FIFA World Cup 2010

C

Cheezdoodles

+ 1
Veteran
My feelings:
Spain are looking very good, althought not particularly amazing warm up performances. Torres looking in line to be fit to play. Torres is one of the best strikers out there, lets hope he hasn't lost any pace. (he will definately need more matches to get to decent form). Squad is allmost only consisting of quality players! Villa, Xavi, Iniesta, Ramos, Mata, Silva, Casillas, Fabregas, Alonso, Pique++

On paper, best team in the world.

Netherlands are looking strong. Their squad have alot of quality. Snejider, VdV, Bommel, Van Persie, Robben, Huntelaar, Heitinga. (they looked strong last time but the battle of Nuremberg with 16 yellows 4 reds against portogal sendt them home.)

Brazil: Ronaldinho staying home? Not smart!
Overall, squad line up is depressing compared to '02 and '06 squad lineups.

Argentina: ¨lots of quality players, without maradonna, they would go very far. Dropping cambiasso ++ for local argentinian players is :\
 
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Apparently the dream final is nz vs north korea, heres hoping it all pans out

heres the current odds
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Davros said:
So that odds of Spain winning the cup is 5 dollars - that makes no sense
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That's just the return to a dollar typically. So put $500 for Spain, and if they win the Cup, you get $2500. Where you get half a mil if you bet the same amount on NZ and they end up winning.

BTW I didn't know NZ is in the final. Don't know who to bet on yet.
 
V3 said:
That's just the return to a dollar typically. So put $500 for Spain, and if they win the Cup, you get $2500. Where you get half a mil if you bet the same amount on NZ and they end up winning.

BTW I didn't know NZ is in the final. Don't know who to bet on yet.
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NZ had the easiest route to make the finals.
if you want some bigger cash Georgia,Russia + Namibia are each paying 10,000:1 to win the rugby world cup. (btw canada + the US are paying 1,500:1) This is mainly due to chance playing a far less roll in the games outcome in rugby compared to football.
 
The favourites have to be Spain and Brazil.

However, if Torres gets injured, Spain are pretty much screwed as they lack a suitable type of player to replace him regardless of the ability of their midfield.

I'd say Brazil have more strength in depth available to them as well as a stronger defence whose players excel on the counter-attack.

England aren't contenders this time, I'm afraid. We've got some decent attacking midfielders and reasonable players in other parts of the field but our defence is weak - we have just one right-back in the squad and he can't defend! - we're going to be playing an untested central defensive partnership and too many of our other players are out of form. A distinct lack of footballing intelligence throughout the squad. I expect our usual departure from the competition at the quarter-final stage, possibly before.

Argentina have some fantastic players, but a complete imbecile for a manager so it will take a miracle for them to win the competition. The omission of Cambiasso and Zanetti is simply incomprehensible for anybody with half a brain.

Speaking of imbeciles for managers, Domenech will ensure that France don't have a chance either.

I suppose that Holland may well be the strongest of the remaining teams but a lot depends on whether or not Van Persie has recovered fully from his injury and, as always, whether or not they fall out with other in the camp as seems to be the case during most tournaments!
 
Mariner said:
The favourites have to be Spain and Brazil.

However, if Torres gets injured, Spain are pretty much screwed as they lack a suitable type of player to replace him regardless of the ability of their midfield.
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I disagree.

David Villa is a quality replacement. Pedro holds promise too.

Mariner said:
I'd say Brazil have more strength in depth available to them as well as a stronger defence whose players excel on the counter-attack.
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Brazil's strength is indeed their defense. They don't have strikers anywhere near past squads, Fabiano and Robinho are nowhere near Bebeto, Romario or Ronaldo when they were at their peak.

Brazil have always been very well organized, but Dunga's focus on defense seems a bit unbrazillian to me.

Mariner said:
England aren't contenders this time, I'm afraid. We've got some decent attacking midfielders and reasonable players in other parts of the field but our defence is weak - we have just one right-back in the squad and he can't defend! - we're going to be playing an untested central defensive partnership and too many of our other players are out of form. A distinct lack of footballing intelligence throughout the squad. I expect our usual departure from the competition at the quarter-final stage, possibly before.
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A lot rests on the shoulders of Rooney. If he is injured, England will be in trouble, if he has a good tournament you could make it to the semis.

Mariner said:
Argentina have some fantastic players, but a complete imbecile for a manager so it will take a miracle for them to win the competition. The omission of Cambiasso and Zanetti is simply incomprehensible for anybody with half a brain.
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I agree, fantastic players. Terrible organization.

Mariner said:
I suppose that Holland may well be the strongest of the remaining teams but a lot depends on whether or not Van Persie has recovered fully from his injury and, as always, whether or not they fall out with other in the camp as seems to be the case during most tournaments!
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Another team with great depth, especially in the offense. No doubt they would prefer to have Van Persie ready, but Robben and Huntelaar are quality players. The big question, IMO, is their defense, I don't recognise a single name in their line of defense-men. They qualified easily from a weak group, so it is hard to say how good it is.

I think some of the odds in the list represent the bookie's exposure to risk. Ie. a lot of english blokes backing England, same with Argentina. I would have:
Spain: 5:1
Brazil: 5.5:1
Holland: 7:1
England: 10:1
Argentina: 10:1

Cheers





Cheers
 
When I say that Spain don't have a replacement for Torres, I'm not saying that Villa and others aren't capable strikers. The difference is that Torres offers real pace and power in addition to his goalscoring abilities and none of the other Spanish strikers have a similar dimension to their games.

