World Cup draw tomorrow

[tomamar04]

POT ONE
Germany (hosts)
Brazil (holders)
Argentina
England
France
Italy
Mexico
Spain

POT TWO
Australia
Angola
Ghana
Ivory Coast
Togo
Tunisia
Ecuador
Paraguay



POT THREE
Croatia
Czech Republic
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Sweden
Switzerland
Ukraine

POT FOUR
Iran
Japan
Saudi Arabia
South Korea
Costa Rica
Trinidad & Tobago
US
Special pot: Serbia & Montenegro

Will anyone else be watching the draw tomorrow? I'm hoping England avoid Holland, Portugal or the Czechs.

[Aphelion]

I'll certainly watch it. I just hope Brazil manages to avoid Ukraine, Portugal and Japan (both of the latter coached by Brazilians, too). I'd say these are the most dangerous teams (except for the Pot One teams, but they can be entirely irregular - as Argentina and France in the last World Cup - as well as the champions - 1998 comes to mind...- ). Although I'm not very confident that Brazil will be the champion, I have to give my support (even if it means hoping that the most dangerous teams don't fall with it).

[DK]

I hope England avoid anyone better than Iran because they'll probably lose to them if they don't.

[Vaprice]

Mexico will do well so I think they're not going to have much of a problem like last time when they faced the US and lost. My only hope is that South korea won't get pwned by Japan... they wouldn't let that go for many years...

And Brazil winning another world cup? They're good and all, but so over-rated. Argentina and england could easily beat them. Well not so much easily beat them but would be able to.

Plus with the fact that Germany is playing in their own country, gives them a confidence morale booster. France I'm sorry to say just aren't as good. They need newer pro's.

And in pot 2 I hope australia does well! Because Omecle is from Uastralia, and aussies are cool! lol

[Aphelion]

Vaprice, I disagree when you said Brazil could be beaten "easily" by strong teams. Yes, it could be beaten by virtually any team (heck, we've lost to Guatemala, Bolivia...), but not "easily", at least. Argentina's main weakness is that they're not very organized lately (and in their last match, Brazil beat them up pretty badly...). If they win, it will be because of their will (read: they're strong, they've got muscles, they curse like no one's business, and they can subtly punch anyone on the face without getting any player out - something Paraguay, Uruguay and other South American teams can do SO well). I'm not criticizing them just because they're our rivals: all of the South American teams need to start learning how to play fair (like Rivaldo, in Brazil x Turkey...that ball in his face - knee - must've hurt him pretty badly).

England would be a nice bet, as well as Germany. Portugal will go far because of their coach, too.

[DK]

England will lose. We'll go along quite nicely until we come to the knockout stages and end up against somebody half decent and then we'll start to lose and then Sven will lose it and tell them to start hoofing the ball up the field and put Owen Hargreaves on and then we'll have lost.

[Resha]

Whoa, I'll definitely watch it if it's on TV. It'd be interesting xD

[tomamar04]

England will lose. We'll go along quite nicely until we come to the knockout stages and end up against somebody half decent and then we'll start to lose and then Sven will lose it and tell them to start hoofing the ball up the field and put Owen Hargreaves on and then we'll have lost.

"It's the 85th minute of the World Cup semi-Final vs Germany, England are 2-1 down needing a goal to send the game into extra time, the ball goes out of play, will Super Swede Sven make an inspired substitution? The board goes up, and Wayne Rooney, England's top goalscorer in the competition is coming off to be replaced by Phil Neville, goal scoring genius and Steven Gerrard is being replaced by none other than Owen Hargreaves, he must be good, he plays in Germany"

[Russielloyd]

Only Brazil have got a better chance than England than winning the World Cup, Sven might be useless but we got some of the best players in the wrold and nody can argue with that. We beat Argentina only last month showing how good we are and people who say that was only a friendly are stupid and are clueless and shouldn't be allowed to ever talk about football. Sure it was technically a friendly but the match was played nothing like it.

Pot A is seeded (England being seeded 2nd behind Brazil) so none of the teams in Pot A can be drawn into the same group, England can qualify top from any group given, their simplyu that good. Everyone should be saying "i hope we don't get England in our group" All countries should fear us, and thats the truth.

