Official Eyesonff World Cup 2006 thread

As it's less than 3 months until the 2006 World Cup begins, I have created this thread to countdown to the biggest single sport competition in the world.

Who does everyone consider the favourites to win? Who will be top scorer? Will Rooney, Messi, C.Ronaldo and Ronaldinho light up the tournament? Will Beckham miss a penalty?

I personally think this is England best chance of winning a major tournament in my life-time. If we can keep Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard fit, we have as good of a chance of winning as anyone, Brazil included IMO. I'm a bit concerned about Owen and Ashley Cole not being fit though....

Oh, and for all the Americans on here, you have a pretty good chance this year too! Not like any of you care:p

Soccer huh?

It's getting a bit bigger here in Australia now that we're in the World Cup and that we have a proper national league.

We'd still rather see our cricket, rugby or league teams succeed in the global arena but I'm not completely bored by soccer so I suppose there's a little bit of anticipation in me.

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Originally Posted by Mo-Nercy

Soccer huh?

It's getting a bit bigger here in Australia now that we're in the World Cup and that we have a proper national league.

We'd still rather see our cricket, rugby or league teams succeed in the global arena but I'm not completely bored by soccer so I suppose there's a little bit of anticipation in me.

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Don't worry, after we win the World Cup, Freddie and the boys will go down to your place and regain the Ashes.

And then there's always the Rugby World Cup, who won that last time...? Oh, I remember...:D

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Originally Posted by tomamar04

Don't worry, after we win the World Cup, Freddie and the boys will go down to your place and regain the Ashes.

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But you have the Ashes. :(

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Originally Posted by Mo-Nercy

Soccer huh?

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No, we're talking about football. Get it right.

Anyways, as for the actual World Cup, England have a really good shot at it. We need to maintain momentum in our last 2 friendlies, so that we go into our group with high morale. The group itself should be easy. The only hard team are Sweden and even they've got a huge gap in quality between their players and ours.

As long as we keep our main players fit, and get Ashley Cole back to match fitness we'll be competitive. Owen will be fine, no doubt, and probably better off after having the mid-season break. Paul Robinson is becoming more and more world class with every game. A defence made up of Neville, Terry and Ashley Cole would be almost unbreakable. Shame Rio is such a weak link. In midfield, we've got two distinct tactics now, which makes a change, and Joe Cole can be an amazing supersub as we saw against the Argies. Up front: Rooney, Owen. Nuff said.

Other teams that will do well... Brazil, obviously. Germany are hosts, so they'll reach the semis. Italy, Netherlands and Portugal all have a shot too. France are still living in the past too much to win it, Argentina aren't European, and Spain will be too inconsistent again. As for individual players, Ronaldo sucks against any defence that doesn't give him space to play. I'd pick Ronaldinho, Rooney, Riquelme and Robben as the main players to watch.

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Originally Posted by HowlingMonkey

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Originally Posted by Mo-Nercy

Soccer huh?

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No, we're talking about football. Get it right.

Anyways, as for the actual World Cup, England have a really good shot at it. We need to maintain momentum in our last 2 friendlies, so that we go into our group with high morale. The group itself should be easy. The only hard team are Sweden and even they've got a huge gap in quality between their players and ours.

As long as we keep our main players fit, and get Ashley Cole back to match fitness we'll be competitive. Owen will be fine, no doubt, and probably better off after having the mid-season break. Paul Robinson is becoming more and more world class with every game. A defence made up of Neville, Terry and Ashley Cole would be almost unbreakable. Shame Rio is such a weak link. In midfield, we've got two distinct tactics now, which makes a change, and Joe Cole can be an amazing supersub as we saw against the Argies. Up front: Rooney, Owen. Nuff said.

Other teams that will do well... Brazil, obviously. Germany are hosts, so they'll reach the semis. Italy, Netherlands and Portugal all have a shot too. France are still living in the past too much to win it, Argentina aren't European, and Spain will be too inconsistent again. As for individual players, Ronaldo sucks against any defence that doesn't give him space to play. I'd pick Ronaldinho, Rooney, Riquelme and Robben as the main players to watch.

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I wouldn't say Rio is a weak link. I think him and Terry work well together, Rio is our best centre-back on the ball. I don't think Joe Cole will be usd as a sub anymore, I would've thought he's almost definatly in the starting 11.

I can't wait for England vs T&T. Should help Rooney's case for the golden boot....:D.

My dark horse is Serbia. I think they could casue a couple of shocks in their group.

