World Cup 2006: who will be the Champion?

I can feel it in me bones...the final will be England (3) Germany (2)...and back home to Blighty in time for tea and crumpets

Originally posted by American Mad Man

BTW, has anyone else noticed that the US is a top 10 team in the FIFA rankings? Why is it so hard to believe we could shock the world? This isn't the US team of old...

lol m8, the FIFA world rankings are based on performences in 6 zone areas (Europe, North/Central America, South America, Africa, Asia and Oceana)

no offence in the 'US' zone area is quite easy, it has teams like (Panama, Guatemala, Trinidad & Tobago, Costa Rica, Mexico, Canada, Jamaica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala).

so this quite justifys why america and mexcio are so highly ranked!! - you also have only have to look at other rankings.

japan 15th :O
iran 19th :O

then you get countrys like scotland who down in 84th (its because they are in the european sector).

so the FIFA world ranking system doesn't really tell you the true top10

but the US is defianly an improving country (football terms), the last 12 years since the world cup was held in your country in 94, you've come along way



[edit on 20-2-2006 by st3ve_o]

I bet if hes as good as you say chelsea will pull out all the stops to land him, might turn in to another jon obi Mikkel situation though between them and man utd i would say utd would be a better option for him considering Sir Alex's commitment to youngsters and the fact that he probably woudn't get a game at chelsea.

[edit on 20-2-2006 by buckaroo]

Originally posted by timski
I can feel it in me bones...the final will be England (3) Germany (2)...and back home to Blighty in time for tea and crumpets

England cant meet Germany in the Final..

If you look at the standings, we will face them either second round or the quarter finals.

Originally posted by buckaroo
I bet if hes as good as you say chelsea will pull out all the stops to land him, might turn in to another jon obi Mikkel situation though between them and man utd i would say utd would be a better option for him considering Sir Alex's commitment to youngsters and the fact that he probably woudn't get a game at chelsea.

[edit on 20-2-2006 by buckaroo]

That's my feeling as well, though personally, I think he should play in Spain if he can. Their style suits him much more then the long ball and solid D of the premier league.

Originally posted by American Mad Man
The world better hope Adu doesn't decide to live up to the hype.

Don't worry, here in the ROW we know that the Ghanaian born Freddy Adu isn't anything special. He can't even hold down an MLS starting place, Where was Rooney at 16? Oh yeah, ripping defences apart in the premiership, the most physical league on the planet.

That's if Freddy Adu even is 16 of course...

Freddy Adu, born June 2, 1989, is frequently rumored to actually be older; these rumors suggest that his birth certificate was doctored to make him eligible for play in little league soccer, where he could stand out. Since he usually played in a higher age bracket, however, the only advantage he could have received was psychological. According to rumors, the false age was propagated into his professional career to keep up the media hype.

Age fabrication.

Who will win in Germany? Let me give you a little hint:




[edit on 20/2/06 by Implosion]

Yeah, you Euros know better all right. That's why every major club in the world is in a bidding war over our star-child.

In fairness to Freddy, his mom would not let him go overseas. He didn't have the choice to go to La Ligua, the premiership, or Series A. He'll be heading over to England to dominate soon enough, and my guess is you'll be cursing his name as he owns your team year after year

The age stuff is all rumor. It's pretty clear if you've ever seen him in person that he's the age he claims. You could literally watch him go through puberty.

BTW, the Italian league and MLS are both more physical then the premiership.

The MLS is down right thuggish.

Originally posted by American Mad Man
BTW, the Italian league and MLS are both more physical then the premiership.

The MLS is down right thuggish.

The Italian league is IN NO WAY as physical as the Premiership.

ANYONE who watches Football knows this. My old dear knows this for crying out loud.
:shk:
Of course, this is very much in keeping with the usual ammount of truth contained in ANYTHING you say, so I guess I'm not altogether suprised.

