The *Official* 2010 FIFA World Cup Thread

Cahill, Emerton, Kewell, Neill, Schwarzer, Bresciano (shame they no longer have Viduka up front). Not all world class guys, but they are known and have big roles in their respective teams.

Compare that to Vidic & Tosic of Man Utd, Ivanovic of Chelsea & Zigic who just signed for Birmingham.
The rest of the Serbian squad might be great, but I've not heard of most of them.

If they were all so great, wouldn't more of them play in the Premier League like a lot of the Australian players do?

 

Because the Premier League is the only league that matters right? Who cares about Serie A or the Bundesliga.

 

Besides Kewell and Neill play in Turkey and Bresciano plays in Italy.

All our starters are over 30, we've looked average in the leadups and we have a tough group. My expectations are exactly zero, though it would be awesome to finish second and face England in the 16s.

 

Schwarzer I'll give you (although no matter how good your keeper, they'll struggle with a poor team infront of them).

Playing in the Premier League is absolutely no guarantee of quality. Emerton has never been anything but extremely, achingly, average - he plays at Blackburn because he's the best they can attract. Kewell and Neill were once good (Kewell very good), but are now pale imitations of their former selves. They're only there because - tellingly - the Aussies have nothing better. This is not a side capable of achieving anything in South Africa. Tim Cahill is their only really very good player - and even he's not quite what he once was. And Viduka! Are you kidding? He was pretty good. But doesn't even warrant a mention thesedays.

Serbia's side is full of up and coming talent, raw and fresh with a smattering of players actually at the top of the game - Vidic forms one half of one of the best centre back partnerships in world football, Ivanovic has cemented his place in a double winning side, and Zigic - albeit Birmingham are a bit of a step down) has been comfortably holding his own at Valencia. Australia are a nation relying on a surprising crop of decent players - most of whom are now past it.

So in conclusion, the Aussies will struggle. I can't even see where a goal is coming from if Cahill doesn't pop up from a set piece.



Having said that, Serbia lost to New Zealand, and Spain only just edged out Saudi Arabia... so I'm not going to worry too much about England's shambolic first half this afternoon!

 

1429: Frank Lampard curls over the free-kick, but for some reason Keisuke Honda's left hand finds its way towards the ball - and the referee points to the spot. Up steps Frank Lampard, who drills a low kick to the left of the goal, but Eiji Kawashima dives full length and palms away the ball before the rebound is cleared of danger. Great save - that's another saved Lampard penalty following his FA Cup miss.

1427: PENALTY TO ENGLAND



EDIT: is anyone watching this? England up 2-1 on 2 og by Japan.

EDITEDIT: From Scott, Edinburgh, TEXT 81111: "Good to see Own Goal's form for Man Utd earning him an England call-up."

lol



EDITEDITEDIT: on the plus side, Rooney didn't get injured.

 

Another 15 or 16 own goals, and football's coming home.

He'skey missed a sitter, no surprise there. Joe Cole was probably England's best player. Rooney still doesn't look fit. Terry and Ferdinand far too easily split. Glen Johnson - in addition to not being able to defend - now cannot attack. Lampard seems to have forgotten how to take a penalty - wtf? Walcott still dawdling for England. Lennon not capable of playing on the left.

Joe Hart my number one.

We're gonna win the World Cup!

 

Honestly, pre-tournament friendly doesn't mean ****. I'm just happy there are no further injuries.

 

Will it be the Quarters or Semi's when England suffers our ritual world cup humiliation?

 

Oh, I know. It's just disconcerting that the same pre-tournament problems and questions seem to be present before the start of this tournament that were present in 2006, 2004, 2002, etc... It's difficult to imagine that the same tournament problems won't follow.


EDIT: A long time ago I said I thought that England's national side can only be written off as not good enough until they've had a good stab at a tournament with a really good manager. Capello is that manager, 2010 is that 'stab'... and yet are they really gonna get beyond the QF's?


EDIT EDIT: Looks like Adam Johnson's not gonna go. That would be a shame IMO.

 

Joe Hart should be first choice.

And Joe Cole should be on the plane.

Bent, Carrick, and Huddlestone should not be.

 

I think England will reach the semis. They've had the luck of a really good draw.

 

Bent was, as usual, atrocious. He shouldn't be anywhere near the England squad, let alone be considered for the World Cup. Walcott on the right and Lennon on the left makes no sense. Walcott can't cross the ball at all, while Lennon can only use his right foot. On those grounds you have Lennon on the right as it doesn't matter so much if Walcott is on the left. Terry and Ferdinand look a liability. Terry looks like he's seen too many winters, while Ferdinand has his head in the clouds. Unfortunately, there's no better cover for them (except King, who's got a dodgy knee).

Hart was very good in the second half though. I really would have him as Number One. Joe Cole also showed again that he's probably England's most technically gifted player. Glad to see him put in a good performance.

My starting 11 would be:

Hart
G.Johnson - Terry - Ferdinand - A.Cole
Gerrard - Barry - Lampard - Lennon
Crouch - Rooney

Gerrard was playing on the left during our qualifying campaign and did well. It would also give him some license to roam and cut inside.

