The World Cup 2010 Thread

[Jack]

   

England's final 23-man squad for World Cup 2010:
Goalkeepers: Joe Hart, David James, Robert Green.
Defenders: Jamie Carragher, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Glen Johnson, Ledley King, John Terry, Matthew Upson, Stephen Warnock.
Midfielders: Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, James Milner, Shaun Wright-Phillips
Forwards: Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney.

Only 10 days until England's first match! Then the torture begins...

Not surprised he left Walcott out. Glad to see Cole/Lennon/Wright-Phillips. Midfield needs some invention badly.

[Jack]

Not sure about the pitch they are using for the final.
   

[Vindeezl]

Looks in better condition than Wembley!

[36wu]

The wonders of photoshop, that is incredible lol. What about all the fans on the left of the stadium, They must be pissed!

[Jack]

England arrive.
Love the Scarlet Lady.

[whackamole]

What does everyone think of wallcott being left out? Who needs him when we have the goal machine heskey

[Vindeezl]

What are you talking about?! You don't need anyone else but Crouch!

[smgslover]

(03-06-2010 08:16 PM)whackamole Wrote:  What does everyone think of wallcott being left out? Who needs him when we have the goal machine heskey

Walcott has pace,but isn't the finished article.Heskey doesn't score may,but his workrate and off the ball work is outstanding!

[smgslover]

At the risk of being contentious and whilst I feel sorry for Ferdinand,his recent England and domestic performances haven't been that great!Give Dawson a chance.He's had a great season and would be a great replacement for the day dreaming Ferdinand!

[thebrock]

I agree with smg about Ferdinand. Haven't seen enough of Dawson to comment - though his brother plays for my team!

[Jack]

I really feel sorry for Ferdinand on a personal level but like smg says he's been very wobbly this year. Terry and King (hope he lasts) at the back. Rooney with Crouch/Defoe at the the front. Cole in midfield. I leave the rest to Capello..

[smgslover]

I shall be watching USA V England at my local.All beers £2 a pint!Buy 3 pints and get a free bar meal!

[Vindeezl]

Where's your local? That's not a bad deal - I might call in myself!

[Echo]

My local's doing free bar snacks during the World Cup. Could be just a bowl of peanuts though


Anyway, here's my take on the World Cup:

• Spain - Favourites and rightly so as they're the best side in World football at the moment. That Fabregas is often just a sub tells you how strong their midfield is. Just our bloody luck we got them for the Euro 2012 qualifiers
• Brazil - Always there or there abouts and are looking strong again but with no Ronaldinho they'll be reliant on Kaka for creative inspiration. I don't think their forward line is as good as past sides though.
• Argentina - Messi's the obvious star but their forwards list also boasts Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez, Diego Milito and Gonzalo Higuain which is a crazy amount of firepower for one team to have. If anything it could unbalance them with attack-heavy lineups that are defensively vulnerable. Should make for good games to watch though They'd be my favourites if they had a decent manager but Maradonna's fucking clueless.
• Germany - No Ballack, no hope. They're always strong at tourneys but I can't see them being at the business end of this one as their squad's been rocked by injuries. I wouldn't be surprised if Serbia nicked that group and set up an England vs Germany second round clash.
• France - Are a shadow of the side from a decade ago. Recently lost to China and could struggle to qualify as their group contains hosts South Africa (Benni McCarthy's not in the SA squad though) as well as Mexico and Uruguay who are both capable of beating them.
• Netherlands - A powerful attacking force and I reckon they're real contenders even if they'll almost certainly face Brazil in the quarters. If they don't self-destruct like they usually do that is. Robben's fitness could play a part but they have a strong squad.
• Italy - Should qualify comfortably from their group but I don't fancy them to defend their title. Aging squad and don't have a really prolific international goalscorer.
• Portugal - Don't have as great a chance as their Fifa 3rd ranking would suggest. With Brazil in their group they'll probably be toughing it out with Ivory Coast for second spot, but as Drogba's broken his arm I'll take the Portugese to steal that. This will have them [probably] facing Spain in the second round though who I can't see them beating.
• England - As a Jock this is hard to say, but I think they actually had a decent chance but losing Ferdinand's probably put paid to that. Walcott's omission's no great loss; he has pace but little else. I expect them to make the semis but that will probably have them against Brazil/Netherlands which I think will be too much for the defence to handle.

I'm gonna go for a Spain/Netherlands final.


England's group opponents:

• USA - A better side than are often given credit for. As mentioned above, they beat Spain last year so shouldn't be taken lightly.
• Slovenia - Qualified by putting out Louis Van Gaal's Russia in the play-offs so are a capable side.
• Algeria - Knocked out Africa's best side Egypt to qualify but I don't see them doing much. They can lose the plot big time such as in the recent African Nations Cup semi-final against Egypt which they lost 4-0 after having 3 players sent off. Should have been 4 but for some reason, the referee didn't seem to think their goalkeeper headbutting him was worth a dismissal :? I know Madjid Bougherra well as he's a Rangers player and he's a full-back who thinks he's a striker. His forward runs can be dangerous but may also leave gaps to be exploited.

I expect England to win the group but I think the USA game could be a draw.


My Dark Horse pick:

Serbia. As long as they adapt to the heat, I can see them having a good tourney. They have an experienced coach in Raddy Antic and are in a group they're capable of winning. At 6' 8" Nikola Zigic will quite literally be a massive threat at set-plays.


Top Scorer:

David Villa. Not only do I expect them to make it to the final, Spain also have a fairly easy group and could rack up a lot of goals in the opening stages.
Brazil could notch up a cricket score against North Korea so Robinho could get a few and set himself up for the rest of the tournement. Despite what you may think of his Man City career he's Dunga's main man.

[Jack]

Echo, a few of my own thoughts in reply.

Germany are a load of Ballacks.
I quite fancy the Dutch but Robben is a must.
I think it's dangerous to disregard Portugal. For me Ronaldo is still the best player in the world and it could be his tournament.
Brazil haven't got much of an attack. Semi-finals at the most.
Ghana could be a surprise.
Argentina. Well I don't know much about them but with Messi anythings possible.
England. Ferdinand won't be missed. Quarter finals wouldn't be disastrous. But hey it's football and anything can happen...

[Jack]

[Jack]

[Echo]

That reminds me that Duran Duran have released a song for the World Cup.


His name is Rio and he watches from the stand...

[Jack]

[Jack]