Midfield still worries me on the England team though, it seems as if there could be a better player somewhere, I reckon Parker has a chance but he probably wont be in so soon, I say he'd be an England player for Euro 2008, but still there needs to be a better player in midfield to strengthen the chain of midfield, Owen will be fit, no doubts but I think he should give Paul Robinson a good slap for breaking his foot, "sir you broke my foot, I shall now slap you for revenge"

Ukraine are the new Turkey/Croatia/Sweden! (European dark horses coming third)

England will reach the quarters, then Sven will put on Owen Hargreaves in goal and Jermaine Jenas up front. Sol Campbell will have a pefectly good headed goal disallowed, and we'll lose on penalties. Then Sam Allardyce will become manager and we'll fail to qualify for Euro 2008. :D

Teams that can win it, graded in tiers:

God tier:
Brazil
Top tier:
England, Holland, Argentina
Middle tier:
Italy, Germany
Bottom tier:
France, Portugal, Czech. Rep, Spain

Germany have a crap team by their standards, but they do have home advantage. I feel like I've missed a team. Ah well. And no, I'm not saying the bottom tier teams are crap. Far from it. I'm saying they can win it.

EDIT: A word on Rooney. The reason why he was so successful in Euro 2004 was because he was unknown. After all the mad hype about him, and about Lampard too, the other teams will closely try to stifle them. I think this is good news for Michael Owen and Joe Cole. I'm pretty much convinced that Owen will be England's top scorer, and that Rooney will only score one or two in the competition. Joe Cole is in incredible form, so look out for him too.

I think Brazil will win it. :(

As for our Top Scorer I think it will be Rooney or Owen. :bigsmile:

I think that we have a better chance than usual for victory in the coming World Cup. Not only have we solved our left-side problem, but we also have more strength in depth than usual going into the tournament. Right-back is a somewhat weak position, but apart from that we have a good replacement for anyone who might be injured. Also working to our advantage is that Sven already knows that he'll be losing his job once the tournament is over, so he won't be quite so afraid of taking a few risks. The only thing that worries me is that while the team contains some great individuals, they might not function as well as a unit. Gerrard and Lampard are never quite as commanding for their country as they are for their respective clubs.

We're certainly good enough to top our group, and even failing that I can't see us failing to qualify. Once we've done that it's simply a matter of consistency, which is something we've been improving on recently. A lucky draw in the knockout stages would give us the confidence we need to take on the better sides. If we can avoid Brazil and Argentina until the semis then we should be in with a shout.

On the subject of top scorers, I think Rooney will out-score Owen by a couple of goals. The kid is so good at beating players, it'd take a team with a bloody good defence to mark him out of the game. And Trinidad and Tobago ain't it. :D

Go U.S.A.!

Down with england, down with england!

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Originally Posted by Lost Number

Down with england, down with england!

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Only British team there matey!

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Originally Posted by tomamar04

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Originally Posted by Lost Number

Down with england, down with england!

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Only British team there matey!

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pwned. If the squad learns team work and less ball whoring they'll massacre all, even brazil but that's mere words, England, teamwork, may aswell camp at yellowstone for the next few years.

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Originally Posted by tomamar04

Only British team there matey!

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I care why?

Old Manus' World Cup Overview

Group A
Germany: Host nation have a pretty easy group and some decent players. Dark horse to win it.
Prediction: Semi-Finals

Costa Rica: Will probably come third before Equador
Prediction: It ends here

Poland: Pretty decent side. Could come second
Prediction: Second Round

Equador: Haven't done well in God knows how many years
Prediction: It ends here

Group B
England: Come on the boys! One of the best England teams in a long time. Have a tendency to screw up.
Prediction: Quarter-Finals (what a surprise)

Paraguay: Could shock fans and get into last 16
Prediction: It ends here

Trinidad & Tobago: Who?
Prediction: It ends here

Sweden: Only big threat for England in the group. Could finish top of the group.
Prediction: Second Round

Group C
Argentina: Gone downhill a bit since the last world cup, but a very good side nonetheless
Prediction: Semi-Finals

Cote d'Ivoire: Drogba is a one-man team
Prediction: It ends here

Serbia & Montenegro: Nope.
Prediction: It ends here

Netherlands: These guys are good. Won't win it though.
Prediction: 4th

Group D
Mexico: Not too bad a team, but not too good a team either
Prediction: Second Round

Iran: Not going to get far.
Prediction: It ends here

Angola: Not going to get far.
Prediction: It ends here

Portugal: Finalists of Euro 2004 could shock
Prediction: Quarter Finals

Group E
Italy: Awesome team but always seem to mess up when it counts.
Prediction: Finalists

Ghana: See you next time
Prediction: It ends here

USA: 'A good run could break football in the states'. Who cares?
Prediction: It ends here

Czech Republic: Could just pip USA to the post of qualifying for second round
Prediction: Second Round

Group F
Brazil: So much class it hurts. Looks like another win for the Brazilians
Prediction: Winners

Croatia: Not too bad, but they aren't going to get very far
Prediction: It ends here

Australia: Team has improved a lot over the years, but not good enough, I'm afraid
Prediction: It ends here

Japan: Pretty good
Prediction: Quarter Finals

Group G
France: Did crap last time, may well do the same this time. I wouldn't be so sure though.
Prediction: 3rd

Switzerland: Hmm...nah.
Prediction: It ends here

Korea Republic: Hopefully they can do well at this world cup
Prediction: Second round

Togo: wtf
Prediction: It ends here

Group H
Spain: Always tipped to do well, always fail.
Prediction: Semi-Finals

Ukraine: Often underestimated.
Prediction: Second Round

Tunisia: Won't get far this time
Prediction: It ends here

Saudi Arabia: I bet they're used to this by now
Prediction: It ends here

:cool:

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Originally Posted by Psychotic

EDIT: A word on Rooney. The reason why he was so successful in Euro 2004 was because he was unknown. After all the mad hype about him, and about Lampard too, the other teams will closely try to stifle them. I think this is good news for Michael Owen and Joe Cole. I'm pretty much convinced that Owen will be England's top scorer, and that Rooney will only score one or two in the competition. Joe Cole is in incredible form, so look out for him too.

