The World Cup

[Adam Pettman]

What with the world cup being so close I thought I'd start a thread on it so here goes.
Whos going to win
Where are the USA and England going to end up
Will England end up playing Germany and going to Penalties
Will Rooney be fit
and finally Can anyone beat Brazil

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

I would say the USA has a tough road ahead of them with their group to move on to the 2nd Stage. I am still amazed at how much of the press I see that calls their group the Italian grouping. Italy is only ranked 3rd in the group.

I will say that whoever wins that group has a good chance at making it to the final simply because of the calibur of schedule will prepare them for the next step, and because they will not face Brazil until the final. Whether they will be able to compete with Brazil is another question. I can see Germany doing well simply because of the fan base.

If anyone can compete with Brazil, I think it may come from the Czech, USA and Italy grouping, or Germany simply for fan base. As optimistic as I am for the USA team, I really think their best chance at winning would be to win their grouping, coupled with a Brazil loss prior to the finals. As a runner-up they would play Brazil in the first round of 16. If they are forced to play Brazil, then the first round may be the best time for it to happen as opposed to a final.

However optimistic, it wouldn't surprise me to see a Czech~Brazil final. I would probably put my money on Brazil because if the Czech team makes it to the final it will probably be at the expense of Germany, and it would be hard to knock off Brazil when I feel they will be a crowd favorite, as if it were not already a difficult task.

 

[Adam Pettman]

I agree with you the Italians are going to have to play out their skins to stand a chance. Its traditional now for them to come into the world cup with some kind of scandal surrounding them, this time its mass bribery of many referees in Italy.
I dont think Brazil will win it this year, Ronaldo has got fat old and creaky.

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

Will be Posting Spoilers possibly. Be Warned!!!























!!!

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

The JPN : AUS game was one of the wilder finishes I've seen. AUS down 1-0 on what seemed like a bad call earlier in the game scored 3 goals after the 86th minute to win 3-1.

Gearing up for the USA. It is sounding like Baros will miss todays match.

 

[Adam Pettman]

What a finish to bad I was at school (in scotland).Down in england we used to have a Tv on mute sitting in the corner of the room.Another downside of living in scotland and supporting England is, I cant celebrate very loudly.

 

[Adam Pettman]

Half time and its not good news for the Usa but the second goal was an absolute screamer.

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

Well, the USA is off to a fairly slow start after the first half. They need to pick it up a little. I figure if you want the score you can check the website.

For those not watching, Jan Koller left the game towards the end of the first half for the Czech Rep with what looked like a badly pulled Hamstring or worse. It doesn't look good. He was doing extremely well up to that point, and Pope seemed to be having a tough time with his size up to that point.

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

Well, unless Ghana figures heavily into this equation, the US will most certainly need a win and not just a tie against Italy and then Ghana to move on.

I only really saw the US make one team run against the Czech team, and it did not come until the 75th minute, which resulted in a breakaway by the Czechs, and their 3rd goal. The rest of their few shots were from outside the 18. And Reyna's shot off the post and one of Johnson's 3 chances were really the only thing remotely close. Their defense also seemed to be playing off their heels all day and did not really pressure the Czech offense, allowing them the time to set up.

If they can pull it together and beat Italy and Ghana, in all likelyhood it would make Brazil the next match.

 

[ualtim]

So much for the high rating coming into to cup for the US team. Our boys may be heading home before you know it if they can not beat Italy on Saturday. Argentina was not too impressive against the Ivory Coast, so I am thinking that Brazil may be the team to beat, again. I hope I can get home in time to see most of their game this afternoon.

 

[Adam Pettman]

The USA have a high world rating because they play less skilful teams I believe. I hope the Us team get through but I think they would struggle if they came up against a Team with the quality of England

 

[The master]

The USA have a high world rating because they play less skilful teams I believe. I hope the Us team get through but I think they would struggle if they came up against a Team with the quality of England

The USA wont get through after losing yesterday, but they are an OK side.

Is anyone else looking really forward to the Brazil game later they are true magicians of football.

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

The USA wont get through after losing yesterday, but they are an OK side.

Is anyone else looking really forward to the Brazil game later they are true magicians of football.

Not sure I would count them out quite yet. In all likelyhood, they will beat Ghana in the last match, which means they only need to beat Italy on Saturday. Italy may play for the tie, which will make it harder. Granted they didn't show me much in the last game to lead me to believe that they could beat Italy if they play the same way, but you need to consider that they did play against the 2nd ranked team, and the only team in this that I think really has a chance at knocking of Brazil. Actually, I haven't seen the status on either, but if the Czechs get Koller and Baros Back, I probably would put my money on them over Brazil. Although this goes back to my initial comments about how the whole bracket pairs up and if they play Germany. I seriously doubt they will lose to Germany, but the game will have a big influence on crowd favorite going into a match against Brazil.

If they do get through, the Brazil in the first round will not exact be a greeting mat.

 

[ualtim]

Is anyone else looking really forward to the Brazil game later they are true magicians of football.

I hauled a$$ on the way home from work yesterday to catch the kickoff of the Brazil game, but it was a bit of a let down. The magic is still there, but I was expecting a few more scores. I love the way they move the ball as if it was on a string. Always the perfect weight on their passes. Always passed into a pefect location. I really love how they whole team gets involved in the offense. The full backs (at least that what we called them over here in the US when I was playing in high school) make runs with the mid fielders and strikers. There are just a perfect offensive machine. I guess that is why I was disapointed with only one goal.

 

[Adam Pettman]

They only scored once because their "goal scoring machine" Ronaldo has got all fat and flobby.