[joe1980]

Here is my prediction for 2014. Germany vs Brazil and Argentina vs Spain for the semis and most likely it will be Brazil vs Spain for the finals, with Spain having 60% chances of retaining the title.

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by joe1980

Here is my prediction for 2014. Germany vs Brazil and Argentina vs Spain for the semis and most likely it will be Brazil vs Spain for the finals, with Spain having 60% chances of retaining the title.

There is a high chance that Argentina may face Spain in the quarters itself - so no chance of your favourite semis

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

There is a high chance that Argentina may face Spain in the quarters itself - so no chance of your favourite semis

Oh no, it would be heart-breaking to see one of them out by QF itself. But I feel that Spain would beat Argentina if it happens. Although pretty happy to see that DiMaria being in very good form and would be a key player for Argentina along with Messi. But as it normally happens, Argentina always have individual talents but they normally don't seem to gel together as a team.

How good is the form of the German team at this point of time? Who are their key players this time? Ozil? Pudolski?

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

But as it normally happens, Argentina always have individual talents but they normally don't seem to gel together as a team.

What Argentina lacks is a replacement for Riquelme. Messi is no Maradona, who can be a one man team. He needs a strong deep midfield feeding him

How good is the form of the German team at this point of time? Who are their key players this time? Ozil? Pudolski?

My fav - Bastian Schweinsteiger. Of course the presence of Ozil, Lahm, Low, Podolski and others make them a team to watch out for

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

What Argentina lacks is a replacement for Riquelme. Messi is no Maradona, who can be a one man team. He needs a strong deep midfield feeding him

I feel that Angel Di Maria can be that guy. Although even he is more of a forward than a mid-fielder but seeing him playing for Real Madrid, I think he surely can break the defense of any good team. But yeah, he is no Riquelme and neither Messi is Maradona. But even more than that I feel Argentina doesn't have a solid defense too. We've seen what Germany did last year to them (and the same Germany couldn't do anything to the solid defense of Spain).

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

My fav - Bastian Schweinsteiger. Of course the presence of Ozil, Lahm, Low, Podolski and others make them a team to watch out for

Aahaa, he is still there. I thought he might have retired by now (I don't follow club level football much). I need to get updated on the players to look out for in this world cup.

[joe1980]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

There is a high chance that Argentina may face Spain in the quarters itself - so no chance of your favourite semis

Looking at the fixtures for the round of 16, Argentina which is in Group F would play the Quarter finals only with the winners of E or G or H. Spain on the other hand is in group B which have to play against A, C or D in the Quarter finals. So there is definitely a chance of Argentina meeting Spain in the Semi's and no chance of these two teams meeting each other in the Quarter finals.

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Aahaa, he is still there. I thought he might have retired by now (I don't follow club level football much). I need to get updated on the players to look out for in this world cup.

He is not yet 30!! (But he is recovering from an injury)

Originally Posted by joe1980

Looking at the fixtures for the round of 16, Argentina which is in Group F would play the Quarter finals only with the winners of E or G or H. Spain on the other hand is in group B which have to play against A, C or D in the Quarter finals. So there is definitely a chance of Argentina meeting Spain in the Semi's and no chance of these two teams meeting each other in the Quarter finals.

Sorry, my bad. It is Brazil which may meet Spain. I just remembered that two of my favourite teams will meet in the second round itself!!

So, both Spain and Brazil cannot reach the semis together :(

[deetjohn]

Bloomberg Sports predicts a Brazil victory.

http://www.bloomberg.com/visual-data...4somtg9vlgfgeg

The 'My Predictions' tab is great to figure out all the permutations and combinations.

[maktags]

Since the time of Van Basten, Guilt, Rajkaard days, I just loved Dutch football. At times felt them equivalent to South African cricket team, possibly the best team on paper but little delivery in terms of titles. Even the coaching pedigree with Van Gaal etc seems to world class. So again rooting for them.

Another team that has always excited me in perennial achievers, Germany. More than anything its sheer work rate and mental toughness which makes them what they are. Again perfect cricket analogy will be Australia

[Napo]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

What Argentina lacks is a replacement for Riquelme. Messi is no Maradona, who can be a one man team. He needs a strong deep midfield feeding him
My fav - Bastian Schweinsteiger. Of course the presence of Ozil, Lahm, Low, Podolski and others make them a team to watch out for

Is he fit for FIFA 2014 , heard that he had some injury and might not be able to make it for the world cup.

I have been a big fan of Dutch football from my child hood , being from Kerala it was a tough fight to vouch my support as we have more latin american football fans over there.

I guess Brazil or Argentina has a better chance this time compared to the likes of Spain and Germany. The weather conditions might also help latin american countries. Spain has a good reserve strength , so they might still make it.

Just my thoughts.

[Jeroen]

Just some food for thought; there is, unfortunately, a very dark side to this football event as well:

http://www.marijnpoels.com/dagboek/press_Rio2013UK.html

Jeroen

[champ27]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

He is not yet 30!! (But he is recovering from an injury)



Sorry, my bad. It is Brazil which may meet Spain. I just remembered that two of my favourite teams will meet in the second round itself!!

So, both Spain and Brazil cannot reach the semis together :(

Brazil may still avoid Spain, if Spain tops group B. In that case whoever comes 2nd in Group B (most likely The Netherlands) will face Brazil. Off course, here we are assuming Brazil will top Group A.

My semi final line up is Brazil vs Germany and Argentina vs Spain. With Brazil & Argentina meeting each other in the Final. And I hope this time Argentina wins. They have long been overdue for a wc title. I hope their explosive frontline makes up for a somewhat shaky defence.

[neelchak]

My prediction is SF1 Brazil and Germany
SF2 Netherlands and Argentina
with Brazil and Argentina making it to finals, and although my heart wants Argentina to win, my mind says Brazil is way too good this time. If Brazil makes it to semi final, they would win it hands down.

At the risk of sounding a Messi fan, Someone mentioned about Messi not being a one-man person like Maradona. Well, the game has changed some since Maradona's time. Now, it is simply not humanly possible to be a one-man team. Each player is peaked to perform at his physical and tactical best. However, if anyone comes closest to pulling it off, it is Messi and he has pretty much showed it over the years for both Argentina and Barcelona. And yes, some one correctly pointed out, there is a chance Sabella would deploy Di Maria in the centre of the field as he was done quite a few times with very successful results by Carlo Ancelotti for Madrid.

I hope Diego Costa and Ronaldo are fully fit and so are all the other listed players. Already couple of them have had unfortunate incidents.

Bring it On !!!

[naveenroy]

Aw shucks - I am not too keen on using the term "Soccer" when it is actually football......but wth, lets carry on with discussing the Football World Cup.

Watched Germany play that friendly with Ghana and it was fun to watch. Germany always look good in the beginning. I hope they go till the end though.

And England suffers a blow with Alex Oxlade Chamberlain injured...

[procrj]

the game before the game! Dr Dre 1 Nike 0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRSwlFe9E38