World Cup draw

[markythebill]

takes place on Friday. I wonder who will end up in the inevitable "group of death"...

I don't watch all that much league footy but the WC is truly amazing. All those different countries with their different cultures, colours, flags, chanting styles at the stadiums, the WOMEN (the Brazilians and Swedes are particularly gorgeous). The whole thing is great. Even though it does always end in tears for me...

Here's the 32 teams that are taking part:

Angola
Argentina (Booo!)
Austria
Brazil
Costa Rica
Cote D'ivoire
Croatia
Czech Republic
Equador
England (c'mon!)
France (Booo!)
Germany
Ghana
Iran
Italy
Japan
Korea Republic
Mexico
Netherlands
Paraguay
Poland
Saudi Arabia
Serbia and Montenegro
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Togo
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Ukraine
USA

[nehemiah]

aren't you an england fan?

they got seeded 2nd.

that rhymes with tullspit. :D

[nehemiah]

The formula announced yesterday to determine which eight of the 32 finalists will be seeded unexpectedly placed England behind only Brazil and ahead of Spain, Germany, Mexico, France, Argentina and Italy, all of whom will be placed in separate groups when the draw for the finals takes place here.
http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,1660577,00.html

fifa was smoking something that rhymes with "stack".

[markythebill]

I know. Hey, we deserve it! :wink:

I think America only just missed out on being seeded, well that's what someone told me anyway, that they narrowly missed out behind Italy.

The official site has America down as one of the teams to "take lightly at your peril" . I think they could do quite well.

As for England, we'll probably get to the quarter finals and then mess it up - again. But if we're healthy we have a chance. Rooney alone is a match winner all by himself and when he's on the field he can score at any moment, so fingers crossed he has the tournament of a lifetime.

I won't hold my breath though.

[nehemiah]

As for England, we'll probably get to the quarter finals and then mess it up - again. But if we're healthy we have a chance. Rooney alone is a match winner all by himself and when he's on the field he can score at any moment, so fingers crossed he has the tournament of a lifetime.is rooney that good? i haven't seen him play yet. and england is notorious for over-hyping. plus i follow liverpool, so i officially hate the spoiled little fat jerk. :D

US needs a striker to step up. ed johnson was looking very strong before he got injured. and mcbride has been playing well for fulham. but, like you, i ain't holding my breath.

2010. that's our year. mark it down. there is some serious depth and talent in the US pipeline.

[markythebill]

will Adu get in the squad? He'll be 17 next summer won't he? I used to like Coby Jones. He wasn't great but his speed on the wing was lightening fast. I followed the USA in 94 when we weren't there.

Rooney is HUGELY talented. He's incredibly ugly and as thick as pig **** but he is great to watch. He's quick, shows no fear of players no matter how great they are, he scores brilliant goals from all over the field, sets goals up for other people, and he's very strong so it's hard to people to barge him off the ball.

Supporting England is kinda like supporting the Bills, you're always waiting for something to go wrong, so I'm waiting for him to get injured before the cup starts, or maybe it'll be Frank Lampard, he has played in every game for Chelsea for about two years or something, so he is due to get crocked at some point.

[nehemiah]

Rooney is HUGELY talented. He's incredibly ugly and as thick as pig **** but he is great to watch. He's quick, shows no fear of players no matter how great they are, he scores brilliant goals from all over the field, sets goals up for other people, and he's very strong so it's hard to people to barge him off the ball.

Supporting England is kinda like supporting the Bills, you're always waiting for something to go wrong, so I'm waiting for him to get injured before the cup starts, or maybe it'll be Frank Lampard, he has played in every game for Chelsea for about two years or something, so he is due to get crocked at some point.how has his consistency been? on the international level... the only time i read about him is when he is spitting on a ref or something. :D

i like lampard. heck of a player. what are you going to do with lampard/gerrard?

adu won't make this year's squad, IMO. 2010 will be his stage. he is insanely talented. but very young. and inconsistent. he's just the tip of the iceberg, though. the U-17s, in particular, have an arrogance and quality yet to be seen in American players.

cobi jones is old... but i think the US will add his experience if he can make it to germany without a walker.

[markythebill]

how has his consistency been? on the international level... the only time i read about him is when he is spitting on a ref or something. :D

i like lampard. heck of a player. what are you going to do with lampard/gerrard?

adu won't make this year's squad, IMO. 2010 will be his stage. he is insanely talented. but very young. and inconsistent. he's just the tip of the iceberg, though. the U-17s, in particular, have an arrogance and quality yet to be seen in American players.

cobi jones is old... but i think the US will add his experience if he can make it to germany without a walker.