Kyono ypu know sod all. Last WC we missed Gerrard in the centre of midfield and had Danny Mills at right back and hes just crap and mainly not all our players that played at the WC last time were world class players.

Robinson, A. Cole, Terry, Campbell, Carragher, Neville, Lampard, Gerrard, Beckham, J. Cole, Owen, Rooney. All of them are World class players, how the hell can you say we will lose easily with those players. You know nothing.

Argentina having Riquelme pulling the strings and Kaka pulling the strings for Brazil, these will challenge England to the full.

[Aphelion]

Confidence is what led Brazil to a shameful loss in 1998. We also had World Class players in that occasion, and we just lost. Too many stars don't necessarily make a team better, but still, my two cents are on England AS LONG as they don't think they're default winners.

[Russielloyd]

Confidence, we just beat Argentina...again, isn't that enough confidence for you? Also the players are starting to play as a team now and Rooney is bound to set the WC alight. In this case having all world class players means every country at the WC should be fearfull. Knowing out luck though, Lampard or someone will get injured just before. *Touches would that no ones gets injured* Plus none of the players are thinking they've already won it, you can easily tell that when you see them talking about their chances.

It's in Germany, so there wont be any heat problems aswell, like there was in Japan and South Korea.

The draw is at 20:15 UK time.

[DK]

Since when has having quality players meant automatic victory? It doesn't matter if our team of players is the best team in the world talentwise, when they're mismanaged they're going to fail regardless.

[Psychotic]

This isn't my work, it's the work of a guy on another forum who goes by the name of lemur, but I'm going to post it here because it is the single most greatest thing about football I have ever read.
Group G
England
Mediocre Scandinavian/Central European Nation
Young African Upstarts
South American Team with two good players.

In the first game, England will be unconvincing against the european nation. Joe Cole will be booked early on, and the other team will get a penalty appeal turned down before the half-hour mark. It'll be 0-0 at half time, with much shakey-headness from Alan Hansen and Random German Guest Pundit. The second half begins with England looking better, and they'll score through a Frank Lampard finish. Owen will miss a good chance, Rooney will hit the post with a thirty-yarder, whilst the Scandinavian/Central European team's best player (an experienced midfielder who used to play for a top Premiership/Serie A side and now plays for an average Premiership side, or a French league team) almost scores as Rio Ferdinand loses concentration. At 75 minutes England will be absorbing a lot of pressure, and so Sven Goran Errikson will replace Joe Cole with Owen Hargreaves. With five minutes to go, an unknown substitute (a fairly decent player from the country's national league) will get behind the defence and finish past Paul Robinson. Peter Crouch will come on for Gary Neville and will have no impact whatsoever. The final score will be 1-1.

The media will be campaigning for Erikkson's sacking. They'll state that Lampard and/or Gerrard should be dropped in favour of Jermaine Jenas. They'll also be questioning why Everton's new 15-goal striker Lee Trundle wasn't in the squad ahead of Crouch or Defoe.

Match two will be England Vs South American Team With Two Good Players. Before the match, Gary Lineker and Alan Hansen will be discussing the quality of these two decent players (one of them is probably on the books of an under-performing Serie A team, the other will be the star striker for a decent German side) and saying how Terry and Ferdinand will have to be on top form to stop them. The two decent players will, however, fail to make any impact on the game. England will be two up at half-time thanks to an Owen finish and long range effort from Stevie Gerrard. Joe Cole will be booked for a needless challenge and will miss the next game. Beckham will be booked too, along with about six players from the South American side. With England 2-0 up and cruising, Sven will take off Steven Gerrard and replace him with Owen Hargreaves. Ledley King will replace Frank Lampard on 80 minutes, with Campbell on for Ferdinand on 85 minutes. England will win 2-0, but not before the South American side create a half decent chance which Robinson will save comfortably.

Going into the final game, the media and the players will be confident about beating the Young African Upstarts. Joe Cole will be threatened with public flogging for earning a suspension. Jermaine Jenas will be hotly tipped to replace him, but it'll be Ledley King who gets the nod to have another go in defensive midfield. A win will see England through as group winners, a draw will probably see them through in second place.

