Might as well stick up a graphic for the group stage ...
Teams fairly evenly distributed ... hard to see which are the easier groups and which are the harder.
I'd say probably Spain in H have it the easiest.
Group G is the best group in terms of footballing quality IMO.
The BBC has a predictor here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...10/8709313.stm
Now, if everything goes as you would imagine and with no upsets, Spain have a much harder run. They have to play portugal and Italy to get the the finals. Compare that to the uk who have to play cameroon and france.
However, Spain are more than capable of beating those two teams, and having tough games might give them the tempering they need to be on top of their game in the final. That being said, brazils chances just took a definite rise in my opinion.
"Son," he said without preamble, "never trust a man who doesn't drink, because he's probably a self-righteous sort, a man who thinks he knows right from wrong all the time. Some of them are good men, but in the name of goodness, they cause most of the suffering in the world. They're the judges, the meddlers. And, son, never trust a man who drinks but refuses to get drunk. They're usually afraid of something deep down inside, either that they're a coward or a fool or mean and violent. You can't trust a man who's afraid of himself. But sometimes, son, you can trust a man who occasionally kneels before a toilet. The chances are that he is learning something about humility and his natural human foolishness, about how to survive himself. It's damned hard for a man to take himself too seriously when he's heaving his guts into a dirty toilet bowl.
I got Cameroon on my work sweepstake, what takes the piss is that Eto has already thrown a hissy fit and said he might not play. Twat.
I just looked at the BBC predictor, i managed to get England vs Argies for the final and i didn't even plan for itl .... .
How awesome would that be?
Some real big matches in my quarterfinals
England - France
Netherlands - Brazil
Argentine - Serbia
Italy - Span
This would be great!
We beat the limeys, Spain beats the Argies so it's a Netherlands - Spain Final for me. England 3rd.
I could have had class. I could have been a contender.
I could have been somebody. Instead of a bum
Which is what I am
I aim at the stars
But sometimes I hit London
*cough* you'd have to beat the Brazilianoids before you'd have a chance with us mate *cough*
~
3 reporters in SA for the world cup, a portuguese and 2 spaniards, had their apartment broken in to and were held at gunpoint by robbers who made off with money and photographic stuff. Not good for SA and its notorious crime image ahead of the world cup.
BBC
Yeah, well, Brazil wasn't so hot last WC. It can be done.
But if this happens this way upto that point, the Dutch squad will probably be overconfident, "if we can beat Brazil, we can beat anyone!" and lose miserably 3 to 1 to you guys.
edit: NO! Bad Ziggy!
We'll have momentum to go on and win the title, that's what I meant to say.
I could have had class. I could have been a contender.
I could have been somebody. Instead of a bum
Which is what I am
I aim at the stars
But sometimes I hit London
But we always lose penalties!
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
Wrong, Flixy!
England are just crap at the spot kick .... period. Let us win something please!
Comon, remember Netherlands- Italy in 2000? One man more than them, missed two penalties during the match and lost the shootout 3-1
Although in all fairness, that match was jinxed because I was bounced from the bar I was going to watch it in.
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
We lost that curse against Sweden Flixter.
And Robben is the designated penalty kicker for Bayern. (A dutchie!!! )
I could have had class. I could have been a contender.
I could have been somebody. Instead of a bum
Which is what I am
I aim at the stars
But sometimes I hit London
Oh yeah, I totally forgot that! What was nice, way to go Van der Sar (Is the current goalie good, by the way? I haven't really followed it...) Alright, england loses after penalties. Nice pronunciation of Cocu in english, by the way
I do like penalty shootouts, very exciting Even rewatching this gives a nice tension, and I already knew the outcome
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
Steekie is good, but he is no van der Sar
By the way, search "world cup" in google and look at the bottom of the page where the page markers are.
I could have had class. I could have been a contender.
I could have been somebody. Instead of a bum
Which is what I am
I aim at the stars
But sometimes I hit London
Van der Sar no want to play
I could have had class. I could have been a contender.
