The One & Only 2010 World Cup Topic

Crazy Aussie's....remember this?







(This is also for the Kiwi's who I will cheer for )

FORZA ITALIA!

Wednesday I saw this ...

Ahahaha! Paz, do you support Spain when they play Belgium?

Giolazio wrote:

Ahahaha! Paz, do you support Spain when they play Belgium?

oh yes mate ... 'sangre roja' in my veins through and through ... even if Belgium gave me much, but one can not deny his roots !

WC Qualif Oct 2008 - BEL v ESP 1-2

Good work...I'm exactly the same!

Btw.....who is voting England?????

Giolazio wrote:

Btw.....who is voting England?????

I'm betting Ed.


And the poll is discriminatory towards i.e. Serbia who topped their qualifying group in front of France and are given the same odds as Algeria...

So if I vote for them as I consider them the dark horse then it's split between 4 teams.

J'accuse!!!!

Sile wrote:

Giolazio wrote:

Btw.....who is voting England?????

I'm betting Ed.

I may be English and I may be desparate for some national glory but I'm not that stupid!!!

There is always your usual tabloid storm before hand, then the mention of our best ever chance with our "world-class" players, then the over-hyping..... the dominant display in the group phase.....

Then the injuries, sendings off, failure to show any sort of skill level against decent teams and the inevitable penalty shoot-out defeat....
Glorious failures again.... Not that I'm a pesimist or anything!

Seriously though, there is always a chance but I still can't see us coping with technically gifted teams who can just keep posession and pass round us. We always come up short against teams like that and with half our players seriously out of form or likely to be coming into the tournement off the back of injuries, I can't see that changing.

Although we may have found a star turn in Crouchy again

Giolazio wrote:

Crazy Aussie's....remember this?







(This is also for the Kiwi's who I will cheer for )

FORZA ITALIA!

Gio! Seriously, that sh1t aint funny!

Giolazio wrote:

Btw.....who is voting England?????

One has honestly wonder at the intelligence of Laziofever posters when England has twice as many votes as Brazil...

Sven Goran will coach Ivory Coast in the WC

Sile wrote:

Giolazio wrote:

Btw.....who is voting England?????

I'm betting Ed.


And the poll is discriminatory towards i.e. Serbia who topped their qualifying group in front of France and are given the same odds as Algeria...

So if I vote for them as I consider them the dark horse then it's split between 4 teams.

J'accuse!!!!

I'm thinking Serbia, Algeria, Suisse and Uruguay are together cause they all have Lazio players, nothing else.

Serbia and Chile are definite dark horses for me. I expect one of them to make the semis at least.

Surprised so many people think Spain will win. I think they have real selection issues. Xavi and Iniesta are not having their best seasons, Fabregas is and is difficult to fit into the side, Xabi Alonso, for me, is overrated, David Silva is also dubious, Jesus Navas may go but in what capacity will he be there, Mata has to be in there on current form but will he hack the pressure etc. That's just the midfield, top class names but many concerns. I worry about their defense and as for their strikeforce, other than Villa and Torres, there is no back-up to rely on.

pedro rodrigez

England will win this smelling as WC. They have the best squad, the best players all round and they will have a massive support down in RSA, while other teams will struggle to fill the arenas. If they can only create harmony, this will be their year. And most importantly, they have Capello...
I dont count Brazil as good as always, Argentina is ok but not more, and I believe Spain will be the toughest team to beat alongside England. France sucks, Germany is not as strong as before and the Asian teams all are at least one level below the European and S.American teams. Some African teams can upset, just as Chile and Paraguay. but in the end it will be a struggle bbetween the "large" football nations and I will put my money on England this time around...

Saying all that, there are some months left and anything can happen regarding injuries etc., so I guess this dicussion will be more accurate when the last selection has been done.

Interesting enough to see Nigeria and Ivory Coast going for Swedish coaches over the WC. At least that will make the hype larger here, now that the NT missed the play-offs...

My 'heart' thinks this ...



some classic games ahead ... ARG v URG ... ESP v POR ... NED v BRA ... ARG v GER ... ESP v ITA ... ARG v ESP ... ENG v BRA ... ENG v ESP ... bring it on !

I agree with Caxi with regards to Spain. Although I like them, and they have a very talented squad - I don't see them winning the WC either. Key players like Iniesta, Casillas and Senna aren't having the best of seasons, and their attack minded play leaves their defense vulnerable - especially with donkey faced Ramos charging up the field every chance he gets. As Caxi mentioned, their front line looks depleted. Apart from Villa and Torres (who has spent more than half of this season on the stands at Liverpool) they have no one with that amount of class. Guiza was good at Euro 2008 but since then I don't know what has happened with that guy.

