Official World Cup Thread

[asilv]

Groups:

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

I'm happy, would have loved Togo or Angola though. Groups C and E are the groups of death, especially C.

[InsaneApache]

Got this of another footy site ...

have been claiming for a while now that FIFA rigs the qualification and the seeding to ensure that the "big countries" with money to spend and big TV audiences make it as far as possible. Now, it's apparent that the draw itself was fixed, and I don't know how anyone can deny that. I'm going to look through each group and expound upon how apparent the fix is.

GROUP A: FIFA has obviously gone into this World Cup with the intent of pushing hosts Germany as far as possible. We all remember some of the questionable decisions that put home team South Korea as far as they went in 2002, and it seems 2006 won't be very different. Germany probably did not deserve to be seeded in the first place. They did not have to slog through qualifcation, and their last tournament was a disgrace. They failed to manage a single win, scoring just two goals and even drawing 0-0 with 500 to 1 minnows Latvia. FIFA knows the lackluster hosts need a strong showing to keep tickets coming in. Unsurprisingly then, they have been dealt what I would consider the weakest qualification group. Germany only need to overcome Poland, Costa Rica, and Ecuador to move on. Hardly an epic task.

GROUP B: England had a bumpy road to qualification, but it seems FIFA have sought to ensure that it won't happen in Germany. While Sweden are a talented team and Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of the most dangerous players in the world, it seems unlikely that England would be unable to best Paraguay and future whipping boys Trinidad and Tobago. They've also dealt a rematch against Sweden, making for lots of "Swede vs. Swedes" headlines - yeah, that's a coincidence.

GROUP C: FIFA and UEFA sure don't seem to like Holland very much. They were in the "group of death" in EURO 2004 and got a tough qualification draw with the Czechs and Romania. Then they were not seeded, despite topping that group. They've been drawn in another tough group with Argentina, Serbia and Montenegro, and Ivory Coast. I think Argentina and Holland will still move on, but they will be weakened by tougher games than the other "favored" teams face.

GROUP D: The idea that Mexico would be seeded was about as foolish as the decision not to seed Portugal. Mexico are a poor team; Borgetti is the only one with any class. They only come to play football against tiny nations. If they think there is going to be an actual contest, they come to foul. There is no doubt they will be mugged by the Portugese, who steamrolled through qualification and led Europe (along with the Czechs) with 35 goals in the process. They were also EURO finalists. Of course, they also have only 10 million people, so FIFA did not seed them. However, FIFA has ensured Mexico is almost certain to go through by pairing them with Iran and Angola, ensuring Mexico's large population of 106,000,000 stays tuned.

GROUP E: This is the real group of death. Any one of these teams could go through. The Czechs were EURO semi-finalists and, if not for the loss of Pavel Nedved to injury, could have won it all. But FIFA hates them: their population is too small and too poor for them to make any TV money or ticket money. They got the group of death in EURO 2004 and a tough group with Holland to qualify. FIFA dislikes the US in a similar way: they don't think we'll watch the games on TV or pay for them in Germany. They've put those two talented teams against Italy and Ghana to try and make sure at least one will not go through, and that even if they do, they will be exhausted by the tough matches.

GROUP F: You could put Brazil in a group with Argentina, Holland, and Italy and they would still go through. FIFA have taken advantage of Brazil's talent to knock out Croatia, Australia, and Japan. They are all pretty good teams, and capable of causing an expensive upset. Now, two of them cannot do so.

GROUP G: FIFA doesn't want a repeat of 2002 when France was knocked out in the group stage, so they've given the fading 1998 champions a pretty easy go of it here. Togo doesn't have any experiece at this level, and without the friendly refereeing of 2002, Korea doesn't have much of a chance. France and Switzerland to go through with little trouble.

