Well just over a month till the football(soccer) world cup begins Who do you think will win it this time round? I'm hoping for Italy to win again
I think Italy's too old. France doesn't deserve to be there. Argentina hasn't looked great under Maradona. Brazil is Brazil. Germany is always tough. England has Wayne Rooney. United States is an underrated team and could go far but can't match up against a big boy. Spain is good. I like the Netherlands and the form they showed in Euro 2008 was something else. I think we will see some African countries contend too.
The USA beat Spain, fair and square, in the warm up tourney last year...... [IIRC, Spain are still ranked #1 by FIFA (?)] *If* the USA plays up to its potential, who knows? Hope springs eternal, so England got my vote, but I can't say how nervous I am about game 1.... How cool would a USA -v- England final be!.... Should be a great event - One of my boys is gonna be here for it as well - Can't wait! Cheers, Ian
England? With one decent player (Rooney)? Come on! I hope you don't have money riding on this. England's line-up sucks.
rooting for USA predict Brazil will win - just too many GREAT players darkhorses are the African nations teams - NEVER won a World Cup before, but at home this might be their cup?
Argentina is gunna win of course. Maradonna is going to get them high on coke and lead them to victory via "hand of god" goals!
does anyone here know a good place to stream the world cup other than on ESPN 360? Time Warner doesn't offer it....
Remove South Africa from that list the chance of us winning are next to none! Having said that there is tremendous excitement down here about about the event. Out of interest, anyone from F chat headed for SA to watch a few games....dont worry its not quite the wild west down here as some people would have you beleive.
BTW, my vote goes to Spain. They have more quality on their bench than most of the other "contenders." Of course we know Football isn't played on paper, but I truly do feel this Spain team has shown it has the quality to beat anyone. Germany have the potential to go deep too.
Fixed it for you! I think "you" were added to the list out of courtesy - Kind of like the automatic entry Seriously, glad to hear that - I do hope for the local fans that you get out of the group stage - *That* would be a pretty good achievement for your guys...... Me and the boys looked into it last year - I'd come from here, they'd come from the UK and we'd hook up for at least a few of the England games. However, at least at that time the only way to get tickets was in "batches" - All England group games for example - and it was *super* expensive. How are the ticket sales doing? Hopefully it'll be a huge success with no "scandals" (hand of God, headbutts etc ] Cheers, Ian PS - Good to see we have our Fchat "eyes & ears" on the ground - Are you going to any matches?
It would be pretty amazing if SA got out of the group stage but honestly our local football federation is a small comedy.... Ticket sales, well we really dont know as I have my doubts about local media but time will tell. The weak local currency may help people to a degree. However, what some people tend to forget is that its winter down here in June-July and that means plenty of rain so this may play a part. Am probably headed to the England v Algeria game. My suggestion to anyone coming for the event is to no matter if your team there or not, everyone should visit Cape Town. P.S England are being based in a very small city, not sure how that area is going to cope with the influx of fans. Will post some from the ground updates as the event begins, will try and capture some of the feeling on the ground.
I'm looking forward to England VS USA first game of the group stages for England. C'MON ENGLAND!!!!!!! P.S. Naturally I chose England to win.
You said Finals, I took that to mean any major tournament. Either way you're correct about their WC record - extremely poor for a nation of their stature, but their Euro record wasn't that great either. Their team is filled with proven champions now - The current Barcelona crop who are arguably the greatest club side in history, high quality players in England, other major Spanish teams, etc. This Spain team has broken various records too. 2 years unbeaten, frugal defence, etc. It's scary that one of the best midfielders in England (and the world) who would be one of the most expensive players in the world if sold (Fabregas) struggles for minutes in this team. It truly is an incredible side.
One thing that needs to be considered is that the final will be played at high alititude, the final being played in Johannesburg which is 5700ft above sea level so thats going to be a factor I think. Its going to take players time to get used to the high altitude which is perhaps one of the reasons both the US and English teams have decided to base themselves on what we call here the "highveld"(high ground). Another factor of less relevence is that that its going to be winter down here and that will play a part in matches played in coastal cities such as Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban, Durban in particular suffers from a tropical climate with very high humidity. Rain is less ofa factor in Johannesburg at this time of the year but it does become very cold in the evenings.
Thanks for that - I didn't know Jo'burg was that high. Once upon a time, I'd have said that would play into Englands hands as the EPL (as it's now known) is generally considered the "fittest" league. However, it seems the EPL is now dominated by "foreigners", so even that possible advantage has gone For England - Cold/rain is good, but humidity can kill 'em..... Are tix sold out do you know? When we looked, they were available (in batches) but expensive. There was a separate site for "locals" (South Africans? Any African?) but we couldn't get to it - Dunno if the prices were different.... Hope it all goes off well for you guys. Are you going to any games? Can barely wait! Cheers, Ian
Ticket sales, well thats a big unkown as the local media here is portrying the event as largely sold out with a few expensive tickets remaining but the hotels are not showing high levels of booking so my guess is we will see when the event begins. The ticketing system here was a complex system of lotteries and applications and of course over the counter buying. I think its going to be close to call who will win as there are a lot of teams in with a chance. Am possibly headed to the England v Algeria game.
