World Cup 2010

[brownie]

Competitions kick off on Friday!

The event deserves a thread of its own...

From what I have seen so far, Spain is my favorite team.

Wish Argentina the best of luck! They have superb players. Too bad their coach is Maradona...

A great player he was! A lousy coach he is!

Edited June 6, 2010 by brownie

[kenny weir]

Australia looks like a sad sack case. Too bad!

I'll be barracking for the US against England!

[Swinging Swede]

No Sweden this time.

[sidewinder]

Too bad their coach is Maradona...

A great player he was!

Apart from his godly hand..

I'll be barracking for the US against England!

10-0 !

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I'm hoping Cote d'Ivoire beats Portugal on the 15th.

MG

[B. Goren.]

My two favorite teams:

[brownie]

I'm hoping Cote d'Ivoire beats Portugal on the 15th.

MG

With Ivory Coast's star player Didier Drogba out of action, that's going to be difficult...

Drogba broke his right arm on Friday during a friendly soccer match in Sion, Switzerland!

[Van Basten II]

No European team has ever won a World Cup held outside Europe, so you gotta think that Argentine and Brazil should be the front runners, will Argentine be able to gel collectively in time, with a crazy maniac as a coach it won't be easy. But quite often teams who have success in the big dance have struggled to qualify or had poor level of play prior to the main competition (Remember 1998). So, don't count them out yet on their poor showings.

Regarding Brazil , Dunga seems to have opted for constancy over flair and big names, , by the way Ronaldhino played in Montreal last week and gave quite a show, I do feel that the football gods will reward his no nonsense approach.

If an european wins it, hope it's Spain who will break their bad WC spell, but it's unlikely. Regarding Les Bleus, last time around, we played well despite the coach and rally around the veterans, am afraid this year it will only be a learning experience for the younger players and a quick exit, at best i don't see them getting further than the Second round.

For my part my summer holiday is coinciding with the competition , so except for a few days, I'll be able to watch the games live, I"ll try to DVR the games when I'll be working but I'm afraid I will know the results before getting home.

Edited June 6, 2010 by Van Basten II

[papsrus]

With Ivory Coast's star player Didier Drogba out of action, that's going to be difficult...

Drogba broke his right arm on Friday during a friendly soccer match in Sion, Switzerland!

Pfft. I thought they didn't need to use their hands/arms in soccer? Rub some dirt on it and get back out there.

Seriously, there seems to be a rash of injuries lately resulting from friendlies, warm-ups, stretching exercises. What gives?

Here's wishing that the hosts stage a wonderful tournament.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I'm hoping Cote d'Ivoire beats Portugal on the 15th.

MG

With Ivory Coast's star player Didier Drogba out of action, that's going to be difficult...

Drogba broke his right arm on Friday during a friendly soccer match in Sion, Switzerland!

What's Ubu got to say about that!!!!

Damn!

Oh well...

Ghana. Or Nigeria.

MG

[B. Goren.]

Please add this website to your favorites: Word Cup Schedule.

[papsrus]

Here's wishing that the hosts stage a wonderful tournament.

Hope I didn't speak too soon.

[Brad]

I am of course am pulling for Spain but considering the nature of their WC tournaments, one can't but be nervous. South Korea 2002 comes to mind.

Saw that Bentsy referred to the Marca.com site. Very good Spanish site.

Also saw a program on Fox Soccer Channel yesterday about Brasil v. Argentina, in which Argentines thought Maradona the best ever and Brasilians quite naturally Pele the best ever. Pele kept referring to himself in the third person, which I thought was odd almost as if he were talking about someone else. At any rate although Maradona is great, Pele is above everybody else.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Pele is above everybody else.

And he looks like Grant Green.

MG

[Brad]

Pele is above everybody else.

And he looks like Grant Green.

MG

I guess that shows how skilled Grant aka Pele or Pele aka Grant really was

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Pele is above everybody else.

And he looks like Grant Green.

MG

I guess that shows how skilled Grant aka Pele or Pele aka Grant really was

Indeed!

MG

[brownie]

The Spanish team looks ready for the World Cup...

6-0 win for Spain over Poland in warmup match!

[Van Basten II]

They are maybe peakin' at the wrong in time.

Here's a tidbit to tell you how hard it is to win a World Cup for the first time if you're not the host, it happened only twice in 54 and 58.

Then again maybe they're overdue.

[Brad]

Definitely overdue. Whether it happens for La Furia Roja is another story.

[Van Basten II]

Think I will watch with the sound off , those horns are annoying

[J.A.W.]

Think I will watch with the sound off , those horns are annoying

I agree, that loud, monotonous vuvuzela sound is really very annoying

Another boring opening game, by the way, with two teams that seem to be incapable of playing creative football. Pity.

[Van Basten II]

Here's hoping, they'll use those only when South Africa will be playing and here's hoping that they will be quickly out of the tournament.

A Céline Dion Cd sounds good.

Regarding the game, when I could concentrate on it, neither team really imperssed me that much , lapses in defense, as a Bleu fan am confident that we have a strong chance to beat any of those teams if our team plays to the best of its potential of course.

Best player to me was the Mexican midfielder Dos Santos

[J.A.W.]

Here's hoping, they'll use those only when South Africa will be playing (...)

Don't count on it

[Van Basten II]

Say, it ain't so

[Matthew]

I love how on ESPN 3, you can't hear the halftime analysis but the commercials come in loud and clear.