2010 Fifa World Cup

[eg_eric]

Groups have been sorted, it's go time! Here are the groups:

Group A
1. South Africa
2. Mexico
3. Uruguay
4. France

Group B
1. Argentina
2. Nigeria
3. South Korea
4. Greece

Group C
1. England
2. USA
3. Algeria
4. Slovenia

Group D
1. Germany
2. Australia
3. Serbia
4. Ghana

Group E
1. Netherlands
2. Denmark
3. Japan
4. Cameroon

Group F
1. Italy
2. Paraguay
3. New Zealand
4. Slovakia

Group G
1. Brazil
2. North Korea
3. Cote D'voire
4. Portugal

Group H
1. Spain
2. Switzerland
3. Honduras
4. Chile

[kertejud2]

Fuck France and fuck those refs.

[eg_eric]

Originally posted by kertejud2
Fuck France and fuck those refs.
lol love the passion man

[Gainsbarre]

Not happy about the participants this time around, but then again if you're a Scotland fan, there isn't much to be happy about these days :rofl: . So now I just resort to cheering against teams that I don't like. So I guess I'm now cheering for whoever is playing against South Africa / Australia / Portugal so that those three don't make it past the group stage. Oh and North Korea as well -- I hope they get disqualified or are forced to withdraw before the tournament even begins.

I thought it was ridiculous that Australia got to move over to the AFC and that Oceania gets 0.5 playoff spots -- kind of a free pass to New Zealand in my view (as long as they can win the intercontinental playoff against an AFC team). Maybe if Canada got to play in Oceania we could qualify for the world cup again.

[DJ_NAV]

GO ORANGE! just a great team... i hope they dont crash under pressure as they have throughout history.

[DJ_NAV]

Also a big fan of all the african teams.. they are just great to watch.. specifically ghana and ivory coast.

[Russo]

I m an Argentine fan, but they havent really done much to be a candidate yet,
but like DJ_NAv said Ivory Coast is an amazing team to watch!

[TeamBestBud]

Originally posted by kertejud2
Fuck France and fuck those refs.


VlWXCzR6t8o

[Gainsbarre]

Originally posted by DJ_NAV
Also a big fan of all the african teams.. they are just great to watch.. specifically ghana and ivory coast.

Oh ya...would love to see an African team at least advance to the semi-finals. And I would like to see the Oranje have a good tournament this time around -- was really pulling for them in the 98 World Cup and Euro 2000 when they had such a talented team with guys like Kluivert, Bergkamp, van Der Sar, Stam, Davids, and (because his name sounds so awesome) van Hooijdonk. Such a shame that they crashed out of both tournaments so painfully. Hopefully no more penalty shootouts!!!

[n1zm0]

Originally posted by eg_eric

With the final draw coming up December 4th, who would you like to see grouped together? Any predictions for the Group of Death? What's your Dream Final?

'DPRK' vs USA where the americans lose in the final hahah

but seriously, that list is not entirely definite is it (havent been following the qualifying) ? if not i'm surprised alot of the regular appearing teams didn't make it i.e: colombia, croatia, sweden, poland, no middle eastern countries?

[eg_eric]

Originally posted by Gainsbarre


Oh ya...would love to see an African team at least advance to the semi-finals.

with 6 teams in this time, it's a pretty good chance. and i mean it's not Angola and Togo this time, it's powerhouses Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Cameroon.

[eg_eric]

Originally posted by n1zm0


'DPRK' vs USA where the americans lose in the final hahah

but seriously, that list is not entirely definite is it (havent been following the qualifying) ? if not i'm surprised alot of the regular appearing teams didn't make it i.e: colombia, croatia, sweden, poland, no middle eastern countries?

yup, its the definite list (except for Costa Rica - Uruguay which will be decided tonight) qualifying ends today.

And you are correct, no Sweden, no poland, no Iraq, Iran, or Saudi Arabia, they all got knocked out.

[Gainsbarre]

Some controversial parings in the group stages might liven things up a bit...

Put Algeria/Germany/France in the same group. North Korea / South Korea / Japan / USA in another. Hell if North and South Korea get lumped into the same group, North Korea might refuse to play and quit the tournament :) . They did something fickle like that during qualification for the 1970 world cup. North Korea was scheduled to play a game against Israel (back when Israel was in the AFC), but North Korea refused and chose to withdraw from the tournament instead -- pretty certain this was because an Israeli guy was the referee in their match against Portugal that they lost in their exit from the 1966 world cup.