GROUP H: If you look at the teams who deserved seeding the least, you'd have to put Spain at the top of that list. They had a miserable EURO, failing to get past the group stages. Their qualifaction was pathetic as well. Despite being drawn in a suspiciously easy group, they still failed to come out on top, and only squeaked into the finals through the playoffs. Big surprise then that FIFA has sought to make sure they progress by putting them against Saudi Arabia, whose last World Cup appearance was marked by conceding 8 goals against Germany, and Tunisia. I have little doubt Ukraine will beat them and top the group, but it would take a miracle for Spain to go out in the group stages again.

In conclusion, I think EURO 2004 scared the crap out of FIFA and UEFA. By the semi-finals, the biggest, richest, and most populous nations were gone, and small, poor Greece won it all. When you look at the draw here, it's hard to see that happening again. And it's hard to see these groups which so perfectly fit FIFA's aims coming about by accident.

I'm not too sure myself about this, nevertheless it's an interesting proposition.

[Ser Clegane]

The top match of the first round - Argentina vs Holland will be here in Frankfurt ... and I didn't get any tickets

[Dutch_guy]

funny article, even find myself agreeing with him sometimes. though some of his arguments are very far fetched.

[Monarch]

I'm English and cant wait for the Sweden game. It will be the last game of the group, winner will most likely play Poland and the loser will have the much harder tasks of taking on the hosts. Should be a great game of football and England in my opinion will just have the edge.

Also T&T should be a fun match, I read in the Telegraph we've never played them before and I dont believe I have seen them play either. I've heard most play in England.

PS. My first post in the Tavern :D

[Ser Clegane]

Got this of another footy site ...



I'm not too sure myself about this, nevertheless it's an interesting proposition.

I would say it's mostly paranoia - the guy who wrote this probably could have explained how the draw has been fixed with any combination of teams.

You can certainly argue about the motivation to seed certain teams ... but the rest is nothing more than a rant...

[Sasaki Kojiro]

So how does this work? 2 teams from each group advance?

[Soulforged]

It's time for vengenace against the Netherlands....muhahahahahaha !!
Seriously if France doesn't pass the first round now, I don't know when...I mean it has a great team.

And this is to sweet to be real, there could be a final match, for the first time in history, of Argentina vs. Brasil... of course if both qualify as first in their groups, but still...

[Fragony]

It's time for vengenace against the Netherlands....muhahahahahaha !!

Oh still pissed of because our prince stole the only decent looking woman in Argentina huh

great matches ahead, we dutchies got a hard group but it will be fun!

[LeftEyeNine]

Go Oranges GO GO !! HAIL TO THE TRICKIEST FEET OF EUROPE !! HOLAAAAAAA !!!!

[Fragony]

Go Oranges GO GO !! HAIL TO THE TRICKIEST FEET OF EUROPE !! HOLAAAAAAA !!!!

I don't think we will get very far, our current team is not of the same quality as Argentina. I would be VERY happy if we won, but prospects are grim; we have some nice new meat but the world championship is out of our lague for now, especially considering that damned C! If we don't make it, I hope the Czech Republic will. I have fond memories of the last Holland vs Czech dual, best match of the championship if you ask me.

But thx for your support :)

[Monarch]

I don't think we will get very far, our current team is not of the same quality as Argentina. I would be VERY happy if we won, but prospects are grim; we have some nice new meat but the world championship is out of our lague for now, especially considering that damned C! If we don't make it, I hope the Czech Republic will. I have fond memories of the last Holland vs Czech dual, best match of the championship if you ask me.

But thx for your support :)

You severly underestimate, have you seen Argentina play recently? Against England they were nothing special, and from what i've heard van basten has got the Dutch playing as a team, he's got somer good youth in there but also people like Nistelrooy to add experience. Holland for the semi finals at least I say.

