World Cup Brazil

[winbet]

Seeing as they are the supposedly nailed on Favourites, lets start a thread on them.
As I have said before, I not up to pace with Soccer nowadays so any opinions I have must be treated accordingly. However, I have seen years of upsets and how fickle the game is so rather than just post they are certainties, is there any real ways of opposing them.
It seems to me that they will breeze through their group and likely play Italy or Czech Rep in the last 16, thats where they may come a cropper. Surely Cafu and Roberto Carlos can be found out at the back, especially considering the old dog new tricks syndrome of them being used to moving up in play. We know how both these Teams can put up a barrackade if going up 1-0 , Thoughts. :drink:

 

[winbet]

And there's always the chance that the dastardly Germans get hold of a Wagnerian sized call-girl that breaks Adrianos private parts prior to the competition. :drink:

 

[fhmesq44]

Their entire defense is suspect and Cafu is the only one who has any interest in actually playing defense. whether they start Serginho, Lucio, Cicinho or Roque Jr., all they are interested in (along with Roberto Carlos) is bombing forward. Not to mention Dida, who is absolute abomination in goal, no save is easy for him.

I'm not sure if any of this will come back to haunt them due to all of the offensive firepower. However, at some point I think it will. Other than Ronaldinho, their offensive stars are all struggling right now. Ronaldo is fat, out of shape and in poor form. Kaka, Robinho and Adriano all aren't playing well either. IMO, they are ripe for the picking if they run into a well balanced team that can score. They won't find that in the early round, but would against either Italy or the Czechs in the second round.

 

[stef]

Pretty sure I remember hearing that Brasil has NEVER won the World cup when its located in Europe. Last time when it was in Europe they made it to the finals but got blown away by the French. Probally going to go with the Italians but I am kind of partial and definitely for amusement purpose only and not for money. Foza Italia.

 

[winbet]

Pretty sure I remember hearing that Brasil has NEVER won the World cup when its located in Europe. Last time when it was in Europe they made it to the finals but got blown away by the French. Probally going to go with the Italians but I am kind of partial and definitely for amusement purpose only and not for money. Foza Italia.

In the past thats had more to do with acclimatisation but they all play in Europe now.

fhmesq44,
I agree with what your saying but that was exactly what I thought last WC but instead of teams taking advantage, they seemed too scared to send people forward and paid the consequences.

 

[joeyfitzclick]

WORLD CUP COUNTDOWN: 39 days 01 hour 46 minutes to go...

I see Holland, Italy, England, Brazil in the semi's.

 

[fhmesq44]

Brazil won in Sweden in 1958. If you consider Mexico part of South America (which I know it isn't but it is only a 3 hour plane flight), only Brazil has won off of its continent. Brazil won in Sweden in 58, US in 94 and Asia in 02. Argies won twice in Mexico (78 and 86).

Fitz, I like those teams as well. I think only 5-6 teams have a chance to win, being England, Italy, Brazil, Argentina, Portugal and Holland. Unfortunately for either Brazil, Czech, US or Italy, winner of Brazil's group plays 2nd place in Italy/Czech/US group in the round of 16.

I agree Winbet, but Brazil didn't exactly have a tough road to the Cup in 02. They beat Belgium, England, Turkey and Germany. Only ENgland was any good. Germany had an even easier road and was without Ballack.

All depends who they play and how said team plays. Just read that Inzaghi got a call up for Italy. So f*ing happy about that. Not only does he deserve a spot, but it would be at Vieri's loss, which is a double win in my book.

 

[stef]

Thanks Fhmes, did some checking and you are right. Also I am seeing that Brasil has won 5 times, pretty impressive. But it does seem that after Brasil the Germans seem to have been the second most dominant team, maybe home cooking will do the trick for them. I am curious if Kahn is in goal, think he has definitely seen his better days.

 

[winbet]

Khans gone and I dont hear the usual good vibes about Germany going into a Major Tournament. Unfortunately the same could be said about Italy and France, so I dont know what to think, maybe there's an upset coming`, surely we had that in the Euro Cup. :drink:

 

[fhmesq44]

Stef,

Germans are awful, they haven't beaten a "traditional" power in over 5 years and haven't beaten a good team in like 4+. They may not have even qualified had they had to do so (home team gets auto bid). They were lucky once again by being seeded #1 and getting the easiest group of all the teams. They shouldn't have been seeded at all. Lehman is starting in goal for them, not Kahn, which was a great move by Klinsmann. Kahn has been brutal of late.

As I said in my previous post, I think there are only 5 or 6 teams that can win it all. France is down, their MF isn't very good and even having Henry isn't enough. Italians are fine as long as they get Totti back. If he is out, that is a massive loss for them since only Del Piero has the game to play that 3rd forward/playmaking forward position. Toni has been on fire and they have been very solid offensively with their new 4-3-3 formation and still are solid at the back. Unfortunately they have that brutal group and if they could face Brazil in the first game of the round of 16.

 

[winbet]

Good stuff Phlem, On the Italy thing I'm only going on what the English Geezer who covers Italian Soccer has to say. He reckons their not up to their usual standard and the Coach has plenty of question marks. Agree about Germany and France, England underachievers even when they have all their players and the list is getting smaller. :drink:

 

[fhmesq44]

Got it. Italy has changed their style of play drastically from their historical catenaccio (sp?) plan to score first and hold on. They finally realized they have a large number of talented forwards and Totti is better in a Ronaldinho-like playmaker position between the 3 MF and 2 F and he was just playing great before breaking his ankle. Del Piero had a great game in that position against Germany when Italy won 4-1. Their biggest question mark is the depth, once you get beyond the starting MF and defense, they have VERY little. If anyone of that group gets hurt or is out on cards, they will have problems. But as long as Buffon, Zambrotta, Cannavarro, Nesta, Zaccardo/Grosso, Camoranesi, Gattuso (who I hate and think is garbage), Pirlo, Totti/Del Piero, Toni/Gilardino/Inzaghi, are available, they will be strong.

Feel bad for Rooney, if England had an irreplaceable player, he was it.