World Cup 2014

Yeah I don't think Eng we'll be humiliated really. The last WC might be a one-off.

It'll be some 'heroics' to another pen failure instead. The usual nonsense.

If I had to put money down, I'd say Spain, theyve got the best squad. Uruguay have potential too, they could go all the way. I can't see England getting out of their group but I've no idea what Italy are like right now, but its Italy, theyre always decent.

Italy tend to start slow but yeah i wdn't put my own money on England getting out of the group

Uruguay have potential too, they could go all the way

Really? What makes you say that?!

Japan is a good pick if you want an underdog that also plays nice football

Uruguay = Suarez, Cavani, great defence

backing spain at the last few big tournaments has served me well and i think they have one more in them. portugal, france and colombia all have the draws to go well. the latter will obv miss falcao but look like they have enough options up front to cope w/ gutierrez, martinez and bacca. had a few quid on benzema top scorer too.

I'm psyched as fuck for this WC I've seen hardly any football all season

psyched but with reservations, that heat is surely going to sap the life out of a lot games

Uruguay will struggle if Suarez isn't 100% fit. England are no better though and this isn't a vintage Italy team. The group is wide open.

I'm interested to see how Algeria get on as well. Korea aren't great and Russia are Russia so they might be a good outside bet for second place behind Belgium.

can't see flakers like the Belgian individuals ever going beyond first knockout

Prevailing attitude amongst Italian fans seems to be one of pessimism - they still think they can take us because they're well aware that we're shite, but they're definitely not confident in their squad. I watched the game against Ireland in a bar with a few mates last week, and they were really pretty dire.

Ordinarily I would never back England to get anything against a team like Italy, but it does feel like we've improved slightly since the penalty loss at Euro 2010, have more attacking options, players in better form and so on, while received wisdom here is that this Italian team is going backwards as the squad ages and that the youngsters aren't reliable. Everyone here also seems gutted about Montolivo, I hadn't previously realised they considered him to be such a big player for them.

So maybe England in with a fighting chance in the opening game if we go out with guns blazing? Welp, there I go again!

Theres no big Serie A scandal this year to get them riled up either

Opening game winner will be the heat = they shouldn't bother, so going to be 0-0.

it's good to have strong hosts, & I'd like to see a couple of south american teams in the semis even if the brazil/argentina final doesn't materialize. I also like that there's a replay of the previous final on the second day. be interesting to see how easily the argentine defence holds out in a p weak group. feel like italy &/or ivory coast might quietly creep into the QFs. group g has the best scope for decent teams getting humiliated & belgium/russia/korea seems v watchable & unpredictable in group h.

the important award for best kit might go to france for the v french collar, but I like the inverted algerian kits & their lovely green. argentina's kit is a massive downgrade, 2 white stripes was the truth. cameroon kit is p baroque, the colombian stripe is good, hoping for some good haircut action as always ofc

Should maybe note my above post comes with the caveat that when these Italian fans say "We're not that good" they mean "We probably won't be able to win the cup this year", whereas for England fans the same statement would mean "Shite we'll be lucky to even win a game".

Whatevs, I am an England fan and I cannot help getting giddy at this time of year. This is the first tournament in years where (aside from losing every game / losing BADLY to Italy and Uruguay) they can't really disgrace themselves, but just getting through the group will feel like a reasonable achievement in and of itself.

Think Spain may not get out of their group, and if they do will lose 1-0 in one of their first 2 knockout games. France or Brazil to win with Switzerland or Croatia surprise semi-finalists. Not that bothered who wins as long as it's not England.

It bodes well for England if ITV hire John Terry as a pundit, he'll be there waiting in full kit to join the World Cup victory celebrations.

Switzerland?!

Could see the Netherlands missing out if Chile turn up. I think Spain's style will suit the heat better.

Cote D'Ivoire run to the semi-finals would be fun.

The groups are stupidly imbalanced as well. I really don't understand why Switzerland are seeded at all.

they did beat the tournament winners last World Cup tbf

they're 8th in the world

anyway I have 1.50 e/w on Toure at 150/1 to be top scorer so I would quite like a Cote D'Ivoire run too

Portugal are third in the world and have a better record at international tournaments than Switzerland. I won't pretend to know how these things are worked out.

Portugal were 11th when the seeding was decided in October last year, i think.

14th, in fact, but it does show how quickly rankings can change.

Switzerland seem like the lower key version of Belgium. Drnic Xhaka and Shaqiri should be exciting. Hard to root for a team with a center back pairing of Senderos and Djouro though. Hope Fabian Schar starts instead.

Switzerland also have one of the highest rated young full backs (Rodriguez) and three central midfielders that play together at Napoli.

Manchester United's Adnan Januzaj has had his first cap for Belgium taken away after FIFA wiped last month's 5-1 win over Luxembourg from the official records.

Coach Marc Wilmots made seven substitutions during the May 26 World Cup warm-up in Genk - one more than the quota permitted by world football's governing body.

The decision means that Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku's hat-trick in the match has been erased, while back-up goalkeeper Sammy Bossut also loses his first cap.

does the US have any chance of advancing beyond group play?

Ronaldo is carrying an injury so...maybe?

It's another tough group. They would do well not to come last.

so best case is we steal one against Portugal with an injured Ronaldo? I don't know too much about Ghana's team, other than they are typically much better than us, but is Ghana an even tougher game than Portugal?

(quietly) go Australia woooo *sob*

shrug

Ghana are probably sightly better than Portugal. Excellent midfield and a good attack.

thanks and ;_;

with Donovan's goalscoring record at World Cups there's still a chance

All the USAUSAUSA pundits agree that if they can beat Ghana they've got a great chance to advance.

xp lol NN

Haha xp

I have a feeling that Germany will struggle which could make the group even more difficult.

feel like if the US wants to purport to be good at the football they should hang tough with their group.. sink or swim bitches

im glad the first US game is the week after my wedding when I wont be doing a fucking thing.

coincidentally this image is making the rounds on usa soccer nerd twitter right now

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BpTmSeaCYAAXtLq.jpg

recant my earlier blasphemies about England perhaps not being *totally* shit. I might turn this game off, don't think it's good for my enthusiasm for the tournament as a whole

ah they've actually been alright other than the goal. Lambert and Barkley bright, Rooney fucking it up as usual

ox and barkley very bright. number none otm re rooney. stick him on the subs bench for each game.

aye the reserve attackers look like they could do a job if called upon, no doubt. just wish the same could be said for the reserve defence

Roooooney

smalling so bad it beggars belief. foster worse if possible

ha

https://youtu.be/Yc76VhT2a6U

rte2 ran a very fine programme today with every goal from this excellent tournament