I expect the USA to do worse than last time, considering the raised expectations. At that point I'll root for England and be disappointed but not surprised as they blow an elimination game where they looked like the better team.

thx gooky!
great work!

ps
Henry is (now) the best player in the world, but it's not enough.
I don't know who is gonna win the world cup and I think it's hard to say it.
you know, the Greece won last european cup...

The day a country wins where Football is called soccer....

Zidane, well, let's see, Capatain of the '98 Winning team, scored two goals in the final, best midfielder of the last 10 years, 3 times world footballer of the year...

Brazil.
Yeah, it's not very creative, but they have the strongest team overall.

France and even more so the Czech Rep are old teams, England has a world class midfield, but lacks strikers and has a serious goalie problem, the Spanish and the Dutch are the Spanish and the Dutch, which means they will fail, though the Dutch pobably a bit later.
The Germans have really serious defense problems, home team nonewithstanding, which leaves Argentina and Italy.

Italy ist strong, maybe the only team I could realistically see beating Brazil, Argentina well, we'll see.

Better than Ronaldinho? Hardly.

Great Site love those pics!

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May 1999 74-83 Playmates on Safari

I think so

I have to disagree with you, we don't have a serious goalie problem, comical would be a better way to desribe it.

If you borrow us one or two defenders you can have Hildebrand, Enke or Rost.

any new CGOM/CGOW vids?

Hardly, but I would still rank Henry higher. His commitment and drive during the CL final was better than Ronaldinho. I don't think we have seen the best from Henry either, and I think next year, Arsenal are goinig to have a monster year. They are just coming into their stride, whereas Barcelona are at the height of their power. Arsenal is a team that pretty much felt its way through the Champions League this year. Next time around, I expect them to be very aggressive and confident about their chances to win it all.

And I must clarify that I understand that France are underdogs, but I will root for them until 90 minutes is up and it shows France is the loser. Being successful in the past or being favorites to win does not really matter in soccer. Teams that a careful and have a plan to neutralize other team's strengths can win. Who are the big names in Brazil anyway? ****, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Robinho. Offensive players. Defensively? Dida, Ze Roberto, Cris. They are competent, but not impossible to break down. With a little luck, a team can score first and defend their lead (countering occasionally to lessen the pressure, of course.) Must I remind you that Mexico eliminated Brazil in the Gold Cup recently? You need a little discipline and a lot of luck to win, but it's not impossible.

Again? Didn't the goalie blow the game against Brazil in '02? I have a memory of a seemingly harmless free kick by Ronaldinho drifting over his head for the game winner.

I don't agree, the final was the worst game of Ronaldinho in the whole tournament, true, but he was the Player of the Tournament nonetheless.
Constantly the best Man in the best team (again, sans the the final).
Arsenal played a good CL-Season, but in terms of raw class I rank them behind Barca, Lyon, Chelsea, AC, Juventus, though time is on their side if they can keep the team together.
I expect them to be the old Asenal again, which means they will fail to live up to the expectations in the CL, but that's merely a gut feeling.
The new Stadium should give them a bit more room financially in the long run though.
I wouldn't exactly consider them underdogs, they are clearly in top 5 worldwide, they just didn't convinve me in the last year or so that they can harness their potential.
Adriano, Juninho
With that kind of offensive potential, not only are you almost guaranteed to score at least one goal, every enemy also has to devote a lot of resources to defending, which means few teams can play "their" game against Brazil.
Ze Roberto is somebody for the offensive wing (left), attempts to employ him as a defender have usually gone wrong.
Lucio is one of the best central defenders there is, definately the best in the Bundesliga.
I'm less convinced of Juan and R. Carlos, Cafu ain't the fastest one anymore as well, but Emerson is first class defensive Midfielder.
And with kind of offensive potential, it's not like a lot of teams will be able to build up the constant pressure neccessary to overcome them to score more than one goal (and you don't win against brazil 1:0, mark my words)
Trying to defend a one goal lead against brazil for more than 15 minutes is pretty close to suicide, your only chance is to attack early and keep them occupied, and even then, they will get a few shots at your goal.
Pfft Gold Cup.
Playing against Brazil when their Players are flown in overnight from Europe during mid season is something else as as playing them during a WC.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love somebody else to win, but I still think Brazil has the biggest chance, I'd say around 40%, they have the best team, period.
Sure, it's an elimination tournament, everything can happen, but...

also with milan...
I mean, if you put a defender close to ronaldinho, you can stop him.
obviously the defender can't leave him one meter to turn back and face him.
I think staam did it quite well.
with Henry is more difficult, IMHO.
I agree that brazil is favorite for WC, but not too much...
I repeat: a team with good physical skill can fill the technical gap, as it was for greece in last european cup.
that's football today!

Link doesn't seem to actually work (jumps to a megaupload file that's not there..)

Btw I thought Ronaldinho was sent off in the Brazil/Eng footie match in Jap/Korea last time. Didn't stop them beating us though.. It was the second time Seamen got lobbed at such a distance, and was caught out of position like that..

Btw what will the score of England/Hungary be this Saturday?

I think 3:1.

Um, okay. I guess I meant to win it all. Would the term "Dark Horse" be more to your liking?
What I mean is that they are not well balanced team, so you do not need constant pressure; catch them on the counterattack. Since they are so offensive minded, more balanced teams should try to exploit the gaps Brazil leaves when they attack. And I don't think Lucio counts as a world class defender.
I believe in stingy defenses, not unstoppable offenses. Offensive machines were meant to be broken down.
Yeah, I'm sure they like losing in a regional tournament.
I don't think they have the best team, they have the best offense. If they win the World Cup, they will be the best.

Argentina!

You mean the Game where he prepered the decisive 1:0 with a wonderful assist?
Where he had the most ball contacts in both games of all players on the field, despite Stam following him from the cabin to the closet? Where he had several good chances and hit aluminium?

That isn't exactly modern football, not only are you not guaranteed to stop a man like Ronaldinho this way, you are also limiting yourself offensively.
Milan did indeed defend well against Barca (and Ronaldinho) yet Barca made their goal (and could have made more than that) and Mialn failed to score.
Should tell you something.

I think Henry is too much of Diva, on a good day he's world class and a bit more.
On a bad day...

The problem is you need some really fast central defenders against him, but he's far less flexible than Ronaldinho, who can play, Wing, OM, and Striker equally well.

Yess indeed, I could see Italy for example doing it, but that doesn't mean Brazil isn't the favorite by a long shot.

And don't remind of that Greece debacle.
That a team playing such Stone-age-football win's the EC was a disgrace for almost all other teams involved.

The reason they aren't well balanced is not because their defensive is weak, but rather their offensive, which is extremely strong.
Defending today starts with the strikers, and if you can build up the constant pressure that Brasil can, your defenders have a lot less work to do.
Again, if you relegate youself to counterattacking against Brazil, you're pretty much screwed, if they get rolling, they will score.

Dude, seriously, he is. He is reportedly one of the best paid Players at Munich, as a defender, and in the las BL season only Van Buyten came close on this postion.
Top 10 central defender worldwide? You bet.

Now, Juan, that's a different story.

Didn't work that well the last 3 times, aye?

Well, the US beat Mexico, what does that tell us? Nothing?
Football is game where shape beats class.

But for a WC, the preperation is so extensive that you can expect every team to be in at least half decent shape, that's why Brazil is my favorite, as dull as it is.