Can Brazil successfully defend the title and become champions for a sixth time? Will the backing of a partisan crowd spur Germany on to victory? And how will the chilling encounters in Group C between Argentina, Côte d'Ivoire, Serbia and Montenegro and the Netherlands be resolved?
You figure that half the players for the US play Premiership, Bundesliga, etc. the rest play for DC United, etc. They're not going to gel as they should. Look for Pavel Nedved to exploit that.
us team is better than you're making them out to be - i think the biggest weakness that they will face in the group of death is their own nerves combined with a lack of goal scorers - if mcbride is hot the us will do well, but they need some others to take attention away from him (ie. beasely and donavon have to show up ready to play - that's our mental achilles)
would love to see eddie johnston have a great cup showing
also, the amount of people watching, even in the us, will be staggering.
anyway - pick some teams, want to see what the archinectors are thinking
jetcetera...can't say that i agree with your reasoning regarding
the US team...most national team sides have players playing
all over the world...
most of the u.s. team plays in the MLS actually...of the 23 member
squad 11 play in the MLS...(Ben Olsen being the only player from
DC United). of the yanks abroad...the majority do play in england.
(7 to be exact) 3 in germany, 1 in holland and 1 in belgium.
members of this team have been playing together for years though.
beasley, convey, donovan, johnson have all been playing for our U20s
for years...and many members of this team have been playing
together on the national team side since the last world cup and before. 11 players from the last world cup are on this squad...
although one could argue that having berhalter or pope on the team
isn't an entirely good thing.
as far as the czech..there's a question as to who nedved will be
passing to...with their two leading scorers out it could be the perfect
timing for the u.s. that and the fact that their team is fairly old
could be a perfect match. their a good squad and it should be
fun.
really tough group for the u.s. and a rather unfortunate potential
second round game..but should be a great world cup...definitely
our best roster to date...with a lot of young guys comin up the
ranks.
...i should've said that the czech have two of their leading scorers
potentially not match ready..not out. baros and koller either
injured or out of shape.
also the u.s. has their best defense ever...or would have if gibbs
didn't get hurt. still pretty good though.
Brazil will win the Cup hands down, they are like the Yankees of futbol. I would like to see Italy win it though.
Will the US ever be up to par with the big countries?
Germany is not looking so good with the injury of their captain. Too bad for the home crowd. I wish I was there.
i think by the next world cup the u.s. will have one of the better/
youngest/fastest squads in the world. look at the advancement
in the game over the last 8 years alone. they finished last in
france...were kahn away from getting to the quarterfinals in
korea...a match against germany where they dominated the run
of play and were very unlucky not to win.
the majority of the u.s. team will be playing in europe by the next
world cup. england especially has started taking advantage of
the u.s. as a source of talent..since transfers from mls squads
is usually very cheap...and american born talent still don't demand
tons of money comparably to the european/south american talent.
by 2010 the u.s. won't have to field players that are old and out
of form like they did in 2002, 1998..even now. compare their
roster from 8 years ago to today though and the level of talent
is exponentially better. they're regularly dominating their qualifying
stages (with mexico) and regularly beating mexico (anywhere other
than mexico). teams like brazil/ argentina will most likely always
have better pools of talent to choose from..but the gap isn't as
wide as it used to be. the future of american soccer is very bright.
like i said in the other thread. brazil might go down by the wayside. a little overrated and pressured indeed. if they win again that would render soccer less exiciting and more exacting = boring like basketball lately...
I haven't checked the brackets, here is my list none the less:
1. Brazil
2. Czech Republic
3. Germany (maybe Netherlands, youngsters)
Italy has old players and packing them all in the backfield and hoping for a break-away won't work anymore. Boring
Argentina will choke with it's youngsters.
England is a wild card because it can beat anyone on any given day.
Of COURSE Brasil will win. It will be a fluke if they don't, as they are, hands down, the most talented team top to bottom. They play well as a team, even. Something which hampers many South American sides with BRILLIANT individual skills.
