[Seaweed]

The World Cup is almost here and I am excited. I will go through each group and list my predictions and you guys chime in and let me know what you think, and what you will be looking to bet as well.

This is how I think the groups will finish..


Group A:

1. Brazil
2. Croatia
3. Mexico
4. Cameroon


Group B:

1. Spain
2. Netherlands
3. Chile
4. Australia

Group C:

1. Colombia
2. Japan
3. Greece
4. Ivory Coast

Group D:

1. Italy
2. Uruguay
3. England
4. Costa Rica

Group E:

1. France
2. Switzerland
3. Ecuador
4. Honduras

Group F:

1. Argentina
2. Bosnia and Herzegovina
3. Iran
4. Nigeria

Group G:

1. Germany
2. USA
3. Portugal
4. Ghana

Group H:

1. Belgium
2. Russia
3. Korea
4. Algeria


Round of 16:

Brazil over Netherlands

Colombia over Uruguay

France over Bosnia

Germany over Russia


Croatia over Spain

Italy over Japan

Argentina over Switzerland

Belgium over USA


Quarterfinals

Brazil over Colombia

Germany over France

Italy over Croatia

Argentina over Belgium


Semi Finals

Germany over Brazil

Argentina over Italy


Third Place

Brazil over Italy

Finals

Germany over Argentina


World Cup 2014 Winner: Germany

World Cup 2014 Runner-up: Argentina

World Cup 3rd Place: Brazil

[easyliving]

0 chance Germany wins it. I have been following them very closely and they are not the same team they were a few years ago.

and Argentina in finals

[JayLA]

Youre underestimating Uruguay.

[Prince88]

i would just change croatia (italy) by spain
and USA by portugal

[Big Bear]

0 chance Germany wins it. I have been following them very closely and they are not the same team they were a few years ago.

and Argentina in finals

you bash seaweed but you dont even offer your own opinion on who will be in the championship?

your post pretty much sums up Players Talk.

[MoneyLineDawg]

Fukk off USA wins it all...Jozy Golden Boot

[Vaughany]

I like Chile to beat Netherlands to second spot

[easyliving]

I like Chile to beat Netherlands to second spot

wouldn't be that big of a surprise. Haven't watched them play but I have been hearing good things about the Chilean side. Also theirs usually a power house that stumbles in the groups.

[minet123]

Youre underestimating Uruguay.

^^^^
This
They run over team Tico in group stage
Pura vida ....

[Vaughany]

wouldn't be that big of a surprise. Haven't watched them play but I have been hearing good things about the Chilean side. Also theirs usually a power house that stumbles in the groups.

On paper netherlands have a very average team. The average football fan wont of even heard of half their players now like cillesen, de vrij, martins-indi, veltman, janmaat, daley blind, boetius, depay, etc... Going to be a lot reliance on sneijder, robben, and van persie....three players tht all have fitness issues/attitude issues tht can easily make them go completely missing in big games. Be very shocked if they do well in this. Only thing they may have going for them is reduced pressure as the dutch fans realise tht they are in transition so can play with more freedom then in previous tournaments when they were always expected to reach semis at worse

[leetreaper]

The World Cup is almost here and I am excited. I will go through each group and list my predictions and you guys chime in and let me know what you think, and what you will be looking to bet as well.

This is how I think the groups will finish..


Group A:

1. Brazil
2. Croatia
3. Mexico
4. Cameroon


Group B:

1. Spain
2. Netherlands
3. Chile
4. Australia

Group C:

1. Colombia
2. Japan
3. Greece
4. Ivory Coast

Group D:

1. Italy
2. Uruguay
3. England
4. Costa Rica

Group E:

1. France
2. Switzerland
3. Ecuador
4. Honduras

Group F:

1. Argentina
2. Bosnia and Herzegovina
3. Iran
4. Nigeria

Group G:

1. Germany
2. USA
3. Portugal
4. Ghana

Group H:

1. Belgium
2. Russia
3. Korea
4. Algeria


Round of 16:

Brazil over Netherlands

Colombia over Uruguay

France over Bosnia

Germany over Russia


Croatia over Spain

Italy over Japan

Argentina over Switzerland

Belgium over USA


Quarterfinals

Brazil over Colombia

Germany over France

Italy over Croatia

Argentina over Belgium


Semi Finals

Germany over Brazil

Argentina over Italy


Third Place

Brazil over Italy

Finals

Germany over Argentina


World Cup 2014 Winner: Germany

World Cup 2014 Runner-up: Argentina

World Cup 3rd Place: Brazil

No need to read with your half chicken brains...

