenstein. Greece had six wins by one goal in this group, and that doesn't bode well for the World Cup. Though they beat out Romania in the ensuing playoff, Romania wasn't a favorite to go to the World Cup, and one of the two games was a draw. Since qualifying, Greece lost to South Korea 2-0. Though it is certainly possible that their defense holds up in Group C and that they find a way into the second round, I think it is more likely that they finish with two draws and a loss, and find themselves sitting at the bottom.

    Group D: Costa Rica

    This is a pretty straightforward pick. There are three great teams in this group, and then there is Costa Rica. Don't get me wrong, I think Costa Rica will play the spoiler in this group by drawing against a team that had to beat them, but Uruguay, England, and Italy would have to fall hard to beat out Costa Rica for fourth place. This is a shame, since Costa Rica did great in qualifying, but this group is just too tough.

    Group E: Honduras

    It pains me as an American to pick another CONCACAF team to finish last, but with France, Switzerland, and Ecuador in this group, Honduras would seem a distant fourth. They were in the last World Cup, but finished fourth in their group of Spain, Chile, and Switzerland. Though I know many people think this is a weak group because Switzerland is the seed and France could always have a World Cup failure of Thierry Henry proportions, the smart money is still on Honduras to finish last.

    Group F: Nigeria

    For most, this is a toss-up between Iran and Nigeria, with Bosnia and Argentina as the smart picks to advance to the Round of 16. Iran actually won their qualifying group, though they did have two losses. Nigeria, meanwhile, did an unconvincing job of dispatching the likes of Malawi, Kenya, and Namibia, and then got lucky by getting to play Ethiopia for a World Cup spot. Ethiopia was a surprise upset of South Africa. Nigeria gave up a goal in Addis Ababa before coming from behind and winning that game, then winning at home.

    Group G: Portugal

    Before you cast a fireball, let me just say that Group G is FIFA's Official Group of Death™, and that means that anything could happen. The USA could definitely finish last here. So could Ghana. I think Germany is surely going to advance, but winning the group is not even a sure thing at this point. Heck, Portugal could win the group. But I wasn't impressed with Portugal's inability to get past Russia in qualifying, and though they beat out Sweden, who was a good team, Cristiano Ronaldo had to score a hat trick to accomplish it. When push comes to shove in Group G, I don't think that Portugal can rely solely on CR7, and they could be staring at a last place finish. Call it bias, but I don't think that the US is going to finish last, though they desperately need to shore up who is playing on defense. Ghana annihilated Egypt in qualifying for the World Cup, and they may even go on to the Round of 16.

    Group H: Algeria

    This is a difficult pick between Algeria and South Korea. I know many people think South Korea might actually advance to the Round of 16, but I haven't ever really been impressed by them. They made it to fourth place in 2002 due to home-country refereeing and dirty play. In qualifying, they came in second in their group to Iran, who beat them twice. However, Burkina Faso took Algeria to penalty kicks for their World Cup spot, and I can still remember the 2010 World Cup, in which Algeria finished last in group with England, USA, and Slovenia. It is possible they could spoil someone else's World Cup, but I think they are destined for a fourth-place finish.
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,724
    edited May 2014
    @booinyoureyes‌ You can't win anything with kids, can you? ;)

    Led by Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie and Wesley Sneijder, the Dutch have the potential to win it all or possibly burn out early in Brazil. The offensive talent is undeniable for Van Gaal's side, but the defensive holes could prove fatal if they fall into a scoring drought. Van Gaal has always been a true developer of talents: Kluivert, Davids, Van Der Sar, Valdes, Muller, Alaba... the list just can go on and on. As he himself has said regarding this WC: "I am building with a very young team combined with some older players."

    Current Barcelona and Bayern are obligated to Van Gaal's work with young footballers.

    Personally, I think this is the only way to win something. The fresh blood, the new talents, the new faces combined with the stars.