The match against the Young African Upstarts will begin with neither side making any headway whatsoever, until one of the decent players from the african side (these decent players will play in the french/dutch/portuguese/english leagues, depending on which was the nation's 19th century collonial oppressor) scores after a goalmouth scramble. Half-time will see the pundits trying to say positive things, but coming accross as frightened rabbits. Alan Hansen looks faintly bored with the whole thing. Ian Wright will get into an argument with Random German Guest Pundit over the result of the game. Wright will be angry that the German has not predicted a 7-1 win for England. Alan Hansen says England will win 2-1. After the break, Wayne Rooney beats two sub-standard African players and rifles in a low shot from 25 yards for 1-1. England will keep attacking, but their forays into the opposition's box will be fruitless. With time running out and qualification still unsure, Sven's tactic will be to bring on Owen Hargreaves. Whether Hargreaves has an impact or not is questionable, but either way, Beckham will force a save out of the goalie with a long, curling effort, the goalie will drop it, and Owen will be on hand to sweep the ball into the goal. The game will finish 2-1.

Despite being painfully average, the odds on an England World Cup victory will drop dramatically, especially when they realise that England will be playing the United States in the second round. The U.S. will have been playing half-decent football in the tournament, although nobody will have been watching them. Their group will have included a top south-american nation who will have beaten them 3-0, but wins against an under-powered middle-eastern team and a former eastern-bloc country will see them through. The media will be confident, mocking the Americans with jibes about cheeseburgers, the alamo, pearl harbour and their penchant for turning up late in world wars. The Sun will superimpose Tim Howard's face on sloth for no apparent reason.

England will be impressive against the americans, and will roar into a two-goal lead at half-time through a John Terry header and a Steven Gerrard volley. Everbody will be excited at half-time, with Ian Wright stating how England will win the entire thing. However, the United States will score early in the second half after a mistake by Ashley Cole. England will take control of the game again and bring two decent saves out of Tim Howard. As the game wears on, The United States will get themselves back into the game and start to attack England, creating a couple of gut-turning chances but missing them. Owen Hargreaves will come be brought on with fifteen minutes left. Just as Sven is telling Campbell and King to warm up, Gerrard, Lampard and Beckham work out a fantastic passing move on a break, Gerrard will flick the ball through the defence for Wayne Rooney who hits it low past the goalie. Sven relaxes. Jenas replaces Lampard, Campbell replaces Ferdinand. England will make the win safe after Rooney gets brought down in the box and Beckham scores the penalty.

The 4-1 win will spark a media frenzy. Sven is treated as a god in The Sun, Rooney will be photoshopped to look like Jesus in The Star. Holland will beat Mexico 2-0 in their second round game, and will thus go through to meet England. Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham are interviewed by every television station in the country, with both players appearing as pundits on the BBC or ITV. Ronald Koeman predicts a 3-0 win for Holland, Edgar Davids predicts a 3-0 win for England. Alan Hansen thinks England will scrape through, while Ian Wright declares that Holland will be beaten 9-0.

The match will begin with England taking the initiative and creating a couple of chances. Gerrard will force a great save from Van Der Sar, Ferdinand will miss a header. Ruud Van Nistelrooy will miss a sitter at the other end. On thirty minutes, David Beckham will be brought down on the edge of the box and hurt his ankle. Was it a penalty? Was it a red card offence? Not according to the referee. Beckham will be stretchered off, Jermaine Jenas will replace him. John Terry will get the captain's armband.

Gerrard will hit the top of the bar with the free-kick, and England will keep attacking, with Joe Cole coming closest with a volley. However, the score will remain 0-0 at half time. Holland have the better of the second half, with Arjen Robben creating a great chance for Van Nistelrooy to spoon over the bar. With twenty minutes left and the game still at 0-0, Erikkson will play his first card by replacing Joe Cole with Owen Hargreaves. Hargreaves will pass the ball sideways a few times before the referee blows his whistle and we go into extra time.

In extra time, Campbell will have a header disallowed for a push, Van Nistelrooy will have a goal disallowed for offside, Rooney will hit the post, Robben will miss a header from close range. With 120 minutes on the clock, Sven brings on Peter Crouch for Gary Neville just in time for the final whistle. Penalty Shoot Out.

