World Cup Draw [P+R]

[leungtl]

Australia is the weakest in that group, Serbia is good and Ghana plays in africa.

According to the FIFA Rankings, Serbia and Australia are only 1 spot apart from each other so I wouldn't go discounting them as weakest right away.

Ghana is a bit of a dark horse though...

 

[SCP19O6]

Group B is almost a copy of 1994's Group D, with South Korea replacing Bulgaria.

 

[prockoop]

dammit, ivory coast has really hard group. But there should be very interesting match against portugeese, iam looking forward to!!

 

[Elber2k3]

I'm watching Bayern - Gladbach right now and they are using the new ball. Clearly the worst ever, you have no idea where it's going. One shot the ball moved from right to left to right to left to right, seriously.

 

[dimo]

I'm watching Bayern - Gladbach right now and they are using the new ball. Clearly the worst ever, you have no idea where it's going. One shot the ball moved from right to left to right to left to right, seriously.

Man, can't they just use the Telstar

I think the USA got a decent draw. I'm hyped for the England game, should be EPIC. Atleast the hype before the game will be. Slovenia and Algeria arent easy, but if we show the Confed form I think we can squeak in for a 16 spot.

Italy got a pretty easy draw. Slovaks and Hamsik could cause some problems but I think both teams will go through.

 

[Xifio]

so with the draw made, it is possible to forecast plausible and ideal scenarios, all the way through to the final ...

here are mine:


=================
IDEAL (Reasons)
=================

--------------
Round of 16
--------------
A1:Uruguay (Gargano, Cavani, Forlán, & especially Luis Suárez!) - B2:Nigeria (African)
C1:Algeria (African) - D2:Ghana (Muntari, Appiah, and they're African)

D1:Germany (Mesut Özil!) - C2:USA (Manifest Destiny)
B1:Argentina - A2:South Africa (African & Hosts)

E1:Holland - F2:Paraguay
G1:Brazil (Maicon) - H2witzerland

F1lovakia (Hamšík) - E2:Cameroon (Achille Emana, & Samuel Eto'o!)
H1:Spain (Piqué!, Iniesta, Xavi, & currently the most attractive style) - G2:Côte d'Ivoire (Yaya Touré, Abdul-Kader Keïta, & they're African)


--------------
Quarters
--------------
Holland-Brazil
Uruguay-Ghana

Germany-South Africa
Cameroon-Spain (Eto'o to beat Casillas for the winner)


--------------
Semis
--------------
Holland-Uruguay (Luis Suárez to score a consolation)
Cameroon-Germany


--------------
Final
--------------
Holland-Cameroon



=======================================
A LITTLE MORE RELATIVE TO STRENGTH ON PAPER
=======================================
--------------
Round of 16
--------------
A1:France - B2:Nigeria
C1:England - D2:Ghana

D1:Germany - C2:USA
B1:Argentina - A2:Uruguay

E1:Holland - F2lovakia
G1:Brazil - H2witzerland

F1:Italy - E2:Cameroon
H1:Spain - G2:Côte d'Ivoire


--------------
Quarters
--------------
Holland-Brazil
France-England

Germany-Argentina
Italy-Spain


--------------
Semis
--------------
Brazil-France
Germany-Spain


--------------
Final
--------------
Brazil-Spain

 

[Run DMB]

Germany
Australia
Serbia
Ghana

Whilst that's not a dream group, we can certainly qualify from that... Not going to sleep on Ghana though.

It's a tough group IMO. Assuming Germany goes through, I think the other three teams in the group each have about a 1/3 chance of being the second team. There's nothing between them.

The US got about as favorable of a draw as one could have reasonably hoped for. I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but there's no excuse for not getting out of this group.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

It's a tough group IMO. Assuming Germany goes through, I think the other three teams in the group each have about a 1/3 chance of being the second team. There's nothing between them.

The US got about as favorable of a draw as one could have reasonably hoped for. I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but there's no excuse for not getting out of this group.

Great draw for the US. I think we could beat a sleepwalking England in the opener too.

North Korea, on the other hand, was clearly the victim of some capitalist plot.