I could have been somebody. Instead of a bum
Which is what I am
I aim at the stars
But sometimes I hit London
A Professor has found after extensive research there are two sizes of penis amongst uk men. There are those which fall within the normal size range and those which are less than two inches while erect. The professor has appealed for help to continue his research . Could all men in the uk with extremly small penises make themselves known over the next six weeks by flying a white flag with a red cross from their cars ?
Oh man i hate those damn car flags, has anyone been watching SSN (Sky Sports News)? They are doing a little thing where viewers send in pics of homes all kitted out in flags .... some are soooo bad!
Ok, yesterday my team lost the Stanley Cup, the political party I detest won 15 seats in the election, so we're bound to do well at the WC.
Rand, I heard they have been running a similar test for quite some time in America with surprising results.
I could have had class. I could have been a contender.
I could have been somebody. Instead of a bum
Which is what I am
I aim at the stars
But sometimes I hit London
Ambassadors bet on USA-England World Cup match
Diplomats in London and Washington have raised the stakes over Saturday's US-England World Cup clash by wagering a meal over the game's outcome.
The bet was brokered in cables between aides to US Ambassador Louis Susman and UK Ambassador Sir Nigel Sheinwald.
"We will understand if you decline, given the outcome of the last such encounter," a US aide wrote, referring to the US defeat of England in 1950.
A UK aide said Sir Nigel took his steak like that win - "somewhat rare".
"Even for such an exceptionally optimistic nation as the United States, I am struck by the confidence with which your ambassador proposes this wager," Martin Longden, press secretary to Sir Nigel, wrote to Philip Breeden of the US embassy in London in an exchange first reported by Politico.com.
"It is testament, I assume, to the generosity of your great nation, since the British ambassador does not anticipate paying out."
Mr Breeden replied: "It is true that our soccer (a fine English word we have kindly preserved for you) history is not as long and illustrious as yours.
"However, as your generals noted during World War II, we have a unique capability for quickly identifying and advancing talent."
British embassy staff, their families and some US acquaintances will be watching the game on a big-screen television at the embassy in Washington.
Roughly one quarter of the embassy staff are American nationals, "so it should make for a lively crowd", an embassy official told the BBC.
"We're not doing anything more grand," the official said. "We'll leave that to the final."
Such polite language.
"Son," he said without preamble, "never trust a man who doesn't drink, because he's probably a self-righteous sort, a man who thinks he knows right from wrong all the time. Some of them are good men, but in the name of goodness, they cause most of the suffering in the world. They're the judges, the meddlers. And, son, never trust a man who drinks but refuses to get drunk. They're usually afraid of something deep down inside, either that they're a coward or a fool or mean and violent. You can't trust a man who's afraid of himself. But sometimes, son, you can trust a man who occasionally kneels before a toilet. The chances are that he is learning something about humility and his natural human foolishness, about how to survive himself. It's damned hard for a man to take himself too seriously when he's heaving his guts into a dirty toilet bowl.
How about we get Gary Linekar to coach the Italians on the meaning of the words "fair play". Didn't he go through his entire career having never got even a single booking?
Lor - if i remember rightly he only played four times for england. As one of the greatest english footballers ever this has always seemed a travesty.
But these were the days when England teams were picked basically by how many people could recognise them in a line-up.
Last edited by Spawnie; 06-11-2010 at 11:08 AM. Reason: spazzy spelling
"Son," he said without preamble, "never trust a man who doesn't drink, because he's probably a self-righteous sort, a man who thinks he knows right from wrong all the time. Some of them are good men, but in the name of goodness, they cause most of the suffering in the world. They're the judges, the meddlers. And, son, never trust a man who drinks but refuses to get drunk. They're usually afraid of something deep down inside, either that they're a coward or a fool or mean and violent. You can't trust a man who's afraid of himself. But sometimes, son, you can trust a man who occasionally kneels before a toilet. The chances are that he is learning something about humility and his natural human foolishness, about how to survive himself. It's damned hard for a man to take himself too seriously when he's heaving his guts into a dirty toilet bowl.