<p>Group G is a solid group and people would be stupid to "mock it". This group is easy for whom? France? The team that scored 0 goals four years ago?</p>
<p>That's what I said Chris, it is a tough group. But be careful not to compare the 2002 team to this one. 4 years ago, France played without Zidane, arguably the best midfielder ever, and Henry, one of the top 3 strikers in the world today. I still don't think the French are playing at the level they can, but they beat a solid Mexico team (at least as good as Switzerland or Korea) 1-0 last week and a solid Danish team 2-0 just a couple of days ago. Assuming the French team continues to gel, they should be able to win the group and advance to the round of 16.</p>
<p>I think most people would agree that France will at least advance from Group G, leaving Korea and Switzerland to fight for the other spot. But then again, I remember in 2002 when it was supposed to be Portugal who would win the group, leaving the U.S. and Korea to fight for the other spot. But in the end, Portugal lost to both the Americans and Koreans, and exited the tournament in disgrace.</p>
<p>France had both Henry and Zidane for Euro 2004 and still lost to Greece (so did everybody else). And the players are only older now. I'm not saying France is bad, but given their recent international tournament record, they're a fragile team whose individual skill are repeatedly thwarted by an opponent's superior team effort.</p>
<p>I sort of like France, more so than the traditional Euro powers. They're not as boring as Italy or Germany, and they're minus David Beckham so they're automatically cooler than England. And their 2002 debacle was so monumentally ridiculous that one can't help but regard them as almost underdogs now.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I sort of like France, more so than the traditional Euro powers. They're not as boring as Italy or Germany, and they're minus David Beckham so they're automatically cooler than England.
[/quote]
Me too!!! that's exactly how I feel.
freddieisurhero, lee donggook is out because of a knee injury. He had to get surgery.</p>
<p>alexandre, park ji sung is kinda back in shape i think. He seemed pretty weird with the ball at the ghana match... bad strategising and bad passing..</p>
<p>If that's how s.korea's gonna play against togo, france and switzerland, i doubt that they'd even qualify to the next round. They have to improve!!</p>
<p>France was really off-sync in the 2004 Euro and stil, they managed to play well enough to almost beat Greece, the team that eventually lifted the Cup. France vs England was amazing if you remember. First, Barthez guessed right and blocked the penalty kick, denying Engloand an unsurmountable 2-0 lead and then, Zidane's two goals in the last 5 minutes were amazing. Do you remember that free kick from 20 meters out? Wow!! </p>
<p>I really hope the team has gelled some more since then. I will be at a sports bar on June 13 to see how they hold up against Switzerland. That game will dictate the way France does in this world cup. </p>
<p>PS: I hate Italy. They have to be the most boring team out there. I love way France beat them in the finals of the 2000 Euro. I believe it was the only Euro decided by a golden goal! hehe I also don't like England. I really like Germany though, but they haven't been good since 1990. Brazil is always fun, but I really don't like Argentina. Argentina vs England is always confusing. It's like waching OSU play Notre Dame. I don't know which team I hate more, so I really don't know which team to root for! hehe</p>
<p>I'll be rooting for france, for the france vs swiss match.