 

[Back Door Skip]

Man, I'm pretty happy with the draw, but I the inaugural game against the host is gonna be HUGE. It'll dictate how Mexico does from then on. That said, Mexico should make it to the round of 16 comfortably. We'll see how that goes.

I don't understand how group G is considered the Group of Death. I doubt North Korea will even score a goal with that type of opposition. They're pretty royally ****ed. A more balanced, and dangerous group to me is group E. All teams have a chance of coming out of that group. One could even argue that group D is a group of death, too. Aside from Germany, there are no favorites to make it out of that group.

It's gonna be interesting how badly the Spaniards will murder Honduras.

Oh, and US - England should be a pretty good game to watch.

 

[Bobby]

I'll catch hell for this. But it wouldn't shock me if North Korea took a point off Portugal. They're rock solid defensively, but they can't attack for anything.

 

[newbie original]

No Group of Death. Portugal aren't what they once were. In my opinion, them getting knocked out by the Ivory Coast wouldn't be too much of an upset.

Glam match up - USA vs England

The group stage will be quite boring.

 

[cmc211]

Group G is not a group of death because there are perfect 'Victim' (North Korea) in Group G. In previous WC, group of death meant that every 4 teams have possibility to qualify. Maybe group D or A is more likely to that.

Best draw for Italy and Spain.

 

[Xifio]

I'll catch hell for this. But it wouldn't shock me if North Korea took a point off Portugal. They're rock solid defensively, but they can't attack for anything.

really? coz they recently (a fortnight ago) visited Zambia for a friendly -- to play at altitude, in southern African conditions -- and they got trounced 4-1 by a Chipolopolo side made-up of mostly local players ...

I have no idea if the Koreans fielded a largely reserve team as well, but from what I heard from my friends back home, we should have scored more than just 4, while their goal came from a charitable penalty decision ... and keep in mind Zambia has not been a powerhouse African team for the last decade ... we just about made it to the 2010 Africa Cup ...

 

[ShiftyPowers]

I think Group G is the group of death. While N.Korea might be the weakest team in the Tournament, the other 3 teams were all arguably the best team in their pool.

 

[Zlatan]

Japan, Cameroon and Denmark...hmmm. Could've been better, could've been worse. It won't be too easy, but I think we'll be able to survive this group.

Atleast we avoided the group of death this time. Brazil and Germany have the toughest group, I think. Italy, England and Spain had a very lucky draw.

 

[Krypton X]

Germany
Australia
Serbia
Ghana

Whilst that's not a dream group, we can certainly qualify from that... Not going to sleep on Ghana though.

Not too psyched about this group, if I'm going to be honest, being a traditional supporter of both O-Stray-lia and Ze Ge-mans. Germany can usually afford to be a little laid back at the start of tournaments, they will have to be on the ball this time around though, I can't see either Serbia or Ghana holding back, and Australia will put everything on the line to salvage at least a point, as they will be up against the Germans first. Barring a total catastrophe, Germany should be alright.

For the Australians, who landed in Brazil's group at the last world cup, things don't get a whole lot easier. We don't have Guus Hiddink at the helm this time, and the shoddy performances we have been putting up against some of the great giants of world football, such as Kuwait and Oman, don't bode too well. I really hope the Croatian contingent on the Australian team fires up against Serbia, they will have twice the incentive to win. Serbia's young team brings a lot of energy and flair into their game, but might not have enough experience to adapt to playing conditions outside of Europe.
Ghana will be a handfull and any team hoping to advance from the group will need to conquer them.

Why can't we swap places with New Zealand, our flags look very similar, most people won't notice.

You would love to be in Maradona's shoes right about now, even a high school football coach should be able to steer his mob to the top of their group with nonchalant ease. Anything less and he shouldn't be even left to take charge of a FM 2010 team.

Although Algeria might be a firm underdog, as the only Arab representative in the world cup, I don't think they would be too popular if they were to return home with defeats to both England and the USA next to their name. Whether this kind of pressure works in their favour remains to be seen.

