The Official 2010 FIFA World Cup Thread

[Psychotic]

Now it's a World Cup thread. I don't know whether to pick Spain, Brazil or Argentina yet!

ALSO ENGLAND ON OUR WAY!!!! YESSSSSS VICTORY OVER JAPAN!!!! TWO OWN GOALS!!!! R-O-O-N-E-Y!!!!! COME ON LADS LET'S HAVE IT!!!!!!! ...sorry, I can't keep that up for longer than a minute.

Looking forward to watching us scrape our way out of the group stages and limp out in either the final 16 or maybe the Quarter Finals. Whether or not it will be on penalties depends on whether or not the game is at night.

EDIT: smurf it, I'll put my backing into the Argies.

[charliepanayi]

I don't know, I think Greece are a far funnier option than New Zealand!

I'm going for Brazil, the team is more pragmatic than 'classic Brazil', and previous teams like that went on to win in 1994 and 2002. I'd say Holland are a decent bet (though it looks like they've already started fighting with one another again), and Ghana could be dark horses. Germany and Brazil have the most evil groups, so those should be fun to watch.

And go North Korea!

[The Shoeless Hobo]

I think it'll be a South American team, and my money will be on Argentina.

[Loony BoB]

Definitely New Zealand. We beat Serbia the other day! SERBIA!!!

[champagne supernova]

Got some tickets to go watch. Portugal - Korea & round 16 in Cape Town. Exciting times. Reckon Spain or Brazil are going to win it. Argentina has been ruined by Maradona. No Zanetti. No Cambiasso. They just won trebles each and both are considered some of the best players in the World. But not good enough for Maradona

[Rocket Edge]

I could go with a team that's familiar winning the WC, but I think Spain have the best team, so I'll voted for them.

[Loony BoB]

FWIW, my realistic vote probably goes to Spain, too.

[charliepanayi]

The seven England players to miss out on a World Cup place are: Leighton Baines, Michael Dawson, Tom Huddlestone, Scott Parker, Adam Johnson, Theo Walcott, Darren Bent.

Which leaves:

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart, David James, Robert Green.
Defenders: Jamie Carragher, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Glen Johnson, Ledley King, John Terry, Matthew Upson, Stephen Warnock
Midfielders: Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, James Milner, Shaun Wright-Phillips.
Forwards: Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney

Leaving out Walcott? Shock as England manager shows common sense!

[Psychotic]

Leaving out Walcott? Shock as England manager shows common sense!

On the other hand,

Michael Carrick

Would've preferred Parker. Although having said that, I'd take a fully fit Hargreaves over the pair of them.

Also want to say I'm made up for Stephen Warnock. It was a smurfing joke the way Rafa treated him and we should've never let him go.

[Rocket Edge]

Seems like a fairly decent cut to me. However, how Mathew Upson is going ahead of Michael Dawson is beyond me.

[I Took the Red Pill]

Let's hope Gerrard doesn't trip and break a hip versus the United States, the undisputed, defending world champions of soccer and next to Slovakia, sure favorites to win this World Cup!

[champagne supernova]

Scott Parker being dropped is a bit of a joke. I would have taken Adam Johnson along. He actually showed the ability to beat his man and then do something with the ball. Not something Shaun Wright-down-into-a-dead-end-Phillips does often enough.

Yeah, and Darren Bent. 3rd top scorer in the Premier League. Playing for Sunderland.

[o_O]

First New Zealand beat the 69th ranked team, then they beat the 15th ranked team; by extrapolation we can determine that they will beat the -39th ranked team next. That's right New Zealand will be ranked <span style="font-style: italic;">better than first</span>.

But if New Zealand didn't exist, I'd have to put my money on Brazil this year, with USA as a dark horse. I'd also rank Spain, Argentina and England but out of spite would expect France to be slaughtered. It'd be nice to see an African nation like Senegal, the Ivory Coast or Cameroon make the semis at least.

[The Captain]

If I was Capello, I'd seriously hope Barry can be fit once the group stages are over. I don't think England will have trouble in the round robin set, but they need Barry to play the holding midfield role. Yes, yes, Capello thinks Lampard-Gerrard can work, same old story, but their best lineup, in my opinion, would look more like this:

Hart

Johnson Terry Ferdinand Cole
Barry Lampard
Lennon Gerrard J. Cole
Rooney

I think England may be able to make some noise this year. Their draw is looking very favorable. They wouldn't have to face a powerhouse team until probably the semi-finals (Unless Argentina doesn't win their group), at which point it becomes a bit of a crapshoot anyway.

As for my Yanks, I believe they too will advance out of the group stages and depending on who they play... probably Germany, could make it through to the quarters. Germany don't look as dominate as years passed, with Klose way out of form and no Ballack for stability.

My predictions To Advance:

Group A:
Mexico
South Africa (Suck it France!)

Group B:
Argentina
Korea

Group C:
England
USA, USA, USA!

Group D:
Germany
Australia (No Essien really hurts Ghana)

Group E:
Netherlands
Cameroon

Group F:
Italy
Paruguay

Group G:
Brazil
Ivory Coast (African home field boost)

Group H:
Spain
Chile

Which would put the round of 16 matches as:

Mexico VS Korea
England VS Australia
Netherlands VS Paruguay
Brazil VS Chile

Argentina VS South Africa
Germany VS USA
Italy VS Cameroon
Spain VS Ivory Coast (Awesome match-up)

Quarterfinals:

Mexico VS England
Netherlands VS Brazil (Juicy)

Argentina VS USA
Cameroon VS Spain

Semifinals:

England VS Brazil

Argentina VS Spain (Should be the final)

Final:

England VS Spain (Fernando Torres gets his wish).

At this point, a lot could happen, with injuries, cards and the like, so I will reserve my final pick until a few days down the road though I too am leaning on Spain at the moment. I'm very much looking forward to this! I'm hoping for some upsets, surprises, and overall, beautiful football.

Take care all.

[Psychotic]

That is a fairly decent line up, although to be honest I don't think Rooney can play as a lone striker. He gets isolated and frustrated, and it just leads to bad things (like in the last World Cup vs Portugal). In my opinion, Emile Heskey should always partner him, fighting the good fight against defenders, receiving little reward or credit, to create the space for Rooney. The media go on and on about how Heskey should be dropped because he doesn't score but they're totally missing the point - his job is not to score, his job is to maximise our best player's potential to cause damage. And it's one he does well.