As for the US - I agree that this squad is the best we've seen and has a pretty decent chance at escaping out of their group. Unfortunately, they'll have to play the afforementioned future-champs, though, when Italy takes first in the group.
The bottom line is that when you watch a US game, and then immediately turn on an English or Italian or Spanish league game, the European leagues look like they're playing at 2x speed. The US doesn't have the flow necessary to compete with the big boys. I think McBride is one of the best strikers in the WORLD (once he's in the air) but the question will be, who's going to serve to him?
Bruce Arena's got it going on, though. He's working hard to develop something in this country, and I think he's been brilliant. I hope to see him take over the MLS one day and make it prosper.
Anyway, my prediction is for Brasil to win it all, and I'd love to see Michael Owen win the golden boot (Newcastle fan through and through). I don't think Ronaldinho will win the boot but just watching him dribble is enough to make me fall out of my chair.
Oh, what a wonderful time it is to be alive. It's World Cup time.
the US on the other hand is not. the team has as much pace
as any other..and donovan and beasley maybe even convey are
some of the faster forwards in the tournament...as far as who is
going to serve mcbride...obrien and lewis aren't bad at crossing the
ball into the box..they have some others as well that aren't bad.
they don't have anyone that is the best at the position they play..
they don't have a go to scorer for instance..but they do have a team
full of players that are talented and if they play together can
compete with almost anyone...maybe not brazil..but brazil is not
unbeatable. they are a predominantly offensive team and are
vulnerable to counters..their defense is not as good as their offense.
and they're not known for their goalkeeping.
i'm listening to the poland/equador game at the moment..live
streaming video for free is amazing.
Are you listening in the US? What's the URL? I got kicked off of BBC...
I agree with you that the US team is not bad. I said, I believe they'll make it out of the group, and we've got one TOUGH group. But if Brazil is vulnerable to a counter attack, then we're out of luck, because although we do have speed at certain positions, we can't string together enough quick passes to create a fluid counter.
But hey - I'm hoping Landon can finally step up on a grand scale, and I know Beasley and McBride will perform, and even Kasey Keller is a true keeper who can possibly win a close game for us. But when it comes down to it - we're going to need a lot of these teams to have an off game to beat them, as hard as it is for me to say. But, if Brazil has a really off day, and we have a really ON day, you're right, we CAN beat them. We'll just have to see.
espn 360 is streaming all their games live...i don't know
if they'll be playing the abc games..but i watched/listened
to poland/ecuador today...just go to espn.com and click
on 360...and if your isp supports it you'll be able to watch
for free...
i guess i can sort of agree with you on the passing..but this
team hasn't really played it's best starting 11 together all
that regularly since qualifying. and the recent friendlies
arena has kept out his somewhat injured players...so it's
hard to say. we'll see. i think this team could go either
way. if eddie johnson shows up..mcbride can score etc.
btw. donovan hasn't been our problem in major competitions..
look at who scored in 2002...donovan had a bunch of goals
and assists...in major competitions he's money...including
mls finals he's played in etc. he's always shown up when the
stakes were highest..even in the germany match he was by
far the most dangerous striker on the field. if not for kahn
he has two goals.
i agree that i don't think this is our world cup...i think the next,
though, could be special...but we'll have to do well in germany
so that we can actually get a seeding for next '10.
our defense is pretty solid though...something our team has
lacked in past world cups...there's no agoos out there to either
score on his own net or get scored upon.
and with keller in net we have a good chance of shutting some
teams out...we'll just have to see.
panzers looked young and restless. their usual press got a lot more faster and relentless. of course home boys had all the advantage and inspiration. seemingly tired costa rica still had their talented counter attacking intact, even four years later. yes, germans dominated the game and played well but they also showed that they can easly be hunted down by a more focused and faster Equador who upset the ever so conservative poles. next round of matches in group a will be definetive about the advancement.
it is great that anti racist theme was played in front of world's biggest sporting event. will be nice to watch iran and mexico this sunday.
england played terribly today! if they continue like this, i really don't see them going too far...
while i usually always root for italy (i'm half italian), unfortunately i don't think italy will make it to the finals this year, largely because of all the scandals (pity, they have a pretty good team this time around).
brazil - behhh. they'll probably win, but i hope not. they don't need any more world cups haha...
i'm secretly rooting for côte d'ivoire. they played really well today, it was a pleasure seeing them.
