World Cup South Africa, 2010 Thread

[united]

I think England walks away with a 2-0 victory over the USA.

I have the USA advancing, winning their other two games. I hope they do well in the tournament, if anything to see how angry so many people will get.

[NBC]

As much as it pains me to see the US progress, I don't see Slovenia going through, even though I would love to see it happen.

An Eng-USA draw is a very likely outcome, though if I were a betting man, I'd place a cheeky punt on Capello's lads winning. England will concede goals, that is for certain. But I do think that they'll score their fair share. 2-1 to the 3 Lions, Rooney with a brace.

[drew24]

Awesome news... Drogba rejoins Ivory Coast.

http://g.ca.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/...civdrogba.html

The federation said that the first results of the operation had been "extremely encouraging" and that there were high hopes that he would recover swiftly.

Go Les Éléphants.

[Poison]

Originally Posted by NBC

As much as it pains me to see the US progress, I don't see Slovenia going through, even though I would love to see it happen.

An Eng-USA draw is a very likely outcome, though if I were a betting man, I'd place a cheeky punt on Capello's lads winning. England will concede goals, that is for certain. But I do think that they'll score their fair share. 2-1 to the 3 Lions, Rooney with a brace.

Bah no faith, i feel very confident Slovenia will progress, the Americans are vastly overrated and we have quite the stingy D as well as one of the best keepers in the tourney.

[NBC]

Originally Posted by Poison

Bah no faith, i feel very confident Slovenia will progress, the Americans are vastly overrated and we have quite the stingy D as well as one of the best keepers in the tourney.

If Zlatko Zahovic was still kicking around then maybe.

I really hope the US doesn't make it through. I'll be cheering for Slovenia, don't you worry.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

England should win but the US speed and energy could give the English some trouble.
Who's going to be in goal for England? Green? That could be a problem too.

Outside of Donovan and Dempsey, nobody on the U.S. really scares me. Altidore isn't anything special. I don't think they'll go with Green. I'd like to see them go with Joe Hart, but I have a sneaking suspicion it will be James.

A tie isn't a bad bet. Or USA + half a ball.
England will be nervous.

The U.S. will be just as nervous, plus England have the intimidation factor.

Originally Posted by Locke

I think England will have more trouble than you think. The defense is spotty at best and their goalkeeping, well, lets just say that British goalkeeping has been pretty horrible at best.

The U.S. defense is pretty bad too. I don't really see any of them being able to handle the likes of Lennon, Rooney, Gerrard, etc.

Originally Posted by Poison

Im guessing then youre backing my boys, Slovenia, to go through with England? If so, very good call!

Yep. Slovenia has been really impressive.

[Poison]

Originally Posted by NBC

If Zlatko Zahovic was still kicking around then maybe.

I really hope the US doesn't make it through. I'll be cheering for Slovenia, don't you worry.

Ya right that tool had so much talent and singlehandidly destroyed any chance we had last time, since he was a selfish p*ick.

Novakovic is no slouch though, he'll make some noise.

[Poison]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Outside of Donovan and Dempsey, nobody on the U.S. really scares me. Altidore isn't anything special. I don't think they'll go with Green. I'd like to see them go with Joe Hart, but I have a sneaking suspicion it will be James.



The U.S. will be just as nervous, plus England have the intimidation factor.



The U.S. defense is pretty bad too. I don't really see any of them being able to handle the likes of Lennon, Rooney, Gerrard, etc.



Yep. Slovenia has been really impressive.

Cheers

[ipuckedyourmom]

Originally Posted by Locke

I doubt Brazil goes 3-0, they tend to start off slow, I dont think its going to matter though, I'll be shocked if they win that group, but knowing Brazil, I doubt they care, they'll almost certainly be in the next round.

They might not get all 9 points but I highly doubt that its because they don't care. By winning the group they get to play the second place team in Group H (the group with SPAIN) so I think they will try there hardest to get first place because or else we could potentially see the two best teams go head to head in the second round!

[troutman]

Originally Posted by united

I think England walks away with a 2-0 victory over the USA.

I have the USA advancing, winning their other two games. I hope they do well in the tournament, if anything to see how angry so many people will get.

How angry will YOU get if USA beats England?

[GirlySports]

It's kind of weird but looking at the first 2 days, it could all be draws.

RSA-MEX
URU-FRA
KOR-GRE
ARG-NIG
ENG-USA

Don't see any blowouts there.

[Poison]

I think Mexico comes out strong and tunes South Africa, as well as i think Argentina wont have much trouble with Nigeria.

The rest of those look close though.

[VANFLAMESFAN]

^^^ I'd be shocked if England didn't handle USA quite easily. I hate England, but they have a good squad this year and will run over their group including the USA. I'm thinking 3-0.

Really looking forward to Argentina-Nigeria.


