So far, three teams stood out:
1. Netherlands
2. Germany
3. Italy
Why Italy? Because you can see a pattern here. They have a decent team and they're master tacticians.
We'll see today if Brazil can rebound from that mediocre opener but right now they don't appear as a favorite to me.
German Guy wrote:
So far, three teams stood out:
1. Netherlands
2. Germany
3. Italy
Why Italy? Because you can see a pattern here. They have a decent team and they're master tacticians.
We'll see today if Brazil can rebound from that mediocre opener but right now they don't appear as a favorite to me.
I would say Colombia stood out too. Greece are no slouches and they don't concede many goals so 3-0 was impressive and in impressive style. France also look pretty strong.
george oscar bluth wrote:
Don't be a typical LRC jackass. There is more to a game than the scoreline and any soccer fan would know that. They played awful against Croatia. The PK was one of many bad calls that saved them. So yes, I'm saying that they will beat a comparable team by the same margin and IT WILL BE A BETTER PERFORMANCE.
If you disagree that they played awful then just come out and say it.
Calm down. I know what you meant, I was just pointing out the irony.
Wørd wrote:
I would say Colombia stood out too. Greece are no slouches and they don't concede many goals so 3-0 was impressive and in impressive style. France also look pretty strong.
I am talking about who can win the WC.
Germany can, the Netherlands can, Italy can.
Maybe Brazil can, we'll know more after today.
France and Greece (lol) will not win the WC. Neither will Colombia.
My prediction is Brazil win 2-0.
German Guy wrote:
Wørd wrote:I would say Colombia stood out too. Greece are no slouches and they don't concede many goals so 3-0 was impressive and in impressive style. France also look pretty strong.
I am talking about who can win the WC.
Germany can, the Netherlands can, Italy can.
Maybe Brazil can, we'll know more after today.
France and Greece (lol) will not win the WC. Neither will Colombia.
He didn't say Greece would win the WC, he was talking about Columbia beating them 3-0. Columbia could be dark horses, I wouldn't be so quick to rule them out, same goes for France.
assist referee wrote:
Columbia could be dark horses, I wouldn't be so quick to rule them out, same goes for France.
Not going to happen. Colombia will never win a WC, no matter how many players they murder after own goals.
As to France, they will never win a worldcup that they're not hosting.
assist referee wrote:
He didn't say Greece would win the WC, he was talking about Columbia beating them 3-0. Columbia could be dark horses, I wouldn't be so quick to rule them out, same goes for France.
Greece are terrible if they go a goal down. They set up to spoil for a 0-0 and perhaps nick a goal from a set-piece and spoil even more. It could have been a frustrating night for Colombia but getting that early goal made it an easy night against a team with very little creative ability.
If England do make it through the groups (big if) it'll be a decent game between them and Colombia, presuming they win the group which they should as it's not very strong at all.
German Guy wrote:
assist referee wrote:Columbia could be dark horses, I wouldn't be so quick to rule them out, same goes for France.
Not going to happen. Colombia will never win a WC, no matter how many players they murder after own goals.
As to France, they will never win a worldcup that they're not hosting.
France were finalists in 2006. You can never be sure what your going to get from them, that's why I wouldn't rule them out. Things look calmer in the camp this year compared to the last few years of disaster.
Columbia probably won't win the WC but they could have a say on who does. I think they are just outside the main group of favourites. As for your Escobar comment, totally uncalled for. Just because one psycho drug lord kills a player for one mistake, you are making it sound like it is a regular occurrence.
When will Mexico take a dive?
What about Argentina? [saw none of their match so have no opinion myself beyond their group looking weak.]
It does not appear my 3-1 prediction will come to fruition.
I've only been able to follow updates today. Any commentary on those who have been able to watch this matchup?
The game announcers should stop complaining about the heat and humidity.
The forecast for New York tomorrow is the same as Manaus, 33 degrees with 60% humidity.
No big deal.
German Guy wrote:
assist referee wrote:Columbia could be dark horses, I wouldn't be so quick to rule them out, same goes for France.
Not going to happen. Colombia will never win a WC, no matter how many players they murder after own goals.
As to France, they will never win a worldcup that they're not hosting.
German Guy is not German. I recognize American ignorance masked as boastfulness when I see it.
Andres Escobar was gunned down in Medellin in 1994 when it was one of the world's most violent cities. Colombia has changed a lot since then and today you're more likely to get shot in St. Louis than in Medellin. Although obviously, if one of the US players scores an own goal against Portugal, nobody in St. Louis would understand what happened.
As for France and Colombia, I mentioned them as teams that have "stood out", not as likely world champions. Anybody who knows soccer knows that the performance in the first group match has very little bearing on the eventual outcome.
That was a great game!
Wørd wrote:
Nobody outside the US has called group G the "group of death".
Group B is the strongest group based on rankings. Group D has 3 former world champions in it. A "group of death" usually means one where a big team will be eliminated, such as one of NED/ESP/CHI or one of ENG/ITA/URU. Nobody would find it odd if neither the US nor Ghana reach the knock-out stage. And that's not to offend anyone but at a World Cup, teams from Africa or CONCACAF (or Asia) are not usually "expected" to advance.
CONCACAF getting surprisingly solid results so far.
conca shell wrote:
CONCACAF getting surprisingly solid results so far.
But by saying "surprisingly" aren't you also admitting that you didn't have high expectations?
Surprising based on what people told me to expect from them. IDK
The Mexican keeper just had the game of his life.
Brazil has not looked impressive. These seem to be relying too much of the individual talent of the players rather than the playing as a team.
Like an earlier poster said, Netherlands, Germany, and Italy have looked most impressive. The ltalians may not have the best talent, but they always have good tactics and the combo of Pirlo and Balotelli can win games by itself.
Argentina looked alright. But with Messi, Di Maria, and Aguero in the same attack, anything can happen with that squad.
Brazil have been really disappointing. The thing that struck me today is that they don't seem to have any set running patterns or plays in attack. When Neymar or Oscar get the ball you'd expect to see people running into position but most of the time I saw 2 or 3 players running to the same central position and then stopping and waiting. Compare that to how Germany played against Portugal.
Brazil wouldn't have beaten Croatia if not for that horrible penalty call and had Mandzukic not been suspended it could have been very different. Croatia v Mexico will be quite a match (assumng Croatia don't somehow fu\ck up against Cameroun).