    Those young lads from the Dutch championship will soon become stars and will find themselves in the best teams.

    For e.g., Feyenoord youngster Clasie being only 22-year-old, is a very special talent with excellent passing ability and is a very strong tackler as well. If the 5’ 7” central midfielder gets a chance in the team, he will impress more than a few spectators and it will see the speculation surrounding his future increase even more as a move away from Holland looks likely this summer.

    @Belteshazzar89‌ I just can't agree on Portugal. Sweden were a perfect team and to beat them is solid. I remember how Germany panicked when Ibrahimovic and Co began their spectacular comeback. It's a shame we can't have both Sweden and Portugal in the same WC.

    Portugal's finishing second (after Russia) in the qualification group is strange, of course, but it may have something to do with the same reason Russia got her right for the 2018 WC. The match Russia-Portugal in Moscow was strange. So, I would play down Portugal's second place. Moreover, this team is known for bad qualifications but good play in final tournaments.

    Let me remind Portugal didn't lose to Spain at Euro 2012, it was a draw and during the main 90 minutes Portugal looked better.

    Ronaldo plays just godly this year but their team is not only about Ronaldo.

    EDIT: Thanks, @FinneousPJ‌ , for the grammar correction. English is not my native language, thus mistakes. I've checked now - i.e. means "that is", coming from the latin "id est": I like to eat vegetables (i.e. I enjoy their taste, especially brocolli) while e.g. means "for example", coming from the latin "exempli gratia": I like to eat vegetables (e.g. carrots and broccoli)
    Post edited by JuliusBorisov on
  • FinneousPJFinneousPJ Member Posts: 6,455
    @bengoshi I've been wondering this for a while now: have you ever checked what i.e. means? Good analysis, though.

    @Belteshazzar89‌ Interesting picks. Portugal's indeed a bold choice. You don't think they have quality players except CR?
  • TeflonTeflon Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 515
    That is nice. Umm what will you do after countodown reaches to zero?
  • Belteshazzar89Belteshazzar89 Member Posts: 11
    @bengoshi‌ @FinneousPJ‌ I don't expect everyone to agree. I myself don't know who will be last. That's why the games have to be played, after all. And while most of the groups have definite favorites to finish last, Group G of this upcoming tournament is the deadliest group since perhaps Group F of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. And in that group, like most true groups of death, one of the teams really caved. In that case it was Argentina. I think it might be Portugal this time, though they do have other good players besides Ronaldo such as Nani, Pepe, etc. In fact on paper their team is better than that of the US. However, their play has been unconvincing, and since I had to pick someone to be last, I went with the team I feel has the highest chance to implode.
  • FinneousPJFinneousPJ Member Posts: 6,455
    @bengoshi Very nice. Can't believe you didn't mention Gareth Bale opting not to play for England, though.

    I don't know where you got the positions, but for example Japan's 8 forwards to Germany's 2 seem a bit weird. Of course in modern football it's not clear cut (or even that important). Germany's midfielders like Özil, Götze, Müller and Kroos can and will score goals. Japan's forwards like Kagawa & Kiyotake will probably play midfield.

    I adore Kagawa, so I'll leave you with this.

    http://youtu.be/ufjJIhtsNuU

    Unfortunately I don't think we've seen the best of him at ManU, yet.
  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    I'm a bit heartbroken since Greece's most talented youngster (Kyriakos Papadopoulos from Schalke) is out injured :(. He is linked to City and Juventus, but without a springboard like the World Cup he won't get much of a chance to impress.

    @Belteshazzar89‌ you say that Greece had only one vergy good team and one decent team in their qualifying group, and this is a fair point. Yet Japan had absolutely 0 teams worth anything in their group.
    I know FIFA Rankings are a very imperfect system, but Greece's group had 3 teams ranked in the top fifty. In the ENTIRE AFC there are only two teams there, Japan and Iran. Iran would stand no chance against Greece.

