Official World Cup 2010 Thread

[dsheinem]

well not really for Italy. They were really lucky in winning the last world cup. Heck it was France that defeated all the tough teams, and Italy was lucky in the finals.

Spain is the most favored to win the world cup. But I really hope they don't.

Their football tactics are really boring. They play their ass off until they score a single goal to put them into the lead, and then defend until the end of the match, unless the other team ties the match, and they have to score another goal.

It resembles the Greek strategy a lot, only thing is Greece sucks, Spain on the other hand is one of the best teams in the world. You can't have one of the best teams playing defense until the game is over. I've seen Spain score at the 50th minutes of the match, with 40 minutes left until it's over, and they'd tighten their defense, and not risk on offense, with over 40 minutes of game time left. Come on!!!

I also don't want Brazil or Argentina to win it, cause I always like rooting for the underdog. Personally I want France to win, only because I thought it was really unfair that they lost the world cup in 2006.


And yeah FIFA really should do something about players faking fouls. Too much football time gets wasted on dives

I'm in a pool with some friends and made picks based somewhat on a passing knowledge of the sport and partly based on what I'd like to see.

Here were my picks for the teams to advance from the first round:

Group A:
Mexico
South Africa

B:
Argentina
Greece

C:
England
USA

D:
Germany
Australia

E:
Netherlands
Cameroon

F:
Italy
Slovakia

G:
Brazil
Portugal

H:
Spain
Chile

So do you think I'll do well for the first round? I feel that in the second round I'll be able to make a more informed set of predictions from watching round one...

[ZeroAX]

Greece Slovakia Cameroon and Chile are not sure bets, but the rest should qualify, although France could beat the hosts, and they'd be the first hosts not to qualify. I'm not sure.

Besides the best thing about sports is that some times the total underdog can surprise the world. Too bad that in football, it could mean lame games (see our triumph in the Euro 2004 cup. Totally unexpected, made me sooooo happy, but we only deserved 3 of our victories, and the other 2 (I count the tie with Spain as a victory since they kicked our ass) were pure luck and lame over defensive tactics)

[Riqz85]

Greece Slovakia Cameroon and Chile are not sure bets, but the rest should qualify, although France could beat the hosts, and they'd be the first hosts not to qualify. I'm not sure.

Besides the best thing about sports is that some times the total underdog can surprise the world. Too bad that in football, it could mean lame games (see our triumph in the Euro 2004 cup. Totally unexpected, made me sooooo happy, but we only deserved 3 of our victories, and the other 2 (I count the tie with Spain as a victory since they kicked our ass) were pure luck and lame over defensive tactics)

I must say you stole that world cup from us! stupid referee....

[swiftzx]

Greece Slovakia Cameroon and Chile are not sure bets, but the rest should qualify, although France could beat the hosts, and they'd be the first hosts not to qualify. I'm not sure.

I can see Chile qualify since they played better than Argentina in the preliminary stages and Cameroon for their offensive stages, but Greece hasn't been playing well recently.

[dsheinem]

I guess I was hoping that the general unrest and pissed-offedness in Greece might carry over to their soccer team

[ZeroAX]

I guess I was hoping that the general unrest and pissed-offedness in Greece might carry over to their soccer team

why? it's not like it was the footballers pay that got cut . And if you allow me to get a bit into politics, really the media is over stating things. The economy is in a horrible state, and everyone knows that things have to change. The ones in the streets are useless people, about 5-10% of the population, who don't want to work, and what is worse they don't want others to work hard as well, cause then they'll be the losers who never had dreams of becoming something in their lives. And if there was really that much civil unrest don't you think the government would have been overthrown?

And on the football side of thingsQ

No I really can't see us qualifying. It will all depend on how we do against south Korea. If we win, we'll probably reach the knockout stage.

[Pulsar_t]

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[ZeroAX]

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can not watch it outside the US

[fastbilly1]

I have already told my sales team that Friday morning they better have a very good reason to call me.

I catch as much of the cup as possible. And eventhough I am US born and bred, I still pull for the UK - I watch English football during the season thanks to the internet (Gotta pull for my Rangers). Last time I missed three games, this time Ill miss more since several games I dont care about are on Sunday morning.

[Ivo]

I don't think I will be watching (unlike most of my country) because I find watching most sports boring (I like playing some of them). For me, Football is good to watch if it is Captain Tsubasa

Football (or Soccer as it is called in the U.S.) is IMO near the top of the most boring sports with a huge following. I can half-way understand something like Basketball, Volleyball, Ping-Pong as the action is nearly always relevant. In football it seems to me that the vast majority of time is not relevant to the end result. I won't go into the problems with referees here as this is long enough as it is.

I understand it is important for players to be passing the ball back and forth and dribling around with the ball and positioning waiting for a good opening, but I really do not think it makes for a good spectator sport (and yet, I think it is the most watched sport worldwide so obviously I am atypical).

I will probably check the results after the games - I also never really understand why more people don't just check after the end. Saves all the frustration and anxiety for those that care too much (like most here), and saves a bunch of time for those that don't care so much (like me).
You just look at the result in the end and there. Now you know it! Regardless if there was a goal scored in the nick of time or if it had to go to penalty shoot-out the result is the same whether you suffer through it or not, wondering if team A or team B will make it.

BTW, Greece won the Euro 2004, not the World Cup, right? Greece's defensive strategy won them those games; many complained it was crap or ugly or whatever. It worked, and honestly I don't think the other strategies are that "beautiful" to watch. Even 6 years after I'm sure some people are still upset over Greece winning that one.

Ivo.