I want to watch college soccer :(</p>
<p>my dad watched the ghana/korea match online... <em>sigh</em></p>
<p>I think France and S. Korea will advance.</p>
<p>after seeing the scores for ghana, korea's starting to seem hopeless.</p>
<p>if korea does worse than 2002 (as in if they dont do 4th place+) there are many koreans who just may kill themselves.</p>
<p>i think everyone is giving korea a little more than it deserves. they had homefield advantage last time, and they've only beat mexico once. The two other wc teams they lost to (saudi and costa rica). now im not saying switzerland is hot **** either...but they've managed to tie every single wc team they played (france twice, italy, ivory coast). im taking france and the swiss to advance. </p>
<p>the question is...if the Ivory Coast plays to its full potential, can they advance? i hate argentina with passion</p>
<p>A
1. Germany
2. Poland
B
1. England
2. Sweden
C
1. Holland
2. Argentina
D
1. Mexico
2. Portugal
E
1. Czech Repbulic
2. Italy (sorry)
F
1. Brazil
2. Japan
G
1. France
2. Korea
H
1. Spain
2. Ukraine</p>
<p>Germany over Sweden
Holland over Portugal
England over Poland
Argentina over Mexico
Czech Republic over Japan
Ukraine over France
Brazil over Italy
Spain over Korea</p>
<p>Germany over Holland
England over Argentina
Czech Republic over Ukraine
Brazil over Spain</p>
<p>England over Germany
Brazil over Czech Republic</p>
<p>Brazil over England in the final</p>
<p>(Germany over Czech Republic for 3rd place) </p>
<p>Discuss.</p>
<p>A. Im not sold on the whole Polish team...right now my upset is Costa Rica over Poland
F. Its wide open, but Nakata said his team doesn't have heart...so I'm going with Australia.
G. Korea is overrated, so in that respect I'm going with Switzerland</p>
<p>It gets complicated after that, but I have Holland going to the semis.</p>
<p>im rooting for the us and brazil...im even leaving school early on the 12th to watch the us vs czech republic game</p>
<p>speaking of bad refs...
this weekend the refs at my game were driving me crazy. first it was a league game (actually counted) and the score was 1-1. i shot the ball and it was about to go into the goal until the other team's defender dove in front of the ball and the ball bounced off of her HAND into the goal.instead of giving us the goal he made us take a penalty, even though the foul resulted in our advantage. the penalty kick was saved by the goalie (the best in the state ) and we had to go into double overtime - we won the game but still, we should have gotten that goal</p>
<p>this thread is kind of dumb b/c it is really bias towards the person's nationality (koreans say korea will win, americans say america will win,etc..)</p>
<p>ahh, Im American but I say the Netherlands will win</p>
<p>I support the USA, but root for Holland</p>
<p>A
1. Germany
2. Poland </p>
<p>B
1. England
2. Sweden</p>
<p>C
1. Argentina (yuck)
2. Serbia (Holland has major injuries and Serbia's defense is amazing)</p>
<p>D
1. Mexico
2. Portugal</p>
<p>E
1. Italy
1. Czech Repbulic</p>
<p>F
1. Brazil
2. Croatia</p>
<p>G
1. France
2. Switzerland</p>
<p>H
1. Spain
2. Ukraine</p>
<p>Germany over Sweden
Argentina over Portugal
Poland over England
Serbia over Mexico
Italy over Croatia
France over Ukraine
Brazil over Czech Republic
Spain over Switzerland</p>
<p>Germany over Argentina
Serbia over Poland
France over Italy
Brazil over Spain</p>
<p>France over Germany
Brazil over Serbia</p>
<p>I dare not speculate...but France is a perfect 3-0 vs Brazil in the World Cup! hehe</p>
<p>Disclaimer, I am Lebanese, not French.</p>
<p>Ahhhh, cmon.....van dervaart didnt even play in the aussie game...so he should be fit for competition....and the only injured player im worrying at all about is van bronkhorst....</p>
<p>Group C is harder than most think....the ivory coast is pretty damned good. But as good as Serbia's defense is...I dont think they can hold of Hollands nice strikers</p>
<p>USA is gonna surprise some people...I hope. They lost to Morocco the other day, which annoyed me a lot. At least we beat Angola today. We have to beat Italy and Ghana.</p>
<p>I don't know man. In the last 12 games, only 2 goals were scored against Serbia (one by Spain and one by Uruguay). That's pretty impressive. </p>
<p>As for Holland, Cocu and Sneijder may be able to play, but they are definitely not in good form. Add Van Bronkhorst to the list of injured players and Holland is not at 100%.</p>
<p>we can beat Ghana...if we play damn hard we can maybe tie/beat Italy</p>
<p>and as long as van dervaart is legit, and at lesat cocu and sneijder are halfway decent...we can have a shot</p>
<p>can korea beat togo?</p>