The North Koreans are going to have to take their bus parking skills to new epic & uncharted heights. Just as well their state television network wasn't planning on covering the tournament anyway.

 

[vitu]

Man, I'm pretty happy with the draw, but I the inaugural game against the host is gonna be HUGE. It'll dictate how Mexico does from then on. That said, Mexico should make it to the round of 16 comfortably. We'll see how that goes.

I don't understand how group G is considered the Group of Death. I doubt North Korea will even score a goal with that type of opposition. They're pretty royally ****ed. A more balanced, and dangerous group to me is group E. All teams have a chance of coming out of that group. One could even argue that group D is a group of death, too. Aside from Germany, there are no favorites to make it out of that group.

It's gonna be interesting how badly the Spaniards will murder Honduras.

Oh, and US - England should be a pretty good game to watch.

Mexico will lose to SA...mark my words..SA will be hungry for wins bc it's their house. I say France & SA make it through.

I like how people look at Honduras as garbage. It happened in 1982 against Spain too but yet they had a great world cup. They have a lot of talented players. It will be interesting to see them perform.

If I were you I'd hope the FEMEX ships El Azteca to SA.

 

[farmboy]

so with the draw made, it is possible to forecast plausible and ideal scenarios, all the way through to the final ...

here are mine:


=================
IDEAL (Reasons)
=================

--------------
Round of 16
--------------
A1:Uruguay (Gargano, Cavani, Forlán, & especially Luis Suárez!) - B2:Nigeria (African)
C1:Algeria (African) - D2:Ghana (Muntari, Appiah, and they're African)

D1:Germany (Mesut Özil!) - C2:USA (Manifest Destiny)
B1:Argentina - A2:South Africa (African & Hosts)

E1:Holland - F2:Paraguay
G1:Brazil (Maicon) - H2witzerland

F1lovakia (Hamšík) - E2:Cameroon (Achille Emana, & Samuel Eto'o!)
H1:Spain (Piqué!, Iniesta, Xavi, & currently the most attractive style) - G2:Côte d'Ivoire (Yaya Touré, Abdul-Kader Keïta, & they're African)


--------------
Quarters
--------------
Holland-Brazil
Uruguay-Ghana

Germany-South Africa
Cameroon-Spain (Eto'o to beat Casillas for the winner)


--------------
Semis
--------------
Holland-Uruguay (Luis Suárez to score a consolation)
Cameroon-Germany


--------------
Final
--------------
Holland-Cameroon



=======================================
A LITTLE MORE RELATIVE TO STRENGTH ON PAPER
=======================================
--------------
Round of 16
--------------
A1:France - B2:Nigeria
C1:England - D2:Ghana

D1:Germany - C2:USA
B1:Argentina - A2:Uruguay

E1:Holland - F2lovakia
G1:Brazil - H2witzerland

F1:Italy - E2:Cameroon
H1:Spain - G2:Côte d'Ivoire


--------------
Quarters
--------------
Holland-Brazil
France-England

Germany-Argentina
Italy-Spain


--------------
Semis
--------------
Brazil-France
Germany-Spain


--------------
Final
--------------
Brazil-Spain

NO England in the knockout?! Come on, how could you not want to see England v. Germany in the RO16? And personally, as an American, I'd rather meet up with Ghana; after the way they shamed us in '06, I think its time for a little revenge.

 

[Bobby]

really? coz they recently (a fortnight ago) visited Zambia for a friendly -- to play at altitude, in southern African conditions -- and they got trounced 4-1 by a Chipolopolo side made-up of mostly local players ...

I have no idea if the Koreans fielded a largely reserve team as well, but from what I heard from my friends back home, we should have scored more than just 4, while their goal came from a charitable penalty decision ... and keep in mind Zambia has not been a powerhouse African team for the last decade ... we just about made it to the 2010 Africa Cup ...

Probably because it was a friendly. They're weird, they drew with Hong Kong in a meaningless match, let Guam score twice on them (which to Guam, is like winning the World Cup), and yet only let in 5 in the final qualifying group.

 

[Seán D]

So, shall be supporting SA, Mexico and Uruguay.