He's been great on the world stage (for the most part). He's gone a while without scoring but his overall performances have been very good. he's still very young and is nowhere near his peak yet so there's a lot more to look forward to. He does lose his rag sometimes and let's people provoke him but in the game against Argentina they were fouling him all over the place and he just got up and carried on without even batting an eyelid.

I think Sven will play Gerrard and Lampard together, like he always does, though I (and a lot of fans) would rather see only one of them out there because they are just too similar and you need a holding player somewhere in central midfield. I'd play Lampard and have Gerrard as a very good guy on the bench who can come on if the team is in trouble in the 2nd half. Lampard has shown far more for England than Gerrard has. But Sven looks at it as having two world class players so he'd be mad to bench one of them... even if that does hurt his tactics.

I thought Adu might get into the squad, just so they could maybe throw him in there if they are losing a game and need a spark of some sort. I saw him play a little at DC and I liked his skills a lot. Obviously you don't want to put too much pressure on someone of that age but I'd be very tempted to take him along. Even if he doesn't get a game at any point, just being on the squad would be a big experience for him and teach him a lot.

I didn't even realise Coby Jones was still playing. I just assumed he would have retired a while ago.

[г]

Is Owen Hargreaves still injured ?

[markythebill]

Is Owen Hargreaves still injured ?

Not sure, he didn't play in our last game Vs. Argentina. I don't want him to make the squad anyway, I've never seen him do anything of note playing for us.

I was going to ask why you mentioned him and just realised he's Canadian! I'd like to see Canada in the WC one day, the Aussies are in their first one this time around (they got picked in the same group as Brazil, ouch).

[markythebill]

Groups are as follows:

Group A
Germany
Costa Rica
Poland
Ecuador

Group B
England
Paraguay
Trinidad and Tobago
Sweden

Group C
Argentina
Ivory Coast
Serbia and Montenegro
Netherlands

Group D
Mexico
Iran
Angola
Portugal

Group E
Italy
Ghana
USA
Czech Republic

Group F
Brazil
Croatia
Australia
Japan

Group G
France
Switzerland
South Korea
Togo

Group H
Spain
Ukraine
Tunisia
Saudi Arabia

USA are in one of the most entertaining-looking groups. I'll be watching that one closely.

[г]

LOL, I remember Canada actually made it to the WC once in '86...I remember watching most of the games while at work at the GM stamping plant in Oshawa LOL.

They got shut out in all three games by France, Hungary and the USSR

[eSabre]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=350666&root=us&cc=5901


Interesting article. He could possibly be the US team's top forward.

[nehemiah]

Groups are as follows:

Group B
England
Paraguay
Trinidad and Tobago
Sweden

Group E
Italy
Ghana
USA
Czech Republic

USA are in one of the most entertaining-looking groups. I'll be watching that one closely.:rofl: whose dick is sven erikkson sucking? your group is a joke.

the US is gonna have to earn this one. let's rumble, baby! :rockon:

[markythebill]

:rofl: whose dick is sven erikkson sucking? your group is a joke.

the US is gonna have to earn this one. let's rumble, baby! :rockon:

What are you talking about? We obviously have the toughest group in the tournament :bigsmile:

Seriously, I'm very happy about that. If we do end up finishing top we may well play Poland in the last 16, and they don't scare me at all. But even if that did happen and e got to the quarter finals we'd have to go through the likes of Argentina, Holland and Brazil to even make the final.

Of course this is England we're talking about so we'll probably screw up somewhere along the line and lose all our group games...

USA's group is a real pisser. Obviously Italy and the Czechs are top class so they have thier work cut out. But every WC a couple of the "big" end up getting scalped in the qualifying round so I see no reason why one of them might get a shock at the hands (erm, feet) of the American team.

[г]

Remember, Poland has those secret CIA prisons.

Rooney might wind up getting waterboarded if he scores against them...

[bduff54]

rooney is a great player, can't wait to Stevie G in Germany.

[nehemiah]

What are you talking about? We obviously have the toughest group in the tournament :bigsmile:

Seriously, I'm very happy about that. If we do end up finishing top we may well play Poland in the last 16, and they don't scare me at all. But even if that did happen and e got to the quarter finals we'd have to go through the likes of Argentina, Holland and Brazil to even make the final.

Of course this is England we're talking about so we'll probably screw up somewhere along the line and lose all our group games...

USA's group is a real pisser. Obviously Italy and the Czechs are top class so they have thier work cut out. But every WC a couple of the "big" end up getting scalped in the qualifying round so I see no reason why one of them might get a shock at the hands (erm, feet) of the American team.we beat portugal and (underrated) south korea last time. gotta beat the best to be the best. bring it! :rockon:

that's why the world cup is the best tourney in the world. the best team always wins. except germany in 1990.

[г]

Bduff, are you bracing for the Italian/Portuguese takeover of Toronto during the WC ? LOL

[bduff54]

lol, yeah i am prepared.