The unofficial World Cup Thread,

**Fragony** · 05-31-2010, 07:15

Qualifying helps ;)

**Moros** · 05-31-2010, 14:06

Originally Posted by Fragony

Qualifying helps ;)

Oh then that's what me must be doing wrong!

I said next time... If Lukaku (16 years old and already scoring in the Europa League - where we got quite a bit further than the Dutch teams - and being topscorer Belgium) and the two brothers Hazard (With Eden being only 19 and already chosen to be the second best player of League 1 and winning twice in a row best/most promising player of the league 1) keep growing and Dembele (Ti ta tovenaar!) picks up where he left the previous season we've got quite an attack. With Vermaelen (selected in the Premier league dream team and the revelation of Arsenal this year), Kompany (Man City) and Fellaini (Everton) who are still growing and getting better we'll have quite a good central defence of Premier League level with some very good subs that are still getting better each year as well (Jan Verthongen, Lombaerts, Alderweireld,...) . In front of that Defour (Why did he leave Genk :( ?), Witsel and possibly De Bruyne (fingers crossed). And there are many more talents on their way who seem to be of great caliber: Benteke, Boyata (Man City), Ritchie de laet (Man Utd with two other Belgians), Carcela, Mats Rits (16 year old GBA striker), Raman, Dennis de Praet,...

Perhaps Vandenborre actually get his act together by then (so much potential just a lack of will or something), remember the tight game against Spain which we sadly lost with 1-2 in the end, he was phenomenal. If he always played like that Real Madrid, Chelsea and Barcelona would be fighting each other over him. Okay that's perhaps a bit much, but really if he just used the talent he has...

Either way we'll see in 4 years time.

Edit:
Just to back up my words:

**Fragony** · 05-31-2010, 14:32

Sure would be fun to see Belgium kick some butt, enough quality. They think too much, most teams have developed a style of their own everybody knows his place. Good as individual talent may such teams will tear you apart. Italy is a good example it's a perfectly oiled machine. Sadly.

**naut** · 06-01-2010, 04:13

I don't know if any of you are aware of Zonal Marking, the football tactics blog, but recently they've been running pieces on the national sides involved in the world cup. Very informative.

**naut** · 06-01-2010, 16:22

Marca has an excellent World Cup Calendar.

**naut** · 06-05-2010, 16:27

Bump.

Seems every tournament the ball gets criticised, but this year's ball seems to have substance behind the criticism.

I got my first look at the 2010 World Cup ball this morning as I watched the USA play against Australia in the Colonial Bowl and I have to say, it’s weird, it’s unpredictable, it dips faster than I’m used to, and it’s only going to benefit the weaker teams.

FIFA recently launched a scathing rebuttal of Brazil coach Dunga’s criticizm of the ball when their general secretary Jerome Valke said that Brazil was basically making excuses for their failure:

"And is it Brazil that says that because they are afraid that they will not make it and it will be due to the ball."

But it’s not just Brazil who have complained, other technically adept sides like Spain have also said that the ball is going to be a problem. These teams are used to hitting the ball a certain way and generating a certain spin, dip, and knuckle. With the new ball, this is reportedly easier to do. Clint Dempsey said he likes the new ball because you don’t have to hit it very well or even very hard to make it knuckle. Of course, he also said that any overcooked passes made the player look foolish because of their unpredictability.

In today’s game all three keepers looked unsure of how to deal with crosses and it’s not like they are amateurs. Marcus Hanneman was the best keeper in the Premier League in the second half of last season, Tim Howard played every league game for Everton, and Mark Scwarzer is a vastly experienced keeper at 38 years old yet none of them were able to deal with crosses which seemingly dipped and swerved erratically.

I’m thinking this new ball is going to be a huge advantage for teams with less adept players because an unpredictable ball is an advantage. We’ll probably see plenty of long range efforts that seriously test the keepers this Summer and you should bank on several weird upsets owing to the unpredictability of the ball.

It’s going to be a wild ride I suspect.

**Sasaki Kojiro** · 06-06-2010, 23:30

So apparently they are only showing 10 games on network tv here...only one of the USA group games, half of the quarterfinal games, and neither of the semifinal games.

********.

**Joooray** · 06-10-2010, 18:03

Originally Posted by Psychonaut

Marca has an excellent World Cup Calendar.

Two great links, Psycho. Much appreciated.

Though I'm not normally very patriotic, I will be looking forward to the performance of the German team. 'We' have suffered quite a bit of bad luck, injury wise, but the result is that we have a quite young team now which could play out both ways: they can do fantastic or they can be utterly defeated. I'm very optimistic that we will prevail in the group phase but when we are up against the likes of Argentina or Spain, I'm not sure how it will go.
A lot of drama is assured though and I hope my heart will survive, as there was a recent study in Germany that during the the 2006 world cup, heart attacks sky-rocketed. But than again, I'm still young.

**Sarmatian** · 06-10-2010, 19:58

Originally Posted by Joooray

Two great links, Psycho. Much appreciated.

Though I'm not normally very patriotic, I will be looking forward to the performance of the German team. 'We' have suffered quite a bit of bad luck, injury wise, but the result is that we have a quite young team now which could play out both ways: they can do fantastic or they can be utterly defeated. I'm very optimistic that we will prevail in the group phase but when we are up against the likes of Argentina or Spain, I'm not sure how it will go.
A lot of drama is assured though and I hope my heart will survive, as there was a recent study in Germany that during the the 2006 world cup, heart attacks sky-rocketed. But than again, I'm still young.

In your dreams :D