"Glorious" soccer tribute w/ Stratovarius, Edguy, Primal Fear + more

7thSaviour said:
The USA has a tough row to hoe what with Ghana, Italy, and Czech Republic in our Group. I think we'll need 2 wins there to advance.

Yeah, I'm not too optomistic about our chances this year. And even if we happen to place 2nd in the group, the quarterfinal opponent will most likely be Brazil (assuming they win their group).
 
Force10 said:
Yeah, I'm not too optomistic about our chances this year. And even if we happen to place 2nd in the group, the quarterfinal opponent will most likely be Brazil (assuming they win their group).

:headbang:
 
7thSaviour said:
Hail to AngraFan! The USA has a tough row to hoe what with Ghana, Italy, and Czech Republic in our Group. I think we'll need 2 wins there to advance.

Yeah man! That's a very though group! It is one of the hardest! I think Argentina got the hardest group of all... But ther US bracket is simply though...

And even if the US does not face Brazil in the following round, Croatia is also pretty damn good... It won't be easy either way!
 
Angrafan said:
Yeah man! That's a very though group! It is one of the hardest! I think Argentina got the hardest group of all... But ther US bracket is simply though...

I disagree completely. Argentina is paired with The Netherlands, Serbia & Montenegro, and the Ivory Coast. Tough group for sure, but the Ivory Coast is ranked 32 (3rd best rank in that group), so they would not be expected to move on in any group. The USA's Group (E), has 3 of the top 13 teams (according to FIFA rank, USA, Czeck Rep., Italy), and 1 of those teams will be going home after group play.
 
But then again, don't always go by what the rank says.. Some teams this year will surprise a lot of people...
 
The ranking is based on results...

Ivory Coast is considered to be the best African team, the just don't rank higher because they don't have the results to show for (as they got good only recently.. they don't have the history)...


The Netherlands and Argentina are 2 of the most traditional teams out there.. ARgentina, IMO, is one of the 2 best teams in the world cup... And The Netherlands is always dangerous..


I can't say much about Serbia.. I've never seen them play! But people say they are great! They are supposed to be the best #3 seed of all!
And they have a history of Great teams.. Not Serbia itself, but as Yugoslavia!



I think the US group is the second hardest.. :)
 
USA has a tough group, and I honestly don't think they'll get past Italy and the Czech Republic (not to be negative, but the Czechs are doing phenomenal)!! Argentina's group is tough and I'm hoping they don't make it to the second round for some unexpected reason... Messi and Aymar may not even play the Cup and that'd be a good thing. As much as I know we have a better team (Brazil), it's almost kinda dangerous to see them alive. Here're the favorites in each of the groups:

Group A - Germany and Poland.
Group B - England and Sweden.
Group C - The Netherlands and Argentina.
Group D - Portugal and Mexico.
Group E - Italy and Czech Republic.
Group F - Brazil and Croatia.
Group G - France and South Korea.
Group H - Spain and Ukraine.

Of course, there are very strong possibilities that the strongest teams will not advance, you never know... I am very very very confident however that Brazil will do good once again. But, once again, you can NEVER... NEVER be sure in soccer!!!!!
 
I like your picks. I myself will also be surprised if the USA moves past group play; we haven't had alot of success in Europe.

Brazil certainly is a favorite to win, but they haven't won a World Cup played in Europe since Sweden in 1958. Maybe this time around.
 
Force10 said:
Brazil certainly is a favorite to win, but they haven't won a World Cup played in Europe since Sweden in 1958. Maybe this time around.

You know, statistics like this kinda makes me scared! However, we almost made it in 1982 when Paolo Rossi (That bastard) with his Italy knocked us out. In 1990 we had a crappy team and Argentina, led by Maradona and Caniggia played much better. France's World Cup in 1998 would have been way better if it wasn't for the final game. In fact, there's still lots of talks regarding that game. I for one honestly think it was all a financial agreement between the FPF, Nike, Adidas, Fifa, etc. Whoever saw the cup and that game knows how we didn't play like ourselves. Plus, stories such as the 1934 World Cup in Italy which Italy won (thanks to pressure by Mussolini towards FIFA) and the 1978 cup in Argentina (Argentina won) kinda prove my thoughts.