Lampard scores. Seedorf scores. Rooney scores. Makaay scores. Owen scores. Van Nistelrooy scores. Terry scores. Van Der Vaart misses. Everyone gets excited. Jenas hits the post, Van Bronckhorst scores.

Sudden death. Gerrard scores, Robben scores, Crouch hits Van Der Sar's legs, Cocu scores.

England are knocked out. The media critisize Sven for being bald. The F.A. sack him for the same reason. Peter Crouch gets transferred to Leicester City and never plays for England again.

That guy is a genius.

[black orb]

>>> South Korea will be a tough team..

[Russielloyd]

That guy is a tit for making up <img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"> based on past exp.

Thats should be in the writing section as fiction or make believe. Tell him to wake up, and tell him Holland suck monkey penis. l.o.l

England are better than Holland by miles.

[Psychotic]

Robinson, A. Cole, Terry, Campbell, Carragher, Neville, Lampard, Gerrard, Beckham, J. Cole, Owen, Rooney. All of them are World class players, how the hell can you say we will lose easily with those players. You know nothing.

England are better than Holland by miles...what?

Robinson, Campbell, Carra, Neville, Beckham and Joe Cole are not world class. They are good, certainly, but not world class and all have weaknesses. The others you mentioned certainly are world class though.

And as for how can we lose easily with those players, I have three words for you: Sven-Goran Eriksson. He's a great manager when it comes to qualifying, but in tournaments he completely runs out of ideas, and decides that Owen Hargreaves and Phil Neville are our best bet to change the game.

And Holland are an awesome team, at the same level as, or possibly better than, England.

[Endless]

Confidence is what led Brazil to a shameful loss in 1998. We also had World Class players in that occasion, and we just lost. Too many stars don't necessarily make a team better, but still, my two cents are on England AS LONG as they don't think they're default winners.

It's what lead France to defeat in the knockout round of the 2002 WC.

[silverpigeon97]

is anyone else hoping for englabnd, togo, switzerland and trinidad and tobago?

[Strider]

U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

[JaytodaP]

U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

USA is my team, but they suck. They've only got 3 decent players really, and most of the players are from the MLS and that is a reeally crappy league. I'm still pissed about the handball by Germany last World Cup though. My brother punched AND broke plexi glass.

[tomamar04]

is anyone else hoping for englabnd, togo, switzerland and trinidad and tobago?

Funnily enough, i'm hoping for:

England
Austrlaia
Poland
USA

That group would rule...

[Strider]

I remember being in Europe for the last World Cup. That was craaaazy. I was in Prague for that U.S.-Germany... um, quarterfinal, was it? Anyway, my uncle and I and a couple of Ohio folk we met on the road were the only people in a humongo bar rooting for America, but it was good times.

[Russielloyd]

...what?

Robinson, Campbell, Carra, Neville, Beckham and Joe Cole are not world class.

And Holland are an awesome team, at the same level as, or possibly better than, England.


Robinson is a world class keeper, if you seen him in his leeds days, you would agree and its just because he play for spurs that he doesn get better credit then he already gets.

Campbell is world class, hes much better than ferdinhand, he one of the best defender arounds, he just suffered from alot of injuries recently.

Carragher...did you not see him in the Champions League final, he was amazing, being World class that he is he still not better than Terry.

Neville has been out for ages aswell unfortunately, he plays for ManUre.

Beckham has gone off the boil recently but he still ranked as world class, Joe Cole just gets better and better since he started getting in the first team for Chelsea.

England are better than Holland, there players are getting old and Van nistle<img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"> is well...<img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif">. Easily beatable as Czech Republic prooved.

England dont get to be 2nd favs for people to think other teams can beat them.

Recent WC show if their not supporting their own country its either Brazil or England unless your Welsh or Scotish. Just thought i'd add that.

[Resha]

I remember being in Europe for the last World Cup. That was craaaazy. I was in Prague for that U.S.-Germany... um, quarterfinal, was it? Anyway, my uncle and I and a couple of Ohio folk we met on the road were the only people in a humongo bar rooting for America, but it was good times.
It can't have been the last! Must've been the last last; the last WC was in SK/Japan, right?