On the Drogba news....if he does play, how useful can he be?? I can't imagine he will be able to be physical, I can't see him going up for headers, I can't see him taking many chances. If he falls, he can't brace himself with his broken arm. You just can't. Or the injury is not as serious as we have been led to believe. A fractured arm is pretty serious and to come back after 2 weeks is asking a lot.

[drew24]

Originally Posted by VANFLAMESFAN

On the Drogba news....if he does play, how useful can he be?? I can't imagine he will be able to be physical, I can't see him going up for headers, I can't see him taking many chances. If he falls, he can't brace himself with his broken arm. You just can't. Or the injury is not as serious as we have been led to believe. A fractured arm is pretty serious and to come back after 2 weeks is asking a lot.

Considering they won't need him till the 20th, I'm not too worried.

[North East Goon]

Can't Drogba wear a cast, or is that frowned upon in soccer?

[drew24]

Originally Posted by North East Goon

Can't Drogba wear a cast, or is that frowned upon in soccer?

I can't see them having a problem with a soft cast or a brace but a hard cast would most likely be a no go. Although I do not know for sure either way.

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by Locke

Yeah, Robert Enke committed suicide, and the preferred backup, Rene Adler sufferred a rib injury ruling him out of the World Cup so they're using their 3rd choice which is wide open between Butt, Wiese and Neuer.

Also lost a couple of defenders and midfielders, but the German depth at defence and midfield is good enough. I'm surprised that they left Frings off the team after all these injuries.

I think the Germans want their young guys who have dominated at the u17, u18, u19, u21 levels (Ozil, Muller, Khedira, Marin, Kroos, Boateng) to get experience rather than call up the old guard.

Originally Posted by GirlySports

England should win but the US speed and energy could give the English some trouble.
Who's going to be in goal for England? Green? That could be a problem too.

A tie isn't a bad bet. Or USA + half a ball.
England will be nervous.

what US speed?

England are the quicker team, Lennon, Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney, Ashley Cole, Glen Johnson all have pace (Lennon and Cole being the quickest players on the field in this game by a large margin)

The US is going to be playing with Donovan and Dempsey on the wings, neither of which are fast, Altidore has some speed but not much and as his time at Hull showed with premier league competition he is useless. And Buddle has a great scoring record the last few months in the MLS, bit of a step up here.

Don't buy the nervous stuff either, over half of the starting XI for England has played in a Champions League final. And unless Milner starts for Barry (who is ruled out for the US game) only 1 of them will be playing in their 1st world cup game (Glen Johnson)

They are the oldest team by average at the world cup, nerves won't be a factor

Originally Posted by Locke

I think England will have more trouble than you think. The defense is spotty at best and their goalkeeping, well, lets just say that British goalkeeping has been pretty horrible at best.

If they English defense is spotty I shutter to think what the US defense would be described as.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

If they English defense is spotty I shutter to think what the US defense would be described as.

I'm not saying that I think the Americans are very good, they're a middle of the pack team that big time goal scorers are going to victimize horribly if they even get the chance.

What I am saying is that I feel that people are drastically over-estimating England....AGAIN. Sure, Capello's squad had a very good qualifying record, but right now, over the last few weeks in their friendlies, to use the word 'underwhelming' would be generous.

They should have lost to Japan, and a lackluster 3-0 win over a lowly South African club team have been unimpressive.

The USA are not World-beaters by any means, but England are not all that intimidating in their current form either.

[d_phaneuf]

Thats not to say that England winning is all ready done, they have to play the game. But I would be very surprised if they didn't win this by 2 or more

For an underdog team to win I think they need to have an edge in at least 1 area of the field (i.e their strikers on the favorites defense, their midfield etc.)

Man for Man outside of Howard I don't see one American player who would make the England 30 man provisional squad, let alone the 23. so I can't see any advantage they are going to have on the field. And while the US has an edge in goal Robert Green isn't terrible and the goalie isn't going to become a factor for England until they play a team who can create a bunch of chances, which may not happen until the knockout stages.

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by Locke

I'm not saying that I think the Americans are very good, they're a middle of the pack team that big time goal scorers are going to victimize horribly if they even get the chance.

What I am saying is that I feel that people are drastically over-estimating England....AGAIN. Sure, Capello's squad had a very good qualifying record, but right now, over the last few weeks in their friendlies, to use the word 'underwhelming' would be generous.

They should have lost to Japan, and a lackluster 3-0 win over a lowly South African club team have been unimpressive.

The USA are not World-beaters by any means, but England are not all that intimidating in their current form either.

ya fair enough, I don't really look at these friendly's much for form because most of the managers are experimenting with formations, players etc.

Capello has said as much that he doesn't care about their friendly record, they work on more important stuff in training

I remember in 2006 Italy had a terrible run in to the world cup with their friendly's and lots of people were predicting them to get knocked out in the group stages, and then they allowed 1 goal and walked to 1st place in their group and went on to win the world cup.