Who wins it?
Okay, how about if I tell who doesn’t win it? North Korea! I doubt they score a single goal. (And New Zealand, stop smirking – you’re not going to score either.)
I voted for Brazil. As I’m a brazillian I’m sure national favoritism plays a hand but still I feel very confident about the team. It doesn’t play the kind of football we brazillians like to watch but it’s a very effective game and I think there’s no question we have the best defense this year. Júlio César is a marvelous goal keeper and I think that last go round if Brazil had advanced at least till the semi-finals Lúcio should have been awarded best player (he was the one truly shining light during 2006’s debacle). As long as we don’t suffer a goal near the beginning of the match I think we’re golden.
There’s been a lot of frustration here in regards to Dunga’s (the coach) picks, but nobody denies that overall we’re pretty solid, most complaints being that we’re too conservative. Personally I can’t get over the fact that both Adriano and Ganso were passed over. Ganso especially. Midfield is where we are the weakest and Ganso is the best I’ve seen in a long time - european dopers will probably get to know him next year. My main concerns are that we’re too dependent on Kaka in the midfield and that we don’t have even one single formation designed to go out there and score. Everything depends on counters. Still, Dunga is a strict disciplinarian and at the very least, win or loose, we won’t have to live through 2006’s disgrace all over again.
You didn’t specify whether I had to vote with my head or my heart.
So I went for England.
According to the the poll we did the other week, it will be Brazil or Spain…
I thought this thread looked familiar!
Voted for Brazil:
[ul]
[li]I can’t see Spain getting out of their own way, despite probably being the most talented squad. [/li][li]England will feel the pressure and find a way to screw up, despite Capello having them in supposedly their best form in a very long time.[/li][li]Germany just doesn’t strike me as being as dominant as in years past—I’m probably overstating the effects of losing Ballack for the Cup. [/li][li]I refuse to vote for Italy or Portugal, and anyways clicking my mouse on Portugal would cause Ronaldo to fall like I’d gutshot him…[/li][li]The U.S.? You’re kidding, right? Although having a healthy Davies and Gooch would make this an interesting squad to watch. Now, I’ll be happy if they can beat Slovenia. Even if they get out of group, they’ll still likely face Germany in the Round of 16. Joy.[/li][li]The Netherlands are very, very interesting…really looking forward to a Brazil/Holland quarterfinal, and hoping it’ll be as exciting as the 1994 WC match.[/li][li]I’m not sure what to think about the African teams. Yes, usually the host finds a way to get out of round-robin, but does anyone really think that South Africa has a chance against either Mexico or France? (Though it would please me hugely to see the Springbok(s) beat the snot out of El Tri—it would take a lot of beating. And if the fans could bomb El Tri with piss bags, that would make my day complete. Not that I’m bitter or anything.) Reverie aside, and yeah, Drogba and Eto’o are pretty good, but how are the African teams as, well, teams?[/li][/ul]
Finally, is there any interest at the Dope for a March Madness-style fantasy bracket for the Cup. If so, where should we set one up or where is the SDMB group?
:smack: Sorry! (How did I miss that? Thought I did a search…)
Checked around, there are a few sites with tourney stuff, but didn’t see anything on Yahoo, where we often do this sort of thing. ESPN does have a kind of World Cup bracket challenge if you want to use that. I didn’t read it too closely, but it starts with picking the two teams advancing from each group and goes from there.
In the other thread, I picked Ivory Coast but since then I filled out my girlfriends bracket for her job and ended up with a Germany/England final in a WWII rematch (only with stakes that aren’t as high). I picked Germany to win and am not worried about the Michael Ballack injury as he isn’t the player he once was. I’m counting on Spain and Brazil to lay an egg against some upstart somewhere along the way. Spain, I’m not worried about but Brazil have won like 5 of the damn things plus it’s been 8 years so they’re kind of due.
On a side note - sort of, what kind of a talent pool do you have when Ronaldinho doesn’t make your squad? If Ronaldinho were Canadian they’d be dragging his rotting corpse onto the field 100 years after his death.
I think I provoked someone into voting for North Korea. All right, fess up, whoever you are!
It was one of Dunga’s more polemic calls and lots of people are furious about it. Myself, I think that Ronaldinho isn’t anywhere near as good as he once was and that he was never quite as good as he was made out to be. He was great but not that great.
raises hand
Although I did it for a joke, before reading any replies.