Are you sure?, didnt they classify in a play-off game against left overs from europe?.
Nigeria and Sweden were in the top of their respective Continents i think.
To back Frodo up here, I think it has to be pointed out that Sweden topped Turkey’s qualification group, with Turkey subsequently qualifying via a play-off. Sweden even beat Turkey in Turkey. Turkey are a strong team (I have to say that because they beat Ireland in a qualification play-off for Euro 2000) and they may even have a better tournament than Sweden or Nigeria but it’s a bit rich to baldly state that your national team is better than the side that qualified directly ahead of you.
Turkey finished second to Sweden in its group. Turkey beat Austria 6-0 aggregate in a playoff.
Africa has five qualifiers and they were the winners of five different groups. Nigeria had to win its last three matches to edge out Liberia. Nigeria has lots of talent and little to no organization.
Before I get cold feet and change from my gut instincts, I had better name the teams that I think will come out of each group (in no particular order of finishing):
A: France and Uruguay
B: Spain and Slovenia
C: Costa Rica and Brazil
D: Portugal and United States
E: Germany and Cameroon
F: Argentina and England
G: Italy and Mexico
H: Russia and Japan
A few comments–while this is not exactly going out on a limb, I have no money on it so there is no reason to pick the big upset unless I feel it. I think the hardest groups to pick are E and F, because E is so weak down the board (why aren’t more people agreeing with me on this?) and F so strong and I really wouldn’t be surprised to see any of them make it out (though I would be stunned if Argentina didn’t). As for picking the US, I know that host countries generally make it through to the second round, but I have seen South Korea play four or five times in the past year or so and they looked good for a total of 40 minutes over that span. It was a coin toss between Poland and the US, but I see a scenario where they are head-to-head in the third match with the US needing a draw to go through, and I think they’ll get it. I also have a feeling that Russia is going to walk through their group, though that probably means they are cursed.
I love the fact that France has to play the #2 out of the “group of death”, as that means one more chance for them to slip up. It would be traumatic in more ways than I can explain if the Frenchies were to win the World Cup (again).
I like (in the loosest sense of the word) Argentina to win the Cup.
I agree that group E doesn’t look so daunting, particularly with the German’s play of late. I could easily see Cameroon and Ireland to advance out of this one, I expect Cameroon to finish first in the group. The Saudis typically surprise someone in the first round.
Does anyone want the French to win? I see that Wracket wants them out, but assume he(?) is a Brit expat in France. I cheered for them last time, not because I like the French, but just to see someone new at the top, or at least someone who hadn’t been there for a while. I think Japan can make a strong run at it, they seem to be driven by emotion, but predict they will go out in the quarter or semi-final round in much anguish.
Hello manwithaplan.
First, and I should have probably made this clear in my post, I’m not Australian. My point was not made out of any bias. It just seemed a bit unfair that Australia has to qualify in a do-or-die battle where a couple of mistakes sends them packing. On the other hand, they are virtually assured of earning that playoff game because there is no competition for them in Oceania. But I’m sure that Australia would like to get better opponents to compete against, rather than Fiji and Solomon Islands, since good matches are what help keep a team in shape. (Why not put the top one or two teams from Oceania into the Asian qualifying group?).
quote:
I’m too lazy to look now, but I’d venture that Uruguay lost at least one game 3-0 in their qualifying campaign.
Nope. Worst defeat was vs Venezuela 2 - 0. All info from here.
What I meant to say was that other teams who play round robins have many more chances to make up for their mistakes. I in no way meant to imply that Uruguay did not deserve to qualify.
Group E weak??? WTF??
Ireland qualified without losing a match, accumulated 24 points in the process… how many other qualifying teams can say that??
Germany sure can’t.
Cameroon qualified second out of Africa, behind Tunisia.
Ireland will come top of Group E. mark my words 
I feel the need to clarify a point…
When I called Turkey’s national team “a stronger one than Sweden’s” I said it knowing they finished the group ahead of Turkey, and won the game in Istanbul.
But that is only what the scoreboard says. And on the 87th minute of the 93 minute game the same scoreboard read
Turkey 1 - Sweden 0…
And remember, they didn’t win the game in Sweden!
Sh*t happens, but the two goals in the last minutes of the game changed the whole picture.
Just mark my words, and since we all will probably be around here after the World Cup, we can discuss things again!!
Okay, you make a decent case for the Irish, whom I already said I expect to advance, along with Cameroon. They did finish first in a very tough qualifying group, tied with Portugal and ahead of the Netherlands. But, and it’s been a while since I’ve seen them play, Ireland tends to play a conservative sort of game, defense first. Cameroon may surprise them with their speed and creativity on offense. If Ireland can beat Cameroon then they might finish first. But if they draw against them then they will finish second based on goals scored.
Surely I’m not the only Englishman to be slightly relieved that we didn’t get an ‘easy’ group? Admittedly, Group F is a leedle bit harder than I had hoped for, but England are one of those teams who only play well against strong opposition. I hate it when we get an easy group; if we only had to play Tunisia or South Korea, I’d be worried. But Argentina, Nigeria? They are bona fide good teams, and Sweden are no slouches either. I look forward to those games with Zen-like calm. Hopefully, they will toughen us up for our triumphant progress through the knockout stages. I think you’ll find that several big names who are currently gloating about their favourable draw will simply not be there in the second round. England, I reckon, will.