On the other hand... Brazil is the only country to have won the World Cup in every possible continent that it has been played. South America (Chile), Central America (Mexico), North America (USA), Europe (Sweden) and Asia (Japan/Korea).
 
AngraRULES said:
1998 would have been way better if it wasn't for the final game. In fact, there's still lots of talks regarding that game. I for one honestly think it was all a financial agreement between the FPF, Nike, Adidas, Fifa, etc. Whoever saw the cup and that game knows how we didn't play like ourselves.

France did have a strong team (Zidane, etc) and was playing at home, but I certainly didn't foresee a 3-0 win for France; Brazil did not play well at all. And those stories of Ronaldo getting sick before the game could lend support for your conspiracy theory!
 
AngraRULES said:
USA has a tough group, and I honestly don't think they'll get past Italy and the Czech Republic (not to be negative, but the Czechs are doing phenomenal)!! Argentina's group is tough and I'm hoping they don't make it to the second round for some unexpected reason... Messi and Aymar may not even play the Cup and that'd be a good thing. As much as I know we have a better team (Brazil), it's almost kinda dangerous to see them alive. Here're the favorites in each of the groups:

Group A - Germany and Poland.
Group B - England and Sweden.
Group C - The Netherlands and Argentina.
Group D - Portugal and Mexico.
Group E - Italy and Czech Republic.
Group F - Brazil and Croatia.
Group G - France and South Korea.
Group H - Spain and Ukraine.

Of course, there are very strong possibilities that the strongest teams will not advance, you never know... I am very very very confident however that Brazil will do good once again. But, once again, you can NEVER... NEVER be sure in soccer!!!!!

i see youre not a fan of upsets huh? dont forget who placed 3rd and 4th in 2002.......Turkey (my favorite team and damn you Switzerland), and South Korea.

sure the Koreans got real "lucky" with the refs, but under Hiddink they played like a team possessed.

oh and i see you haven't included any African teams either. hmmm. lets look at some of the best up and coming players and where they come from: Essien, Drogba, Bonaventure.....so on and so forth. NICE PICKS THOUGH.
 
Achilles Aetanius said:
i see youre not a fan of upsets huh? dont forget who placed 3rd and 4th in 2002.......Turkey (my favorite team and damn you Switzerland), and South Korea.

I am a fan of upsets, YES! I just pointed out the real favorites! I'm sure Serbia or Ivory Coast will make sure Argentina flies back home!! :lol:

Achilles Aetanius said:
sure the Koreans got real "lucky" with the refs, but under Hiddink they played like a team possessed.

Of course... Hiddink is great! He'll be training Russia next year, did you see that?

Achilles Aetanius said:
oh and i see you haven't included any African teams either. hmmm. lets look at some of the best up and coming players and where they come from: Essien, Drogba, Bonaventure.....so on and so forth. NICE PICKS THOUGH.

Great players! Although the future in soccer lies in the feet of Robinho, Messi and Fabregas. These players are un-fucking-believable!!
 
urayoan said:
How's Mexico doing? They did OK in the qualifier...

Very good, they beat Brazil in the Sub19 or whatever it's called World Cup earlier this year. However, I wanna see how they mix their younger ones with the most experienced guys. I think that may hurt them.
 
AngraRULES said:
Very good, they beat Brazil in the Sub19 or whatever it's called World Cup earlier this year. However, I wanna see how they mix their younger ones with the most experienced guys. I think that may hurt them.
Good info. I think Laborde did a great job in this cycle. Mexico had an unbelievable display in the last World Cup. Nobody expected that. I think they're in to something there. I was surprised they let Cuachtemoc Blanco out of the formula.