Road To FIFA: World Cup 2014 Brazil

[Mick Donalds]

^That was heartbreaking. I'm sick of seeing Italians flopping all over the field and winning.

 

[Troy]

Stoked to see Australia in their 3rd straight world cup. I still remember in 2006 when we almost took down Italy in one of the finals. I hope we can produce some good results, and hopefully get an easy group. I think we will do well regardless.

My pick to win it all is Spain. Depending on how it pans out, I'll go with Germany as the runner up.

I still get annoyed at that vision from the Round of 16 game when Grosso took that dive to get the penalty after 93 minutes. We played so well that World Cup and actually had a strong coach in charge so it was devastating to drop out that way. I hope that this time around we can make it out of the group stages again like we did in 06.

Why is the World Cup being held in a 3rd world toilet that's unsafe? Should have just had it in Dubai, ffs.

Brazil were the only country that submitted an official bid for the 2014 World Cup. I am more annoyed at Russia and Qatar hosting the next two after it. The vote buying process is frustrating and so corrupt.

 

[AF.]

Why is the World Cup being held in a 3rd world toilet that's unsafe? Should have just had it in Dubai, ffs.

Yeah it really sucks. Australia have been making bids for the World Cup but it loses out to places like Qatar. I guess they don't like Western countries lol.

I still get annoyed at that vision from the Round of 16 game when Grosso took that dive to get the penalty after 93 minutes. We played so well that World Cup and actually had a strong coach in charge so it was devastating to drop out that way. I hope that this time around we can make it out of the group stages again like we did in 06.

I have a theory that we could have made the final had Grosso not dived. Schwarzer is one of the best penalty keepers in the world right now so as long as we held off Italy in extra time I think we would have won penalties, or at least had a 50/50 chance in doing so.

If I recall correctly, we would have faced Ukraine if we beat Italy. Definitely a winnable game. Ukraine are nothing special.

 

[Mick Donalds]

Brazil were the only country that submitted an official bid for the 2014 World Cup. I am more annoyed at Russia and Qatar hosting the next two after it. The vote buying process is frustrating and so corrupt.

Huh? Nawww. They can't have been the only country that wanted to host the World Cup... That seems weird to me. Would have thought China would have tried to get the World Cup, seeing as how they had the summer Olympics in 2008, and are trying to put on a nice face to the rest of the world right now.

 

[The Cork]

There were bids for the next three WC's, and nearly every country went for the 2022 one which Qatar won.

Then FIFA promptly decided to piss about and try to move the tourney to winter, right in the middle of the European domestic season. Made no sense at all and just showed the vote was totally corrupt.

Also, the only unbeaten team at the last WC was New Zealand. You Aussies have some catching up to do :

 

[Troy]

Huh? Nawww. They can't have been the only country that wanted to host the World Cup... That seems weird to me. Would have thought China would have tried to get the World Cup, seeing as how they had the summer Olympics in 2008, and are trying to put on a nice face to the rest of the world right now.

They were the only country that had a bid in the end. This World Cup had to be in South America as FIFA still had their rotation policy in place at the time. Colombia made a bid but withdrew it before the final deadline and Argentina said they would bid but never did so in the end Brazil were the only country left. China will most likely bid for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups.

There were bids for the next three WC's, and nearly every country went for the 2022 one which Qatar won.

Then FIFA promptly decided to piss about and try to move the tourney to winter, right in the middle of the European domestic season. Made no sense at all and just showed the vote was totally corrupt.

Also, the only unbeaten team at the last WC was New Zealand. You Aussies have some catching up to do :

New Zealand were good last World Cup and Australia were a shambles. Pim Verbeek's selections for the first game against Germany showed that he had given up. If we had picked our normal lineup we wouldn't have been smashed 4-0 and may have snuck in on GD.

 

[Dod Draper]

That penalty shoot-out was the best I've ever seen. Every pen up until the one that missed one was fantastic. Leagues of difference between the technique of those two countries and England.

 

[CGS]

That pretty much was a class in how to stay composed during a high pressure penalty shootout. Pirlo especially damn near had his eye half closed while taking his. Great testament to both teams. Bonnuci just got the short straw really.

 

[Keith]

Would be nice to see Brazil win the final but I see Spain having a little too much for them. This Italy team is getting better all the time.

 

[Andrew]

Well it's been a while since I've updated this but I should have done it earlier.

GROUP A:
Brazil
Croatia
Mexico
Cameroon

GROUP B:
Spain
Netherlands
Chile
Australia

GROUP C:
Colombia
Greece
Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire)
Japan

GROUP D:
Uruguay
Costa Rica
England
Italy

GROUP E:
Switzerland
Ecuador
France
Honduras

GROUP F:
Argentina
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Iran
Nigeria

GROUP G:
Germany
Portugal
Ghana
USA

GROUP H:
Belgium
Algeria
Russia
Korea Republic

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With these teams in who do you think will place top two in the groups?

MY PREDICTIONS: (Colored in Green as who I see advancing)


GROUP A:
Brazil
Croatia
Mexico
Cameroon

GROUP B:
Spain
Netherlands
Chile
Australia

GROUP C:
Colombia
Greece
Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire)
Japan

GROUP D:
Uruguay
Costa Rica
England
Italy

GROUP E:
Switzerland
Ecuador
France
Honduras

GROUP F:
Argentina
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Iran
Nigeria

GROUP G:
Germany
Portugal
Ghana
USA

GROUP H:
Belgium
Algeria
Russia
Korea Republic

​

 

[Keith]

^ Good call. Will make my picks at a later date, but I would say that the Germany group is the most interesting. Also, England's group is not as difficult as some have made out, but it is important they get at least a point from Italy to set them up for the other two games.

 

[The Cork]

Brazil, France and Argentina have piss easy groups, they should be fresh for the KO stages and go far.

Still think Germany will walk it though, such an embarrasment of riches in their squad.

Gotze, Reus, Kroos, Muller, Schurrle, Bender, Schweinsteiger, Draxler. Thats just their midfielders ffs.

 

[Keith]

Group A - Brazil and Croatia

Group B - Holland and Spain

Group C - Japan and Ivory Coast

Group D - Italy and England (and yes I am 50/50 on that one!)

Group E - Switzerland and France

Group F - Argentina and Iran

Group G - Germany and Ghana

Group H - Belgium and Russia

So am sticking my neck out and going for a few upsets. Hope that Belgium make the last eight at least.

Actually think France could do something, like Cork said they have what should be an easy group and have a very strong mix of youth and experience also.

Roy names his squad today, am not expecting any great surprises just hope he gets a good blend of youth and experience. There are still core players of from the older squads like Lempard and Cole who have a part to play (in Cole's case from the bench), but I do hope that the likes of Barkley, Lambert and Lullara get some good experience.

 

[Keith]

Apart from leaving Cole out I pretty much agree with most of his squad, given what we have to work with those are roughly the best choices. But why the likes of Cleverly and Jones keep getting picked I don't know. Also even if he is playing in Canada I think Defoe has a good record for England and has been one of the most consistent England strikers in years.

 

[Dale]

No problems with Cole being left out at all really. Baines deserves to be in the team on merit so why have Cole as backup who should have retired after the WC if he was picked anyway when you can have Shaw there for the experience when obviously he's gonna be a key player for years to come.