[Vaughany]

0 chance Germany wins it. I have been following them very closely and they are not the same team they were a few years ago.

and Argentina in finals

you bash seaweed but you dont even offer your own opinion on who will be in the championship?

your post pretty much sums up Players Talk.

Saying 0 chance is obviously retarded but i would say tht they are being over-rated going in to this. Theyll probably play Ozil who will just casually stroll around doing the nice odd touch now and then, then proceed to spend rest of time falling over and giving away possession. Schweinsteiger isnt the player he was a few years ago and defensively in general they are nothing special with the Big penetrating Giant Per Mertesacker and boateng/hummels. Hell, the main striker is still Klose who is ancient!

Marco Reus could be player of the tournament tho imo

[TonyTall]

Fukk off USA wins it all...Jozy Golden Boot

lol that wouldnt even happen in a video game

[barca12]

Italy in at least semis should be a lock. Excellent tournament team with great young strikers and always solid defense. Belgium, Uruguay and Ivory Coast should all do well. Germany and Argentina are overrated. Brazil will be favored by refs and I expect them to go all the way to the finals. Nobody is talking about France but I like them in this tourney since no one is expecting much of them and they might go far this time.

[barca12]

Marco Reus could be player of the tournament tho imo

^^ this..the best player right now, along with Yaya Toure

[Vaughany]

Italy in at least semis should be a lock. Excellent tournament team with great young strikers and always solid defense. Belgium, Uruguay and Ivory Coast should all do well. Germany and Argentina are overrated. Brazil will be favored by refs and I expect them to go all the way to the finals. Nobody is talking about France but I like them in this tourney since no one is expecting much of them and they might go far this time.

Italy could easily flop. Massive reliance on pirlo to dictate play...he is 34 now and has looked tired playing for juve in final stages of season...if he doesnt turn up then italy may not tick. Balotelli and cassano as well...two of the biggest prima-donnas around...if they both start anything could happen! Guiseppe Rossi is only just returning from injury so wont be 100% fit.

and yes, wouldnt be surprised if france go far this time. Gonna need ribery to find his form tho, been poor recently

[CollegeOverUnder]

I'm so pumped for South Korea to beat Russia

[barca12]

De Rossi, Marchisio and other guys should do all the hard work for Pirlo. He is still THE player when you need to find an open teammate. Cassano wont get playing time I think. Balotelli will be benched if he doesnt put in an effort. Cerci is top class. You have a soild point but Italy is always my favorite in tournaments.

[smitch124]

right on Seaweed, they shouldn't even bother playing.

[biggerleaffan]

Mexico over Croatia
Chile over Netherlands
England over Uruguay
Portugal over USA

[KalouKalou]

Don't forget the weather guys, it will be very hot in Brazil. I think the european country will struggle in this world cup.

[KalouKalou]

Mexico over Croatia
Chile over Netherlands
England over Uruguay
Portugal over USA

I don't think England will have a good World cup with Gerrard and Lampard getting old.

[Seto]

Seaweed has England not to qualify

Maybe I shouldn't write us off so soon.

[Big Bear]

Would it surprise any of you if Uruguay won the world cup?

[SarahPalin]

Would it surprise any of you if Uruguay won the world cup?

uruguay hugely overated imo but we dont really have a idea how altitude ball and pitch are going to affect games till first couple ones are played

[MoneyLineDawg]

I actually like England in this World Cup to make some noise.....Look out for the youngsters like Lallana and Sterling......Seems like Hodgson took pretty much the best players

I really do like the USA team under Klinsmann but their group is fukkin brutal....Going to take a massive effort to make it out.....They can play really well and still get bounced

[Big Bear]

uruguay hugely overated imo but we dont really have a idea how altitude ball and pitch are going to affect games till first couple ones are played

if you think Uruguay is overrated who are your top 3 south american teams?

[bruins35]

I will take ivory coast

[Big Bear]

I will take ivory coast

hows their goalie?

They may have the best player in the world that dude name Yaya or somethin

[Seaweed]

Brasil not really prepared to host World Cup, too big, crime, corruption, bad airports, expensive etc..

Qatar 2022 will be worse


That's true but Brasil will still be bad


Maybe they can moe Qatar?

Not sure but maybe to November

[Vaughany]

Why will Qatar be worse?

[Seaweed]

Why will Qatar be worse?

They suck and have no business being in the World Cup.

They are not a football enviornment.