England are a 'dark horse' for me in that you don't know how they will perform - especially come the later stages of the tournament should they get there. Capello has developed a strong, reliable and disciplined squad which is what they badly needed, and this is their best chance of winning the WC in many years I believe. If key players like Terry, Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney stay fit and on top of their game then they could go a very, very long way.

No one is really talking about Brazil, Argentina, Italy or Holland and their chances of glory, but they can never be ruled out.

Personally I voted for Germany and I still stand by that. They are a team who tend to get things right when it most matters and after coming so close in the last 2 World Cups, and Euro 2008, I'm betting they will do well again.

Well I knew this topic would lead to someone making a really really large prediction and that little visual just helps me dismantle it. Firstly, Argentina will not go anywhere and its their Ego's that will inhibit them, as is always the case they turn into a one man team and hope to g-d that one player can carry them and it fails miserably, 86' and 90' being the only exceptions for them and sorry they don't have the luck of 90' and are lacking an incredibly lucky Diego Armando Maradona aka. Hand of God. Secondly, England is a potential threat but for Cappello to actually win something or even advance past the round of sixteen is going to require much more than simple "international friendly" results to convince me. Thirdly in the case of Spain well they just plain suck, I mean they have immense talent in midfield maestros Xavi and Iniesta. They have forwards live David Villa and Fernando Torres and yet even with this they can't seem to move in the world cup, granted they did manage to win Euro 2008 so perhaps a semi-final is in the cards. The Nederlands or Holland have no chance they lack the depth necessary in order to get anywhere further than the group stage, and lest we forget they were eliminated in Euro 2008 by a Russian squad that just demolished them from top to bottom, so they can pack their bags. For me the teams that pose a threat or a reasonable threat for Cup Contention are Italy, defending champions and considering how angry we get about an annual scudetto i don't really believe that the nation will allow for anything less than a repeat, granted Lippi being the jackass that he is, is the Achilles heel in the choices he makes for the final World Cup squad. Brasil is and will remain for years to come a constant threat or contender for the Cup, they have depth, skill, strength and are almost impervious. Germany will be looking for redemption after being slain at the hands of Italy in the Semi-Finals of the 06' World Cup in Germany. So I would expect them to push into the Semis without question.

Who will win Im not sure, I don't think that anyone can truly predict who might win especially when it comes to the World Cup. But being of Italian decent I have a tendency to "hope and pray" Italy repeats for the second time in the history of the World Cup and be the only nation to do it Twice. FORZA ITALIA!!!!

Our preliminary squad for 2010, to be cut down to 23 by June 1st.

Goalkeepers -
Mark Schwarzer Fulham (ENG)
Brad Jones Middlesbrough (ENG)
Adam Federici Reading (ENG)
Eugene Galekovic Adelaide United (emergency if one of the 3 GK get injured)
Defenders -
Lucas Neill Galatasaray (TUR)
David Carney FC Twente (NETH)
Michael Beauchamp Al Jazira (UAE)
Scott Chipperfield FC Basel (SWI)
Shane Lowry Aston Villa (ENG)
Mark Milligan JEF United(JAP)
Craig Moore no club
Jade North Tromso(NOR)
Luke Wilkshire Dinamo Moscow (RUS)
Rhys Williams Middlesbrough (ENG)
Midfielders -
Brett Emerton Blackburn Rovers (ENG)
Vince Grella Blackburn Rovers (ENG)
James Holman AZ Alkmaar (NETH)
Tim Cahill Everton (ENG)
Tommy Oar FC Utrecht (NETH)
Carl Valeri Sassuolo Calcio (ITA)
Dario Vidosic FC Nurnberg (GER)
Mile Jedinak Antalyaspor Kubulu (TUR)
Nicky Carle Crystal Palace (ENG)
Mark Bresciano Palermo (ITA)
Richard Garcia Hull City (ENG)
Jason Culina Gold Coast United
James Holland AZ Alkmaar(NETH)
Forwards -
Nikita Rukavytsya FC Twente (NETH)
Harry Kewell Galatasaray (TUR)
Josh Kennedy Nagoya Grampus (JAP)
Scott Mcdonald Middlesbrough (ENG)

Not happy with some selections here,

Cannot believe that Eddie Bosnar, Sasa Ognenovski, Matthew Spiranovic & Joel Griffiths are not in the squad.