Then again, who knows. There was (kind of) a big deal in the run up to the 1998 World Cup when Iran and the USA were put into the same group. Nothing exactly happened in their match (other than IRAN convincingly defeating the USA :D ).

[Danny Meehan]

Slovenia North Korea would make for an intriguing final

[kertejud2]

Originally posted by TeamBestBud



VlWXCzR6t8o

Too mean.

[Gainsbarre]

^ ya...wow...and from Thierry Henry as well. I'd expect someone like him to be above cheating -- I guess not.

[HondaKid]

The usual suspects will win the cup, best case is for an underdog to get in the quarter finals. With a little luck it will be an African team, exciting footie when they put their mind to the game.


Final: Arg v Brazil.

I know I will be placing a few bets online with a bookie, the underdog bets are the real earners.

[ronaldo]

Originally posted by Gainsbarre
^ ya...wow...and from Thierry Henry as well. I'd expect someone like him to be above cheating -- I guess not.

http://tsn.ca/soccer/story/?id=298877

"I will be honest, it was a handball. But I'm not the ref," Henry said. "I played it. The ref allowed it. That's a question you should ask him."

[adidas]

That handball really had nothin to do with Henry. It was a refs mistake, something he clearly couldnt have seen from the position he was standing. It sucks as it seemed like a pretty evened out match between both teams.


Cant wait to watch the games during the WC.

[Aleks]

Impressive to see 2 teams from former Yugoslavia make it to the WC with the 3rd team just missing out in the payoff to Portugal.

[Impreza]

Originally posted by Gainsbarre


And I would like to see the Oranje have a good tournament this time around -- was really pulling for them in the 98 World Cup and Euro 2000 when they had such a talented team with guys like Kluivert, Bergkamp, van Der Sar, Stam, Davids, and (because his name sounds so awesome) van Hooijdonk. Such a shame that they crashed out of both tournaments so painfully. Hopefully no more penalty shootouts!!!

I, too, would love to see Holland have a great tournament. They have been so disappointing over the years with such great talent. Hopefully they can turn things around this time, they have many good players this year, hopefully they show up to play.

[eg_eric]

Originally posted by Aleks
Impressive to see 2 teams from former Yugoslavia make it to the WC with the 3rd team just missing out in the payoff to Portugal.

no kidding can you imagine if they were still Yugoslavia?

[Trini]

would love to see the dutch excel as well..after their showing in the last euro cup I have some high hopes, such beautiful football

[eg_eric]

Originally posted by Trini
would love to see the dutch excel as well..after their showing in the last euro cup I have some high hopes, such beautiful football

that midfield is insane, with Robben, Van Der Vart, Van Persie, Huntelaar, that's one hell of a team.

i think Spain has even nicer football. Especially with their 2 playmakers Xavi and Iniesta, no one moves the game like they do. Xavi is a key for both of his teams.

[teknical]

I'll be rootin' for the Italians :D

Forza Azzurri! :thumbsup:

[kertejud2]

Originally posted by Gainsbarre
^ ya...wow...and from Thierry Henry as well. I'd expect someone like him to be above cheating -- I guess not.

Nobody's upset with Henry, you could probably count the number of players in the world who would have admitted to it on one hand. It was the refs mistake.

[rumeo]

its all about KNVB....too bad no Nistelrooy

[Gainsbarre]

So Ireland isn't going to get a replay of their match against France -- obviously I can't genuinely say I'm an Ireland supporter (being partly of Scottish descent), but that's a real load of bullshit that France qualifies that way. The Irish were robbed -- I hope France suffers another first round embarrassment as they did in 2002.

I can't take all the blame off of Henry. Yes he did admit to it, but so did Maradona -- AFTER the game was over, when I'm pretty certain both knew that nothing was likely to be done.

(from that Canadian Press article posted on Tsn.ca)


Ireland failed to qualify, as in 2006. But Henry would not express any sympathy for the dejected Irish, preferring instead to pinpoint his own team's recent problems.
"We suffered for two years, we have been having some problems with our press, our fans, with other people," Henry said. "It would have been better to do it in another way, but as I said, I'm not the ref."


