[Feanorgandalf]

It's 8 days away and i'm going crazy. Can't wait for the epic month of Soccer!!!

[mooyagi]

USA has a really tough draw. Hopefully they can somehow make it out of the group.

[Stained Class]

Canada's going all the way this year!

[klons]

Canada's going all the way this year!

On the way up! We've scored in consecutive games for the first time in who knows how long.

[X-Thor]

Yeah, Mexico got a hard group... And considering we're being kinda shitty, I imagine we won't make it out of the group stage for the first time since I can remember.

On the bright side, it seems like Spain has some solid possibilities of repeating its championship. I guess the champion will be either Spain, Germany, or Brazil.

Also, some friends and I are trying to predict the results using statistics. I'll keep you posted on the success or failure of our endeavor.

[Feanorgandalf]

Living in Canada we don't have a team worthy of the world cup. I back Argentina Cuz of Messi

[doomguy]

Canada's going all the way this year!

All the way home.

[DarthDavy]

USA has a really tough draw. Hopefully they can somehow make it out of the group.

I think USA will be fine. They've got a better team than Portugal. Can't see them ending above Germany though. So as second in the group they'll face Belgium in the next round (I assume my country finishes first in their group). So it'll be over for USA then anyway.

[X-Thor]

Here's my prediction:

1 - Spain (Champion)
2 - Brazil
3 - Germany
4 - Argentina

Also qualified to quarter finals:
- England
- France
- Italy
- Belgium

Also qualified to Round of 16:
- Croatia
- Netherlands
- Colombia
- Greeve
- Switzerland
- Bosnia
- USA
- Russia

[klons]

1 - Brazil
2 - Argentina
3 - Germany
4 - Spain

Also to quarters:
Italy, France, Uruguay, Belgium

Round of 16:
Chile, Greece, B-H, Russia, Portugal, Switzerland, Japan, Croatia

[X-Thor]

It begins today!!!!

I'M SO EXCITED!!!

[mooyagi]

It begins today!!!!

I'M SO EXCITED!!!

Woohoo! This opening ceremony that's on sucks though. I just want the matches to start. Of course, we're going on vacation next week so we're going to miss quite a bit of it.

[Memnoch]

Go Team Finland!

[mooyagi]

Ugh. Fantastic first half ruined by the second. One match in and the refereeing is in question

[X-Thor]

Ugh. Fantastic first half ruined by the second. One match in and the refereeing is in question

It kinda looked like a penalty when Fred fell down. Then on the replay, not so much. Ah, soccer.

[mooyagi]

Ugh. Fantastic first half ruined by the second. One match in and the refereeing is in question

It kinda looked like a penalty when Fred fell down. Then on the replay, not so much. Ah, soccer.

Yeah, in real time I thought it was definitely a penalty too. Guess I'm qualified to be a world cup ref

[Max_Rockwell]

Brazil has such a young team I feel that will be their downfall in this world cup. I'm cheering for spain, but if I were a gambling man I would go with Germany.

But still ... GO SPAIN!!!

[Max_Rockwell]

1 - Brazil
2 - Argentina
3 - Germany
4 - Spain

Also to quarters:
Italy, France, Uruguay, Belgium

Round of 16:
Chile, Greece, B-H, Russia, Portugal, Switzerland, Japan, Croatia

I would take Netherlands over Uruguay. Uruguay is going to struggle is this tournament, and I will take France as the dark horse for this tournament. Young team, but they just might surprise with their mix of young and older players, unlike brazil.

[klons]

1 - Brazil
2 - Argentina
3 - Germany
4 - Spain

Also to quarters:
Italy, France, Uruguay, Belgium

Round of 16:
Chile, Greece, B-H, Russia, Portugal, Switzerland, Japan, Croatia

I would take Netherlands over Uruguay. Uruguay is going to struggle is this tournament, and I will take France as the dark horse for this tournament. Young team, but they just might surprise with their mix of young and older players, unlike brazil.

I took Chile over the Netherlands in the group stage - that was also before I realized Arturo Vidal was out for Chile...

[NuuX]

It's a sad day for football when team such as Brasil needs help from referees to win the match. I just hope they won't get favored as much during the tournament, just because they are the host nation.

[X-Thor]

It's a sad day for football when team such as Brasil needs help from referees to win the match. I just hope they won't get favored as much during the tournament, just because they are the host nation.

So far, Nishimura has been the best referee in the World Cup.

Still can't believe we got two legit goals annulled. When will we have proper technology for this shit?

[klons]

Uh... didn't see that coming.

[X-Thor]

Curse you, Iker. Curse your sudden, but inevitable betrayal.

[Feanorgandalf]

Wow what a game!

Some friend of mine from Calgary are down in Brasil for a month and he sent me this picture today


That was their first time at a world cup game. I think they picked the right game for it

[X-Thor]

Wow what a game!

