In an effort to get my head right for this summer’s World Cup, I’ve decided to go through the group tables and the elimination rounds with my witty predictions.  So here it goes my World Cup predictions as of 11:00 PM CST, on 5/17/2010.  I reserve the right to not remain loyal to these ^BOLD predictions, enjoy!

Golden Boot: L. Messi (the kid had 47 goals this year so far, surely he has at least a handful more to go)

Best group round game: Brazil v. Ivory Coast, this is a pivotal game for me.  Will be fast paced and beautiful to watch.

Best game that’s not the final: Spain v. Brazil (I really hope these teams eventually meet)

Best XI:

————————–I. Casillas———————–

Maicon              E. Abidal          N. Vidic             A. Cole

L. Donovan      C. Fabregas           W. Sneijder       F. Ribery

—————–C. Ronaldo        L. Messi———————

Side Notes:

USA homer ALERT: USA avenges the 2002 loss to Germany in the Round of 16.  This was a tough call they’re my favorite 2 national teams.  USA is in my heart, but Germany is probably the best hope for a deep run for a team I pull for.  Once they are both out I’ll pull for any team with a LFC player, so either England or Spain.

Could there be another great Three Lions/Argentina battle? I say YES!

Sleeper Team: Uruguay

African team that can win it all: Ivory Coast, EDITED: if Drogba makes it back

Perennial under achievers again: Portugal

Team that can knock USA out of the final 16: Slovenia, sneaky good ask Russia.

Best Team not in the World Cup: Turkey

My Favorite team to watch when their clicking:  Netherlands

Best Kit that won’t be seen this year: Croatia

Team I’m probably not respecting enough: Mexico

Best Player missing the Finals: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden)

Worst omission from a squad: Juan Roman Riquelme (Argentina)

Best Player missing the Finals and lucky to be alive: Salvador Cabañas (Paraguay), Honorable Mention Charlie Davies (USA)

I’m also in a World Cup survival tournament with some friends.  I ended up with Spain; I had the 1^st pick, just not on the Dunga/Brazil bandwagon.  I think the best football right now is being played in Europe, and Spain is the reigning Europe champions.  My second pick was Denmark a very good underrated Euro side.  The Danes have a very organized midfield and with some young thunderous strikers.  My 3^rd round pick was Greece remember Euro 2004?  While not heavily favored here either Greece has plenty of talent and plays great defense.  Finally, North Korea, 1^st pick means last pick too L, a total unknown here.  My biggest reach may be that I gave North Korea a goal.   So in retrospect, these predictions might be a tad biased for these teams.