Oh, Les Bleus have it so tough – give me a fucking break. They were drawn to one of UEFA's easiest qualifying groups and couldn't even win it. What a flimsy excuse for cheating to win.

[Skyline_Addict]

Originally posted by eg_eric


i think Spain has even nicer football. Especially with their 2 playmakers Xavi and Iniesta, no one moves the game like they do. Xavi is a key for both of his teams.

Not to mention the best striker pair in the tournament in Torres and Villa.

[eg_eric]

Originally posted by Skyline_Addict


Not to mention the best striker pair in the tournament in Torres and Villa.
ah, that is right.


Originally posted by Gainsbarre
Oh, Les Bleus have it so tough – give me a fucking break. They were drawn to one of UEFA's easiest qualifying groups and couldn't even win it. What a flimsy excuse for cheating to win.
no kidding, they did have the easiest group. continuing on that, this story has even gotten to Canadian radio (yeah, Canada talking about soccer) it was on Rutherford on QR77, i was just listening to the segment and it seems that Dublin has arranged a protest for tomorrow.

Hell, I would be angry as well.

[DJ_NAV]

whatever happens I hope Italy looses every game! hate those guys with a passion. just big time cheaters!

[Danny Meehan]

Originally posted by Gainsbarre
^ ya...wow...and from Thierry Henry as well. I'd expect someone like him to be above cheating -- I guess not.
There are interests bigger than teams. Cheating wins games and crowds and contracts.

England - Argentina

South Korea - Italia

[Skyline_Addict]

I'm routing for Spain as I did in the Euro.

They play by far the most attractive football and have shored up on D pretty well, which was their main problem before.

Casillas has got alot better over the years too, not that he wasn't good before.

[Trini]

oh yea an England VS Argentina match would be epic

[Danny Meehan]

I bet on Man Utd. Premiere League is the only league I watch.

... but why do you think England is going to be epic ?

[Trini]

I meant if those 2 teams were to meet up..their history and rivalry would make for some good football.

[Marsh]

Will be in South Africa watching 6 games over 3 weeks next summer! WC2010 will be wicked.

[Trini]

^I envy you!!!

[cam_wmh]

If the English can get some proper f*cking keeper, look the f*ck out. With Fat Frank playing as a holder, and Stevie G in front of him; finally those two are showing some chemistry.

[el_fefes]

Originally posted by n1zm0


'DPRK' vs USA where the americans lose in the final hahah

but seriously, that list is not entirely definite is it (havent been following the qualifying) ? if not i'm surprised alot of the regular appearing teams didn't make it i.e: colombia, croatia, sweden, poland, no middle eastern countries?

Fuck, Colombia sucked big time during qualifiers. :banghead: We haven't made since 98.

Rooting for Spain this time around. They have a solid team, especially their forwards....

I'm thinking that a cool final would be Brazil vs Spain!

Marsh, how much is the trip to South Africa costing you?

I went to Germany last time around and had an absolute blast!

[jutes]

So Ukraine came in the top 8 in 06 and this year they didn't even qualify. Not amused. :facepalm:

[Marsh]

Game tix were not too bad, about $120 USD per match (sitting sideline) and round trip flight alone is looking to be around 3 g's but haven't booked it yet..need to find accomodation too..so im guessing it'll be around 5-6 grand when its all said and done incl. miscellaneious expenses there etc, might go on a safari afterwards too

[snoop101]

Deutschland Deutschland Deutschland !!!

:bigpimp:

[eg_eric]

Saw this on goal.com, don't know what you guys think... The draw is one week away! Time to start talking...

Goal.com - Possible Group Of Deaths (https://www.goal.com/en/news/1863/world-cup-2010/2009/11/27/1649439/cape-town-countdown-d-8-top-10-world-cup-group-of-death)

These are the ones i noticed in the article:

Argentina - Portugal - Mexico - Ivory Coast
Spain - Portugal - Mexico - Chile
Brazil - Portugal - Mexico - Nigeria
Germany - Netherlands - Australia - Cameroon

For entertainment and hype factor, i'd like to see England and Argentina grouped together.

