serbia and montenegro ?

DaMan--banned · May 15, 2006

interesting prop at pinnacle:

Will Serbia reach the quarterfinal? Yes +519 Non -619

I think there is some value in 'Yes'. I know that they are playing in the 'group of death' but they are very strong. Unbeaten in qualifs, allowed only one goal in 10 qualification games. Unbeaten in official games since their current head coach took over (8 wins, 5 draws). Under this same coach, who likes to preach defense, they held their opponents scoreless in 13 out of last 20 matches. The will have a huge fan support in Germany since a lot of people from S&M live there. No major injuries.

Serbia and Montenegro squad:
Goalkeepers: Dragoslav Jevric (Ankaraspor/TUR), Oliver Kovacevic (Zeleznik), Vladimir Stojkovic (Nantes/FRA)

Defenders: Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United/ENG), Mladen Krstajic (Schalke 04/GER), Goran Gavrancic (Dinamo Kiev/UKR), Milan Dudic (Red Star Belgrade), Ivica Dragutinovic (Sevilla/ESP), Dusan Basta (Red Star Belgrade), Nenad Djordjevic (Partizan Belgrade)

Midfielders: Igor Duljaj (Shakhtar Donetsk/UKR), Albert Nadj (Partizan Belgrade), Ivan Ergic (FC Basel/SUI), Dejan Stankovic (Inter Milan/ITA), Predrag Djordjevic (Olympiakos/GRE), Zvonimir Vukic (Partizan Belgrade), Ognjen Koroman (Portsmouth/ENG), Danijel Ljuboja (VfB Stuttgart/GER), Sasa Ilic (Galatasaray/TUR)

Forwards: Savo Milosevic (Osasuna/ESP), Mateja Kezman (Atletico Madrid/ESP), Nikola Zigic (Red Star Belgrade), Mirko Vucinic (Lecce/ITA)

*The best player in Brazil Dejan 'Rambo' Petkovic was not even considered for the squad which was a big surprise for medias over there. The Brazilian head coach was actually considering this guy, since he has their citizenship as well.

Any thoughts ?

joeyfitzclick · May 15, 2006

I have said more than once on here that I think they will do very well this summer.

Yes is the bet.

dmmd98 · May 15, 2006

The price is right. Good team that alot of people will sleep on.

Concorde · May 27, 2006

Absolutely, Serbia is a crazy team, they can beat everybody in a single game including Brazil.

Blutarski · May 27, 2006

Holland and Argentina, don't waste your money.

BigDane · May 27, 2006

I would also have to say Ukraine, they look solid too, but what about the Czechs?

Concorde · May 27, 2006

Vucinic injuryed, this is a huge blow for Serbia.

fhmesq44 · May 27, 2006

If they get out of group (which will be tough to do), they play MExico or Portugal (likely since Iran and Angola are others in their group) in first knockout, then winner of Germany, England, Sweden, x? (assuming form holds). They can beat any of those teams.

Capo83 · May 27, 2006

Not after tying Uruguay 1-1 today...

Capo

fhmesq44 · May 27, 2006

I don't think they get out of group, but don't read too much into friendlies at this time.

DaMan--banned · May 27, 2006

vucinic is injured but he only appeared in 1 qualification game for s&m, as a substitute. he is their u-21 team player. he is one of the best youngsters in seria A, but not a regular player for the a squadi watched their game vs uruguay today (on gol tv) and they dominated uruguay for about 75 minutes. conceeded a funny goal late in the game but it was obvious that they had no desire to play hard, fearing possible injuries. they were dominant until their hc started pulling starters out.i stil believe that they will get to the round of 16 and then everything is possible. the portugal/mexico/angola/iran group could be the weakest one out there. i'm definately making this bet at +519.

fhmesq44 · May 27, 2006

DaMan said:
vucinic is injured but he only appeared in 1 qualification game for s&m, as a substitute. he is their u-21 team player. he is one of the best youngsters in seria A, but not a regular player for the a squadi watched their game vs uruguay today (on gol tv) and they dominated uruguay for about 75 minutes. conceeded a funny goal late in the game but it was obvious that they had no desire to play hard, fearing possible injuries. they were dominant until their hc started pulling starters out.i stil believe that they will get to the round of 16 and then everything is possible. the portugal/mexico/angola/iran group could be the weakest one out there. i'm definately making this bet at +519.

I think Germany group is the weakest, especially once you get to the second round. Port/Mex group may be weak, but Port and Mex aren't so pairing up with that group isn't necessarily easy.

DaMan--banned · May 27, 2006

fhmesq you are probably right...by the way, the germans really needed an opponent like lux to build their confidence...despite their 7-0 win today, i stil think that they have a very bad team right now. the home field advantage is the only good thing about this squad right now,

fhmesq44 · May 27, 2006

DaMan said:
fhmesq you are probably right...by the way, the germans really needed an opponent like lux to build their confidence...despite their 7-0 win today, i stil think that they have a very bad team right now. the home field advantage is the only good thing about this squad right now,

100% agree. I'm not sure Germany would have qualified if they had to. Then they lucked out into that awful group. It is ridiculous the way they choose groups. I don't buy into the ranking system, but if they have it and think it has value, why not use it, group teams into 1, 2, 3 and 4 seeds and put each into a group? No way in hell should one group have 3 of the top 11 teams and Germany's group have none higher than 19th ranked.

DaMan--banned · May 27, 2006

fifa rankings = a big fat joke !

rep.tcheque #2 ??? good team but not that good right now. too old. their best generation ever is not that good any more.

netherlands #3 ??? solid but not great. too young right now.

mexico #4 ??? big joke. i can think of at least 10 euro teams that are better than mexico.

spain #5 ??? big joke. couldn't win a single game vs #1 and #3 teams in their qualification group. never won anything.

usa #5 ??? no comment.

portugal #7 ??? talented but not a top 10 team. never been never will be.

nigeria, danemark, turkey, cameroon, egypte, greece, tunisia, uruguay, romania as top 25 teams ? none even participating at the wc 2006.

and so on...

wnyx_radio · May 27, 2006

Take Portugal to the bank.

fhmesq44 · May 27, 2006

DaMan said:
fifa rankings = a big fat joke !

rep.tcheque #2 ??? good team but not that good right now. too old. their best generation ever is not that good any more.

netherlands #3 ??? solid but not great. too young right now.

mexico #4 ??? big joke. i can think of at least 10 euro teams that are better than mexico.

spain #5 ??? big joke. couldn't win a single game vs #1 and #3 teams in their qualification group. never won anything.

usa #5 ??? no comment.

portugal #7 ??? talented but not a top 10 team. never been never will be.

nigeria, danemark, turkey, cameroon, egypte, greece, tunisia, uruguay, romania as top 25 teams ? none even participating at the wc 2006.

and so on...

Agree on all except NED and Portugal. Both of which I think are really solid. Portugal, although traditionally chokers, have played VERY well since WC 02, as well as anyone not named Brazil. USA and MExico fatten up on weak concacaf competition.

dmmd98 · May 27, 2006

wnyx_radio said:
Take Portugal to the bank.

From your lips to gods ears.

dmmd98 · May 27, 2006

fhmesq44 said:
Agree on all except NED and Portugal. Both of which I think are really solid. Portugal, although traditionally chokers, have played VERY well since WC 02, as well as anyone not named Brazil. USA and MExico fatten up on weak concacaf competition.

Thumbs up from me. I wouldn't say Portugal is the best team in the World but I can't think of 10 teams who are better then them either.