Group A
Team	W						D						L					PF				PA				Points
South Africa	1						2						0					5				4				5
Mexico	0						2						1					5				5				2
Uruguay	0						2						1					6				7				2
France	2						0						1					5				4				6
South Africa 1 – Mexico 1*
France 2 – Uruguay 1
South Africa 2 – Uruguay 2
Mexico 1 – France 2
South Africa 2 – France 1
Mexico 3 – Uruguay 3
Player of the Group – Steven Pienaar (South Africa)
Group B
Team	W						D						L					PF				PA					Points
Argentina	2						1						0					7				3					6
Nigeria	0						1						2					2				5					1
South Korea	0						1						2					2				5					1
Greece	2						1						0					3				1					6
Argentina 3 – Nigeria 1
South Korea 0 – Greece 1
Greece 1 – Nigeria 0*
Argentina 3 – South Korea 1
Nigeria 1 – South Korea 1
Greece 1 – Argentina 1
Player of the Group – Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Group C
Team		W						D						L				PF			PA				Points
England		3						0						0				7			2				9
United States		2						0						1				6			5				6
Slovenia		0						1						2				3			6				1
Algeria		0						1						2				3			6				1
England 2 – USA 1*
Algeria 1 – Slovenia 1
Slovenia 1 – USA 2
England 2 – Algeria 0
Slovenia 1 – England 3
USA 3 – Algeria 2
Player of the Group – Landon Donovan (USA)
Group D
Team			W						D						L				PF					PA					Points
Germany			1						2						0				3					2					5
Australia			1						1						1				3					3					4
Serbia			0						2						1				3					5					2
Ghana			0						3						0				4					4					3
Germany 1 – Australia 0
Serbia 2 – Ghana 2
Germany 1 – Serbia 1
Ghana 1 – Australia 1
Ghana 1 – Germany 1
Australia 2 – Serbia 1*
Player of the Group – Mark Schwarzer (Australia)
Group E
Team				W						D						L			PF				PA					Points
Netherlands				2						1						0			6				5					7
Denmark				2						0						1			7				5					6
Japan				0						0						3			2				6					0
Cameroon				1						1						1			3				3					4
Netherlands 3 – Denmark 2*
Japan 0 – Cameroon 1
Netherlands 2 – Japan 1
Cameroon 1 – Denmark 2
Denmark 3 – Japan 1
Cameroon 1 – Netherlands 1
Player of the Group – Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)
Group F
Team					W					D					L				PF				PA						Points
Italy					2					1					0				9				3						7
Paraguay					1					2					0				5				4						5
New Zealand					0					0					3				1				8						0
Slovakia					1					1					1				4				4						4
Italy 2 – Paraguay 2*
New Zealand 0 – Slovakia 2
Slovakia 1 – Paraguay 1
Italy 4 – New Zealand 0
Slovakia 1 – Italy 3
Paraguay 2 – New Zealand 1
Player of the Group – Andrea Pirlo (Italy)
Group G
Team						W						D					L			PF					PA					Points
Ivory Coast						2						1					0			8					4					7
Portugal						1						1					1			7					5					4
Brazil						2						1					0			9					4					7
North Korea						0						0					3			1					12					0
Ivory Coast 2 – Portugal 2
Brazil 5 – North Korea 0
Brazil 2  – Ivory Coast 3*
Portugal 4 – North Korea 1
Portugal 1 – Brazil 2
North Korea 0 – Ivory Coast 3
Player of the Group – Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)
Group H
Team							W				D					L			PF					PA					Points
Honduras							0				0					3			1					6					0
Chile							1				1					1			3					4					4
Spain							3				0					0			8					2					9
Switzerland							1				1					1			2					3					4
Honduras 1 – Chile 2
Spain 2 – Switzerland 1*
Chile 0 – Switzerland 0
Spain 3 – Honduras 0
Switzerland 1 – Honduras 0
Chile 1 – Spain 3
Player of the Group – David Villa (Spain)
Round of 16
France 1 – Greece 0
England 2 – Australia 2  (a.e.t.) pen 4-3
Argentina 4 – South Africa 2
Germany 1 – USA 1 (a.e.t.) pen 4-5
Netherlands 3 – Paraguay 1
Ivory Coast 2 – Chile 0
Italy  1 – Denmark 1 (a.e.t.) pen 4-2
Spain 3 – Brazil 3 (a.e.t.) pen 7-6
Quarter-finals
France 1 – England 1 (a.e.t.) pen 2-4
Argentina 3 – USA 1
Netherlands 3 – Ivory Coast 2 (a.e.t.)
Italy 1 – Spain 2
Semi-finals
England 1 – Argentina 2
Netherlands 2 – Spain 2 (a.e.t.) pen 4-5
Final
Argentina 1 – Spain 2 (a.e.t.)
*Game of the Group
(a.e.t) Added Extra Time – if games end ties after 90 minutes there are two 15 minute half’s played.
(pen) Penalty kick shootout – After the extra time if the match is still tied then the game goes into penalty shootout.
^I still reserve the right to not get one match or score right and still say I told you so

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2010 World Cup Finals Draw

After taking a week to let the world cup draw soak and reviewing all the groups I’m going to disagree with the bulk of the analyst that are saying Group G is the “Group of Death”.   Although North Korea is a huge unknown in group G, I really think the group of death is Group D.  In my opinion Germany is a top 3 European team, with Spain and The Netherlands as the 2 others.  Ghana is probably the best African team.  Ivory Coast has one of the best finishers in the world in Didier Drogba, but I think Ghana is a complete team with a fantastic midfield led by Michael Essien.  Serbia is a mid-tier European team on the rise with maybe the best defender in the world in Nemanja Vidić.  And the Aussies, well what can you say about them.  In the last world cup they had the great Guus Hiddink on the sidelines leading out of their group stage, and I expect more of the same with highly competitive, 90 intense minutes in all their matches.  There will not be an easy 3 points to be had in any of their matches.

Now for the US National Team side; being a realist of the USMNT and a huge fan; I really do believe that we can expect the US to get out of the group stages.  Unfortunatly, I can also see them only scrambling to get only 1 or 2 points out of the group.  They’re so unpredictable, but when they are taking the game to their opponent they are at their absolute best.  Will they have a full healthy squad this year?  Only time will tell, but I’m not counting out Gooch and Davies return.

