<p>Unfortunately, the United States has now been knocked out of the World Cup. Pretty disappointing. They were in a strong group, but I felt that they could have given a much better effort. I guess that they could not handle the pressure of actually having high expectations for the first time. Part of the reason this same group of players made it to the quarterfinals in 2002 is because with no expectations, they played loose and attacked non-stop. The USA can't get any love from the refs either (handball in 2002; PK vs. Ghana).</p>
<p>Despite the USA's early exit, the World Cup has been great so far, with some truly awesome games and good upsets.</p>
<p>Besides Brazil, who do you guys think could win it all? So far, I think that Argentina and Germany both look very good and should go deep into the tournament. Maybe Portugal as a darkhorse candidate.</p>
<p>Yeah Australia is a good story. The way they came back against Japan - 3 goals in the final 7 minutes or so - was really incredible. I don't think they'll have a chance against Italy though.</p>
<p>Spain looks good. They can definitely score goals, with Torres and Raul. But then again, they have a long history of underacheiving at world cups.</p>
<p>Hehe. France has a lot of talent, but right now they might not get out of the group. If Korea and Switzerland tie, France better beat Togo by a couple of goals. France plays way too conservative for my taste. Thierry Henry needs some help desperately!</p>
<p>I'd love to see England win, but my gut feeling is that either Germany, Argentina, or Brazil will win it. As long as it isn't Brazil, I'm happy :)</p>
<p>i agree with the OP.....Brazil, Germany, and Argentina look the strongest. Usually when i watch the matches, I root for the underdog....but I make an exception when watching Brazil. Maybe I'm a frontrunner, but I say Brazil wins the world cup for the 6th time and Ronaldo gets the all-time world cup record (only needs one more goal)</p>
<p>Everyone loves brazil, which is kind of funny because usually the favorites get no love. but brazil is just too much fun to watch! The brazil-japan game was so cool just because there were a bunch (four!) sweet brazil-style goals. </p>
<p>anyway, my money's on Germany. They're looking really good, plus they have the home turf advantage, which can be a huge help (think france 98). </p>
<p>there are also some teams I wouldn't bet on winning, but who I just like watching a lot, like Holland, Portugal, and Ghana. of course, two of those teams will be knocked out in the next round (portugal and holland are playing each other, and ghana has the terrible luck of facing brazil), but i love 'em anyway!</p>
<p>i like england.
i think brazil, argentina, germany, and portugal all have chances.
if brazil gets knocked out before the finals, it will be the next match against ghana. ghana is a very quick team and I think they actually have a chance of beating brazil.
germany has the homecourt, that helps alot. i think they have a great shot of winning.
portugal has been non-stop on fire, watch out for them.
argentina, didn't have an extrememly hard bracket, so its early to tell, but they are aggressive and you need that to win.</p>