NIPPON NIPPON NIPPON NIPPON! I'm going out with work people tomorrow to watch Nihon v. Australia. I was told there is no other choice but Japan. I bought a jersey to wear haha. Should be fun.
World Cup Predictor Game
Archinectors - it is World Cup time.
Can Brazil successfully defend the title and become champions for a sixth time? Will the backing of a partisan crowd spur Germany on to victory? And how will the chilling encounters in Group C between Argentina, Côte d'Ivoire, Serbia and Montenegro and the Netherlands be resolved?
Try your luck: http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/e/predictor.html
come on argentina!
my top four
1. argantina
2. brazil
3. england
4. ivory coast
and a soft spot for the us team
I'm hoping for a USA upset. Currently running 80:1 odds. A small bet will have the mortgage paid off in no time.
Too bad no Americans will be watching if it does happen.
You figure that half the players for the US play Premiership, Bundesliga, etc. the rest play for DC United, etc. They're not going to gel as they should. Look for Pavel Nedved to exploit that.
us team is better than you're making them out to be - i think the biggest weakness that they will face in the group of death is their own nerves combined with a lack of goal scorers - if mcbride is hot the us will do well, but they need some others to take attention away from him (ie. beasely and donavon have to show up ready to play - that's our mental achilles)
would love to see eddie johnston have a great cup showing
also, the amount of people watching, even in the us, will be staggering.
anyway - pick some teams, want to see what the archinectors are thinking
Brasil / England in final.
BRASIL 4 tha win.
couldn't agree more ..
right then see ya guys .. opening is less than an hour away ..
sorry but this time brasil won't make it into the final....
they are too boastful.
it's gonna be Italy or Argentina (each a classic champion)
jetcetera...can't say that i agree with your reasoning regarding
the US team...most national team sides have players playing
all over the world...
most of the u.s. team plays in the MLS actually...of the 23 member
squad 11 play in the MLS...(Ben Olsen being the only player from
DC United). of the yanks abroad...the majority do play in england.
(7 to be exact) 3 in germany, 1 in holland and 1 in belgium.
members of this team have been playing together for years though.
beasley, convey, donovan, johnson have all been playing for our U20s
for years...and many members of this team have been playing
together on the national team side since the last world cup and before. 11 players from the last world cup are on this squad...
although one could argue that having berhalter or pope on the team
isn't an entirely good thing.
as far as the czech..there's a question as to who nedved will be
passing to...with their two leading scorers out it could be the perfect
timing for the u.s. that and the fact that their team is fairly old
could be a perfect match. their a good squad and it should be
fun.
really tough group for the u.s. and a rather unfortunate potential
second round game..but should be a great world cup...definitely
our best roster to date...with a lot of young guys comin up the
ranks.
...i should've said that the czech have two of their leading scorers
potentially not match ready..not out. baros and koller either
injured or out of shape.
also the u.s. has their best defense ever...or would have if gibbs
didn't get hurt. still pretty good though.
Brazil will win the Cup hands down, they are like the Yankees of futbol. I would like to see Italy win it though.
Will the US ever be up to par with the big countries?
Germany is not looking so good with the injury of their captain. Too bad for the home crowd. I wish I was there.
moratto.
i think by the next world cup the u.s. will have one of the better/
youngest/fastest squads in the world. look at the advancement
in the game over the last 8 years alone. they finished last in
france...were kahn away from getting to the quarterfinals in
korea...a match against germany where they dominated the run
of play and were very unlucky not to win.
the majority of the u.s. team will be playing in europe by the next
world cup. england especially has started taking advantage of
the u.s. as a source of talent..since transfers from mls squads
is usually very cheap...and american born talent still don't demand
tons of money comparably to the european/south american talent.
by 2010 the u.s. won't have to field players that are old and out
of form like they did in 2002, 1998..even now. compare their
roster from 8 years ago to today though and the level of talent
is exponentially better. they're regularly dominating their qualifying
stages (with mexico) and regularly beating mexico (anywhere other
than mexico). teams like brazil/ argentina will most likely always
have better pools of talent to choose from..but the gap isn't as
wide as it used to be. the future of american soccer is very bright.