[KandabashiDevil]

Originally posted by Aleks
Impressive to see 2 teams from former Yugoslavia make it to the WC with the 3rd team just missing out in the payoff to Portugal.

:thumbsup:

This will be an exciting tournament.

[Danny Meehan]

Originally posted by snoop101
Deutschland Deutschland Deutschland !!!

:bigpimp:
I feel like u`re getting ready for leather and a parade or something :)

[Oz-]

Draw groups released. Didn't expect Argentina to be in Pot 1, they played pretty poorly in the qualifiers IMO.


Pot 1
South Africa (CAF - as hosts)
Brazil (CONMEBOL)
Spain (UEFA)
Netherlands (UEFA)
Italy (UEFA)
Germany (UEFA)
Argentina (CONMEBOL)
England (UEFA)


Pot 2
Denmark (UEFA)
France (UEFA)
Greece (UEFA)
Portugal (UEFA)
Serbia (UEFA)
Slovakia (UEFA)
Slovenia (UEFA)
Switzerland (UEFA)


Pot 3
Mexico (CONCACAF)
USA (CONCACAF)
South Korea (AFC)
Japan (AFC)
Australia (AFC)
Honduras (CONCACAF)
New Zealand (OFC)
North Korea (AFC)


Pot 4
Paraguay (CONMEBOL)
Ghana (CAF)
Cameroon (CAF)
Cote d'Ivoire (CAF)
Nigeria (CAF)
Uruguay (CONMEBOL)
Algeria (CAF)
Chile (CONMEBOL)

[eg_eric]

Originally posted by Oz-
Draw groups released. Didn't expect Argentina to be in Pot 1, they played pretty poorly in the qualifiers IMO.


i agree, but it's according to rankings, so they were going to be a seed even if they just barely made it. this is looking to shape up to be a hell of a tournament, i can already imagine Brazil and France being drawn into the same group... and it would be a kicker if Mexico was drawn into their group... argghhh i can't wait.

Friday at Noon the draw happens!

[ronaldo]

haha apparently Maradona is banned from attending the draw as well

[Gainsbarre]

Originally posted by ronaldo
haha apparently Maradona is banned from attending the draw as well

:rofl: why is that? Will he use the hand of god to draw Argentina into a group with Slovenia/New Zealand/Algeria? Or is he just too high on coke again?

[ronaldo]

two month ban from fifa from all "footballing activities" for going off on reporters and using so much profanity

[Oz-]

Originally posted by Gainsbarre


:rofl: why is that? Will he use the hand of god to draw Argentina into a group with Slovenia/New Zealand/Algeria? Or is he just too high on coke again?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vANJ7bf1xck

The couple of english translation ones were done quite poorly. But like ronaldo mentioned, he went off on the Argentine media after the game. As he was being ostricized by them and was going to be the fall guy (for good reason) if Argentina didn't qualify. I was hoping that those bastard Argentines failed to qualify.

[Bladeh]

England for the win!

[eg_eric]

Draw time! I'll be updating the groups as they annouce them...

Group A
1. South Africa
2. Mexico
3. Uruguay
4. France

Group B
1. Argentina
2. Nigeria
3. South Korea
4. Greece

Group C
1. England
2. USA
3. Algeria
4. Slovenia

Group D
1. Germany
2. Australia
3. Serbia
4. Ghana

Group E
1. Netherlands
2. Denmark
3. Japan
4. Cameroon

Group F
1. Italy
2. Paraguay
3. New Zealand
4. Slovakia

Group G
1. Brazil
2. North Korea
3. Cote D'voire
4. Portugal

Group H
1. Spain
2. Switzerland
3. Honduras
4. Chile

[snoop101]

^ :thumbsup:

:bigpimp:


for those who dont know you can watch the draw live on fifa 2010 website.

http://www.fifa.com/live/competitions/worldcup/finaldraw/index.html

Brazil has an auto game 1 win.. lol

Good lord.. Brazil has it easy... sigh

[eg_eric]

^update! we now know the heads of groups

[snoop101]

Group A wow..

[Gainsbarre]

:D the draw has not been kind to DPRK -- I'm sure Kim Jong il will be pissed.

Their neighbours to the south seem to have a tough draw too -- I'd say that B and G are the groups of death?

