The Official World Cup Thread

[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!

[Guest 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.

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/football/world_cup_2006/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/spl/hi/predictor/html/football/world_cup_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.

[Guest Bob Double Jack]

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

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!

[Jesus.H.Christ]

Sven is too defensive minded' date=' and seems intent on stifling the natural attacking flair of gerrard and lampard[/quote']

Hahahaha, thats possibly the funniest thing I have ever read!!!!

"Attacking flair"........sure.

By Mr Two-footed-studs-up-then-strut-away-thinking-he-is-hard and Mr Shoot-on-site-at-every-opportuinity.

Of course they will score goals If Lampard shoots as much as he does and they both take lots of penalties.

Now players with Flair = Riqueleme, D'allessandro, Denilson, Joe Cole (pre-Jose Mourinho), Ronaldinho, Aimar, Deco, Rui Costa, Zidane, Ortega... etc etc.

Not Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.

[Guest Bob Double Jack]

Attacking flair - yes. Not in the showboating style of ronaldinho, zidane, riquelme (who rangers made look ordinary last week) or denilson, but yes they have attacking flair, they just don't do 43 stepovers every time they get the ball.

don't get me wrong, all the ones you've listed are great players, with Zidane being the pick of the bunch, but there's more to attacking flair than fancy tricks.

And to say Gerrard is "Mr Two-footed-studs-up-then-strut-away-thinking-he-is-hard" is cobblers. i'm not even going to respond to that tripe. Who would you rather have in your team? Ball winner / inspriational leader Gerrard or "Dive a Minute" Deco?

No contest

[beeker]

deco.. every time.

[jackson]

Brazil will win the world cup for these simple reasons, Emerson (best defensive midfielder in the world along with Viera), Kaka (one of the greatest play makers and goal scoring midfielders in the world), Robinho (potentially one of the greatest second strikers in the world), Ronaldinho (without a doubt the greatest player in the world), Adriano (the biggest most powerful and one of the greatest strikers in the world) and of course Ronaldo who even now , despite being a fat bastard, will no doubt score at least 5 goals in the tournament and is still one of the greatest strikers in the world. No other country has a midfield and attack like that and yes their defence is not as bad as made out. Cafu (i think hes injured for the world cup? but if so Cicinho is not half bad!), Lucio is immense, Roberto Carlos can do a job and Luisao isnt bad either! if Brazil need a goal to win a game one of their attacking players can create one out of nothing. Remember Ronaldinho's free kick against England? i forgot Juninho from Lyon he is also superb! Brazil are naturally confident and know what it takes to win.

[Alkaline]

Yes, i expect Germany to go out in the 2nd round, possibly the quarters at a push. We just aren't the team we were in the late 80's/ 90's. Ballack is an amazing player and we've got a few other wordclass players like sebastien deisler, philip lahm, miroslav klose and oliver kahn, but as a team we lack that certain something. Frankly i was embarressed by the raping we got at the hands of Italy.

I expect that either Brazil or Argentina will win or maybe even England as an outside bet. England have some quality players but they always underachieve as they don't play as a team so well.

[TR!ΔNGL€ T€€TH]

With that predictor thing, I got Brazil beating Argentina in the final.

[Payback the chicken]

I used that predictor and got

3rd : Czech Rep

2nd : Brazil

1st : Holland

Just had a look at a few betting sites and holland like quite tempting at 16/1, or even czech rep are worth a shout at 35/1

I think a European team will definately win it this year, only once has a team outside europe won the world cup when it has been held in europe

Just can't wait for the world cup, English Prem is getting a bit boring just now

[NARC]

Hahahaha' date=' thats possibly the funniest thing I have ever read!!!!

"Attacking flair"........sure.

By Mr Two-footed-studs-up-then-strut-away-thinking-he-is-hard and Mr Shoot-on-site-at-every-opportuinity.

Of course they will score goals If Lampard shoots as much as he does and they both take lots of penalties.

Now players with Flair = Riqueleme, D'allessandro, [b']Denilson, Joe Cole (pre-Jose Mourinho), Ronaldinho, Aimar, Deco, Rui Costa, Zidane, Ortega... etc etc.

Not Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.

You're stuck in a footballing time-warp. These two are way past their best. Actually, Denilson never even HAD a best

[NARC]

Brazil will win the world cup for these simple reasons' date=' Emerson (best defensive midfielder in the world along with Viera), Kaka (one of the greatest play makers and goal scoring midfielders in the world), Robinho (potentially one of the greatest second strikers in the world), Ronaldinho (without a doubt the greatest player in the world), Adriano (the biggest most powerful and one of the greatest strikers in the world) and of course Ronaldo who even now , despite being a fat bastard, will no doubt score at least 5 goals in the tournament and is still one of the greatest strikers in the world. No other country has a midfield and attack like that and yes their defence is not as bad as made out. Cafu (i think hes injured for the world cup? but if so Cicinho is not half bad!), Lucio is immense, Roberto Carlos can do a job and Luisao isnt bad either! if Brazil need a goal to win a game one of their attacking players can create one out of nothing. Remember Ronaldinho's free kick against England? i forgot Juninho from Lyon he is also superb! Brazil are naturally confident and know what it takes to win.[/quote']

Robinho is vasty overrated, is a permanent fixture on the bench now in a rotten Real Madrid team. Roberto Carlos can't defend, nor direct the ball on target, and is a fucking little moaner who I'd quite happily garrotte. Ronaldo is just absolute rubbish!

I'm sick of Brazil this, Brazil that. They can go to hell, and they're not winning.

PS Juninho Pernambucano, Adriano and Lucio are indeed quality, but that's it.

[Paranoid Android]

Now players with Flair = Joe Cole (pre-Jose Mourinho).

Jpe Cole was going nowhere before Mourinho took over at Chelsea. Apart from some good performances for his age at West Ham he never looked like developing into a top player before Mourinho took over Chelsea. Now he is putting in good performances and could develop into a player capable of playing at international level for years to come.

Gerrard and Lampard may not be flair players in the way that Ronaldinho or Zidane are but only a few truly great players can attempt to play their way and not end up looking like fools who lose the ball most the time they have possesion.

[NARC]

I got a Ukraine victory against Spain in the final, with Argentina a close third, having defeated Serbia & Montenegro in the third place play-off

[Paranoid Android]

For the predictor thing I got

1st Italy

2nd Brazil

3rd Sweden

4th Argentina

[Jesus.H.Christ]

Im not saying Lampard and Gerrard are bad players, they are quite good in their position. But there are many world-class players around that have much more to offer.

Out of the list of players I previously mentioned most don't just showboat and do pointless stepovers. Bar Denilson who I admit does.

I just don't see Lampard and Gerrard as "Flair" players.

And yes - Denilson and Ortega aren't that good now, I shouldn't have used them as a comparison of flair players nowadays.

[Paranoid Android]

Who does Ortega play for these days? Denilson really must regret signing for real Betis and even more so for signing that stupid 10 year contract.

[Jesus.H.Christ]

I think Ortega is at Newells in Argentina now. And wasn't Denilson bought for like 21 million?