[InsaneApache]

World Cup Predictor...

enjoy...

clicky

[HunkinElvis]

I'm sure FIFA doesn't rig the seedings:

...GROUP C: FIFA and UEFA sure don't seem to like Holland very much. They were in the "group of death" in EURO 2004 and got a tough qualification draw with the Czechs and Romania. Then they were not seeded, despite topping that group. They've been drawn in another tough group with Argentina, Serbia and Montenegro, and Ivory Coast. I think Argentina and Holland will still move on, but they will be weakened by tougher games than the other "favored" teams face...

Holland and Argentina have a lot of fans around the world. I don't see why FIFA would want to put them in a difficult group unless they want to see some exciting games.

...GROUP D: The idea that Mexico would be seeded was about as foolish as the decision not to seed Portugal. Mexico are a poor team; Borgetti is the only one with any class. They only come to play football against tiny nations. If they think there is going to be an actual contest, they come to foul. There is no doubt they will be mugged by the Portugese, who steamrolled through qualification and led Europe (along with the Czechs) with 35 goals in the process. They were also EURO finalists. Of course, they also have only 10 million people, so FIFA did not seed them. However, FIFA has ensured Mexico is almost certain to go through by pairing them with Iran and Angola, ensuring Mexico's large population of 106,000,000 stays tuned...

Anyone who has watched Iran play knows that Iran is difficult to beat. Iran has a lot of great players including AFC Player of the year Ali Karimi. Iran's Mehdi Mahdavika and Hashemian are impressive midfielders. I consider Iran as the Brazil of Asia.

...GROUP F: You could put Brazil in a group with Argentina, Holland, and Italy and they would still go through. FIFA have taken advantage of Brazil's talent to knock out Croatia, Australia, and Japan. They are all pretty good teams, and capable of causing an expensive upset. Now, two of them cannot do so...

Japan has a huge population who love football. You can tell if you watched their fans during the 2002 World Cup. If FIFA rigs the seedings, then wouldn't they want to put Japan in an easier group?

...GROUP G: FIFA doesn't want a repeat of 2002 when France was knocked out in the group stage, so they've given the fading 1998 champions a pretty easy go of it here. Togo doesn't have any experiece at this level, and without the friendly refereeing of 2002, Korea doesn't have much of a chance. France and Switzerland to go through with little trouble...

I wouldn't underestimate Togo. One of their players, Adebayor, made the most goals in the African qualifying. Plus, they have Nigerian players.
South Korea seems to be doing better after they replaced their coach. They tied with Sweden, and beat Serbia and Montenegro. I don't know how Korea will do in an away game, though. The funny thing about this group is that all of the four teams are happy with the group and they think they could qualify to the next round.

...GROUP H: If you look at the teams who deserved seeding the least, you'd have to put Spain at the top of that list. They had a miserable EURO, failing to get past the group stages. Their qualifaction was pathetic as well. Despite being drawn in a suspiciously easy group, they still failed to come out on top, and only squeaked into the finals through the playoffs. Big surprise then that FIFA has sought to make sure they progress by putting them against Saudi Arabia, whose last World Cup appearance was marked by conceding 8 goals against Germany, and Tunisia. I have little doubt Ukraine will beat them and top the group, but it would take a miracle for Spain to go out in the group stages again...

Today's Saudi Arabian team is very different from the Saudi Arabian team of 2002. They beat South Korea twice in the qualifying. I think they'll make an impressive show like they did in the USA World Cup.

[Soulforged]

Holland and Argentina have a lot of fans around the world. I don't see why FIFA would want to put them in a difficult group unless they want to see some exciting games.

Well essencially because Holland is not a header and it's by raffle.

You severly underestimate, have you seen Argentina play recently? Against England they were nothing special

Nah...Mejor que siempre viejo!!! It will be nice match, but Argentina has the advantage of replacement...well Holland has the advantage of terrain, proximity, eviorament and....maybe...just maybe of the referees Oops I didn't say anything.

[InsaneApache]

I like to think more Cumquat than Satsuma or Tangerine...

Go Cumquats Go!!! has a certain ring to it, don't ya think?