They do not respect human rights like in the West

Their summers are in our Winters, tournament will be in November

All they care about is money

[tipsadontlikehim]

USA "to not win his group" @1.06 - Pinnacle

10K
Lock

[Seaweed]

USA "to not win his group" @1.06 - Pinnacle

10K
Lock

That's a good one

[Vaughany]

World Cup 2014: Iran head coach Carlos Queiroz fumes as infighting leaves his squad woefully underprepared

Former Real Madrid manager, whose side face Argentina, Bosnia and Nigeria in Group F, admits: "We will not make it to the next round."

Caught in the middle: Carlos Queiroz looks on as Iranian players are put through their paces, belatedly Photo: AFP









By James Montague, World Cup Nation, Iran

12:00PM BST 14 May 2014
3 Comments


There were no fans, no penalty areas painted on to the grass and no referee but on Apr 22 the Iran national team's 5-0 success over South African club Moroka Swallows in Johannesburg was still a victory. And they have come at a premium this year.

Carlos Queiroz's Iran team are currently on a warm-weather training camp in South Africa to prepare Team Melli for arguably the toughest pool of the tournament: Group F which includes Lionel Messi's Argentina, African champions Nigeria and dark horses Bosnia. But little has gone right so far.

Only 11 home-based players arrived in South Africa after a club-versus-country row erupted between Iran's top clubs and the federation. The camp coincided with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League, the region's premier club competition. Esteghlal and Sepahan Isfahan both refused to release their players called up to squad, forcing Queiroz to release the players from Foolad and Tractor Sazi who were also in the Champions League but had let their players go.

The first test for the patched-up team was Moroka Swallows who are currently 12th in the South African Premier League. “Our main goal was not to get a good result in this friendly match,” Queiroz said after the game. “We wanted to identify the weak and strong links of our team. We will continue fitness training to get players in good shape.”

The lack of support from Iran's top clubs has added to a sense that Iran won't be going in to the finals with anywhere near the quality of preparation to equip Team Melli to play against three of the stronger teams at the tournament. Friendlies have been hard to come by. Iran lost to Guinea back in early March and their next match was planned against Mozambique – the modern-day country of Queiroz's birth – which had been brought forward five days to May 2 after the Iranian Federation decided to leave South Africa early.

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Iranian fans – certainly those who have replied to my previous posts – point to the federation’s lack of money (and ineptitude) for the paucity of top-level opponents, rather than the country's pariah status. Yet there is a danger that Iran will be heading to Brazil the least prepared of all the finalists.
“With such arrangement and program failures, don’t expect much from Team Melli in Brazil. We will not make it to the next round because of the failure of the South Africa Camp,” Queiroz said in a TV interview, according to Teammelli.com (an outstanding resource for Iranian football news in English) after a 3-3 draw with the Orlando Pirates.
Queiroz was not happy with the chaos surrounding the team and the lack of support from Iran's top domestic teams. He continued: “It was a decision made by the Minister of Youth and Sport and the head of the football federation to go ahead with the camp. I am only a coach here. So all those who disregarded the instructions and refused to release the players have actually disrespected the minister.
"Even up to our departure time, we did not know if those players will be joining us or not. This training camp was vital for the team’s prospect. We came here to prepare the players to play against African teams. I did not come here for leisure.”
Such are the travails of international football far away from mega sponsorship deals and star-filled Nike adverts that even getting the right kit and paying the excess baggage has been an issue for Iran.Teammelli.com also reported that Queiroz went on to complain about Iran's official kit provider UHLSport for issuing only one set of tracksuits for players for three weeks. “We paid $30,000 for our excess baggage, we could have bought more kits for our players' training instead,” Queiroz said.
The full team won't be assembled until after Europe's seasons have ended. Queiroz's reign has been characterised by the number of foreign-born or foreign-raised players being drafted in, the likes of Ashkan Dejagah and Reza Ghoochannejhad in particular being notable success stories. But Iran's disastrous training camp has highlighted not just the problems Iran has getting a game but also the worsening relationship between Queiroz and the Iranian federation.
Without explanation, the Mozambique friendly was abruptly cancelled too. The head of the Iranian federation later explained that Queiroz had himself taken the decision. The cancellation means that Iran will have played one friendly this year before the end of the season. “I am sorry if I sound negative and despondent,” Queiroz said. “But if I do not say these things, then we will not get any support.” Nigeria and Bosnia, the two teams likely to battle it out for second place in the group, must be rubbing their hands with glee.