Germany and Spain essentially get a free pass to the knockout stage (again).

[aget]

G for "group of death"

[Trini]

england vs usa should be interesting

[snoop101]

Originally posted by Trini
england vs usa should be interesting

I was thinking about that too..

[eg_eric]

i think group of death is "G" as well. Group "H" looks to be the most exciting, group "A" is one hell of a start-off to the tournament.

this is going to be good.

[Gainsbarre]

Germany always seems to get placed into an easy group, Nigeria always seems to get placed into a tough group, and so on. Despite their reputation, Argentina did struggle in their qualification matches and squeaked in, so I'd probably have to go with group G as being the Group of Death this time around.

I suppose there is the potential for some of the greatest upsets in World Cup history if New Zealand defeat Italy or North Korea defeats Brazil? I hope England thumps the USA and puts them in their place whith regards to this particular sport :D .

[Skyline_Addict]

group G is definitely the toughest group, although there really isn't a true group of death this time around like in 2002 (England, Sweden, Argentina, Nigeria).

Spain, Italy and Germany have it relatively easy compared to the other big nations....but these days, the football world is making alot of strides and the big teams can't just coast through anymore. There have been more surprises than ever the last couple of World Cups and there could be even more this time.

I'm a little big angry that France got a relatively easy group after the way they qualified. It'll be all the more better when they don't make it through the group stage.

Feeling a bit sorry for the asian teams. Looks like Japan has the best shot of advancing to the next round out of all of them.

Still looking at Spain to take it.

[ICEBERG]

Here are my predictions.

Group A
1. South Africa
2. Mexico

Group B
1. Argentina
2. Greece

Group C
1. England
2. Slovenia

Group D
1. Germany
2. Serbia

Group E
1. Netherlands
2. Denmark

Group F
1. Italy
2. Slovakia

Group G
1. Brazil
2. Portugal

Group H
1. Spain
2. Switzerland

I like Argentina or Spain to go all the way...

[snoop101]

for those who watched the draw.. what was the whole deal about the french thing and both of them saying "no comment, no comments are better then comments sometimes"


nvm..I was just thinking about it more while making coffee. I assume they were talking about the Headbutt

[Trini]

snoop101 I think it may have more to do with the Henry handball against Ireland in the last match.

[snoop101]

Originally posted by Trini
snoop101 I think it may have more to do with the Henry handball against Ireland in the last match.

got ya. So many things with the French its hard to keep track of. :D

[Skyline_Addict]

Originally posted by ICEBERG
Here are my predictions.

Group A
1. South Africa
2. Mexico

Group B
1. Argentina
2. Greece

Group C
1. England
2. Slovenia

Group D
1. Germany
2. Serbia

Group E
1. Netherlands
2. Denmark

Group F
1. Italy
2. Slovakia

Group G
1. Brazil
2. Portugal

Group H
1. Spain
2. Switzerland

I like Argentina or Spain to go all the way...

A:
1.Mexico
2.France

B:
1.Argentina
2.Greece

C:
1.England
2.US

D:
1.Germany
2.Serbia

E:
1.Netherlands
2.Japan

F:
1.Italy
2.Slovakia

G:
1.Portugal
2.Brazil

H:
1.Spain
2.Chile


Winners: Spain

[DJ_NAV]

No african teams advancing??? I think Ghana or ivory coast will advance

[Aleks]

Originally posted by DJ_NAV
No african teams advancing??? I think Ghana or ivory coast will advance

Ghana's coach is Serbian :rofl:

[Oz-]

My predictions

Group A: Uruguay, France
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria,
Group C: England, Slovenia
Group D: Germany, Serbia
Group E: Netherlands, Japan
Group F: Italy, Paraguay,
Group G: Brazil, Côte d'Ivoire,
Group H: Spain, Chile

When you get to stage 2, there will be Netherlands/Italy/Brasil/Spain all on the same side of the draw. England will still find a way to fuck it up and make Limeys around the world cry.

Viva Chile Mierda!!!

[el_fefes]

My predictions...

Group A
South Africa
Uruguay


Group B
1. Argentina
2. Nigeria

Group C
England
Slovenia* This is what I would like to see... however the US has a good chance of making it too.

