OT World Cup Thread

[Mucrisco]

It's finally here. Any predictions out there? I say US gets out of the group. Germany to win it. After the US, I'll be rooting for Spain.

[warriorfan4life]

I have Argentina doing the unexpected and knocking off Brazil in the Finals. At some point I think the Messi/Aguero generation wins one, and it will come at the expense of Brazil. I am very bullish on the U.S., predicting the good guys to both win the group (think both Germany and Portugal are vulnerable to due to injuries/fatigue from club play) and then make a run to the Semis after beating Algeria in the round of 16 and Bosnia in the quarters. I think it will be a poor showing for the European contingent in South America.

[WindyCityGoldenEagle]

Pumped!! I'll say Germany wins it (I'm biased though). If not them then Argentina. I think Belgium and Japan make a little noise as well. I'll say USA will beat Ghana but not get out of its group.
A) Brazil, Croatia
B) Spain, Netherlands
C) Japan, Greece
D) Italy, Costa Rica
E) France, Honduras
F) Argentina, BH
G) ZEE GERMANS, Portugal
H) Belgium, Algeria

[WindyCityGoldenEagle]

Pumped!! I'll say Germany wins it (I'm biased though). If not them then Argentina. I think Belgium and Japan make a little noise as well. I'll say USA will beat Ghana but not get out of its group.
A) Brazil, Croatia
B) Spain, Netherlands
C) Japan, Greece
D) Italy, Costa Rica
E) France, Honduras
F) Argentina, BH
G) ZEE GERMANS, Portugal
H) Belgium, Algeria

If only I could pick my NCAA brackets this well! (yes I am patting myself on the back)

[unclejohn]

If only I could pick my NCAA brackets this well! (yes I am patting myself on the back)

You'd get killed! Yeah, you picked Germany, but that is like picking Michigan State to win it all. A pretty reasonable guess in most years, but not one that is going to win a pool for you, because a lot of other people will pick them as well. You would have gotten clobbered in the earlier rounds. Honduras? Honduras????

Oh, all right. My dark horse picks were Ghana and Nigeria.

[WindyCityGoldenEagle]

You'd get killed! Yeah, you picked Germany, but that is like picking Michigan State to win it all. A pretty reasonable guess in most years, but not one that is going to win a pool for you, because a lot of other people will pick them as well. You would have gotten clobbered in the earlier rounds. Honduras? Honduras????

Oh, all right. My dark horse picks were Ghana and Nigeria.

Regarding your dark horse picks, that's what makes it so fun to pick these things!

I actually didnt get terribly clobbered in the earlier rounds and actually won my pool for what it's worth and I havent won an NCAA pool in 15 years so I'll take the victory lap whenever I can as it doesnt come around very often In my defense I did pick the finalists (Germany and Arg) and the winner (Germany) and had Costa Rica and Belgium making some noise. My biggest stinker of a pick was Japan who I thought would make some noise (and yes Honduras ended up stinking up the joint as well).

Definitely a fun tournament and cant wait for the next one where I will more than likely strike out on the majority of my picks. The tourney certainly got me through this dead sports period here in Chicago (aside from NBA free agency).

[unclejohn]

Ghana or Nigeria to surprise.

But hey, what really pisses me off is why doesn't the US have a team nickname? I mean everybody else seems to. Some are pretty lame, but others are incredibly cool, like Belgium's Red Devils, Tunisia's Carthage Lions, or South Africa's Bfanna Bfanna. OK, Eagles are spoken for. Nigeria has the Super Eagles, and somebody else has just generic Eagles. Flags are popular, with Ghana's Black Stars, Mexico's Tri Colores, and a few others I am forgetting. So if we can't come up with an animal (how about some indigenous lizard or something?) why not just the Stars and Stripes? England does OK with the Three Lions from their uniform crest, even if they always underperform, and Australia has two of them! The men are the Socceroos (which I kind of like) and the women are the Matildas (which I really liked when they posed for that nude calendar.)

Why can't we come up with something? Hell, even the Arrogant Imperialists who Everybody Hates would give us an identity.

[Gato78]

I was in Jamaica about 12 years ago when their team was doing well. They were the Reggae Boyz. That was a cool name and the Jamaicans were totally pumped.

[unclejohn]

Yeah, boys are popular. Reggae Boyz, Socca Boys (Trinidad) Tico Boys (Costa Rica) and I understand Bfanna just means boys. They seem particularly popular in North America. So how about the Not-There-Yet-But-Improving Boys? Or we could name them after Congress and call them the Dysfunctional Boys. Or after the NSA and call them the All Knowing Boys. Hey, this is a big country full of clever and creative people. I am sure someone can come up with something good.

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

Yeah, boys are popular. Reggae Boyz, Socca Boys (Trinidad) Tico Boys (Costa Rica) and I understand Bfanna just means boys. They seem particularly popular in North America. So how about the Not-There-Yet-But-Improving Boys? Or we could name them after Congress and call them the Dysfunctional Boys. Or after the NSA and call them the All Knowing Boys. Hey, this is a big country full of clever and creative people. I am sure someone can come up with something good.

Yeah Bafana in literal translation is go boys... Having a wife from South Africa mean I pick up some Zulu here and there... Surprisingly though Soccer isn't as big in South Africa as I thought it would be, Rugby FAR exceeds in popularity, that said their soccer team isn't all that great so there is that.