World Cup 2010

[Ian Lord]

Just wondering how many of you guys are following what's going on in South Africa? I'm loving it. Also any predictions. I'll get the ball rolling. I'm sticking with my pre-tournament prediction and that is that England will win the World Cup!

[hamed2]

I'm watching, but miss the live games during the work week. I saw that Sports Illustrated picked Spain over England for the title.

[Ian Lord]

Originally Posted by hamed2

I'm watching, but miss the live games during the work week. I saw that Sports Illustrated picked Spain over England for the title.

Spain are the favourites. They're a very good team but always failed to live up to their potential until winning Euro2008. I'm looking forward to watching them play. They play Switzerland on Wednesday in a game they should win.

[hamed2]

Yeah I have a friend here who really keeps up with soccer & told me the same thing about Spain for years. Years ago before the New England Patriots started winning the Super Bowl, they had the same rep in the NFL - one of the most talented teams in the league but could never win the big one.

[hamed2]

Originally Posted by Ian Lord

Spain are the favourites. They're a very good team but always failed to live up to their potential until winning Euro2008. I'm looking forward to watching them play. They play Switzerland on Wednesday in a game they should win.

I saw the teams (Denmark & Holland) getting ready to play before I left for work today & one of the announcers said it's really surprising Holland has never won the whole thing yet either. I know they had some strong teams in both '74 & '78.

[Ian Lord]

Originally Posted by hamed2

Yeah I have a friend here who really keeps up with soccer & told me the same thing about Spain for years. Years ago before the New England Patriots started winning the Super Bowl, they had the same rep in the NFL - one of the most talented teams in the league but could never win the big one.

Excellent comparison!

[Ian Lord]

Originally Posted by hamed2

I saw the teams (Denmark & Holland) getting ready to play before I left for work today & one of the announcers said it's really surprising Holland has never won the whole thing yet either. I know they had some strong teams in both '74 & '78.

Holland were the losing finalists in both 74 and 78, losing to West Germany and Argentina respectively [who were also the host nations]. They created what became known as Total Football in the 70's due to their precision passing. Got to be one of the most talented teams never to have won the World Cup.

[Mark42661]

I'm enjoying the World Cup quite a bit. I love the fact that when a goal is scored it really means something. I guess that's why in baseball I'd rather see a 2-1 pitching duel than a 12-9 score. And in American football, I enjoy watching a 17-10 defensive battle much more than a score like 41-38. Probably why I enjoy hockey so much...not as low scoring as high level soccer, but goals are rare enough to make it exciting when they occur.

My prediction: USA to make it to the finals of the World Cup.

[Ian Lord]

Originally Posted by Mark42661

I'm enjoying the World Cup quite a bit. I love the fact that when a goal is scored it really means something. I guess that's why in baseball I'd rather see a 2-1 pitching duel than a 12-9 score. And in American football, I enjoy watching a 17-10 defensive battle much more than a score like 41-38. Probably why I enjoy hockey so much...not as low scoring as high level soccer, but goals are rare enough to make it exciting when they occur.

My prediction: USA to make it to the finals of the World Cup.

Glad you're enjoying it Mark. Did you watch the England v USA match on Saturday?

[Mark42661]

Originally Posted by Ian Lord

Glad you're enjoying it Mark. Did you watch the England v USA match on Saturday?

Yep, I watched it and thought it was very exciting. USA had a little bit of luck on their side, of course, with the goalkeeper flub. What kind of press is he getting over there?

[Ian Lord]

Originally Posted by Mark42661

Yep, I watched it and thought it was very exciting. USA had a little bit of luck on their side, of course, with the goalkeeper flub. What kind of press is he getting over there?

Yeah, that was a dodgy piece of keeping lol. The press I've seen over here have been making jokes about him, but also getting behind him. Our press don't really like to put any of our players down during a major tournament. Be interesting to see whether Capello sticks with him on Friday [v Algeria]. IMO one mistake shouldn't get him dropped, but I suppose it also depends on how it has affected his confidence. I'd rather we got any stupid mistakes we're going to make out of the way in the opening match.