Group D
Germany
Australia

Group E
Netherlands
Cameroon

Group F
Italy
Paraguay


Group G
Brazil
Cote D'voire - they will beat out Portugal


Group H
Spain
Chile

We should do a beyond fantasy league!

[el_fefes]

ZOMG!!! I just looked at how the whole thing might play out and there's a possibility of Argentina vs England in quarter finals.

As well as a repeat of the Euro cup final in the semi finals: Spain vs Germany.

I call a Netherlands vs Spain final.

Just a side note: Oz-, Chile will have a tough time in 2nd round as they will likely face Brazil.

[eg_eric]

Originally posted by el_fefes

We should do a beyond fantasy league!

x2, sounds like an idea (although we're talking 7 months away still lol). Here's my mini analysis on my favorite groups:


Group A
I think this might be the most unpredictable group of all. Mexico, being the concacaf giant it is, always has trouble against european teams, however, seeing that France has not been in good form, anything can happen here. South Africa is another nation that has exciting football, but when it comes down to results, they just don't cut it. And Uruguay, with the potential to beat some big boys, were hammered 5-0 by Mexico in the Copa America 2007.

Group G
At first glance, this can easily be touted as the group of death, first and foremost because Brazil is Brazil, and it seems that no matter what coach or set of players come in, they are always first in qualifying. Then there's Cote D'Ivoire which has none other than Drogba on the Front. BUT, it has Portugal, which brings the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, but also struggled during qualifying, and really, they are not the same Portugal when Figo and Pauleta were around. Also, there is surprise Bunch North Korea, whom we will get to see how they perform against some real powerhouses.


Group H
Spain. Villa, Torres, Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Albiol, Casillas, it really sounds like a dream team. Sure, the USA may have beaten them in the confederations in June, but don't forget, a six-team tournament is much more different than one that has 32 teams, and the Spaniards are now well aware not to get over-confident.

I think many are undermining Chile and Honduras, let's not forget that Chile finished 2nd in qualifying only one point behind Brazil, Honduras has beaten Mexico in qualifying and Gold Cup, and both Chile and Honduras have many european players with more than enough experience to take on european teams. Switzerland dominated their group in 2006, but failed to do anything else when it lost against the Ukraine in pentalty kicks.

[DJ_NAV]

count me in for beyond fantasy league!

[Oz-]

Originally posted by el_fefes
ZOMG!!! I just looked at how the whole thing might play out and there's a possibility of Argentina vs England in quarter finals.

As well as a repeat of the Euro cup final in the semi finals: Spain vs Germany.

I call a Netherlands vs Spain final.

Just a side note: Oz-, Chile will have a tough time in 2nd round as they will likely face Brazil.

Chile will be facing a difficult stage 2 draw regardless of where they or their opponents finish. Just have to keep the pressure up and play like they did during the eliminatorias and we should be good.

I don't know what it is, but everyone is very high on Spain and the Netherlands. My gut tells me these guys will choke like every WC. Groups A,B,C,D are quite lucky that they don't have to meet the bottom half of the draw until the Semi-finals at the earliest.

Many of the people here are really euro-centric and will be surprised on the attacking style that Chile will bring to the table. Suazo will impress, even though he does play in Europe not many saw him during the qualifiers.

[eg_eric]

Originally posted by Oz-

I don't know what it is, but everyone is very high on Spain and the Netherlands. My gut tells me these guys will choke like every WC.

Netherlands maybe, but Spain has been developing and learning, winning a Euro in 2008 beating Italy and Germany (both World Cup contenders), and then knowing what it's like to lose harshly in 2009, so they've learned a lot in their time.


Originally posted by Oz-
Many of the people here are really euro-centric and will be surprised on the attacking style that Chile will bring to the table. Suazo will impress, even though he does play in Europe not many saw him during the qualifiers.

This i agree with, Chile could be a very big surprise, I personally think they could be a potential Dark Horse, as this is a completely different Chile than I have ever seen before, even Brazil had trouble with them in qualifiers.

BTW, are you talking about Humberto Suazo? He plays in Europe? I thought he played for Monterrey CF in Mexico.