Seria A makes me want to it is terrible!
im gonna say it ,id rather watch the winter olympics than Italian*cough* football and thats saying something, BTW as i have't made my prediction yet England will beat Brazil in the final 3-1 with peter crouch,and wayne Rooney(2) scoring,Rooney will also take the golden boot we should score at least 5 against Trinidad so that will set him up nicely.

seria A is more physical in terms of downright blatent cheating and questionable tactics by defenders, no where else in the world would they spend £35 million on a keeper,dull,dull,dull,dull

[edit on 20-2-2006 by buckaroo]

Originally posted by Implosion

Originally posted by American Mad Man
BTW, the Italian league and MLS are both more physical then the premiership.

The MLS is down right thuggish.

The Italian league is IN NO WAY as physical as the Premiership.

ANYONE who watches Football knows this. My old dear knows this for crying out loud.
:shk:
Of course, this is very much in keeping with the usual ammount of truth contained in ANYTHING you say, so I guess I'm not altogether suprised.

ANYONE?

Really?

ANYONE?

Look at the post above mine big shot. the very next person to respond agreed with me!

In fact, I get this from a guy who actually was considering signing in both leagues, but I'm sure you know better then an actual player, right?

Get over your self buddy. I have seen my fair share of Euro Soccer. I had sat TV to watch it for 2 years. The Italian league is brutal compared to the Premier league.

The premier league is the most exiciting in the world,la liga most skillfull,seria A is just as phyisical IMO because of the enphasis on dull negative defencive tactics dirty defenders etc. would any striker in the world like to be man marked by the AC millan back line, no ,im not saying that being marked by chelseas defence is any easier (john terry in the paper today saying hes gonna kick Ronaldhino up in the air)

but the Italians are the true defensive masters nobody can dispute that. defence=a more phisycal aproach

Premier league is most exiciting because of the much more rapid pace to the game.

[edit on 20-2-2006 by buckaroo]

Heck yeah!!! What he said. I like him he has a sense of humor. Now back to the question at hand. Team USA all the way!!!

Originally posted by buckaroo
the Italians are the true defensive masters nobody can dispute that. defence=a more phisycal aproach

They have a more defensive approach yes, but tactically defensive. They IN NO WAY play as physical a game than is played in the Premiership, or for that matter La Liga.

Originally posted by Implosion

They have a more defensive approach yes, but tactically defensive. They IN NO WAY play as physical a game than is played in the Premiership, or for that matter La Liga.

Catenaccio "door bolt" in italian basicly weaker teams try to reduce any gaps with regard to technique by getting phisycal not used much as a tactic today but think, about the constant fouling cheating and roughing up of opposition players by the Italians for god sake they built ther entire football phiosophy on it.

I ain't argueing that The Premiership isn't physical just maybe didn't phrase myself correctly in my second post on the subject look at my original post i said more physical in terms of cheating or words to that effect.

I agree with you but got carried away wanting to make a point about Italian football which I do hate with a passion

All this talk about the Serie A's bad attitude, cheating tactics and "ott" physical play.....

Patrick Vieras transfer to Juventus makes much more sense now!

Yeah im surprised roy keane didn't go aswell.

Originally posted by Implosion
They have a more defensive approach yes, but tactically defensive. They IN NO WAY play as physical a game than is played in the Premiership, or for that matter La Liga.

Well, you and I dissagree. When I see the Italian leagues, I see a more physical game. That isn't to say that the Premier league isn't physical, just that the Italian league is more so. It is dirty, the tackles are harder.

And don't even compare the Italian leagues to La Liga. La Liga is soft.

They IN NO WAY play as physical a game than is played in the Premiership, or for that matter La Liga.

Italian League tackles can be brutal and i mean brutal, ive seen some shocking tackels. As for MLS, lets just say, the refs let ALOT of things go, im suprised no one has their legs broken :shk:

To anyone here ranting about the greatness of Freddy Adu I was reading some articles on Germany's recent pounding of the U.S.A. and it was mentioned that Freddy will probably not even make the US side for World Cup. If this is true how can he be considered world class (yet).
Also his decsion to play in MLS instead of Europe is mind-blowing. Imaging a top NFL player playing Arena league or a Premiership player playing in Division 1 etc.

Plus he is giving up millions of dollars a year in wage.

Brazil will win this cup but Im rooting for Mexico, USA, and any team from South America besides Brazil. Oh and Czech Rep. cause they looked soooooo good at Euro 04.