[Mark42661]

Originally Posted by Ian Lord

Yeah, that was a dodgy piece of keeping lol. The press I've seen over here have been making jokes about him, but also getting behind him. Our press don't really like to put any of our players down during a major tournament. Be interesting to see whether Capello sticks with him on Friday [v Algeria]. IMO one mistake shouldn't get him dropped, but I suppose it also depends on how it has affected his confidence. I'd rather we got any stupid mistakes we're going to make out of the way in the opening match.

I think if I were a team England backer, I'd support keeping him in there for the next game. Except for that mistake, he seemed to be very solid for the rest of the game and made at least one very good save after the USA goal.

As far as the final score... In my opinion team USA deserved that result. I doubt it's a very easy thing to keep England scoreless for 86 consecutive minutes.

Wow... I've discussed soccer more in the past several minutes than the last 49 years of my life combined.

[zyberianwarrior]

Spain and England over Argentina and Brazil???? Sorry I dont see it. Especially since England really doesn't have a goalie. I say Brazil all the way

[hamed2]

Originally Posted by Ian Lord

Holland were the losing finalists in both 74 and 78, losing to West Germany and Argentina respectively [who were also the host nations]. They created what became known as Total Football in the 70's due to their precision passing. Got to be one of the most talented teams never to have won the World Cup.

Yeah I had this computer game years ago so I could replay previous WC's & that '74 or '78 (maybe both?) won my replay tourneys. Sim games like that or certainly TBCB really can give the player almost a mini background history of the sport & also enhances my watching the sport on TV.

[javier_83]

here in my work we see Mexico Vs South Africa, sadly we only tied

[Ian Lord]

Originally Posted by Mark42661

I think if I were a team England backer, I'd support keeping him in there for the next game. Except for that mistake, he seemed to be very solid for the rest of the game and made at least one very good save after the USA goal.

As far as the final score... In my opinion team USA deserved that result. I doubt it's a very easy thing to keep England scoreless for 86 consecutive minutes.

Wow... I've discussed soccer more in the past several minutes than the last 49 years of my life combined.

And I've enjoyed discussing it with you

One thing, USA did deserve that result. I didn't mean it to sound like I was taking anything away from them. I just meant I'd rather we got any dodgy moments out of the way in the opener than in say, the last five minutes during the knockout stages. I'd like to see the USA go through to the next stage with England, and I believe they both will.

[Ian Lord]

Originally Posted by zyberianwarrior

Spain and England over Argentina and Brazil???? Sorry I dont see it. Especially since England really doesn't have a goalie. I say Brazil all the way

I'm sticking with England

The bookies over here have got Spain down as favourites. Not sure whose favourites in the States. I'd never write Brazil or Argentina off, especially Brazil. Looking forward to seeing them play North Korea later in a match they should win.

[Ian Lord]

Originally Posted by hamed2

Yeah I had this computer game years ago so I could replay previous WC's & that '74 or '78 (maybe both?) won my replay tourneys. Sim games like that or certainly TBCB really can give the player almost a mini background history of the sport & also enhances my watching the sport on TV.

Totally agree with you there. In fact, a lot of what I learnt about the history of boxing in my early days of following the sport was through reading the back of the fighter cards in Title Bout. Gleaned loads of information.

[Ian Lord]

Originally Posted by javier_83

here in my work we see Mexico Vs South Africa, sadly we only tied

Not a bad result against a South Africa side who were really up for it, being the host nation. Mexico are always a good team, and always qualify for the finals.

[Mark42661]

Originally Posted by Ian Lord

And I've enjoyed discussing it with you

One thing, USA did deserve that result. I didn't mean it to sound like I was taking anything away from them. I just meant I'd rather we got any dodgy moments out of the way in the opener than in say, the last five minutes during the knockout stages. I'd like to see the USA go through to the next stage with England, and I believe they both will.

Not at all...You didn't sound like you were taking anything away from Team USA. I just threw that comment about them deserving the result as I was listening to discussion about it on ESPN. I hope both USA and England go thru to the next stage too. And if USA should falter along the way....I'll be pulling for England to win it all since I feel like I have friends there.