Official 2014 FIFA World Cup Thread

#26
#26
n_huffhines said:
Please no. I respect them as a squad, and they are so skilled, but when they get a 1-goal lead they sandbag, and it can be pretty boring.
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I agree. Don't want to see them win it, but so much talent that it's hard not to pick them. Brazil is loaded with young talent, but is unproven on this stage. I really hope Germany can find a way to win it all though. Pretty long drought since the last WC title...
 
#27
#27
I respect Brazil ' style of play. My least favorite are the Mediterranean nations that abuse the flop. I'd like to see Cameroon advance out of Group A. They were my favorite team on FIFA SNES.
 
#28
#28
Dave1967 said:
I'm pulling for Brazil,Germany(My ancesters were German) and Japan in the WC.
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I'll be cheering for Deutschland too. Cool that you have ancestors from there. I speak some german but that's about it. I do like the food though.

If Germany doesn't win it then I hope it's not one of the traditional powers.
 
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#29
#29
n_huffhines said:
Anybody catch the E:60 special on the USMNT yesterday? Pretty good.

In the world cup, besides the obvious that I pull for US and A:

Holland (I have relatives that got me into soccer who are Dutch immigrants)
The underdog
Brazil
Mexico (bitter rival, but Mexico is my 2nd country)

I root against:

Argentina
France
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I watched the ESPN special this weekend. There are more episodes coming, I believe.
I liked how honest Klinsmann was.
 
#30
#30
I'm surprised Russia has never made noise in the World Cup. It might be a good thing to see them make noise in the WC.
 
#35
#35
I have been saying Belgium was the sleeper for this tournament since 2011 so I am going to stick with them and hope they pull off a miracle.
 
#36
#36
TylerD said:
I have been saying Belgium was the sleeper for this tournament since 2011 so I am going to stick with them and hope they pull off a miracle.
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There was a lengthy article on Grantland a week or so ago about how they've overhauled their entire system from the youth level up to get to this point. I'd post a link but I'm on mobile right now.
 
#37
#37
USA then I will pull strongly for Greece, I am half Greek...after that i would actually like to see England do well...
 
#38
#38
After what happened to them in USA'94 I'm kind of hoping the Colombians are sleepers. They should easily get past the 1st round as they are in an easy group.

IMO individually the Colombians have talent that is similar to the Brazilians. Problem is that they are Prima Donnas, so they don't work as a team as well historically. The Brazilians have a ton of talent behind them, so they have that holding "prima donna" back. Brazil has talent better than their national team, but their team is based on marketing potential just as much as talent.

Anyway, I think the Brazilians are obvi the clear favs and will def go far. They will win based on their ability to handle all the hype around the tourny being in Brazil.

I'm sure Spain, which I love their Taca Taca play, will get far. Who knows about the Belgium who aren't WC veteran or The Big Orange Machine, but they will be fun to watch nonetheless. Ultimately, the only guarantee is that none of the CONCAF teams will win it. No matter how fun Cameron and Nigeria are to watch they won't win. Same goes for the countries like Croatia which I do enjoy their style of play.

At the end of the day it's hard to pick against the Brazilians. Teams have to be SUPER solid to be able to take their momentum away. It's going to be a "any given Sunday" type situation. Thing is when ever they r taken out then who knows what is going to happen. Same will happen if Spain is taken out. These are teams that if they are taken out totally shift the tournament.
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#39
#39
The World Cup should be even more interesting with the major possibility of violent protests-riots in Brazil because of the 20 million paid to get it to come to Brazil.
 
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#40
#40
Dave1967 said:
The World Cup should be even more interesting with the major possibility of violent protests-riots in Brazil because of the 20 million paid to get it to come to Brazil.
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The tragedy is what's going to happen the day after the tourney ends to the people living in favelas where law and order has been temporarily established by the military police.
 
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#41
#41
Another factor that needs to be considered when looking at match-ups is where the game is being played. First it's winter down there. So when u r playing in Porto Alegre (southern coast) it's going to be a whole lot colder than playing in Manaus (northern Amazon). Even Brasilia vs games on the coast and further down like Rio, Sao Paolo, and Belo. The weather differences from host city to host city will def be in Brazil favor, and some teams will like one city but hate the next city. It could favor the short pass controlling teams too. Putting the ball in the air is going to be to difficult to measure in some places.

Who knows but the ball effects in each city is going to play major roles, and going to be interesting to watch which teams can adjust from one to other.
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#42
#42
Also, if anyone interested in it u should try to find the sports science deal ESPN did on the engineering of the ball for this WC. Pretty cool how the ball will travel differently depending on where the game is held.
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#43
#43
Dave1967 said:
The World Cup should be even more interesting with the major possibility of violent protests-riots in Brazil because of the 20 million paid to get it to come to Brazil.
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I am hoping for good soccer and even better riots!
 
#44
#44
I dont see any teams from Africa or Asia making it out of the first round. I am rooting for the US but eventually have to go with Germany or Holland once the US is knocked out. I am looking forward to seeing how many times the Italians dive, maybe even make a drinking game out of it!
 
#45
#45
Here's the World Cup Quarterfinals as I think they will be.

Brazil
England

France
Germany

Netherlands
Italy

Argentina
Portugal
 
#46
#46
FLVOL_79 said:
I dont see any teams from Africa or Asia making it out of the first round. I am rooting for the US but eventually have to go with Germany or Holland once the US is knocked out. I am looking forward to seeing how many times the Italians dive, maybe even make a drinking game out of it!
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As someone who would prefer not to be hospitalized with alcohol poisoning, I'll take a pass on any drinking game tied to how much the Italian team dives.
 
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#48
#48
bleedorange0037 said:
As someone who would prefer not to be hospitalized with alcohol poisoning, I'll take a pass on any drinking game tied to how much the Italian team dives.
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Amen..reminds of when I tried to do a shot every time they swore in Boondock Saints..

The Italians play great soccer, but the flopping around is just awful.
 
#50
#50
Watched this discussion yesterday on ESPN. Does Messi become the greatest player of all time if Argentina win the World Cup?
 
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