<p>Pretty surprised noone's discussed this yet.
Pretty High-school thing to do I thought.
So who are you supporting?</p>
<p>My verdict: Germany vs Brazil in the finals.
I sooooo really badly want Germany to win that game...</p>
<p>Not that "High School" in the US, but I like to watch it. I've heard a lot of people say that Italy is gonna do well, but I really don't know. I'd like to see the good ol' US of A do semi-well. I think Brazil will win it.</p>
<p>Yep, Italy are looking good...but not as good as when they had Baggio. He was pure genius.</p>
<p>Group A: Germany
Group B: Paraguay or England
Group C: Argentina or Holland
Group D: Mexico
Group E: USA
Group F: Brazil
Group G: South Korea or France
Group H: Spain</p>
<p>Germany won't get to the finals.</p>
<p>Italy has a decent shot (especially after beating germany 4-1 recently in a friendly), it would be good for a change to see them play well as opposed to their pathetic Euro '04 performance. </p>
<p>USA has it damn hard in that group against the czechs, italy, and ghana so its a coin toss whether they will pass</p>
<p>Brazil of course is Brazil.. When you can afford to have Juninho and Robinho its because you have a damn good team. But I don't trust Ronaldo and Adriana up front lately... and at the back roque junior, roberto carlos, and cafu aren't playing like they used to.. So they're strength is with kaka and ronaldinho.</p>
<p>I think Argentina has a great team and definately has the potential to kick some brazil ass. But they also had a great team the last world cup and didn't get past the group stage, so you never know.</p>
<p>England also has a good team but they're forwards aren't that great and considering that rooney won't play because of an injury its that much worse for them.</p>
<p>Spain has a pretty good team.. perhaps strong enough to get to the finals considering individual players' performances in their clubs.. but I haven't seen them play as a team lately so I don't know</p>
<p>Lastly, France, Holand, and Portugal are also powerful teams to watch out for. Both of these have a pretty clear shot at getting to the finals.</p>
<p>my first 3 choice
brazil,argentina, and france</p>
<p>Was the commercial I saw for the World Cup referring to Sudan? Talked about how it's easier to support a team when the entire nation is behind it, and there's no civil war. Does anybody know what I'm talking about?</p>
<p>yea I saw that
thought it was talkin about like the Ivory Coast...... isn't that a country?</p>
<p>The Dutch are my pick to win it this year. Their backfield is a little sketchy, but they've got some amazing strikers. I can't believe Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Roy Makaay got left off of the team though, especially for Vennegoor of Hesselink, but I guess it shows you the quality of the other strikers they have.</p>
<p>Team USA will get slaughtered. Absolutely slaughtered. They're just not that good, and if they happen to finish above the Czech Republic and Italy (which they won't), they get Brazil in the second round.</p>
<p>Brazil are always the favorites, and with good reason. Ronaldinho is the best player in the world, and he's surrounded by other almost as amazing players (Kaka, Adriano etc.). They'll be tough to beat.</p>
<p>I don't really want to type out an analysis of every single team, but it's fair to say that I won't be leaving my house for a solid month.</p>
<p>I think team USA isn't given enough credit. They definately have the potential to do well. They got into the semi's in 2002 and lost to Germany 1-0. I don't think they are going to win though.</p>
<p>I don't think Germany is on a good start. They have done miserable in international friendlies. </p>
<p>France isn't that strong right now but should still win their group. Argentina is a young team and they need to play Netherlands. </p>
<p>England is strong but doesn't have the strikers it needs to be effective right now.</p>
<p>The Dutch have a strong team but they made some surprising omissions to their team. Portugal is a good team. Italy is strong but for some reason it's just not as impressive as they used to be. Spain is also strong.</p>
<p>I wouldn't be surprised if Sweden, Croatia, Mexico or Ghana make it far in the cup.</p>
<p>And Brazil is not going to win. As impressive as their team is, anything can happen. Red cards, injury, and the expectations of winning again.</p>
<p>I am predicting Netherlands and Portugal in the finals.</p>
<p>Team USA suffers from a lack of any real stars and a terrible draw. I probably watch more minutes of soccer than breaths I take in a day, and I just can't see them getting through Italy, the Czech Republic, or Brazil. They could hypothetically play for draws against Italy and the Czech Republic, and if they beat Ghana they could finish in second in the division. That leaves them up against Brazil, where it's game over. I'm not saying that they couldn't do well if they had a better draw, but unfortunately, the draw as it is doesn't leave us a shot in hell.</p>
<p>For what it's worth, Team USA's best two players are probably Brian McBride and DaMarcus Beasley. McBride scored 10 goals in the EPL this season; Van Nistelrooy scored 21. Beasley scored 4 goals in the Eredivisie this season, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored 18.</p>
<p>And Ghana? They have to get past not only Italy and the Czech Republic, but also the US if they want to get out of the group stage. They're not a bad team by any means, but they're outclassed.</p>
<p>Mexico sucks.</p>
<p>I think you underestimate home field advantage with Germany. I don't know exactly how it works, but playing at home has always seemed to be a massive, massive advantage in soccer. I agree that the Germans haven't been looking great and don't have an amazing roster though.</p>
<p>Argentina has Riquelme and Crespo, and they beat up on Brazil earlier, so I'd be wary about criticizing them too much.</p>
<p>England is always good. Without Rooney they do face problems, but their roster is still damn impressive, and they have several midfielders who can come up and perform well if Crouch and Owen are overworked. I want to see Walcott play too; Robert Pires claims he's faster than Thierry Henry.</p>
<p>The team that almost looks the best on paper is France, but they don't seem to be able to play well together and struggled qualifying. They play a bunch of chumps in the group stage, so that shouldn't be a problem. I don't see how a team with Coupet, Gallas, Thuram, Diarra, Vieira, Zidane, Ribery (who I love), Henry, and Trezeguet can ever play poorly, but I guess it's possible. Their back field is pretty slow.</p>
<p>The smart money's still on Brazil. They're just so good.</p>
<p>I really need to get back to work, but I could talk about this for hours.</p>