World Cup 2010 - South Africa Thread

[Tommy]

Don't like the title I gave the other one, since I don't think they're uninspiring anymore. Fresh start for all World Cup talk methinks.

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France

Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece

Group C: ENGLAND, United States, Algeria, Slovenia

Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana

Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon

Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia

Group G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal

Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile

Personally think we've got off pretty easy. The particularly difficult looking groups are Group D and Group G. Particularly Group G, since Portugal may well have got their act together by then. Although for me, the underdogs of the competition are Ivory Coast, and I'm backing them to go places this time round.

[Sly Boots]

Our own complacency has the potential to cause the only problems in that group - having said that the USA aren't mugs, having beaten Spain and been 2-0 against Brazil in the Confed Cup.

I just have bad memories of our last WC, against such mighty foes as Trinidad, but seeing as we've got Capello rather than Shteve McLaren, hopefully he'll keep the players' feet on the ground and stop them buying into their own hype.

I doubt whether we'll win it - in my opinion it's Spain's tournament to lose - but it's interesting that Germany, Holland and Brazil all have quite tough groups, while Argentina might have a few surprises in store.

Looks like it's set up to be a fascinating tournament.

[Tommy]

I have a feeling Spain aren't going to live up to expectations. On paper, and in competitions over the last few years they have been absolutely brilliant. The midfield is quite possibly the best of my lifetime, and their frontline is also great. But they've always had the problem of disappointing, and it'll be interesting to see what happens in H and G, because potentially Spain and Brazil could play each other in the second round, which would be a massive plus for us.

I also think that realistically, Spain will play Ivory Coast, and that will be no walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination. They seem to be everyone's choice as underdogs. They'll suit the climate too, so G and H are the groups to watch for me.

The team that for me, never looks particularly strong but always does big things in the major tournaments are Germany. I look at them in paper, and rarely rate more than a few of their players as even close to that of the other big countries. As a unit they seem to be solid, and although I don't think they play particularly exciting football, they get results. I'd rather we dodged them in the second round, so we have a chance to gain a bit of momentum.

[JonB]

I also think that realistically, Spain will play Ivory Coast, and that will be no walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination. They seem to be everyone's choice as underdogs. They'll suit the climate too, so G and H are the groups to watch for me..

Winter?

[Tommy]

I also think that realistically, Spain will play Ivory Coast, and that will be no walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination. They seem to be everyone's choice as underdogs. They'll suit the climate too, so G and H are the groups to watch for me..

Winter?

>.< My bad. They'll still have played there before.

[JonB]

It's going be interesting to see how the hotter countries do in the colder climates. Hopefully it will benefit ourselves.

[congo]

The thing about the world cup is that they are few and far between. Unlike the Olympics. We seem to have to put up with an Olympics every couple months. It's been at least 12 years since the World Cup in 2006.

I dont' think that the USA will be pushovers but I'm glad we got them instead of Australia who can be very hard to knock over. Infact the Italians had to get lucky against them in a recent tournament IIRC. Infact Germany's group looks a little unpleasant altogether. Also looks like Brazil are going to have to turn up at least to get thru from their group. They can't rely on bongo drum power this time judging by the teams they've been saddled with.

if Brazil do get thru perhaps we'll be lucky enough to see some Christiano Ronaldo tears this time as theyl get rid of Portugal. Is it only one team from each group?

[Tommy]

Two.

We play the second team from Group D if we finish first in our group, and vice versa.

[congo]

oh, so there is a good chance we might play Australia after all

[Tommy]

oh, so there is a good chance we might play Australia after all

Personally think there is next to no chance. 2nd place is between Ghana and Serbia for me, I think Serbia may scrape it.

[Adam]

Best international thread I could find, and semi-relevant I suppose:



Tonight's semi-final was epic. Egypt looked great, Algeria looked shoddy - as they have all tournament by all accounts, and the tension between the two sides was perfect. Looking forward to the final, will be supporting Egypt simply because I'd love to see a national side successfully win three successive tournaments. Also, I backed them before it when they were at about 14/1 fifth favourites, which was just mental. -_-



Also, with more relevance to the World Cup: my prediction that Ghana will be the best African team there has been given some weight, though they have so many players missing, and Ivory Coast will be so much more up for the WC, that it will be like two different sides to the ones we've seen here.

[Tommy]

I don't doubt that the African teams will pose a great threat in the World Cup.

Really excited for the World Cup. Not many teams that you can immediately discount, as I'd say the teams that made it are the best in the world at the moment. (As stupid and obvious as that sounds....¬_¬)

[Adam]

I don't doubt that the African teams will pose a great threat in the World Cup.

Why not? They're all pretty poor, with the exception of Ghana and Ivory Coast who've both been handed very tough groups. On the evidence of the ACN Algeria aren't gonna pose any threat to us, despite what the pundits have been saying in an attempt to big up the quality of the tournament, and the rest look very flimsy.


Actually, examining the groups, Cameroon and Nigeria probably have the best chances of getting through. Serbia and Germany could easily put Ghana out, and Ivory Coast could definitely fall to Portugal and Brazil. Cameroon have to get through Denmark and Japan, if we assume Netherlands are gonna win that group, which is more doable than the other two, and Nigeria could even top their group depending on which Argentina turns up.

[DjchunKfunK]

Following on the theme, I managed to catch the final of the ANC last night and I have to say it was the most boring final I have seen since USA 94. I don't quite know how Ghana expected to win the game as they offered no real attacking threat until they went behind. Terrible negative football and they deserved to lose.

[katarn]

Less than 8 weeks to go!

So are we going to get an English team song? And one that isn't a rehash of 3 Lions?

I think they should use Germany's 1994 song for inspiration:

Village People - Far Away in America