O/T: The World Cup begins!

[nafnikufesin]

Finally all the meaningless warm-up games are over...here comes the real thing! What are people's predictions?

Here's my guess:

Group A: France drew an easy first round and should coast to first, and Uruguay will edge out Denmark for 2nd.

Group B: Spain doesn't usually choke until the second round and should take 1st, with Slovenia taking 2nd.

Group C: Brazil lucked out with the easiest group and should have no problem advancing, with Turkey taking 2nd.

Group D: Portugal will easily win this group, but finishing 2nd will be a very tight race between the other 3 teams. Poland may squeak into the next round with a little luck.

Group E: Germany should finish 1st, and now that Keane is gone, Cameroon should have an easier time taking 2nd from Ireland.

Group F: The group of death! Argentina should have what it takes to win this one, and England will finish second.

Group G: Another tough group. Italy should take 1st, with Croatia a close 2nd.

Group H: Russia will win a tight race for 1st, and Japan will use home field advantage to steal 2nd from Belgium

Second round:
France over England
Japan over Brazil (upset special!)
Argentina over Uruguay
Turkey over Russia
Germany over Slovenia
Italy over Poland
Spain over Cameroon
Portugal over Croatia

Quarterfinals
France over Japan
Argentina over Turkey
Italy over Germany
Portugal over Spain

Semifinals
Argentina over France
Italy over Portugal

3rd place
Portugal over France

Final
Italy over Argentina

For the first game tomorrow, France will beat Senegal 1-0 despite Zidane not playing.

Anyone else care to hazard a guess?

 

[augdawg2]

Italy is a safe bet, but I somehow think that Germany will sneak into the final.

Cheerz!

AugDawg

 

[nafnikufesin]

Germany has not done much to impress lately. Personally, I thought they were lucky to have been ranked in the top 8, avoiding any dangerous matches in the first round, and I think that's the only reason they'll make the second round. Then again, I guess we'll see which team shows up over the next few days!

 

[anvil(old)]

I think Spain will win manage not to choke and will win it this time (but I've been saying this for years). I don't think Italy are good enough to win but should get to the last eight.

 

[evilholger]

NIGERIA

 

[nafnikufesin]

What a start! Senegal beats the mighty French 1-0, showing that anything can happen. Although I picked France to go far, I'd love nothing more than seeing them bow out in the first round!

As for Italy winning, here's why I think they'll win. Totti, Del Piero, Vieri...any one of those strikers would make a World Cup team competitive and have them compete for the Golden Boot, but Italy will potentially have all 3 on the field at once, adding to a traditionally rock solid defense. Providing they can work as a team, they are the most talented team playing. The only reason they didn't make it further in the last World Cup was an unlucky penalty kick loss against France, who of course went on to win the whole thing. Similarly, in Euro 2000, Italy dominated France for 85 minutes in the final but was unlucky to have only a 1-0 lead until they fell asleep and eventually lost in overtime. If they've learned their lesson a play a full 90 minutes, the only team that may come close to them is Argentina.

Of course, I've been wrong with many of my predictions before, so only time will tell.