Starting line up knowing Pim Verbeek could be

---------------------Schwartzer----------------------------
-----Emerton-------Neill------Emerton-----Chipperfield------
-------------------Grella-------Culina-----------------------
----------Bresciano-----Cahill-----Kewell--------------------
-----------------------Kennedy-----------------------------

This is the prelimanary 30 players that Diego Maradona has called for Argentina. Seven players will be omitted for the necessary 23 man squad:

Goalkeepers
Mariano Andujar -Catania
Sergio Romero -AZ Alkmaar
Diego Pozo -Colon

Defenders
Nicolas Burdisso -Roma
Martin Demichelis -Bayern Munich
Juan Manuel Insuarralde -Newell's Old Boys
Gabriel Heinze -Marseille
Nicolas Otamendi -Velez Sarsfield
Clemente Rodriguez -Estudiantes
Walter Samuel -Internazionale
Ariel Garce -Colon
Fabricio Coloccini -Newcastle United

Midfielders
Mario Bolatti -Fiorentina
Sebastian Blanco -Lanus
Jesus Datolo -Olympiacos
Angel Di Maria -Benfica
Jonas Gutierrez -Newcastle United
Javier Mascherano -Liverpool
Javier Pastore -Palermo
Juan Sebastian Veron -Estudiantes
Juan Mercier -Argentinos Juniors
Maxi Rodriguez -Liverpool
Jose Ernesto Sosa -Estudiantes

Forwards
Lionel Messi -Barcelona
Martin Palermo -Boca Juniors
Gonzalo Higuain -Real Madrid
Sergio Aguero -Atletico Madrid
Ezequiel Lavezzi -Napoli
Carlos Tevez -Manchester City
Diego Milito -Inter

I think Maradona's plan is to name a squad so pathetically poor that every other team at the World Cup will take Argentina for granted and then lose because they will not play properly. A sort of "underestimate at your peril" plan. Maradona also seems to have a fetish for midfielders that have first names beginning with the letter "J".

On a more serious note. No Cambiasso, Banega or Zanetti. That is shocking. The fullback area looks absolutely awful. Not one good fullback on either side. Pretty stupid if you are going to play with a four man defence that Maradona will probably employ.

Personally, can not wait for the seven players that will be excluded. Milito to be excluded in favour or Martin Palermo? Laugh out loud stuff. I would not bet against it. Really can not wait.

I dont really know who I would like to add to the Argentinian squad (apart from Zarate ), but those players will no be able to bring a gold with Diego steering the wheels. Obviously Cambiasso and Zanetti should be in there, but even if they would have been added that looks to weak defensively, and also regarding the midfield I have my doubts that it will be enough. Taib you also make a very good point on the fullback issue. Then we have the issue of which players to play in attack and I already feel that Messi will not be the Messi he is in Barca.

As I started off saying, I am not sure what else is out there to add,but that team will struggle to get through the group stage if you ask me; they are playing Korea, Nigeria and Greece and the last two can upset any team and Korea has the potential to be a surprise with a young and very energetic team. Argentina play Nigeria in their opening game, and if Lagerbäck manages to put together a TEAM out of some good individual players Maradona and his men might face massive criticism after the first game, and then they will never make it...

It's an absoulte joke that Cambiasso and Zanetti have not been selected. Maradona does not have a clue, and it would not suprise me either to see Palermo ahead of Milito. They have the players to challenge for the tournament, shame he didnt select some of them. Appaling really.

A joke that Cambiasso and Zanetti are not going? Yes, it is. But I am still surprised people are writing them off and condemning them to an early exit.

Brazil, many people's favourite for the tournament - their best attacking player is Luis Fabiano. Argentina possess Higuain, Milito, Aguero, Messi and Tevez. Give me those 5 over Luis Fabiano anyday.

They have two centre-backs about to feature in a CL final. Their midfield is still as good as anyones.

In other words, I'd take Maradona's Argentina over the vast majority of teams. Player-for-player, they're as good as any squad. In the World Cup, having a world class coach means next to nothing. Maradona knows what it takes to win the WC; he may be an idiot but he knows that much.

Also remember that the greatest players in the world have won the world's greatest tournament and Messi is waiting in line.

I seriously believe people are being slightly blinded...even if I understand their concerns.

Personally im not writing them off at any stretch but they've already been done a disservice by the fact that two inspiration lynchpin players have not been selected. Not just on the pitch quality but geniune leadship on and off it.

Whilst Pele, Maradona, Zidane, Ronaldo, Muller have all been pivotal in world cup wins as the best player at that moment, the likes of Cruyff, Puskas, Van Basten and Platini did not so Messi waiting in line does not guarantee, even if obviously he adds serious quality. Ultimately, for me, this is a totally wide open tournament.

gonna enjoy seeing Argentina raped in the WC

Maradona is nothing more then a fool!!!