Man, I wish I could go watch any football match live. xD

[Strider]

Yeah, it was the Asia games. Twas nice because the games were on in the afternoon, and would've been on at... 4 AM or something out here in California.

[tomamar04]

Who else gets the feeling it'll be the biggest, and best, World Cup ever?

[Resha]

I hope so. :D It'll be explosive, and this time I'll understand. *horror*

[Russielloyd]

What didnt you understans before?

Also Germany have already been drawn in pot A and Brazil are in pot F.

[Psychotic]

Robinson is a world class keeper, if you seen him in his leeds days, you would agree and its just because he play for spurs that he doesn get better credit then he already gets.

Campbell is world class, hes much better than ferdinhand, he one of the best defender arounds, he just suffered from alot of injuries recently.

Carragher...did you not see him in the Champions League final, he was amazing, being World class that he is he still not better than Terry.

Neville has been out for ages aswell unfortunately, he plays for ManUre.

Beckham has gone off the boil recently but he still ranked as world class, Joe Cole just gets better and better since he started getting in the first team for Chelsea.

England are better than Holland, there players are getting old and Van nistle<img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"> is well...<img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif">. Easily beatable as Czech Republic prooved.

England dont get to be 2nd favs for people to think other teams can beat them.

Recent WC show if their not supporting their own country its either Brazil or England unless your Welsh or Scotish. Just thought i'd add that.Robbo isn't World Class. If he'd kept up his form from his Leeds days, perhaps, but we can say the same about Harry Kewell! I'd say World Class is the best...what....10 in the world? I'd be happier with any one of Cech, Dida, Toldo, Buffon, Casillas, Valdes, Kahn, Van Der Sar, Abbondanzieri or Given (underrated) in goal.

Campbell has yet to have one good defensive game for Arsenal this season (as I admit scoring twice against Everton is excellent) despite returning from injury. He isn't the player he was.

I most certainly did see Carra in the CL final, as I am a Liverpool fan, and I will say this about him: In a red shirt, he is the best defender in the world, bar none. In a white shirt, he's good but not world class. He can't seem to capture his Liverpool form for England.

Neville is the best of a bad bunch. He'll do, but he's nothing special.

Beckham, while a world class crosser of the ball, is slow. He cannot beat a man. He constantly drifts inside. He cannot tackle. He loses his temper far and picks up cards far too easily.

Joe Cole has the potential to be world class, I just wish he'd learn to use his left foot...

Holland? Old? I wouldn't call the likes of Wesley Sneijder, Ryan Babel, Dirk Kuijt, Arjen Robben or Johnny Heitinga old! The only old players I can think of would be Van Der Sar and Cocu. Sven himself admits Holland are the team he most fears getting in the draw (along with the English speaking nations)

Now, I do believe England stand a chance in this World Cup, I really do. It's our best chance since Italia '90, if not Mexico '70. But to think we can easily take apart any team in this tournament is naieve - remember Northern Ireland. When we get cocky and overconfident, we lose.

[Doomie]

We all know this is Italy's year! WHOOOO BROOOOO YAY FOR LONG HAIR AND ARROGANCE! Go Italy. :)

[Russielloyd]

That Northern Ireland game was down to that <img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"> 4-5-1 formation, you can easily tell lampard and gerrard were uncomfortable and as for was what sven said about fearing Holland the most, since when does anyone take him seriously. After we only beat Austria in Manchester, he said we played well, WTF! Sven knows nothing, he picked Ferdinhand over Campbell, which is a world class defender, he's beed injured twice this season and it does take time to find your true form, he much better than Ferdinhand, no one is better than Terry at the moment. I do think carragher is younger so he might get the edge over Campbell, if see Ferdinhand starting, im gonna go crazy, hes too relaxed about things, if anyone would make the mistakes in defence, its him. I wouldnt even have him at Blackburn. Aswell, when A. Cole comes back, i hope he finds his best form before the end of the season.

Beckham plays with a bunch of misfits who dived all the time in Spain, i'd get angry too.

Wesley Sneijder, Ryan Babel, Dirk Kuijt, Arjen Robben or Johnny Heitinga, i wouldn't exactly call them the best either, only thing they got over us is left sided midfielder, Though Robben isnt exactly playing great football like he was a yr ago. Only player i look forward to seeing to is from Holland is Van Der Vaart, i seen him play some great footbal at Ajax, dunno how he's been getting on at his new club.