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No way, even though people know about Rooney these days he can still have magnificent games. Just look at the one against Newcastle, where he was amazing despite the Magpies knowing all about him by now. The same goes for Frank Lampard. They're both good enough to be able to deal with teams trying to stifle them. And yeah, Joe Cole should be awesome.

Would anyone be intrested in doing an eyesonff World Cup prediction league?

This is a good idea

As long as it involves betting, cards and money then yes.

Hmmm, ESPN just said that we the USA are ranked fifth in FIFA or something. Thats like the whole world, so I guess that aint bad is it? Maybe I'll catch some of it this year, I remember it was a big thing when our women won.

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Originally Posted by SoulTaker*

Hmmm, ESPN just said that we the USA are ranked fifth in FIFA or something. Thats like the whole world, so I guess that aint bad is it? Maybe I'll catch some of it this year, I remember it was a big thing when our women won.

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No offence, but the USA are nowhere near one of the top 5 teams in the world. The reason they are so highly ranked is because USA and Mexico get an easy ride to the World Cup finals every 4 years. But they have definatly made an improvement in recent years.

You can't trust the FIFA rankings to tell you anything. Everything is based upon past performance, and makes no allowance for the quality of competition in the local footballing federations, so a win against Italy is given equal weight to a win against Indonesia. The USA and Mexico have an easy ride in their qualifying rounds, hence their high world ranking. You're not a bad side, but your world ranking flatters you.

Ahh, I see. Saw it on the prompter while I was watching sportscenter, thought it was a lil weird we were ranked so high, and how not very good we are. I know we did good in the last one though, soccer is not my thing, dont really know the politics of it, but I'll watch any sport if its competitive.

I'll do my predictions once I look over some of the lesser known teams. My heart has always gone out to Argentina, though, but the the way things have gone over the past four years I doubt they will make it past the quarter finals. If that's the case my hopes rest with Spain.

What I'm interested in seeing is who's going to be the Korea of the World Cup 2006.

I'm Brazilian, and I doubt we will win. Yes, we have loads of excellent players (enough for 3 teams, actually). But the coach is the problem. I can't believe players like Ronaldo and Cafu will play, they're only there because they are famous, because they were good in the past. Our defence is embarrassing, Lucio, Juan, and, to top it off, Dida.... I can't believe it. Emerson sucks too.

Kaka always plays well in the Brazilian team, so he's ok, but Ronaldinho never plays that well (at least he's loads better in Barcelona). Ronaldo and Adriano aren't in a good season, and I can't see Robinho winning a match for us.

So, I think we'd be better off with players such as Cicinho, and others who are unknown to you, because they deserve to go to Germany a lot more then some of the ones that are going (*cough*Ronaldo*cough*).

I suppose Italy or Germany will win. And if Argentina wins... I'll drown myself :D.

I don't think Brazil will win this time round -- Ronaldo's in poor form, although Ronaldinho will be great to watch -- nor Germany. Germany may have an advantage as home team, but they've been having some pretty poor performances recently. I think both England and Spain have a pretty good chance -- Hiddink's with the aussies, so they could very well be the Korea of 2006. :p Hiddink is a demi-god in my eyes; works wonders. France have a good team, but they did last time as well and look what happened then. I'm not going to bother predicting or making bets this time round (too expensive), so I'll just watch and see.

Korea's success last time around was based mainly on their home advantage, and some incredibly good luck. If any team is going to be a surprise package this time it'll be the Ukraine, whose qualifying record was unmatched by any other team in Europe. I quite fancy the Ivory Coast too, but that's only because they have Emmanuel Eboue and he is as good as a good piece of cheese.

I remember watching the last game in the last world cup while I was in a square in Paris. THat was the crazyest thing ever. HUGE TV and tons and tons of people everywhere. It was awsome.

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Originally Posted by Black Mage 121

Korea's success last time around was based mainly on their home advantage, and some incredibly good luck.

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Luck is an euphemism. Obvious robbery would be a better word for Korea's match against Italy. That referee should be fired (if he hasn't been already).

I don't remember the match against Italy, but I do have the highest regard for Hiddink...?!?!?! He managed to get the aussies in, this time round. :p

USA vs Germany in the week. That could be a good indication of both teams strengths.

Didn't Italy work Germany over 4-1 on the same day England beat Uruguay? That pretty much tells you their strength. Then again, they got worked over 5-1 (And I don't think it was just England. Romania did it too) before 2002 and look where they got... ;)