[Oz-]

Originally posted by eg_eric


BTW, are you talking about Humberto Suazo? He plays in Europe? I thought he played for Monterrey CF in Mexico.
David Suazo

You are right on Chupete, he is still in Mexico and from what i have read in he will be staying there unless he stands on his head and the euro's coming knocking on Monterrey's door with a large transfer fee.

[trikypenguin]

Go Netherlands!!!! Would really like to see them not choke as they have in the past :P

[r3ccOs]

Though my loyalty is with the Dutch... I just don't think they have what it takes to win in these international tourneys... Even though many of then may have played with the same Feynoord/Ajax academies.

Not that they don't have the talent, they just haven't looked comfortable together since the late 80's euro and the 2000 euro.

This tournament is Spain's to win, and if they don't... well it wouldn't be because of the lack of talent.

No team have I ever seen have so much talent within one generation.

David Villa/Torres
Xavi/Cesc Fabregas/Iniesta/David Silva
Sergio Ramo/Puyol/Marco Senna
Cassias/Valdes

just to name a few

[eg_eric]

Originally posted by Oz-

David Suazo

You are right on Chupete, he is still in Mexico and from what i have read in he will be staying there unless he stands on his head and the euro's coming knocking on Monterrey's door with a large transfer fee.

ah, la Pantera Suazo lol ok you are right. I'm surprised not many sports casters (even the latino ones) are talking about the Honduras team. I mean, they have a solid team and can definitely beat USA and a few other teams, just look at their starting team:

David Suazo: Inter Milan
Carlos Costly: GKS Belchatow
Wilson Palacios: Tottenham Hotspur
Hendry Thomas: Wigan Athletic
Maynor Figueroa: Wigan Athletic
Victor Bernardez: Anderlecht FC
Rambo De Leon: Torino
Edgar Alvarez: Bari
Amado Guevara: Toronto FC, Captain of Honduras Team

[Oz-]

Originally posted by eg_eric


ah, la Pantera Suazo lol ok you are right. I'm surprised not many sports casters (even the latino ones) are talking about the Honduras team. I mean, they have a solid team and can definitely beat USA and a few other teams, just look at their starting team:

David Suazo: Inter Milan
Carlos Costly: GKS Belchatow
Wilson Palacios: Tottenham Hotspur
Hendry Thomas: Wigan Athletic
Maynor Figueroa: Wigan Athletic
Victor Bernardez: Anderlecht FC
Rambo De Leon: Torino
Edgar Alvarez: Bari
Amado Guevara: Toronto FC, Captain of Honduras Team

I will tell you why, here when you have the media it is a few things a) US-centric b) euro-centric (probably more leaning towards the Limeys) c) Latino media is either Mexican or Argentino (and both of these commentators think each of their national teams walk on water...more so the Argentines...the arrogant pricks).

[eg_eric]

Time to revive this thread! Bunch of friendlies being played, I just saw the Mexico vs England game, England is pretty good even with their B-team.

17 days to go guys!!

[eg_eric]

Alright opening game is tomorrow WOOOOOOO.

MEXICO vs. SOUTH AFRICA what are your predictions?

[Gainsbarre]

Originally posted by eg_eric
Alright opening game is tomorrow WOOOOOOO.

MEXICO vs. SOUTH AFRICA what are your predictions?

Mexico 2, South Africa 0? I'll be up at 5am to catch it for sure. Hopefully Nelson Mandela will be in attendance :).

I think the streak of the host nation always making it out of the group stage will come to an end this year...then again I said the same thing about South Korea in 2002 and that prediction was a bit off.

[eg_eric]

Originally posted by Gainsbarre


Mexico 2, South Africa 0? I'll be up at 5am to catch it for sure. Hopefully Nelson Mandela will be in attendance :).

I think the streak of the host nation always making it out of the group stage will come to an end this year...then again I said the same thing about South Korea in 2002 and that prediction was a bit off.

lol always happens, the World Cup NEVER goes how anyone predicts.

isn't the game at 7:45 am our time?

[Gainsbarre]

Originally posted by eg_eric


lol always happens, the World Cup NEVER goes how anyone predicts.

isn't the game at 7:45 am our time?

Oh...yes it is, sorry (should have checked this before posting)

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/fifaworldcup/broadcast.html

Seems like I can convert Eastern time into Mountain time slightly easier than I can convern any of the African time zones into Mountain...