Campbell and beckham will te only one in their 30's, next to that i think its owen at 26. All the England players are playing well for their teams, they havent handed out these award to Engish players for nothing.

[Psychotic]

I can see you getting very upset then, because I am convinced that Rio will start in our defence, because Sven believes he is a different type of defender compared to Terry, Carra and Sol - he has pace and can pass it. He had an excellent World Cup 2002, and if he recaptures that form (his present form is pathetic) I would be extremely happy to see him in our defence. But if he plays like he is...ugh...we're screwed.

Holland are organised better than us. I mean, we still don't know what the best thing to do with our midfield is, and time is running out.

Oh, and Gary Neville is 30 too ;)

FIFA Chat is hilarious. There are people that genuinely believe the likes of Sweden and Poland can win. And as for Italy winning, I think one smiley sums THAT up: :laugh:

[escobert]

Ameica > all xD

[Raistlin]

I know absolutely nothing about soccer (football to you backwoods loonies), but that huge essay thing that Psycho posted was hilarious.

[Psychotic]

England are in Group B with Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago and Sweden. That's a pretty nice draw, and Sweden will be our main opponent.

GROUP A
Brazil
Costa Rica
Poland
Ecuador

GROUP B
England
Paraguay
Trinidad & Tobago
Sweden

GROUP C
Argentina
Cote D'Ivoire
Serbia and Montenegro
Netherlands

GROUP D
Mexico
Iran
Angola
Portugal

GROUP E
Italy
Ghana
USA
Czech Republic

GROUP F
Brazil
Croatia
Australia
Japan

GROUP G
France
Switzerland
Korea
Togo

GROUP H
Spain
Ukraine
Tunisia
Saudia Arabia

[Russielloyd]

The draw

GROUP A
Germany
Costa Rica
Poland
Ecuador

GROUP B
England
Paraguay
Trinidad & Tobago
Sweden

GROUP C
Argentina
Ivory Coast
Serbia & Montenegro
Netherlands

GROUP D
Mexico
Iran
Angola
Portugal

GROUP E
Italy
Ghana
U.S.A
Czech Republic

GROUP F
Brazil
Croatia
Australia
Japan

GROUP G
France
Switzerland
South Korea
Togo

GROUP H
Spain
Ukraine
Tunisia
Saudi Arabia


England got an easy group, im liking it. Bloody Sweden again!

Serbia & Montenegro got it bad! l.o.l

[Endless]

Group A:
Germany
Costa Rica
Poland
Ecuador

Group B:
England
Paraguay
Trinidad & Tobago
Sweden

Group C:
Argentina
Ivory Coast
Serbia
Netherlands

Group D:
Mexico
Iran
Angola
Portugal

Group E:
Italia
Ghana
USA
Czech Republic

Group F:
Brasil
Croatia
Australy
Japan

Group G:
France
Switzerland (dammit)
South Korea
Togo

Group H:
Spain
Ukrain
Tunisia
Saudi Arabia

Edit: Gah, beat me to it.

[Russielloyd]

Damn it, i posted the draw first lol

I think England will possibly play countries from group C.

[Endless]

Mine's prettier :p

[Psychotic]

France always get Switzerland :laugh:

Group C, Group E and Group F look nasty.

[Endless]

France always get Switzerland :laugh:


We couldn't even beat them during qualifications. What a wondeful way to start the WC!

[Russielloyd]

Serbia & Montenegro got it bad! I almost feel sorry for them....almost!

[Psychotic]

Some predictions:
Group A: Germany and Ecuador
Group B: England and Sweden
Group C: Argentina and Netherlands
Group D: Portugal and....Angola!
Group E: Czech Rep and USA. That's right, no Italy.
Group F: Brazil and Croatia
Group G: France and Korea
Group H: Ukraine and Spain

EDIT: More

"Round of 16"
Germany v Sweden...Germany
Argentina v Angola...Argentina
England v Ecuador...England
Portugal v Netherlands...Netherlands
Czech. Rep v Croatia...Czech. Rep
France v Spain...Spain
Brazil v USA...Brazil
Ukraine v Korea...Ukraine

Quarter-Finals
Germany v Argentina...Argentina
Czech. Rep v Spain...Czech. Rep
England v Netherlands...Ouch...England though ;)
Brazil v Ukraine...Brazil

Semi-Finals
Argentina v Czech. Rep...Argentina
England v Brazil...Brazil

Final
Argentina v Brazil...Brazil.

