World Cup...Germany 2006

[clayftknight]

Brazil are still the ONLY country to win outside of their continent...
They did it in Sweden, USA and Korea/Japan
Argentina did it in Mexico which sort of counts but it took possibly the best player who ever lived.
But as far as winning in Europe, only Brazil have done it, and it was 50 years ago.

Argentina in Europe, without a Maradona, not a hope imo.
USA and Mexico, never been to the final, and now in Europe, not a hope and no Campos or Hugo Sanchez for Mexico.
Africa and Asia are both very weak this time....
This leaves Brazil and the best of Europe.
Germany, Netherlands, Italy, France, England, Spain, Czech Rep. all have the potential, but then they always do....

[Kneel B4 Zod]

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Germany are HORRIBLY underrated by you guys (bookies have it spot on with 2nd or 3rd faves), home advantage in football is HUGE and even more so in the world cup. With plays like Bastian Schweinsteiger and a boss like Jurgen Klinsmann, they have a lot of potential for this world cup.

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amen. Pretty sure the Germans showed last time that good coaching is more important than talent. I think it's 25% of the WC home teams that have won the event. I expect that number to go up.

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I'm pretty sure most of the home winning teams have also been excellent teams.

most educated observers will tell you that this German team is far below average (by German standards). of course, German WC success is second only to Brazil.

yes, home field is huge. but on a neutral field, Germany is probably not as good as say Czech Rep. or Holland, and is a very clear notch below Brazil, Argentina, Italy, and England.

[bigt2k4]

home field advantage...
could England be considered to have home field advantage? I'm sure 95% of the fans at all of their games will be English fans and they will be louder than the German fans at the Germany games

[Silent A]

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home field advantage...
could England be considered to have home field advantage? I'm sure 95% of the fans at all of their games will be English fans and they will be louder than the German fans at the Germany games

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Only when they play Paraguay and Trinidad. When they're against Sweden, Germany, Netherlands or even portugal, forget it.

My thoughts:

Northern Europe = good for Northern European teams and bad for countries who don't have too many players in Europe (i.e. Brazil and Argentina will do well but no other non-European team).

Tunisia is the African team with the best shot at the second round followed by Togo (although i'd love to see Angola oust Mexico). Neither will get by France or Spain though in Round 2.

Also, I'm dismissing outright the chances of any of the Asian, concacaf, or also ran South Americans (i.e. Equador and Paraguay). 1 or 2 will make the round of 16, but that's all. (Yes, I'm going on a limb here).

My vision of the final 8:

Germany vs Neth/Arg group winner
France vs Italy/Cze group winner

Eng/Swe group winner vs Arg/Neth runner up
Brazil vs Spain

From there on in, it's a crap shoot

[Fallen Hero]

If Argentina wins the group I think Portugal will have a pretty easy match against Holland, otherwise I agree with your list.

EDIT: I also think Sweden/England have a great chance at beating Germany

[bigt2k4]

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home field advantage...
could England be considered to have home field advantage? I'm sure 95% of the fans at all of their games will be English fans and they will be louder than the German fans at the Germany games

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Only when they play Paraguay and Trinidad. When they're against Sweden, Germany, Netherlands or even portugal, forget it.

My thoughts:

Northern Europe = good for Northern European teams and bad for countries who don't have too many players in Europe (i.e. Brazil and Argentina will do well but no other non-European team).

Tunisia is the African team with the best shot at the second round followed by Togo (although i'd love to see Angola oust Mexico). Neither will get by France or Spain though in Round 2.

Also, I'm dismissing outright the chances of any of the Asian, concacaf, or also ran South Americans (i.e. Equador and Paraguay). 1 or 2 will make the round of 16, but that's all. (Yes, I'm going on a limb here).

My vision of the final 8:

Germany vs Neth/Arg group winner
France vs Italy/Cze group winner

Eng/Swe group winner vs Arg/Neth runner up
Brazil vs Spain

From there on in, it's a crap shoot

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huh? I can guarantee that for every England game a minimum of 80% of the fans will be English except for if they play Germany and maybe Netherlands(70% then). Even against Germany I still think at least 30-35% of the fans will be English.

edit: also, English fans are by far the loudest as well. Against Portugal in Euro 2004, they were definitely louder than the Portuguese fans despite being slightly outnumbered(60-40% in my estimate)

[Silent A]

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huh? I can guarantee that for every England game a minimum of 80% of the fans will be English except for if they play Germany and maybe Netherlands(70% then). Even against Germany I still think at least 30-35% of the fans will be English.

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You said "95%", and that's ridiculous. 80% would be a wild extreme, and there's no way in hell it'll be 70/30 against Holland.

[Silent A]

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If Argentina wins the group I think Portugal will have a pretty easy match against Holland, otherwise I agree with your list.

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"Pretty easy"? No such thing against a team of Holland's calibre. Not a gimmie for Holland, obviously, but I can't see how they'd be a considered less than 50% to beat Portugal when it's being played in Germany.

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EDIT: I also think Sweden/England have a great chance at beating Germany

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Less than 50/50 I think because of home advantage.

[trigstarr]

i see there's no Ireland... nice

[Iplayboard]

Cliff Notes Version:

Brasil


Italy
Germany
England
Argentina
Netherlands
France

Spain
Czech Repubic
Sweden
Portugal


I'm not sure how anybody could possibly call any team other than Brasil the favorite.

Ronaldhino is the best player in the world. Along with Ronaldo, Adriano, Kaka, and Robinho, Brasil has an embarrasment of attacking riches. I don't think the defense is all that shaky either. If Brasil has trouble defending, it with be because of their midfield. Also, recent Brasilian teams that have won the World Cup or finished runner-up did so without a top class goalkeeper. That will not be the case this year with Dida firmly entrenched. Did anybody watch the Confederation's Cup last summer? Brasil smashed Argentina 4-1 in the final (with both teams fielding A list rosters). Brasil will be favored heavily in each game they play, regardless of the opponent.

Out of the rest of the teams, I like Italy the best. They are extremely deep at every position. England are perhaps a bit overrated, but they are also very talented, particularly in mid-field. They were the only team that came close to knocking out Brasil in the last World Cup. This is clearly their best team since 1966.

Argentina is very good, with Riquelme serving as a poor man's Ronaldhino.

Germany is the most puzzling team to me. On paper, they do not appear to have the talent level to win the World Cup, most notably they lack a top-class striker. However home-field advantage is very big and with Michael Ballack and solid goalkeeping (be it Lehman or Kahn)they have a chance.

I don't know if anybody here is from Germany, but the press and the public there are very pessimistic about their team, some believing it is the worst team ever fielded by Germany in a World Cup. Jorgen Klinnsman is berated by the press for living in California and for his training methods.

Germany has such an ominous cloud hanging over them and yet at the same time they have to deal with such high expectations, something that Korea and the US didn't have to deal with when they hosted the World Cup.

Oh, and one other thing, the fifa rankings are horseshit in case anyone hasn't yet figured that out.