World Forums

I honestly think Italy will win; that's why I picked them. I don't want them to lose.

Brazil and Argentina also have a great chance, and there are about 4 or 5 European teams who aren't far behind them, but with the cup being held in Europe, and with Italy having good players all over the park (Argentina have a suspect defence), that should tip the balance in their favour

Mark - I like England's midfield. That is a strong group and they are game winners (BIG as Casati would say), especially Gerrard. Owens scored a nice goal the other day, so maybe he will come into form. How do you rate the defense and goal? BTW, I have England meeting Italy in the final.

Damn, as I look at my picks, I have England playing all four South American qualifiers.

Paraguay (group stage)

Equador (Round of 16)

Argentina (Quarter-finals)

Brazil (Semi-finals)

Falc. Robinson is the best English GK, which sounds quite impressive, until you remember that David James is his deputy

He (Robinson) is a good shot-stopper and a solid GK, but nothing more than that. I would think he won't be among the best keepers in the world cup. I would rate several goalkeepers in the tournament a lot higher than I'd rate him.

The defence on paper should be one of the best, but I have a feeling it won't work out like that. Rio Ferdinand is prone to lapses in concentration and Sol Campbell has definitely declined as he's passed the age of 30, and he is probably the least comfortable on the ball out of all the England defenders.

John Terry is the only centre-back who I have full confidence in. I also like Carragher, who has improved immensely over the past 2-3 years, but I don't think he'll play in that position if he starts any games. I expect it will be Terry and Rio to start, but I'd go with Terry and Carragher on current form.

As for the full-backs, Neville should be dependable enough; Cole used to be a bit careless but he's good going forward and seems to be able to defend properly nowadays.

It's Owen, not Owens.

Like I give a fuck!

you baaaad boy, Falc !

he, he, he

I just did the draw for a little pool I'm organizing at work. I convinced 7 co-workers to put up 20 bucks. I divided the 32 sides into 4 groups based on likelihood of success. The first group includes all the seeded teams; the second, third and fourth tier of 8 teams are listed in order based on odds. Each player gets one team from each tier. The winner gets $100 but $20 goes to the participant who holds the team that advances the farthest from each of the second, third and fourth tiers: (Pabs, I'll need to get the final order from you).

My draw is: Spain; Ukraine; Japan, Ecuador

The best draw in my opinion was Argentina, Netherlands, Paraguay, Saudi Arabia.

At least now these people will pay attention when I talk soccer during the next month.

FORZA AZZURRI

Bineaz

do you mean you need latest odds ?

willhill.com or betandwin.com

if I misunderstood, please tell me.

No Pabs. I used them latest odds I found to come up with my four groups.

I mean the order of fisnish 1-32 of all the WC participants. You usually get that list.

Any predictions on who's going to win the golden boot for top goalscorer? I like Pedro Pauleta, but not sure Portugal are going to progress far enough for him to win, so I'll go with Luca Toni, who will be playing for the champions.

Shevchenko!

Bineaz

Understood. Yeah, I'll look out for it and let you know.

Thanks buddy.

FORZA

I can't figure out where you folks are posting your predictions, so I'll just do it here:

A: Germany, Poland, Costa Rica, Ecuador

B: Sweden, England, Paraguay, AT&T

C: Argentina Holland, Serbia, Ebony & Ivory

D: Paloville, Portugal, Iran, AnGOALa

E: Czechia, Italia, America, (Not) Gonna

F: Brazil, Oz, Croatia, Japan

G: France, Cheese & Chocolate, Korea, Togo

H: "The rain in (1) Spain falls mainly in (2) Ukraine" 3. Tunisia 4. Soddy

2nd Round

Germany over England

Sweden over Poland

Portugal over Argentina

Holland over Mexico

Czechia over Australia

Brazil over Italy

Ukraine over France

Spain over Swiss

Quarters


Germany over Portugal

Holland over Sweden

Czechia over Ukraine

Brazil over Spain


Semis

Germany over Czechia

Holland over Brazil

Final

Cruyff Avenged!

Holland over Germany--Holland wins their First WC

lol @ "paloville" and "Soddy"

Bodies Coming Out of the Grave

Looks like the old gang is getting back together. Silicon Valley, AirCal, Ciked and others have posted recently. Hope to see many more. We need to spread the word to anyone we are still in tough with at other forums. Anyone in touch with the Useless One, Sid? This is a special, month long reunion.

Silicon - You can post your predictions at the thread World Cup 2006 Predictions (or something like that). Good to hear from you again.

Falc

falc???

