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So, who will win this thing?
after a couple of day with good action... still a tricky call this time..
germany have started to play a zone defense instead of the good old man to man, and failed over and over.. hard time picturing that defence to go far.. the good thing is that host nations have won 6 out of 17 world cup and germany have played in nearly every final.. can they do it again with a poor defence? hmm
argentina impressed me in last years confederations cup, but commited the good old fault last night tried to ride a lead against the the elephants. Discipline and teamwork needs to improve and after 2002's disaster it would be a shame for them to dip out early again.. good start with a win in the group of death!
england.. a team happy to win by a small margin and nearly ever fall behind. They don't like to go all out attack and have a better team than ever before. King cole impressed me but they seem to have a huge problem with the heat in germany. Could this team be the one that ends 40 years of waiting?
netherlands.. ouch, in the group of death and argentina win the first match. They really need a win today but got massive support from just across the german border. A good team that that needs a good start but the dogs could go far as they have good spirits and some impressive young players
italy.. scandals all the way before the cup even started and there are usually trouble around italys matches. They are not that confident but striker Loca Toni could emerge and lead this team to something great. Nesta and Cannavaro are solid as rock in the defence and have proven themselves over time. The key is, what system will coach Marcello Lippi use? Is it time for the italians to embrace a more flexible attacking brand?
usa.. the team I'd like to see go far so the nations can join us in celebrating soccer. However, they are in a strong group and have to make it past italy and the czechs to go through. hmm fairly good players and they proved themselves in 2002 knocking out teams like mexico and portugal. Will the dog bite back this time aswell?
france.. really embarresed themselves in 2002 beeing knocked out in the first round. That won't happen again as they are in the easiest group of the tournament playing switzerland, south korea and togo. I'm not to sure about this team. Good players and an experienced coach should have lead them in confidence through the qualifying, but they only secured it winning 4-0 over lowly cyprus in the final game. hmmm
spain.. on paper, they have to talent to go far, bot does this team possess the missing ingredient to go all the way? This is a team that never plays defensivly and will try to score at every opportunety. They have a fairly easy group and will battle with the ukraine for the top spot. However, they have a funny way to always fuck up these cups and never make it far. Likely to happen again?
brazil.. 5 time winners and they are actually the only team to have appeared in every tournament.. famous for their flowing exciting football and will anything less than a final would be a failure. Balance, grit and ability is the key and the defence is not that strong. However, parreira has a talented squad at his disposal and the attacking powers of kaka, robinho, adriano, ronaldo and ronaldinho is stunning.. the problem I see for brazil is that they draw to much (7 of 18 in the qualifying) .. 50/50 to win a penalty shoot out!?
who do you think after seeing a few days?
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