Some friend of mine from Calgary are down in Brasil for a month and he sent me this picture today


That was their first time at a world cup game. I think they picked the right game for it

If they were rooting for NED, yes.

[cowboy71]

Damn that result screwed my world cup tipping :(

Oh well - COME ON AUSTRALIA!!!

[mooyagi]

Uh... didn't see that coming.

No kiddin'

[X-Thor]

Damn that result screwed my world cup tipping :(

Oh well - COME ON AUSTRALIA!!!

Tell me about it...

Also, well done, Australia.

Interesting fact: only Mexico hasn't conceded a goal so far.

[cowboy71]

Australia played well. On the wrong end of some poor ref decisions, but I think 3-1 was a fair result.

Tim Cahill is a great player. Deserved 2 goals at least!

[Max_Rockwell]

My poor spain!!

This Diego Costa guy completely pissed me off. I believe he's from Valencia, correct me if I'm wrong but I've never ever watched him before and he was just terrible. I'd rather have Torres in there the whole game than him. If all they have him in there for is to get lucky penalty kick calls than spain is screwed :(.

[Max_Rockwell]

Damn that result screwed my world cup tipping :(

Oh well - COME ON AUSTRALIA!!!

Tell me about it...

Also, well done, Australia.

Interesting fact: only Mexico hasn't conceded a goal so far.

I wasn't too happy about Mexico being screwed over 2 legit goals. The first one was hard to tell, I don't completely blame the ref, but the second one seriously?
Plus, like you mentioned, when are they going to let the refs watch the replays like in hockey so they can make proper decisions? What is the point of having that goal line technology is the refs can't even look at the replays to reverse calls? Terrible officiating in that Mexican game.

[NuuX]

My poor spain!!

This Diego Costa guy completely pissed me off. I believe he's from Valencia, correct me if I'm wrong but I've never ever watched him before and he was just terrible. I'd rather have Torres in there the whole game than him. If all they have him in there for is to get lucky penalty kick calls than spain is screwed :(.

He exploded this year playing for Atletico Madrid (Spanish Champions, Champions League runner up), he switched his nationality from Brasilian to Spanish this year. And no, you don't want to have Torres there the whole game. If you want to have Torres in the starting line up it means you're living in 2008. Torres has been shit for years now and I'm always baffled why he gets a national team call.

[klons]

Well, pretty sure half of my brackets are screwed now, good thing I didn't put money on anything!

What a crazy first few days.

[Max_Rockwell]

My poor spain!!

This Diego Costa guy completely pissed me off. I believe he's from Valencia, correct me if I'm wrong but I've never ever watched him before and he was just terrible. I'd rather have Torres in there the whole game than him. If all they have him in there for is to get lucky penalty kick calls than spain is screwed :(.

He exploded this year playing for Atletico Madrid (Spanish Champions, Champions League runner up), he switched his nationality from Brasilian to Spanish this year. And no, you don't want to have Torres there the whole game. If you want to have Torres in the starting line up it means you're living in 2008. Torres has been shit for years now and I'm always baffled why he gets a national team call.

Someone told me they had put diego in since he's a counter attack player and that's the play style Spain want to go with, but whatever play style they were trying to bring out in the last game it certainly didn't look like counter attack play or their famous tiki taka. I would much rather see Torres in there, as he's not the most dependable but if they can get him going he'll get going. I'm just not familiar with Costa, and unless he changes my mind I can't agree with him being at the front for Spain.

[X-Thor]

My poor spain!!

This Diego Costa guy completely pissed me off. I believe he's from Valencia, correct me if I'm wrong but I've never ever watched him before and he was just terrible. I'd rather have Torres in there the whole game than him. If all they have him in there for is to get lucky penalty kick calls than spain is screwed :(.

He exploded this year playing for Atletico Madrid (Spanish Champions, Champions League runner up), he switched his nationality from Brasilian to Spanish this year. And no, you don't want to have Torres there the whole game. If you want to have Torres in the starting line up it means you're living in 2008. Torres has been shit for years now and I'm always baffled why he gets a national team call.

Someone told me they had put diego in since he's a counter attack player and that's the play style Spain want to go with, but whatever play style they were trying to bring out in the last game it certainly didn't look like counter attack play or their famous tiki taka. I would much rather see Torres in there, as he's not the most dependable but if they can get him going he'll get going. I'm just not familiar with Costa, and unless he changes my mind I can't agree with him being at the front for Spain.

Two words> David Villa. How come he wasn't there? =(

[X-Thor]

Today went more according to my predictions. Suiza, Argentina and France won. Not many suprises there.

Also, how cool is it that no match has ended 0-0? And no ties!

[NuuX]

Someone told me they had put diego in since he's a counter attack player and that's the play style Spain want to go with, but whatever play style they were trying to bring out in the last game it certainly didn't look like counter attack play or their famous tiki taka. I would much rather see Torres in there, as he's not the most dependable but if they can get him going he'll get going. I'm just not familiar with Costa, and unless he changes my mind I can't agree with him being at the front for Spain.