Group Rounds

Group A:
1. Germany
2. Poland
3. Equador
4. Costa Rica

Group B:
1. England
2. Sweden
3. Paraguay
4. Trinidad & Tobago

Group C:
1. Argentina
2. Netherlands
3. Ivory Coast
4. Serbia & Montenegro

Group D:
1. Mexico
2. Portugal
3. Iran
4. Angola

Group E:
1. Italy
2. United States
3. Czech Republic
4. Ghana

Group F:
1. Brazil
2. Croatia
3. Japan
4. Australia

Group G:
1. France
2. Switzerland
3. South Korea
4. Togo

Group H:
1. Spain
2. Tunisia
3. Ukraine
4. Saudi Arabia

Round of 16

(winner in bold)
49 Germany (1A) : Sweden (2B)
50 Argentina (1C) : Portugal (2D)
51 England (1B) : Poland (2A)
52 Mexico (1D) : Holland (2C)
53 Italy (1E) : Croatia (2F)
54 France (1G) : Tunisia (2H)
55 Brazil (1F) : United States (2E)
56 Spain (1H) : Switzerland (2G)

Quarter-finals

57 Germany (W49) : Argentina (W50)
58 Italy (W53) : France (W54)
59 England (W51) : Holland (W52)
60 Brazil (W55) : Spain (W56)

Semi-finals

61 Argentina (W57) : Italy (W58)
62 Brazil (W59) : England (W60)

Third Place

63 Argentina (L61) : England (L62)

Final

64 Italy (W61) : Brazil (W62)

3 goals in final match

Howdy Mate!

Aircalzinho Paulista wrote:falc???

Yep, it is me. I am trying a Penta thing for the WC. Maybe it will bring luck to gli Azzurri. Bineaz is Azzurro. I will go back to my old name, hopefully after the WC is over (sooner if Italy is eliminated).

Hope all is going well. Can you drag anymore bodies back here?

speaking of which, I see naemus left again. Made a brief appearance and took off.

How's the Juve ML these days ? Is it stopped for now, or do you guys just talk WC ?

Falc,

But I had to wait 5 years, since I used Penta for the WC98 at first . But you won´t have problems since I´m almost sure Italy will win this cup, unless if Argentina spoils your party

I'm off to a good start. I had Germany & Equador as the top two in my prediction.

Penta - No offense old friend but I hope you are stuck with Axé for a very long time. Hope you are right about Italy pulling it through this summer.

Falc,

Actually, I should have adopted the name Hexa(6x) Brasil after 2002, but I to choose Axé(peace in an african dialect ) since it´s a word very used in my city.

I predict Ecuador 2 - Poland 0

Signed, Jose Romero

Got it!!!!

OK. I thought Axé was a variation of Hexa, thus seeking numero 6 for your beloved Brasil. Either way, my boys need to catch up to your boys.

Just took a look at the predicitions. I can see why some of you may have selected Poland to finish second being that they were playing nearby but to pick Equador dead last as some did. Shameful. So now Equador heads towards their encounter with Germany needing only a draw to finish on top. Considering that all of us had Germany picked to win the group, must win situation for the host nation.

Bineaz - Question concerning the second round (final 16). What if I picked a team to win in that round but they did so not in the order that I picked. For instance, let's say Germany finishes second in its group. It will play in the second round but not in the game no. or opponent I picked them to win. So if Germany advances to the quarterfinals, do I get the points for predicting that they will advance regardless of how they do so?

Falc,

Good point: Because we tied the predictions to actual matches if your team doesn't win that game then no points (even if it advances). I have to remember to the last one we held because I think then we just granted points for the correct winners in the round of 16, 1/4s etc. I have to think about it but given that I've been out of the office a couple days, and focusing a lot on footie, it may take a while.

So if Germany advances to the quarterfinals, do I get the points for predicting that they will advance regardless of how they do so?

In the last Europen Championship prediction competition, everyone would get points for every team correctly predicted as advancing. So, if you predicted , say, Czech Republic to advance to the semis, this would earn you points, regardless of whether you were correct about their first round ranking.

yeah what Felix said.

addios

your conversations about your boys should be kept private.



Is S&M that awful or is Argentina back??

damn. I'm taking a beating.

I had Serbia and Paraguay to top their groups.

Bineaz - I made an edit on the Prediction thread listing all of the participants and setting a list of their scores in each round. It is on the main message so people do not need to scroll down to the bottom. Tomorrow will start the last match in each group, so we can start keeping track of the predictions. I assume that you will update the tallies. Let me know.

Falc

Falc,

Yeah! I got my home internet resolved. I'll update the thread with results by tommorow morning.

Tomorrow morning?

It is so hard to find good help now a days!

OK, as I am sure many of us want to know where we stand. Shall I assume that we are looking at past noon your time?

I'll do the best I can. I have a hard copy at work, but I'll try to do it after the Holland game.