Against a well-marshalled defence (of which there will be several at the World Cup), this pace and power can prove to be the difference to breaking through and adding that little extra threat.

I think that Dunga's team and style of play is very well suited to the modern game and is similar in many respects to Mourinho's team at Inter this season. Although there are fewer big names in the Brazilian midfield and attack, their squad is full of capable players and I can see their team game winning through.

I agree with you regarding the Dutch defence as they certainly don't seem to have many players at the bigger European clubs as in previous years. This would tend to indicate that they aren't as capable as in the past - Heitinga, Ooijer and Boulahrouz have all been rather unimpressive playing in England over the past few years and I can't say I've really heard of many of the others either.
 
How can one believe Spain has best chances is beyond me.
Thay have a looong record of good players, good team, failure on World Cup.
 
chavvdarrr said:
How can one believe Spain has best chances is beyond me.
Thay have a looong record of good players, good team, failure on World Cup.
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Hmmm. Why do we think Spain should be one of the favourites? Let's see.

Spain (the Reigning European Champions) are second in the FIFA World Rankings, just a few points behind Brazil. Spain were also top of the rankings during 2009 and for part of 2010. However, the rankings are always a little screwy so what else?

Spain won all 10 of their games in the World Cup qualifying tournament, albeit in a relatively weak group.

Most pertinently, Spain have lost just ONE game since the start of 2006, a defeat to the USA in the Confederations Cup last June. Since then, they have won 11 consecutive games, including victories over Argentina and France. Overall, their record from 2007-2010 reads: Played 47, Won 43, Drawn 3, Lost 1.

I'd say that all these facts give a pretty good indication why most people think Spain could well win in 2010.
 
chavvdarrr said:
BTDT.

Spain always qualifies easily.
Last Euro was first championship in 20y (1984) when they played well after groups.
So imho they'll fail.
bet? :)
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You can hardly attribute all the other failures to the current team though can you? The current set of players, virtually unchanged from Euro 2008, are proven winners. The fact Spain may have bottled it in 2002 or 1998 is beside the point - these are different players, a different team. Whether they go on to win it of course is a matter of opinion, but to question why they're one of the favourites to do so it just being silly.
 
chavvdarrr said:
BTDT.

Spain always qualifies easily.
Last Euro was first championship in 20y (1984) when they played well after groups.
So imho they'll fail.
bet? :)
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Spain's performance in 2008 and especially in the final was absolutely incredible! I'd take a bet, but I already made a 100e bet with my friend on who finishes higher Spain or Brazil.

I'm on holiday currently so can watch as many games as I feel like and also the the time zone is the same as ours, so the match times are great. I only hope Brazil fails big time. It's a pity that Drogba might be out due to a hand injury, as I've been fantasising about the possibility that Brazil wont make it out of the group stage!
 
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chavvdarrr said:
BTDT.

Spain always qualifies easily.
Last Euro was first championship in 20y (1984) when they played well after groups.
So imho they'll fail.
bet? :)
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Sorry, I don't bet on football (or bet on much at all, for that matter).

If I bet that Spain will win, what happens if England actually start doing well and play them? I'd have split loyalties! ;)

Like I said earlier, though, I think Spain will be one of the top teams this year and ought to reach the semi-finals at the very least. A fantastic goalkeeper in Casillas, a decent defence (though not the best), the most skilful midfield in the world and some good strikers as well as excellent team play. As I said before though, if Torres gets injured, I think they may struggle to win the tournament...

I'm looking forward to the tournament a lot - weather conditions will be nice and cool so hopefully we'll see plenty of high-tempo games this time around!

Now I just need to work out how to persuade my girlfriend that I really, really need to watch as many games as possible. :cool:
 
Mariner said:
Sorry, I don't bet on football (or bet on much at all, for that matter).

If I bet that Spain will win, what happens if England actually start doing well and play them? I'd have split loyalties! ;)

Like I said earlier, though, I think Spain will be one of the top teams this year and ought to reach the semi-finals at the very least. A fantastic goalkeeper in Casillas, a decent defence (though not the best), the most skilful midfield in the world and some good strikers as well as excellent team play. As I said before though, if Torres gets injured, I think they may struggle to win the tournament...

I'm looking forward to the tournament a lot - weather conditions will be nice and cool so hopefully we'll see plenty of high-tempo games this time around!

Now I just need to work out how to persuade my girlfriend that I really, really need to watch as many games as possible. :cool:
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While Torres is one of the best in the world I don't think he is as critical to Spain as he is to Liverpool. At Euro 2008 Torres wasn't really having a great tournament, eventhough he scored the lone goal in the Final.

Heh somehow my memory failed and I remembered that the 3-0 semifinal victory against Russia was actually the final at Euro 2008... Well Spain still was pretty damn good in the final against Germany also.
 
I don't think you should underestimate the effect that Torres' pace and ability to go past defenders can have on an opposition team. It puts the defenders on the back foot from the start which can make them more cautious and dictate their team's style of play. Combined with Spain's excellent passing game, many teams will find themselves pushed back than they would prefer.

Liverpool were pretty bloody rubbish last season and they certainly did rely on Torres too much. However, Spain have Villa too and Torres will create space for him by giving the defence cause for concern.

My main doubt would be the Spanish defence which I think they may be susceptible to the counter-attack against the very best teams.
 
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