Brazil. All others are below standard.
Brazil is overrated.I wager that they wont get past the quarter finals.
It's going to be a european team.( Italy or even England )
Brazil may be lacking in defense (since Pele), but there offense will overpower.
like i said in the other thread. brazil might go down by the wayside. a little overrated and pressured indeed. if they win again that would render soccer less exiciting and more exacting = boring like basketball lately...
that said though. i love watching brazil samba on the field.
I haven't checked the brackets, here is my list none the less:
1. Brazil
2. Czech Republic
3. Germany (maybe Netherlands, youngsters)
Italy has old players and packing them all in the backfield and hoping for a break-away won't work anymore. Boring
Argentina will choke with it's youngsters.
England is a wild card because it can beat anyone on any given day.
It's going to be really hard for the USA to advance over Italy and Czech Republic. Croatia is my upset team.
the US will win the world cup...no question about it. the only reason i'd even watch is to see if we sweep the finals in four games straight.
puddles:
The U.S. is playing in the death box.
go Brasil go!
You gotta love puddles' dedication.
Three goals in the first 17 minutes of the first game! Talk about starting with a bang!
it is that time again. fuck everythingelse...
death box doesn't matter. US will still sweep!
U-S-A! U-S-A!*
(*only for something as silly as sports will i proudly claim to be an american)
Of COURSE Brasil will win. It will be a fluke if they don't, as they are, hands down, the most talented team top to bottom. They play well as a team, even. Something which hampers many South American sides with BRILLIANT individual skills.
As for the US - I agree that this squad is the best we've seen and has a pretty decent chance at escaping out of their group. Unfortunately, they'll have to play the afforementioned future-champs, though, when Italy takes first in the group.
The bottom line is that when you watch a US game, and then immediately turn on an English or Italian or Spanish league game, the European leagues look like they're playing at 2x speed. The US doesn't have the flow necessary to compete with the big boys. I think McBride is one of the best strikers in the WORLD (once he's in the air) but the question will be, who's going to serve to him?
Bruce Arena's got it going on, though. He's working hard to develop something in this country, and I think he's been brilliant. I hope to see him take over the MLS one day and make it prosper.
Anyway, my prediction is for Brasil to win it all, and I'd love to see Michael Owen win the golden boot (Newcastle fan through and through). I don't think Ronaldinho will win the boot but just watching him dribble is enough to make me fall out of my chair.
Oh, what a wonderful time it is to be alive. It's World Cup time.
i agree that MLS is slow..very.
the US on the other hand is not. the team has as much pace
as any other..and donovan and beasley maybe even convey are
some of the faster forwards in the tournament...as far as who is
going to serve mcbride...obrien and lewis aren't bad at crossing the
ball into the box..they have some others as well that aren't bad.
they don't have anyone that is the best at the position they play..
they don't have a go to scorer for instance..but they do have a team
full of players that are talented and if they play together can
compete with almost anyone...maybe not brazil..but brazil is not
unbeatable. they are a predominantly offensive team and are
vulnerable to counters..their defense is not as good as their offense.
and they're not known for their goalkeeping.
i'm listening to the poland/equador game at the moment..live
streaming video for free is amazing.
Lars,
Are you listening in the US? What's the URL? I got kicked off of BBC...
I agree with you that the US team is not bad. I said, I believe they'll make it out of the group, and we've got one TOUGH group. But if Brazil is vulnerable to a counter attack, then we're out of luck, because although we do have speed at certain positions, we can't string together enough quick passes to create a fluid counter.
