Canada 2015: Women's World Cup Pool

[Mango]

Great picks. With Norway, Even Pellerud knows what it's like to play in Canada given his history here. The Dutch are my dark horse pick. Vivianne Miedema is a very special player. She's only 18 and has already scored 19 international goals. She's going to give backlines fits given her style and skill.

My next two selections:

Switzerland



Reasoning: I think they'll finish second in their group. They are trending upward and beat out Italy to earn a spot at the WWC.

Nigeria



Reasoning: I do believe they are the strongest African team. In a recent scrimmage with Canada, it finished 0:0 and the Canadians were floored at their physical, aggressive performance. They play a man-on-man marking style, which I think might catch some teams off guard. I'd be kicking myself (no pun intended), if I didn't select them.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by WCW Nitro

Girly sports- this is not a big deal, but may I propose that after round 2 we reset the draft order to 6,5,4,3,2,1,6,5,4,3,2,1. The way the draft is setup, the ppl picking 5 and 6 basically have no chance as they miss out on the top 4 who are heavy favorites and also will miss out on many of the intermediate teams before they get a chance in round 3. I think this way at least 5,6 get to pick before anyone else in rounds 3 and 4 and may make the pool a bit more competitive since the points system is heavily tilted to the semi-finals/finals. Again, it's no big deal to me personally but may just put everyone closer.

Mango already picked. I don't think it would be that bad because 16 of the 24 teams make the knockout round. So if you're picking back to back 18th and 19th picks, that's a nice advantage over those picking 23rd and 24th, those teams are awful.

You get 1 point for a team finishing 3rd in the group and 4 of those 3rd place teams make the Round of 16. There are always surprises.

[Trojan97]

I'll take South Korea.



Reasoning: This might be 4 years early but they have a steadily improving group of young talent. I'm hoping Ji So-Yun can replicate her play in England on Canadian soil.

[WCW Nitro]

Originally Posted by Trojan97

I'll take Sweden.



Reasoning: They've slid further than they probably should have. Pia Sundhage is a great coach and knows the Americans well. In an extremely tough group, an experienced coach could make the difference. At this point, I would be remiss to not take them.

Sweden was already chosen.

[Trojan97]

Originally Posted by WCW Nitro

Sweden was already chosen.

Whoops! I glanced over the pictures, missed that completely. One sec..

[Trojan97]

Did I break the draft?

[GirlySports]

Eh, sorry for the delay. I'm just braindead through the weekend.

I'll take Cameroon. Awesome uniforms








Mango - Germany
Trojan97 - USA
GirlySports - France
M*A*S*H 4077 - Japan
kobasew19 - Canada
WCW Nitro - England

WCW Nitro - Brazil
kobasew19 - Sweden
M*A*S*H 4077 - Spain
GirlySports - Norway
Trojan97 - Netherlands
Mango - Switzerland

Mango - Nigeria
Trojan97 - South Korea
GirlySports - Cameroon
M*A*S*H 4077
kobasew19
WCW Nitro

WCW Nitro
kobasew19
M*A*S*H 4077
GirlySports
Trojan97
Mango

[M*A*S*H 4077]

I'll take Australia!

[kobasew19]

I will take Mexico because I love their cuisine!

[WCW Nitro]

I will take China and Ecuador

[GirlySports]

Mango - Germany
Trojan97 - USA
GirlySports - France
M*A*S*H 4077 - Japan
kobasew19 - Canada
WCW Nitro - England

WCW Nitro - Brazil
kobasew19 - Sweden
M*A*S*H 4077 - Spain
GirlySports - Norway
Trojan97 - Netherlands
Mango - Switzerland

Mango - Nigeria
Trojan97 - South Korea
GirlySports - Cameroon
M*A*S*H 4077 - Australia
kobasew19 - Mexico
WCW Nitro - China

WCW Nitro - Ecuador
kobasew19
M*A*S*H 4077
GirlySports
Trojan97
Mango

[kobasew19]

Kobasew's 4 Picks:


CANADA


SWEDEN


MEXICO


COLOMBIA

[M*A*S*H 4077]

For my last pick I will take New Zealand and hope they can squeak into the knockout round!

[GirlySports]

I'll take Costa Rica, maybe they can surprise like the men did!

[Trojan97]

Down to the Ivory Coast/Thailand.

I will take Ivory Coast.

Reasoning: Not confident in either. The Ivory Coast only lost by 2 to Nigeria and in extra time to Cameroon in the African Cup. In the play-in game, they held on for the majority of the game and then scored late to beat South Africa. I like that they showed an ability to hold on and then execute late.

Thailand played China/South Korea and got smoked both times in the Asian Cup, and they lost 7-0 to the Netherlands in a friendly back in February. Thailand doesn't show well vs anyone besides Vietnam/Myanmar etc so I will go with the #67 ranked underdogs and hope for a miracle.

[Mango]

And I'll grab Thailand...well because I have to

[GirlySports]

Update after two rounds of matches. A lot can change in the final group round but here is where we stand. Brazil are the only team who have clinched 1st place. Everyone has a group leader except me :P

Mango
Germany - 4
Switzerland - 2
Nigeria - 0
Thailand - 1
Total - 7

Trojan97
USA - 4
Netherlands - 1
South Korea - 0
Ivory Coast - 0
Total - 5

GirlySports
France - 1
Norway - 2
Cameroon - 1
Costa Rica - 2
Total - 6

M*A*S*H 4077
Japan - 4
Spain - 1
Australia - 2
New Zealand - 0
Total - 7

kobasew19
Canada - 4
Sweden - 1
Mexico - 0
Colombia - 4
Total - 9

WCW Nitro
England - 2
Brazil - 4
China - 2
Ecuador - 0
Total - 8

[WCW Nitro]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Update after two rounds of matches. A lot can change in the final group round but here is where we stand. Brazil are the only team who have clinched 1st place. Everyone has a group leader except me :P

Mango
Germany - 4
Switzerland - 2
Nigeria - 0
Thailand - 1
Total - 7

Trojan97
USA - 4
Netherlands - 1
South Korea - 0
Ivory Coast - 0
Total - 5

GirlySports
France - 1
Norway - 2
Cameroon - 1
Costa Rica - 2
Total - 6

M*A*S*H 4077
Japan - 4
Spain - 1
Australia - 2
New Zealand - 0
Total - 7

kobasew19
Canada - 4
Sweden - 1
Mexico - 0
Colombia - 4
Total - 9

WCW Nitro
England - 2
Brazil - 4
China - 2
Ecuador - 0
Total - 8

But it looks like you have the best shot at getting all 4 teams to next round.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by WCW Nitro

But it looks like you have the best shot at getting all 4 teams to next round.

Costa Rica needs a point against Brazil. Brazil might rest some players.

[Trojan97]

Mango
Germany - 7
Switzerland - 1
Nigeria - 0
Thailand - 1
Total - 9

Trojan97
USA - 4
Netherlands - 1
South Korea - 2
Ivory Coast - 0
Total - 7

GirlySports
France - 7
Norway - 2
Cameroon - 2
Costa Rica - 1
Total - 12

M*A*S*H 4077
Japan - 4
Spain - 0
Australia - 5
New Zealand - 0
Total - 9

kobasew19
Canada - 7
Sweden - 1
Mexico - 0
Colombia - 1
Total - 9

WCW Nitro
England - 5
Brazil - 4
China - 5
Ecuador - 0
Total - 14