304 replies to this topic

[gotosy]

RobH, on Dec 6 2009, 11:57 AM, said:

Incidentally:

[i]Kim Jong-il bans World Cup coverage - unless North Korea win

Brazil's death group...
so seems that WC will banned in their country indeed

[Rafa]

The volunteers of the Final Draw were given a surprise visit by Danny Jordaan yesterday! Was awesome.

[Citius Altius Fortius]

Mo Rush, on Dec 6 2009, 02:37 PM, said:

The volunteers of the Final Draw were given a surprise visit by Danny Jordaan yesterday! Was awesome.

Had you been one of the volunteers, Mo?

Edited by Citius Altius Fortius, 06 December 2009 - 08:50 AM.

[Rafa]

Yes. Our Volunteer Centre was the building adjacent to the red carpet. We got to see all the stars!

[KRATK]

I don't think that at the end we will have upsets... Maybe the greatest upset would be an African team in semifinals but my bet to the championship is Brazil. I think Spain will lose as always in quarterfinals or maybe semifinals... they have bad luck...
I think it's a psychological thing... I agree that teams like Cote d'Ivoire, Spain, Serbia or Paraguay could easily beat most of their opponents in any match... or even the smaller ones like Honduras or New Zealand... but playing the World Cup is really different... better teams in other ocassions couldn't beat their own favouritism and had lost against the classic teams (Brazil, Italy, Germany,... )

dannyelbrazil, on Dec 6 2009, 05:45 AM, said:

Did you watched last Argentina matches, indeed, the last one against Brazil?
Are you sure you bet on Argentina champions?

My bet is Argentina can not get round of 8...

Argentinean team is a mess... They will qualify to the second round because they have some of the best players in the world. But Maradona playing with Verón and Palermo... wtf!
It's quite simple: Messi and Agüero alone can't bring the Argentinean team to the final...

[lucas_leobas]

KRATK, on Dec 6 2009, 01:15 PM, said:

I don't think that at the end we will have upsets... Maybe the greatest upset would be an African team in semifinals but my bet to the championship is Brazil. I think Spain will lose as always in quarterfinals or maybe semifinals... they have bad luck...
I think it's a psychological thing... I agree that teams like Cote d'Ivoire, Spain, Serbia or Paraguay could easily beat most of their opponents in any match... or even the smaller ones like Honduras or New Zealand... but playing the World Cup is really different... better teams in other ocassions couldn't beat their own favouritism and had lost against the classic teams (Brazil, Italy, Germany,... )
Argentinean team is a mess... They will qualify to the second round because they have some of the best players in the world. But Maradona playing with Verón and Palermo... wtf!
It's quite simple: Messi and Agüero alone can't bring the Argentinean team to the final...

I think that, if Argentina had another coach, maybe they would have a shot. We all know that teams can totally change when they have a few training weeks before the World Cup, and it's not that rare for teams that look like a mess to have a good WC. When they have a good coach. See Brazil 2002.

However, Maradona will be coaching the Argentinians in those 2 weeks. So, things will NOT change. I think there's a huge chance Argentina may be sent home before the quarterfinals.

[DannyelBrazil]

Citius Altius Fortius, on Dec 6 2009, 10:38 AM, said:

I think the time will come that even Brasil will loose a WC-match vs. a so called "easy opponent" - and this might happen in South Africa 2010 or Brasil 2014...

It already happened... France 3 - Brazil 0 in 1998... LOL

[KRATK]

lucas_leobas, on Dec 6 2009, 02:37 PM, said:

I think that, if Argentina had another coach, maybe they would have a shot. We all know that teams can totally change when they have a few training weeks before the World Cup, and it's not that rare for teams that look like a mess to have a good WC. When they have a good coach. See Brazil 2002.

However, Maradona will be coaching the Argentinians in those 2 weeks. So, things will NOT change. I think there's a huge chance Argentina may be sent home before the quarterfinals.

Argentina was a mess with Basile but at least was still good... but with Maradona, you have the mess in the field and the mess in the bench...

[Roux]

In the past 4 World Cups (USA 1994, France 1998, Korea/Japan 2002, Germany 2006) Brazil only lost twice. One was the final match in 1998, the other in the quarter finals in 2006. Both times, they lost to France! It's too bad they're at opposite ends of the draw and thus could only meet in either the semi-final or the final, and I honestly don't think France has a good enough team to make it that far this year. So, Brazil's going all the way.

[lucas_leobas]

Roux, on Dec 6 2009, 06:17 PM, said:

In the past 4 World Cups (USA 1994, France 1998, Korea/Japan 2002, Germany 2006) Brazil only lost twice. One was the final match in 1998, the other in the quarter finals in 2006. Both times, they lost to France! It's too bad they're at opposite ends of the draw and thus could only meet in either the semi-final or the final, and I honestly don't think France has a good enough team to make it that far this year. So, Brazil's going all the way.

Brazil also lost to Norway in the 1998 group stage, 2-1.

Anyway, for people in my generation the 2006 elimination was an absolute shock. First because that was considered to be one of the best Brazilian teams ever, and also because I had never seen Brazil NOT getting the WC final (in 1990 I was more worried about seducing my own mother, according to Freud ). I was depressed until the end of the WC, and I regret that, because I didn't watch any of the remaining games.

This time I intend to have a blast watching the WC regardless of what happens to the Brazilian team.