FIFA World Cup 2014

Ok the big 4 are

Bazil, Argentina, Germany and Holland

Wild cards England and Croatia

A great open competition

I dont think we can write off any team at this stage. From the world cups I have seen, no champion has dominated from the start, all will have hiccups and ugly wins along the way ( think Spain 2010, plenty narrow 1-0 wins). Main priority now is to escape the group no matter how you do it. Was not impressed with my pick Argentina given the firepower they, but a win is a win. Group stage form is irrelevant when it comes to the knockout stages. There its all about BMT, desire, and a fair share of luck.

Bosnia could well progress to the next round

gregbucks Wrote:

---

> I think the Germans will go and win this WC....

The only European side with consistent discipline and balance-best of Europe but not enough in the end -
A South American win still looking good!

rob faux Wrote:

---

> gregbucks Wrote:
>

---

>

---

> > I think the Germans will go and win this WC....
>
> The only European side with consistent discipline
> and balance-best of Europe but not enough in the
> end -
> A South American win still looking good!

I did back Brazil a few months win BUT....
Lets just say Brazil win there group (they should beat Cameroon) they will then have to play the runners up of group B *Chile or Holland, neither of which will be a walk over.

Rob , what did you make of the Italians ?

I thought they were very disciplined and very organised at the back and in fact all around . They soaked up a lot of pressure from the poms . Baloteli looks a lot more mature now ( i think ) and his prowess upfront was excellent . He almost scored twice out of two opportunities .
The italians imo have the best free kick taker of the tourny and the way they mastered that goal off the corner was innovative and brilliant .

i make them a very difficult side to break down . A negative though is that they rely heavily on Pirlo and Baloteli , there may be doubts about Pirlo seeing out the rigours of the entire tourament without being fatigued and should he or Baloteli receive a suspension, it would prove fatal to the Ity's .
.

IF England get past Uraguay and Italy beat Costa Rica then the Italian can afford to rest Pirlo for there last group game....

Why are England Favourite tonight ?

Big value punting Uruguay

Big shocks still to come.

If you look at the European sides so far ......any/ every good performance has been against other Europeans (eg.Holland, great against Spain-shit against Australia)
England and Italy seem to have got a little lucky maybe-Uruagay looked horrible in defense - even when they were leading at half time against Costa Rica , the warnings signs were there-the goalkeeper had no control over his area (looked like a child trying to catch fireflies)
I would be surprised if he retains his place !
Considering that,I can see Italy and Costa Rica going through.
Can't judge Italy properly yet-beating England is hardly a yardstick right now!

MY PLAY FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS.(tu)

Leg 1

SOCCER > WORLD CUP 2014 (COLOMBIA@HOME)
COLOMBIA vs IVORY COAST (90 MINS)
19-Jun-2014 18:00
COLOMBIA / IVORY COAST 1.1 Home

Leg 2

SOCCER > WORLD CUP 2014 (URUGUAY@HOME)
DOUBLE CHANCE (90 MINS)
19-Jun-2014 21:00
URUGUAY or DRAW / - 0.66 Home

Leg 3

SOCCER > WORLD CUP 2014 (ARGENTINA@HOME)
HANDICAP (90 MINS)
21-Jun-2014 18:00
ARGENTINA (-1) / IRAN (+1) 0.4 Home

Leg 4

SOCCER > WORLD CUP 2014 (GERMANY@HOME)
GERMANY vs GHANA (90 MINS)
21-Jun-2014 21:00
GERMANY / GHANA 0.3 Home

Leg 5

SOCCER > WORLD CUP 2014 (NIGERIA@HOME)
HANDICAP (90 MINS)
22-Jun-2014 00:00
NIGERIA (+1) / BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA (-1) 0.8 Home

Leg 6

SOCCER > WORLD CUP 2014 (SOUTH KOREA@HOME)
SOUTH KOREA vs ALGERIA (90 MINS)
22-Jun-2014 21:00
SOUTH KOREA / ALGERIA 1.3 Home

Final Price: 25.27

yet another brilliant goal by an ex Arsenal player. Wenger must be cursing himself for letting all those players leave