There you have it!

[Russielloyd]

I'll do my prediction aswell

Group A: Germany + Ecuador
Group B: England + Sweden
Group C: Argentina + Netherlands
Group D: Portugal + Mexico
Group E: Czech Republic + Italy
Group F: Brazil + Croatia
Group G: France + South Korea
Group H: Ukraine + Spain

Damn! i wish my sky was fixed so i can hear them talk about it on interactive.

[Old Manus]

England must win the group to avoid Germany in the second round

We're screwed.

[Russielloyd]

Germany are <img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif">e, even so, they will play countries from group d

[Psychotic]

Don't forget that Germany are at home though, and that will boost them, like it did Portugal in Euro 2004, Korea in WC 2002 and France in WC 98.

[Russielloyd]

Yeah but there nothing to Germany, plus SK, cancelled their season 6 month prior to WC 2002 in prep.

[Old Manus]

We just send every citizen of Germany a letter before the tournament saying:

5-1

Then we have no problem

[Psychotic]

Make sure the letter includes the famous "Two world wars and one world cup!" taunt as well, then we'll be well on our way.

Unless they use the Gareth Southgate line on us.

[Old Manus]

They might counter with the Owen Hargreaves is crap card

EDIT: and looks like a woman

[Russielloyd]

What, there gonna go "mwuahahah were going to take you to penalty's, mwuahahaha"

[tailz]

Robinson is a world class keeper, if you seen him in his leeds days, you would agree and its just because he play for spurs that he doesn get better credit then he already gets.

Campbell is world class, hes much better than ferdinhand, he one of the best defender arounds, he just suffered from alot of injuries recently.

Carragher...did you not see him in the Champions League final, he was amazing, being World class that he is he still not better than Terry.

Neville has been out for ages aswell unfortunately, he plays for ManUre.

Beckham has gone off the boil recently but he still ranked as world class, Joe Cole just gets better and better since he started getting in the first team for Chelsea.

England are better than Holland, there players are getting old and Van nistle<img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"> is well...<img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif">. Easily beatable as Czech Republic prooved.

England dont get to be 2nd favs for people to think other teams can beat them.

Recent WC show if their not supporting their own country its either Brazil or England unless your Welsh or Scotish. Just thought i'd add that.


have you been foloolwing holland teh last few years ever since we got a new coach the team has bee nchanged drasticly

oh and if whe arre <img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"> like you claim then why are we second on the world ranking huh

(dont know if this has changed recently but a few months ago we were)

[Russielloyd]

Those rankings are crap and mean fook all!

[Psychotic]

Hargreaves has grown a "beard" now, to appear more manly.

http://www.uefa.com/ml/images/Players/400X600/55966.jpg

Bless his little heart! I think only Gary Neville has a slower rate of facial hair growth.

The Netherlands are now third in the rankings.

[Russielloyd]

England 4 - 1 Netherlands WHOOP WHOOP! SHEARER SHEARER SHEARER!!

[Old Manus]

The FIFA rankings = Who pays the most bribe money

There are a load of crap teams high up in there

[Psychotic]

It depends on which teams you play. Teams like Mexico and the USA are extremely high because they have to play the likes of Guadeloupe and Hondouras.

England squad prediction:
1. Paul Robinson
2. Gary Neville
3. Ashley Cole
4. Steven Gerrard
5. Rio Ferdinand
6. John Terry
7. David Beckham
8. Frank Lampard
9. Wayne Rooney
10. Michael Owen
11. Joe Cole
12. Phil Neville (:() (Although this could be Wayne Bridge or Luke Young too)
13. David James (:()
14. Jamie Carragher
15. Ledley King
16. Sol Campbell
17. Michael Carrick
18. Owen Hargreaves (:()
19. Shaun Wright-Phillips
20. Peter Crouch
21. Alan Smith (:()
22. Robert Green
23. Jermain Defoe

[tailz]

England 4 - 1 Netherlands WHOOP WHOOP! SHEARER SHEARER SHEARER!!

omg dont we have a fanatic lets just wait an see im almost sure theyll end up against each other and after well talk again

[Old Manus]

What the hell do they see in Hargreaves?