As for my prediction on their group matches results:

England is a team that we all should know well.  They entire team plays every weekend in the top leagues and on teams in the top of the tables year in year out.  Captained by John Terry, a draw would be the best result for the US versus England.  While notorious for finding ways to lose winnable matches in past World Cups, England usually always find a way out of the Group stages.  I also think Fabio Capello as their boss really will be their wildcard as they make a deep run this final.  So I think 1-1 or 0-0 is a great result and one that can be had versus a final 4 team in England. My prediction is a little more bleak for the US.  I think the US gets out to an early lead, but alas I think the US falls short losing 1-2.   Something tells me a controversial Penalty may play out as the game winner.

Slovenia is a very dangerous squad as well.   Most of their squad play in the lower tiers of European football, but they have a few stand outs at forward and a young good midfield that really stepped up against a very good Russian team in their final round of qualifying.  I expect at the very least 1 point, but I think US can put this game away late winning 2-1.

Finally Algeria, they needed a play-in game versus Egypt to qualify for the finals. The same Egypt team that the US handled easily in the confederations cup this past summer 3-0.  I know the Algerians will put up a fight early, but I expect our counter attack to play a huge role and getting the US through 2-0, but if Algeria gets a early goal the US maybe in trouble to get out of the group.

Group C Final points:

England 7pts

US 6pts

Slovenia 4pts

Algeria 0pts

As for the final round of 16, I don’t see the US getting past Germany, Serbia, or Ghana.  If the US somehow meets Australia I think they have a good fighting chance.

As we get closer I’ll probably try and predict all the groups for fun.  A few side notes:

-if you are going to South Africa you may want to consider staying here with the England fans on the cheap.

-All Games are going to be on ESPN360, so for everyone that works and wants to watch the games live it may be a viable option for you so see if you have access through your isp, or cable provider.

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So, that set up a huge match-up of USA vs. Spain.  Spain ranked #1 in the FIFA world rankings, for whatever that’s worth.  They had won 15 games in a row, and they were undefeated in the last 35 going back to 2006.

The U.S. was ready for the task at hand, getting out to a goal lead on a power turn and shot by 19 year-old, Jozy Altidore.  The second half Spain had plenty of chances, Howard and his back line came up huge time after time.   With a 74th minute goal by the Nacogdoches talent, Clint Dempsey, the yanks held on to the 2-0 win, setting up the finals with Brazil.

Brazil needed late heroics to advance on a Daniel Alvez free kick that he was able to curl into the right side netting of the goal.  Really you couldn’t ask for a better start for the Yanks.  In the 9th minute, after looking dangerous form the start, Dempsey again was able to volley in a cross from the impressive West Ham United Right Back, Jonathan Spector.  The US continued to look dangerous throughout the 1st half.   The second goal came on a perfectly executed breakaway by Charlie Davies and Landon Donovan.  This left Landon with an easy finish past the Brazilian goal keeper Julio Cesar in the 27th minute.

Brazil began to play much more organized and by the end of the first half they had a few chances, but the US back line was able to bail them out.  The Second half’s beginning was a sign of how fast Brazil can strike.  In the first minute back after the break Luis Fabiano made a quick turn and a shot through Jay Demerit’s legs to score to Tim Howard’s left.  After the 1st goal, the U.S. backed off and became a defensive shell as Brazil forced U.S. turnover after turnover.  For the final 44 minutes they dug in on the final third, but the Brazilians were simply too crafty and made chance after chance.  In the end, there were too many for the US back 4, which at this point of the game was more like a back 8.

Luis Fabiano was able to head in a ball sent to the box by a cross by Kaka, tying it at 2-2 in the 74th minute.  After this goal, the U.S. showed a bit of potential to hold the Brazilians @ 2 goals and force extra time, but a late corner kick set up the Brazilian Captain, Lucio (who I swear has make-up on),  to beat Dempsey’s attempt to clear and put the 3rd goal away past Howard.  There were also a couple of other near goals for Brazil.  One of which really looked like the entire ball got past the line, but the linemen didn’t call it a goal.  3-2 Brazil was the final, but it could’ve been worse.

So, after the tournament got to such a sore start, the Americans were able to regroup, come up with 3 solid efforts, and play probably their best football in a really long time. This might have been their best since their 2002 World Cup run to the quarterfinals, which inevitably lead to a 0-1 loss to the hands of football power Germany, a game dominated by the Americans.

This tournament has me completely stoked for the World Cup next year!

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