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Post by sinkbaek on May 31, 2010 1:08:55 GMT 2
My picks for the winners of the different groups are as follows A: France B: Argentina C: England D: Germany E: Netherlands F: Italy G: Portugal H: Spain And the two best runners up from the groups... Brazil and Denmark (of course )
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Post by mpanayiotakis on May 31, 2010 2:21:29 GMT 2
I agree, these are the logical choices but there are always surprises in the preliminary rounds so, some of the above teams might not make the top of their group! And Italy will probably decide their place in their group based on the results in group E! lol! ;D Michael
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Post by Aris on Jun 6, 2010 5:37:46 GMT 2
Well, lots of injuries to some pretty significant players, so, I'm sure predictions will change now. For example, in group G now, I think I will go with Portugal instead of the Ivorians, as it appears they will be without Drogba. No Essien for Ghana, no Ferdinand for England, no Suazo for Chile. Star players are dropping like flies!!!
Oh well, all the more reason I wont be handing in my World Cup picks, (for all the pools I'll be entering) until the last possible moment!
So, it looks like you're going to be right Mike, it will be Brazil and Portugal that advance out of the Group of Death. ;D
AC
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Post by mpanayiotakis on Jun 6, 2010 19:39:02 GMT 2
We'll see Aris, in modern football one guy doesn't make so much of a difference. It could affect morale though..
Michael
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Post by stuntmaster on Jun 13, 2010 20:52:35 GMT 2
well england started crap like that always do and the usual keeper issue`s
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Post by mpanayiotakis on Jun 13, 2010 23:08:44 GMT 2
No surprise there! :smile:
Michael
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Post by mpanayiotakis on Jun 16, 2010 18:33:35 GMT 2
So, what do you think of the world cup so far? As I wrote earlier this is indeed a tournament where most teams are on the same level. Very difficult to pick favorites to win it! I think outsiders in this cup have got a chance to go far! And I can't say I'm impressed with the kind of football played so far.. Not many chances, not many goals, let's hope this will change in the following matches..
Michael
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Post by stuntmaster on Jun 16, 2010 19:00:21 GMT 2
well so far only germany have been excellant on the ball but then they have used it for 6 months . other games have been below par and do hope it gets better . can`t believe spain lost today as they are favourite`s for the cup .
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Post by mpanayiotakis on Jun 17, 2010 1:02:28 GMT 2
I'll withhold my judgment for Germany until I see them playing against a good team. I wrote it earlier in this thread that Switzerland is a good team. We played against them twice in the preliminaries and they looked like a very focused and solid team. I knew that they would do good and I even said that they would go through to the next round!! Spain has to beat Chile now otherwise they're in deep trouble!
Michael
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Post by Aris on Jun 17, 2010 4:32:04 GMT 2
Well, you were also right about Greece too. But, in my opinion, the team you were big on (Portugal) disappointed against a Drogba-less (for most of the game) Ivory Coast team. And when they did put him on, he hit the post! Could you imagine if he was 100% It's funny, most of the sports columnists in the local newspapers here, picked Portugal as the team that will disappoint the most. I'm surprised, with Ronaldo supposed to be one of the game's top players, he hasn't scored a goal for Portugal in like a year and a half! I think you're right though, we may see some surprises in terms of who advances and in which position. Wins by Japan & Switzerland are two games, that most people in our World Cup pool had going the other way. And if Spain's penchant for coming up short on the big stage has returned, there are going to be a lot of disappointed poolies! Especially since most have Spain winning it all, or coming second! Germany almost always goes deep in these contests. Yeah, sure, it was only the Socceroos they were playing, but still, they looked d**n good, and their work ethic on the field is unsurpassed. This is going to be a South Americans World Cup! South American teams are looking very strong! AC
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Post by rensmits on Jun 17, 2010 12:20:46 GMT 2
Well, the first games in the first round are always boring. The players are in training a long time and are very nervous and especially don't want to lose the first game. Already for a lot of teams it's do or die now. The tournament starts now.
The problem nowadays with international football is that every country plays the same. In the past they all played a different kind of game. The Italians were the defenders, Germans the workers, British had the kick and rush, African teams were all playing for themself and everyone was trying to score a goal, Spain and The Netherlands always died in beauty, Brasil was always a team of beautifull technical players, the other South American teams were like a maffia-clan etc. These days all the players are playing in Europe and they all learn to play football in the same style. It kills the game, I think. Maybe the best example is Brasil. They play like Italians. Have you seen the Brasil game? Four defenders and three defending midfielders against North-Korea!!!! North-Korea for crying out loud. They can't even hit the ball right. In the good old days, they played with 3 or 4 defenders and all the other players were offensief players.
There is just too much money involved and there are too much tactical coaches.
I also hope they will ban those f**king vuvuvuuvuthings. There is no atmosphere at all.
René
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Post by bobo74 on Jun 17, 2010 18:03:35 GMT 2
Well done Greece! I agree with Aris a South-American team will win the cup. But dont count out the Germans. Maybe Argentina-Germany in final! I hope an african team can make it to the semifinals!
Vuvuzela-Björn
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Post by mpanayiotakis on Jun 17, 2010 18:18:37 GMT 2
Wow, just watched our game against Nigeria! What a game! Pity that we couldn't score one more goal, it could have given us the chance to advance even if we lose in the next game with Argentina (as long as Nigeria wins, that is). Anyway, I agree with Rene, I think we will see more interesting matches in the second round and from what I've seen so far (3 games) this seems to be the case indeed with a total of 11 goals in these 3 matches!!
Portugal have lots of great players - I don't know why they didn't play very well. To their defence, not many teams played very well despite their wins (I didn't like Brazil or Spain at all for example). I'm sure they will play better in the next couple of matches. We will see..
These vuvuzelas are incredibly annoying! I can't stand the noise on my tv set..
Michael
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Post by pheldge on Jun 18, 2010 0:07:09 GMT 2
I just watched France-Mexico, and laughed... ;D
Domenech is definitively out, and I still wonder why he's still working in football. He's nothing to do as a coach (but I'm not the first to say that).
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Post by rensmits on Jun 18, 2010 9:34:38 GMT 2
The problem with Portugal is: Ronaldo. Just too arrogant and he thinks he's more important then the team. Take Ronaldo out and the Portuguese will do fine. The problem with France and Greece is the coach. The French have a complete idiot and Greece has a coach who doesn't have faith in his own team. Sure Greece doesn't have good players (only there captain is a real good player), but if you play too much with a defensief plan, they will be destroyed. Let them play like the second half. Then luck will turn for them. Greece has to make at least a draw against Argentina, while the Koreans have to lose. Nigeria will give a run for they're live, because they also can still qualify for the second round. Everything is possible!
d**n, those French were bad ;D
René
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