I'd drop Upson, Warnock, Wright-Philips, Carrick, Adam Johnson, Huddlestone and Bent. If Barry proves to be unfit, then I'd restore Carrick to the squad.

 

Unless you're the favourites (or in this case, dual favourites - whoever gets in the way of Spain or Brazil will fall), you need a good draw. And yes, it has been kind - not dissimilar to the kind of draw that Germany seemed to get all the time in the past - but capitalising on that is still gonna be really hard. The others in that boat (decent route to the semis) - France, Argentina, Holland - will probably take more advantage.

Right now I'm hoping that Brazil stumble in their group, as that would keep both Spain and Brazil out of England's path until the final. The other possible semi-final opponents - on a good day - England have a chance against.

But, short of winning it (of course!) a semi-final defeat against Brazil where England really put up a good show would be nice - and be seen as a 'proper effort' at a WC. The last 'proper effort' being 1990.

 

Even if Brazil stumble, England will possibly face Holland who, I think, are superior.

Everton, do you have one of those predictor excel spreadsheet things for the WC?

I am looking at the draw properly for the first time. England got really, really lucky. The other side of the draw is brutal. Ivory Coast are screwed, I feel sorry for them. If not in the groups, it'll be in the round of 16, if not then, it'll be in the QF.


And I'm going to say purely on gut instinct that if England face Brazil instead of Holland, England will make it to the final.

 

I think England could take Holland. They'd need a few things to go their way, but better than than a comprehensive dismantling by Brazil.

I don't have a chart, no. I'm still yet to find a wallchart that I like.



EDIT: Yeah, England have a great draw. They simply have to make the most of it. Having come up against Argentina in the last 16 in 1998, Brazil in the QFs in 2002, this is a great chance.

I wish I had your gut instinct.

 

If Holland play as they did in the group stages of Euro 2008, England will get totally slaughtered. Remember that team humiliated the World Champions & the World Finalists. Their main problem is consistency. They lost to a very well organised Russian side who aren't in the tournament, but England are nowhere near that organised.

Brazil vs Holland could be awesome.

England can go far, but it certainly will need a number of things to go right for them. It will be interesting to see how certain teams perform in the group stages. That will give an indication of how later matches might turn out.

 

I did a predictor earlier today. England shouldn't face any top quality teams until the semis. But yeah, almost certainly Netherlands or Brazil in at that stage. In the final it could be Argentina, Germany, Italy, or Spain. If you beat teams like that in the last two matches, you deserve the WC regardless of the route you took prior to that.

For the semis and final I'm not sure who I'd rather face. I really don't have a preference. Other than wanting the team that is worst at penalties, of course.

 

If your favourite team gets eliminated prematurely, it's not their fault, it's the ball's fault.

 

Maybe Lampard's penalty today was swerved into the path of the keepers hands.

 

Oh, and LOL @ Serbia*.





* Probably the ball's fault.

 

England haven't really been tested in Capello's reign. And I mean that both positively and negatively. They won 9 out of 10 qualifiers but they haven't really defeated any superpowers since they took him on as their coach. They lost to both Spain and Brazil but they were understrength on both of those encounters. They also lost to Ukraine once, but they were already qualified then. They did play Holland to a 2-2 draw once. But I hear that both teams didn't play well.

Spain are undefeated since The Confederations Cup and have only lost that one time to the States since 2006. Although this is far from the first time they go into a tournament with a great pre tournament run.

Holland are undefeated since Euro 2008.

Of course pre-tournament form doesn't necessarily mean much. Teams have struggled to make it to the tournament and won. Like Brazil 8 years ago. Teams have made easily and been eliminated early. Teams have made it to a major tournament easily and done well. Tournaments always take on their own life. So you can never tell precisely what a game will be like until all 22 guys are on the field.

I don't think that England are the best team but they do have a better chance than they have in quite a few tournaments. Usually I rate them around the 7th or 8th strongest, this time I'd put them around 4th or 5th. Coupled with a kind draw they should probably reach their first semi finals in 14 years. Of course if they meet Brazil they have a historically significant task in front of them since they have never beaten them in the World Cup and most recently defeated them just over 20 years ago now.

Nearly nobody really seems to be impressing in these friendlies. Spain barely beat Saudi Arabia. Portugal tied Cape Verde. France tied Tunisia. South Korea lost to Belarus. Serbia lost to New Zealand. Also another German player, Heiko Westermann, is out injured because he broke his foot in their friendly against Hungary.

 

How, in the biggest futbol tournament, screw that up?

2008-2009 L.A. Lakers: World Champions!

 

There's always some players who bitch about the new ball before a tournament. It's tradition. They even go so far as to insist that the papers that print their whining use red ink for their quotes.

 

Hi, guys.

I'm doing a project for my prob/stats class (which I need as a requirement- bleh) and my group of people just so happened to choose the World Cup as our topic, something about which I know nothing. Anyway, we're at the stage where we conduct surveys with people who follow soccer and ask them some questions about the Cup. If you would like to help me out, please send me a PM. I will be highly grateful.

Cor

 

Then what color ink will you use to sign your next coaching contract, after Real Madrid?

2008-2009 L.A. Lakers: World Champions!