Diego Costa was one of the main reasons Atletico Madrid did so well this season. In Spanish Championship he was third with 27 goals, behind only Ronaldo (31) and Messi (27). His poor performance(s) in the last month or so can be traced back to the end of the club season where he was injured most of the time yet he still played due to lack of proper replacements. He played majority of the matches in May under painkillers and the injury is the only reason why he only played the first 9 minutes of the Champions League final.

On the other hand there's Torres, who scored 20 goals in the last three and a half season while playing at Chelsea. That's 7 goals less than Costa in one season

Oh, and the reason why Spain did so poorly against the Netherlands is the same why Barcelona did so poorly (poorly by their standards) - their best players age and they lack proper replacements. Xavi and Iniesta are on a decline, Messi was injured, Pique forgot how to football ever since he got together with Shakira. They made huge media drama years ago to bring Cesc Fabregas "back home" from Arsenal, as he was their "lost son". They couldn't find a proper spot for him so now they're selling him. They had a huge prospect in Thiago Alcantara yet they sold him to Bayern instead of reducing Xavi's play time and give him more rest.

All in all, it comes down to many, many factors why some team performs poorly or why it does so well :)

[Dutchguy-Tim]

Uh... didn't see that coming.

No kiddin'

indeed, I really did not expect a win. not even a draw!
first half it also seemed that Spain had to win, ref was really on their hand (i mean that penalty was no penalty at all) so i was already yelling "off course the netherlands can't win. they don't want the netherlands to win, because that means brazil has to play spain in the 1/8 finales
and then came the goal of van persie...
then second half within 10 minutes the goal of robben, and they just.... kept.... going
i have regularly pinched myself in the arm to check if i wasn't dreaming

i am curious where this will lead us

[X-Thor]

Someone told me they had put diego in since he's a counter attack player and that's the play style Spain want to go with, but whatever play style they were trying to bring out in the last game it certainly didn't look like counter attack play or their famous tiki taka. I would much rather see Torres in there, as he's not the most dependable but if they can get him going he'll get going. I'm just not familiar with Costa, and unless he changes my mind I can't agree with him being at the front for Spain.

Diego Costa was one of the main reasons Atletico Madrid did so well this season. In Spanish Championship he was third with 27 goals, behind only Ronaldo (31) and Messi (27). His poor performance(s) in the last month or so can be traced back to the end of the club season where he was injured most of the time yet he still played due to lack of proper replacements. He played majority of the matches in May under painkillers and the injury is the only reason why he only played the first 9 minutes of the Champions League final.

On the other hand there's Torres, who scored 20 goals in the last three and a half season while playing at Chelsea. That's 7 goals less than Costa in one season

Oh, and the reason why Spain did so poorly against the Netherlands is the same why Barcelona did so poorly (poorly by their standards) - their best players age and they lack proper replacements. Xavi and Iniesta are on a decline, Messi was injured, Pique forgot how to football ever since he got together with Shakira. They made huge media drama years ago to bring Cesc Fabregas "back home" from Arsenal, as he was their "lost son". They couldn't find a proper spot for him so now they're selling him. They had a huge prospect in Thiago Alcantara yet they sold him to Bayern instead of reducing Xavi's play time and give him more rest.

All in all, it comes down to many, many factors why some team performs poorly or why it does so well :)

While I agree about age*, I think the main issue was the lack of good defense. Like you say, Piqué forgot how to football long ago. Ramos had a terrible night and Casillas went from being one of the best keepers ever to someone who could have easily been replaced by a street cone. Xavi, Iniesta and Xabi Alonso did spectacularly well, until Del Bosque called back Xabi Alonso and Spain lost the defensive midfield. Right before Van Persie scored that beautiful goal, Silva had a marvelous opportunity... Which he failed. Then, when Van Persie scored, Piqué was too far back, allowing VP to not be in offside, and Ramos didn't cover him well... The rest of the goals were just a series of comical mistakes by Piqué, Casillas, and Ramos.

So, basically, I would say that there's no new Puyol. Piqué plays (played) better when Puyol was also defending, mostly because he could (kinda) lead the defense. I imagine the same happens in the national team... So, yeah, like Barcelona, Spain has too many good midfielders and not enough good defenders/strikers.

Another issue, both for Barca and Spain, is that Pedrito never fully became Pedro. He's still a promising player, but not exactly the new Niño Torres (or the new David Villa).

And yes, Costa was fundamental for Atlético to do as well as it did. Still, his performance was quite lacking, I think.

* However, older players are not necessarily bad. Especially if they are midfielders. Just think of Zidane, Pirlo, Del Piero, Gatusso, or even (for Mexico) Cuauhtémoc Blanco. Oldies but goodies.

[X-Thor]

Pepe is a disgrace for football.

Well done, Germany. So far, so good. I think GER and USA will go to round of 16. Hello, Ronaldo's frustrated face.