Cnotes

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

After the first two games, I was pretty disappointed with the boys.  It took a miracle to get the U.S. out of the group stage.  They needed to win by at least 3-0 and have Italy lose by 3-0.   I didn’t think it was possible, but it was in the cards that day.  U.S. over Egypt 3-0, & Brazil over Italy 3-0.

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!

I can’t say I was too disappointed with the result tonight, but the fact that they were up 1-0 @ the half down a man I thought a tie could be in order.  The red card on Ricardo Clark in the 33rd minute was a very questionable call.  A foul for sure, and potentially a yellow card, but a straight red was a ridiculous call. Donovan converted a Penalty kick, to make it 1-0 right before the half.  The 2nd half was all Italy, 3-1 final.  19-year old Jozy Altidore really played well holding up the ball and creating the penalty kick for the only US goal. On the defensive end I thought Jonathan Spector played really well.

Italy pretty much had their way in the second half a lot of chances, most of their efforts were thwarted by the US back line and Tim Howard’s brilliance.  Being down a man there was a pretty open area in the middle of the midfield and the Italians took advantage of it.  2 of their goals were shots outside the box.  I thought we’d get at least one point after the 1st half performance, turns out the Italians class was too much for the undermanned Yanks.

Next Game: Brazil 6/18 @ 9am, ESPN360.com, ESPN2.