But hey - I'm hoping Landon can finally step up on a grand scale, and I know Beasley and McBride will perform, and even Kasey Keller is a true keeper who can possibly win a close game for us. But when it comes down to it - we're going to need a lot of these teams to have an off game to beat them, as hard as it is for me to say. But, if Brazil has a really off day, and we have a really ON day, you're right, we CAN beat them. We'll just have to see.
How about Equador with the upset? (Or was it?) I'm loving the way this thing has started.
darkred..
espn 360 is streaming all their games live...i don't know
if they'll be playing the abc games..but i watched/listened
to poland/ecuador today...just go to espn.com and click
on 360...and if your isp supports it you'll be able to watch
for free...
i guess i can sort of agree with you on the passing..but this
team hasn't really played it's best starting 11 together all
that regularly since qualifying. and the recent friendlies
arena has kept out his somewhat injured players...so it's
hard to say. we'll see. i think this team could go either
way. if eddie johnson shows up..mcbride can score etc.
btw. donovan hasn't been our problem in major competitions..
look at who scored in 2002...donovan had a bunch of goals
and assists...in major competitions he's money...including
mls finals he's played in etc. he's always shown up when the
stakes were highest..even in the germany match he was by
far the most dangerous striker on the field. if not for kahn
he has two goals.
i agree that i don't think this is our world cup...i think the next,
though, could be special...but we'll have to do well in germany
so that we can actually get a seeding for next '10.
our defense is pretty solid though...something our team has
lacked in past world cups...there's no agoos out there to either
score on his own net or get scored upon.
and with keller in net we have a good chance of shutting some
teams out...we'll just have to see.
panzers looked young and restless. their usual press got a lot more faster and relentless. of course home boys had all the advantage and inspiration. seemingly tired costa rica still had their talented counter attacking intact, even four years later. yes, germans dominated the game and played well but they also showed that they can easly be hunted down by a more focused and faster Equador who upset the ever so conservative poles. next round of matches in group a will be definetive about the advancement.
it is great that anti racist theme was played in front of world's biggest sporting event. will be nice to watch iran and mexico this sunday.
huge party down here : D
its hard to predict which side will ultimately win the cup. i would love to watch a dark horse grab the cup in the true spirit of the game.
as of now... GO ARGENTINA!!!!
VIVA ARGENTIA!
architects, respect yourselves: Netherlands, go-go-go !!!
learn it, love it, live it
england played terribly today! if they continue like this, i really don't see them going too far...
while i usually always root for italy (i'm half italian), unfortunately i don't think italy will make it to the finals this year, largely because of all the scandals (pity, they have a pretty good team this time around).
brazil - behhh. they'll probably win, but i hope not. they don't need any more world cups haha...
i'm secretly rooting for côte d'ivoire. they played really well today, it was a pleasure seeing them.
I haven't seriously watched any soccer since I left England in 2001, but the Sweden/Trinidad Tobago game brought it all back. What a fantastic match.
I thought that the ardentina-ivory coast game was the best so far in the world cup ...
lars.... got any answers for sweden ? .. frankly I think it was shamefull !! they better pull up their socks ...
NIPPON NIPPON NIPPON NIPPON! I'm going out with work people tomorrow to watch Nihon v. Australia. I was told there is no other choice but Japan. I bought a jersey to wear haha. Should be fun.
lol .. go hasselhoff ... i hope you've gotten yourself an american jersey as well ...
has any team scored a goal yet? or is it too early for that.
I could actually care less. I don't know anything about soccer, nor do I care who wins. I'm just having fun with my coworkers.
wow ... you guys serious? ... I'm shocked !!
maybe it's because, I've always been in soccer (football) crazy places and people all my life ...
oh well ...
Well, in my case, I don't follow any sports. I watch the Winter Olympics when I can. That's about it.
Just give the cup to Brazil already and then everybody else can go home and have a long vacation. Really, theres no point trying.
Uhh ... Mexico rules. They now have the second highest numer of goals in the Cup (behind Germany's four).
u-s-a! u-s-a!
do we have a mascot or fight song or anything?
hold those bolsheviks to nil amerika!!!
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