Monday, June 21, 2010

World Cup: thoughts after 2 games




So here are my personal thoughts on this World Cup after the second game.

Group A:
France is being ridiculed around the world for what is happening to the team: players getting in fights with trainers, players not training, people resigning. Pretty embarrassing France! I do not think they deserve to go through this stage for what they have shown so far.
Uruguay and Mexico have shown some good soccer (especially Uruguay) and I think they will deserve a chance to show the World what they can do when things get serious.
For South Africa this World Cup will be just a great memory.

Group B:
Argentina is slowly starting to show what they are capable of and in their last game will have to face Greece, who is fighting to get that spot for the second round.
Nigeria and South Korea will face each other and the loser is out. It is hard to predict who will pass with Argentina, since 3 teams could have 3 points, but given the goal situation and what they have shown thus far, my prediction is South Korea.

Group C:
Interesting situation here. England needs to beat Slovenia and still is not for sure they will get first place. Capello needs to show that he deserves to be the head coach and he needs to prove himself just like he has throughout his career as a club coach. The US, after being robbed against Slovenia are probably ready to prove themselves against Algeria, whose hopes are not too high if you ask me.
My prediction is that the US will pull it out and beat Algeria and at the same time England will finally win their first game at this World Cup.

Group D:
Here happened probably one of the biggest surprises, when Serbia beat Germany. It is a very interesting situation because Ghana holds the first place but will have to face Germany who will need to win if they wanna make it through. Australia's hopes are very very little. I do think that Serbia will win and kick Ghana out of the competition.

Group E:
Even though the Dutch have to improve, they are playing Cameroon which is already out. Denmark and Japan will face each other in a game that will decide who makes it to the next round. I personally think Denmark will win!

Group F:
Big surprise when New Zealand forced Italy to a draw, forcing the Italians to win the last match against Slovakia. Paraguay will probably pull it out against New Zealand, sending them home. My opinion, Italy and Paraguay to the next round.

Group G:
Portugal showed off with an impressive win over North Korea, who says goodbye to this competition. The only way Ivory Coast can still hope, is to beat the Asians and hope for Brasil to pull out a victory against Portugal. Brasil has shown improvement against Ivory Coast but suffered an injustice when Kaka was sent off.
Brasil is through, and according to my humble opinion will be followed by Portugal.

Group H:
After a minor speed bump Spain beats Honduras, ending their tournament here. Spain will most likely beat Chile and qualify as first in the group and for second place it will be a battle, especially if the Swiss will pull it out against Honduras.
Spain and Switzerland for me.

1 comment:

  1. interesting predictions...we'll see if they hold true! so far your groups a-c predictions have been spot on though. Group D...not so much ;) that's ok though, I think Ghana will be an easier opponent for USA. And Italy, I'm not so sure they will be moving out of their group, we will find out in a few hours though!

    ReplyDelete

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