And playing France, you say? Yeah, good point.
Well, I am a “he”, and an expat living in France, but I’m not technically a Brit (if that is relevant to my bias). In fact, I am quite aware of the fact that England will probably finish second in their group and France first in theirs which will mean that England could be jumping out of the pot and into the fire, to badly misuse the expression. Not an ideal situation for a patriotic Brit. No, the reasons I hate France have to do with the French smugness I see in living here with their team being “champion du monde, champion d’Europe”, and the fact than many of my boyhood friends are Frenchies and would love to sing “On est champions!” to me on repeat for the next four years–particularly annoying since half of the French team are just rapists (and they have the “gaul” [sic] to complain about the friendly with Australia), yet “Zizou” and a few other admittedly talented players seem to suffice for them to take all the big trophies. As you can see, I could turn this into a BBQ rant, but I will spare you.
I defend my stance on Group E. Of course no group in the World Cup is truly easy, and for similar reasons one can argue that Group C is quite weak, but there is something about every one of the teams in this group (E) that leads me to believe that none of them will be around come quarterfinals time. MaybeCameroon, if they make it out and get the right draw, but that is hardly a bold statement. I would like to think that Ireland taking the rightful place of Holland in the World Cup (no matter how bad the Dutch have played of late) would mean that they could make some noise and shake things up, but as long as their opponents drink plenty of coffee so as to not fall asleep on the field I don’t see them beating anyone other than the Saudis. Might be enough to get through if they draw the other two, of course.
Like ShibbOleth I would like to see Japan do something good this World Cup–eventually this team is going to be one of the eight best in the world, despite their height issues (not a racial comment, just look at the roster!), so why not do something on their home turf? I can’t tell you why not, but they won’t–quarters max. Boy, I am just full of negativity…
The fact that Turkey choked late in the game and that Sweden battled to qualification at the final stages away from home tells a story in itself. At the risk of sounding like the worst television pundit, the game is played over 90 minutes. It still sticks in my craw that Man. Utd. did the same thing to win the Champions League but you have to hand it to them.
But don’t get me wrong, I think Turkey have been consistently strong over the last number of years and will advance from their group. I think the assertion above that China and Costa Rica pose the most serious challenge to Brazil is ludicrous. There’s probably not much between Sweden and Turkey but face it, they topped your group and beat you over two legs.
Sorry, I meant to include this in my last post
Hello yourself.
I think this is a good point. It would give Australia (and New Zealand?) some real competition and add another reasonably strong team to the Asian Group. The problem for FIFA would be what to do with the rest of Oceania. You still have to give the likes of the Marshall Islands and Vanuatu at least the possibility of reaching the finals.
Apologies for assuming you were an Aussie, BTW.
I am slightly out of touch with the extra-curricular activities of the French national side. Perhaps you could explain what they have been up to in more detail.
Hehehe. I watched that game in a Kneipe (pub) in Frankfurt. I am neither a Man U nor a Bayern fan, but it was a rare thing to see the Germans go from premature celebration to truly crestfallen in a couple of minutes. Textbook example of why you don’t let up when you have your boot on the opponents throat.
Unfortunately I don’t have any juicy details about the private lives of Les Bleus, though I would venture to say that there must be some perverse, BDSM-related reason why Zidane continues to have that "hair"style.
What I was referring to (with such colourful language) was the Patrick Vierra (whom I firmly believe to be the world’s most overrated footballer) method of doing all but forcing his manhood upon the opponent when attempting to tackle/fighting for a high ball/shaking hands after the match, knowing that most refs are too intimidated to give the world champions a red card. Not everyone on the team plays this way, of course, but enough of the central defenders and defensive midfielders do to get on the nerves of someone who would already hate the French team for no reason at all. This is not to say that I mind when teams play a little rough–Holland isn’t afraid to flex a little muscle here and there, but it never seemed like that was their only way of defending. France does some lovely things on attack, but as for defense, I stick by my “rapist” tag (not my rapist tag, as that matter was settled by my lawyer and that of the animal’s owner outside of court–oh wait, I have gone way off topic here).
Sorry, this is an especially boring day at work.
U.S. soccer fan here. (Not many of us in the wild.)
I have to say I’m feeling really good about our chances this time around, for a number of reasons:
-
The quality of our squad has grown much more than the world’s opinion of the team. This gives us a little “sleeper” edge. If we can get everyone healthy and in one place for a change, we’ve got plenty of players that can play (and excel) on the world level : Earnie Stewart,Claudio Reyna, Joe-Max Moore, Eddie Pope to name just a few. Not to mention that Bruce Arena is the best coach we’ve ever had.
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We play Korea twice before the Cup- a friendly this week and at the CONCACAF in January.
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We play the last game of the first round. Being able to watch everyone else’s outcomes first may help with first game jitters. We also get to play the entire tournament (except the final
) in Korea, so we don’t have to move as much as some teams will.
I, for one, see us with a better than even chance of making it out of round 1.
Just my two cents.