    On top of all that Greece is still ranked 10th in the world (which is outrageous, but still counts for something) while Japan would kill to break into the top forty. Their entire conference is filled with awful teams too, so they should be bathing in points.

    Keep in mind Greece finished top of their group in points, but goal differential was the only reason they had to play a qualifier. In fact, only Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany finished with more points in Europe qualifiers than Greece.

    Greece lost one game away to Bosnia, their only loss in the entire group. Japan lost to... JORDAN! Come on, its Jordan! Name one Jordanese footballer.

    When it comes to goal differential, that literally means nothing to me. They win by one goal because that is what their system calls for. Defensive teams usually win 1-0. Chelsea wins many matches this way as well, but they are by fare the surest thing to make every Champions League Semi-Final in the past decade as far as I can tell. Also, when Greece won the Euro in 04, they won every game by that margin.

    And when Spain won in 2010?
    1-0 vs Portugal
    1-0 vs Paraguay
    1-0 vs Germany
    1-0 vs the Dutch

    That said, I think Japan will kill Greece when they play. Not because they are a better team (its a wash as far as I am concerned) but because they are a terrible matchup for Greece due to their speed in midfield. The only thing holding back is that their strikers are embarrassingly bad (they will be forced to play Honda up front), but they have enough seasoned players in midfield and defense that have played in Europe to take advantage of Greece's slow but muscular holding two. South Korea did the same thing in the last mundial, I will not be surprised if Japan beats Greece 2-0 or even 3-0.

    However, I would not be surprised if Greece beat Colombia considering that they have only one creative player in midfield, which Greece can stiffle with ease. Colombia will need their fullbacks (actually their most talented positions) to play well in attack.

    The same way that Japan is a poor match-up for Greece, I think that Cote D'Ivoire is a horrible matchup for Japan. Kagawa and Honda can run all they want, but Toure (best midfielder in England) and Tiote will be on their heels the whole way. The Ivory Coast is made to counter attack, which will be a huge headache for Japan's mobile system.

    I honestly don't think Colombia is a sure thing at all. I'd say that in this Group, due to matchups, no side has a better than 55% chance of advancing. Any outcome is possible.

    At the same time, I don't think that any team coming out of this group has a real chance of even making a semi-final. I'm sorry to @bengoshi‌ but I think Japan is very overrated. Everyone considered their last world cup a success, and say they are dark horses in this one. Yet all they did in 2010 was beat Denmark and squeeeeeze by Cameroon just to be eliminated by Paraguay in the first stage of the knock-outs. Sure they entertained and were exciting, but if losing to Paraguay in the first stage is a success, I don't know what they expect in this World Cup. The team is better, but are they likely to beat any of the bigger sides? I don't think so.

    I am supporting Japan after the US and Greece, since I admire Japanese culture (my concentration when I got my degree in History was in East Asia) but I don't think I will get my hopes up if they advance.


    As far as Portugal goes, I agree with @Belteshazzar89‌ that they will disappoint, but I definitely disagree that they are likely to finish bottom of their group. They are clearly better than Ghana or the USA :'(. They lack talent outside of Ronaldo in attack and that will hurt them, but they are still likely to finish with a *worst case scenario* four points from their group.




    But then again, it won't matter since the final will be Greece vs USA.

    I guarantee it!
  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    @bengoshi‌
    FYI, I have a horrible opinion of Sneijder. I think he is atrociously overrated. He scored a bunch of fluke goals in 2010, and his influence on that dominant Inter team was overstated (we all know that, even though I don't like him, Cambiasshole was the driving force in their midfield on both ends of the field). I have been saying that Van der Vaart is better for years.

    The funniest part about Sneijder? You and I are both calling him an old veteran, at the end of his career in a second/third tier league. Sure he is an experienced player. You know what else he is?

    29 years old!

