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[delboy]

Having got bored with the domestic season (my own team sit a comfortable 12th in the conference in what has quite frankly been a season to forget) Football Focus informed me with the useful information that there is less than 90 days to go till the ultimate footy fest the World Cup.

This time its more open than ever I feel, hard to predict a winner but I'm gonna slap a few quid on Holland.

As for England, decent squad but shit manager so it'll be the quarter finals as usual!

Let me be the first to say it, in anticipation of the inevitable "Scotland aren't there so we should be supporting other British teams" guff, I hope England do badly.

There's a school of thought that says it's funnier when they get within touching distance of victory but then fall at the last hurdle because of some sort of controversy (Beckham petulance, penalty miss, a combination of both), but personally I think it's even funnier when they are just plain crap and go out early.

[Last Wrong]

I'm one of those strange Scottish who actually hopes England do well and I think they have a chance, barring injuries to Rooney, Lampard or Terry.

The way Germany are going they'll be out at the 2nd round. Spain will underacheive as usual and Italy will come undone without a fully fit Totti. I suppose Brazil are the favourites but that defence is dodgy as hell.

[delboy]

i forgot to add i'm one of those english types who cares much more about my home city club team than the national side.

in all honesty the last time i got really passionate about the england football team was the world cup in 98 against argentina.

[Scorge]

I threw a side bet on England, so if they win I have enough cash to go to the Hebridies for a week!

My main bet is on Serbia And Montenegro.

[Chris]

I always want England to win in individual games (usually watching them with English friends) but don't want them to win the overall competition. which is a little strange.

[Jesus.H.Christ]

Try this,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...06/default.stm

and predict the World Cup scores.

I ended up with Brazil winning, Holland 2nd and Argentina 3rd placed

[Cloud]

There's a world cup predictor thing here -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/shared/...06/default.stm

I reckon England will go out in the 2nd round to Germany.

And sadly, it looks like a potential Brazil-Italy final

edit : beaten to it

I ended up with Italy 1st, Brazil 2nd and Holland 3rd.

There's some very, very tasty potential 2nd round matches though - Portugal-Holland/France-Spain/England-Germany, anyone?

[Paranoid Android]

I'm already getting really excited about the world cup.

I think Brazil will win if they manage to accomodate all the great attacking players in one team and the defence holds.

I might put a little bet on Italy winning. They finally have some new players of a good enough standard to take over in some positions and the older players left are still more than up to the task. I ahve always had a liking for Italian football so Italy will be the team I'm supporting.

I had thought Argentina had a chance but they haven't impressed in recent matches but they should still get to the quarters at least.

England have a starting 11 with a good chance. If any of their first team get injured I feel they will be significantly weakened. The factor most likely to prevent them from winning could again be Errikson's tactical naivety.

My main hope is that the competition is full of great football wit hthe overall standard being at a higher level than the Euro 2004 and World Cup 2002. The only way in which that will probably happen though is if the big teams are properly prepared and not tired. With the competition starting in very early June it looks like the big players will have little chance of a rest again.

[Bob Double Jack]

Originally Posted by DustyDeviada

Let me be the first to say it, in anticipation of the inevitable "Scotland aren't there so we should be supporting other British teams" guff, I hope England do badly.

different story in 2002 when all the scots supported the irish - you know you did.

well, i hope england do well - they've got the best squad of players i can remember from the last 20 years, barring the team that played at Euro 96 (who would have lit up the final rather than that dull german pap that ruined what was a great tournament.
however, i can't see it happening. Sven is too defensive minded, and seems intent on stifling the natural attacking flair of gerrard and lampard, who have scored over 25 goals this season between them, and had countless assists. Rooney (cliche as it is) is so outstanding, he could light up the tournament like maradona did in 1986.

if england were set up in a similar fashion to brazil, where attacking is encouraged, they genuinely could have a chance, but i think they can only do the semis at best.

i think the aussies could be a nice earner to reach the quarters, and one of the african teams - Ghana- could do well also. Ukraine could surprise a few people too. Germany have no hope, other than a partisan crowd behind them. France could be there or thereabouts - the fact no-one is speaking about them will help them after the Japan / Korea debacle, and Holland too. Let's not forget Brazil either.

fuck it, i'll bet on them all and try to break even!