[Psychotic]

I think he's Sven's love-child.

[Old Manus]

Makes sense

[Russielloyd]

The squad i think will go...

GK
1). Robinson
2). James
3). Kirkland

DF
4). Terry
5). Carragher
6). Ferdinhand
7). Campbell
8). A. Cole
9). G. Neville
10). Young
11). Bridge

MF
12). Lampard
13). Gerrard
14). Beckham
15). J. Cole
16). Carrick
17). Wright-Phillips
18). Hargreaves
19). King

FW
20). Owen
21). Rooney
22). Defoe
23). Crouch

[Strider]

United States, Italy, Ghana, Czech Republic. Yikes.

[Doomie]

Germany + Poland
England + Sweden
Argentina + Netherlands
Mexico + Portugal
Italia + Czech Republic
Brazil + Croatia
France + Switzerland
Spain + Ukraine

Germany beats Sweden.
England beats Poland in shoot-outs.
Argentina beats Portugal in a Golden Goal.
Netherlands will beat Mexico.
Italy will beat Croatia.
Brazil will beat the Czechs by a goal.
Ukraine will beat France.
Spain will beat Switzerland.

England beats Germany.
Netherlands beats Poland.
Brazil beats Italy.
Ukraine beats Spain.

Netherlands beats England.
Brazil beats Ukraine.

Brazil wins the cup.

[eestlinc]

It depends on which teams you play. Teams like Mexico and the USA are extremely high because they have to play the likes of Guadeloupe and Hondouras.
perhaps you mean Guatemala?

Go US, I guess.

[Psychotic]

Guatemala are a good side by non-Mexico/USA standards for North America. So they'd get hammered by a real team. :D

Guadeloupe have Pascal Chimbonda of Wigan Athletic and so clearly exist. Chimbonda has to be from somewhere!

[eestlinc]

Guadeloupe is a set of carribean islands. do they really have a national team? aren't they part of France anyway?

[Psychotic]

I looked it up and apparently they don't. But on the plus side, the Turks and Caicos Islands have a national team!

LINK: http://www.fifa.com/en/mens/statistics/index/0,2548,All-Nov-2005,00.html

I wouldn't trust their ratings too much, for reasons described above.

[eestlinc]

I was going to mock Guadeloupe by comparing them to San Marino, except San Marino apparently have a team!

Those rankings must be meaningless if the US is ranked above England.

[Psychotic]

San Marino have never won a game. I remember when we beat them 7-1 back in 1993. Oh precious memories.

They were awesome on Sensible Soccer on the Genesis/Mega-Drive though.

[Raistlin]

I think it takes schedule into account more than actual skill.

EDIT: those rankings, I mean.

[Russielloyd]

The rankings are based on previous results in the last 8 years and how that team has faired in the previous WC and their own continental tournament.

[Psychotic]

This page (http://www.fifa.com/en/mens/statistics/rank/procedures/0,2540,3,00.html) explains how they're calculated. I trust the World Cup seedings a lot more, to be honest, not least because England were calculated as being second. :D

[Russielloyd]

So what i said sums it up in a very tiny small nutshell.

[Croyles]

Germany are <img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif">e, even so, they will play countries from group d

Germany is completely underrated. People forget that their new team is pretty good. Not up there with Netherlands and Brazil etc, but stil alrightl. Its just stereotypical for the English to only have hate for Germany, and that hate has been one sided for about 15 years. A lot of English people still want to win against Germany simply because of World War II. Get over it, that was 60 years ago.
The only thing england can come up with against Germany is yep, 5-1. Thats out of a billion fricking games where Germany actually won the majority. I'll admit, at the moment their not as good as England, but their rapidly going up the ranks lately. The fact that England keep losing against their neighbouring countries lately should be a worry.


P.S Yes thats the German side of me speaking out there. So what?