    He went to Galatasaray at 27! Well, they must have paid an exorbitant amount you say? 7.5 million. Mitroglou went for almost twice as much! If a player is finishing up his career during his prime, it is not at all a good sign.

    My dislike for Sneijder aside, who else is that great in the Dutch midfield? Van der Vaart is a bit old now too. Strootman would fill A LOT of holes for them, but now he is out. We are left with De Jong and a bunch of young Feyenoord players, which is nice and all, but will they be able to handle a German team, or a Spanish team? I think Belgium's midfield would run riot on them as well. The Dutch will be reliant on miracles from Robben and Van Persie (who nevers plays well for them) or they will start Huntelaar and play around him like they did in the later parts of qualifiers.

    No matter what they will have some deficiencies, and I didn't even go into their defense that doesn't contain a single player on a major European side!
  • Belteshazzar89Belteshazzar89 Member Posts: 11
    edited May 2014
    @booinyoureyes‌ I'm open to other opinions, and the point that Japan made their own mistakes in qualifying is fair, but I do think that there were other decent teams in their group. Australia, for all their mistakes, is still a good enough team to be at the World Cup, and Jordan beat out a decent Uzbekistani team to make the intercontinental playoff.

    The reason that I'm picking on Greece's 1-0 wins is because they are playing Liechtenstein (population 37,000), Latvia, and Lithuania. If they had beaten Portugal, Paraguay (who upset Italy), Germany, and The Netherlands that would be all the difference in the world. And I do think it matters, because it ended up being the deciding factor in determining who got an automatic bid, and who had to go to the playoff.

    If Greece is a very defensive team that doesn't give up goals and wins by 1-0, that's fine. Maybe that will work for them, but I'm predicting that they will leak a few goals, and then be in a hole which they can't dig themselves out of. See: Mexico. Mexico was a team that was good on defense in qualifying, but that is only one half of football. They couldn't finish, and it turns out that they needed more than goalless draws to qualify. Not only that, but eventually they did give up goals, and that's when they lost to Honduras and Costa Rica, coaches got fired, and they needed the US to bail them out with a last-minute win over Panama.

    P.S. If I could only pick one Jordanian football player, I would probably go with Tha'er Bawab at Gaz Metan Mediaș in the Romanian league. ;-)

    @bengoshi‌ My suggestion is that you create a group on ESPN's World Cup Bracket Challenge (in the Fantasy section of their website). The benefits are that they already have everything all set up, there is a nice little bracket for you to look at, etc. The scoring system might not be identical to yours. I personally like their scoring system, but if you want you could always post your own version of the scoring on this thread. The disadvantage is that everyone involved has to sign up with an email address, and the brackets wouldn't be on the forum site itself.
    Post edited by Belteshazzar89 on
  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    edited May 2014
    I'd like to tie something in to the World Cup discussion. Something I really find ridiculous and I want restate.

    Atletico Madrid just defeated the Madrid-Barca duopoly on La Liga that has lasted for a decade by drawing with the other contender (Barcelona) on the last day, in their own stadium. They are playing in a Champion's League Final this coming Saturday. They beat a *former champion* in EVERY knock-out round of that competition leading up to that match. They did so for many reasons, and have great players all around. Yet there is one main reason they have had such success.

    They have the best defense in Europe, hands down.

    Yet half of that defense is Brazilian. Filipe Luis has been an incredible player in attack all year long and is one of the best wingbacks in football. Yet unlike most wingbacks, he is also incredible at marking his man and seems to never lose anyone. Yet where is he? Miranda is part of the best centerback duo in Europe, and is a grizzled verteran who is known for not making mistakes. Yet error-prone David Luiz is picked over him. That is fine because David Luiz is a talented player... but Henrique?????? Who the heck is Henrique? Some average player who played for Napoli a grand total of ten times, won a grand total of zero trophies and looks like a cheap knock-off of Dirk Nowitzki.

    image


    Am I just being a biased fan or do I have a point here?
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