Official World Cup Thread

[El Presidente]

With the competition kicking off tomorrow, let's post the daily discussion over the next month here.

Good luck to all teams

[Cohiba Stevie]

C'mon germany!!!!!

With ireland not in it this year i always support the germans. I love their style of football.

But given the fact that im sitting on a beach in portugal right now i have a soft spot for the team.

Belgium also have a very strong team this year.

[Ken Gargett]

With the competition kicking off tomorrow, let's post the daily discussion over the next month here.

Good luck to all teams

did we not already have a thread of three chocker pages from members/fans?

[mf83]

Well I have money on Algeria to be the highest placed African team so come on them! But I have a feeling France will do well this time.

[ptrthgr8]

I foresee much knee-grabbing, flailing, flopping, and rolling about the turf.

[oliverdst]

I foresse a lot of cigars and at least one person drunk the most he can.

[kuzi16]

i have a few first round predictions...

here is my list of who will make it out of round one:

group A
Brazil, Mexico

Group B:
Spain, Netherlands

Group C:
Colombia, Japan

Group D:
England, Italy

Group E:
France, Switzerland

Group F:
Argentina, Nigeria

Group G:
Germany, Portugal

Group H:
Belgium, Russia





a few long shots in there, like japan and Nigeria but they produce decent teams and since the groups they are in are not quite as strong they have a decent shot.

the swiss may not make it and honduras may in group E. honduras has something to prove even though they dont look as good on paper. thats a close call in my book.

as far as overall goes...

i do have to say that Argentina could win the tournament. their offense is just amazing. however, the old saying "offense wins the game and defense wins the tournament" is very true and the Argentina defense is at times questionable. also, i cant think of a single person from their bench. fairly shallow team. should they get a red card or an injury to a defensive player, it could be disaster.
on the other hand it is difficult bet against Brazil and they are favored to win.

in my dream world i think it would be fun to see Germany and Brazil in the final. they each play a very different style and watching those styles clash is a joy to watch.

my "home team" will not make it. the US wont even get out of the first round. as soon as they are out i have no real horse in the race. from there it is all about who would be fun to watch play each other... and im looking forward to seeing some very good matches.

[DrunkenMonkey]

I foresee much knee-grabbing, flailing, flopping, and rolling about the turf.

I'll be watching Italy too.

[oliverdst]

In Brazil all we want is a final Brazil x Argentina.

A dream or a nightmare.

But I am not só sure Brazil will be a runner up.

Having my first world cup cigar: PLPC

[ErikB]

Not a day goes by where I do not think about the lost final of 2010 at least once

(what can I say - after '74 and '78 it felt like our time had suddenly and unexpectedly come after all)

Strange to say then, that I find myself looking forward to the worldcup.

Let's hope the South Americans do well this year.

[Skyfall]

Football?

[Grahamsant]

Just me or did anyone else catch some of Tolkien's Ents in the Opening ceremony???

[Smalls]

Sitting here just now watching Brazil score on themselves I got to thinking....... Maybe Germany and Portugal will score on themselves too and the US will sneak out of the group.

[Optic101]

Poor Marcelo

[Smalls]

AAAaaannnddd... We're already started with horrible officiating by the refs. Game changing horrible calls.

[westg]

I foresse a lot of cigars and at least one person drunk the most he can.

Ha enjoy...you going to any of the games..

[MIKA27]

C'mon germany!!!!!

With ireland not in it this year i always support the germans. I love their style of football.

But given the fact that im sitting on a beach in portugal right now i have a soft spot for the team.

Belgium also have a very strong team this year.

+1 For Germany

I'm also going for Chile

[Smallclub]

This is one of the poorest brasilian seleçao I've ever seen…

[Optic101]

Congrats to Brasil.

[almudawi]

Poor refereeing.

Poor Croatian GK.

This selecao will struggle

[Briand]

As a England supporter . I am not worried about who will knock us out. But what we will do to screw ourselves . Let's just hope Hodgeson has the grapefuirts to sit Rooney

[CaptainQuintero]

Yuk! Terrible officiating, that penalty decision killed the game. Either incompetent or on the take. Poor referees and linesman ruin too many WC games. All officiating in the WC should be done by Champions League refs and linesmen Imo, they are the only ones who are used to the huge pressure of regular high importance/big money games.

The Luis Suarez 'WC scumbag award' nominee so far is Fred for that dive!

Brazil-not sure how they are the favourite; very lightweight, Croatia should have at the very least drawn that game, luckily for them they should still qualify. Brazil based on what they did tonight will struggle massively against Spain, Germany, Holland.

If they go through they will face either Holland or Spain, I'd expect that match to be the end of the road for Brazil.

I like the 10-yard vanishing spray paint though! Pity it was the only good point in terms of referring!

[oliverdst]

Brazil not the favourite for sure.

World cup is not the best is the better.

[Cmontoya79]

MEXICO MEXICO!!! USA USA!!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AlastairE]

i have a few first round predictions...

here is my list of who will make it out of round one:

group A

Brazil, Mexico

Group B:

Spain, Netherlands

Group C:

Colombia, Japan

Group D:

England, Italy

Group E:

France, Switzerland

Group F:

Argentina, Nigeria

Group G:

Germany, Portugal

Group H:

Belgium, Russia

I am (in no order)

Group A: Brazil, Mexico

Group B: Spain, Chile

Group C: Colombia, Japan

Group D: Italy, Uruguay

Group E: Switzerland, France

Group F: Argentina, Bosnia

Group G: Germany, Portugal

Group H: Belgium, South Korea

------

Thought the game this morning was dreary. Dodgy refereeing, Brazil deserved the win though. Croatia didn't offer much going forward, but Brazil lacked any clinical edge. Oscar was the best player on the park for me. Fred non-existent.

Assuming Mexico get the win over Cameroon tomorrow, they will have a minimum +3 goal difference vs Croatia. Both teams could finish on 4 points (with Brazil on 9, although unconvincing), and Mexico might sneak through on GD.