World Cup draw results

[Melon]

Care of the sun, which made me crack up this fine morning:







YANKS A LOT! FAB DRAW GLEE



<h2 class="padding-bottom-7" style="font-size: 1.05em; line-height: 1.05em;"> ENGLAND are dreaming of World Cup glory after landing a plum draw for next year's finals. </h2> Fabio Capello's men will come up against America, Algeria and Slovenia in Group C.



The Three Lions will open their campaign against the USA in Rustenburg on Saturday, June 12.



Algeria will be next on Friday, June 18 in Cape Town, with Slovenia the final game in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday, June 23.



It was a dream draw for coach Capello as England avoided Euro rivals France and Portugal and Didier Drogba's Ivory Coast.



Former England captain David Beckham, who could be part of Capello's squad for South Africa, said: "It is a very interesting group.



"They are all hard games and it's very exciting to be a part of it."





FULL DRAW

GROUP A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay and France



GROUP B: Argentina, South Korea, Nigeria and Greece



GROUP C: England, USA, Algeria and Slovenia



GROUP D: Germany, Australia, Ghana and Serbia



GROUP E: Netherlands, Japan, Cameroon and Denmark



GROUP F: Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay and Slovakia



GROUP G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast and Portugal



GROUP H: Spain, Honduras, Chile and Switzerland











My Predictions:

A - France, Mexico

B - Argentina, South Korea

C - England, America (optimism speaks volumes, it'll probably be Slovenia <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/sad.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':whatthe:' /> )

D - Germany, idunno

E - Netherlands, Japan

F - Italy, idunno

G - Brazil, Ivory Coast

H - Spain, whocarescuzspainwillprobablywinthisyearcoughtheswiss

[Ap2000]

[quote name='Petit Melon' post='72565' date='Dec 4 2009, 09:37 PM']G - Brazil, Ivory Coast[/quote]



Not Portugal ?

I'm completely not interested in football, but isn't Portugal actually not that bad ?

[Tallgeese]

A,B,D,G are the hard groups. C,E,F,H the easy ones.



My picks are:



A - France, Mexico

B - Argentina, SK

C- England, US

D - Germany, Ghana

E - Netherlands, Japan

F - Italy, Paraguay

G - Brazil, Portugal

H - Spain, Switzerland

[Melon]

[quote name='Ap2000' post='72569' date='Dec 4 2009, 03:37 PM']Not Portugal ?

I'm completely not interested in football, but isn't Portugal actually not that bad ?[/quote]



They're not, quite the opposite really, but I don't like them.

[EmEl]

If USA can't beat Slovenia then they really don't deserve to progress farther than the group stage anyway. I think the big deal is whether they can upset England because winning their group means facing Ghana/Serbia in the next round and avoiding Germany.



And, yes, Portgual is very good, but that group is very difficult, and Ivory Coast is very capable. I've used up my quota of "very"s so I will end the post very soon.

[loli-tan]

GROUP F: Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay and Slovakia

Well, NZ is fucked.

[Tallgeese]

[quote name='EmEl' post='72572' date='Dec 4 2009, 05:27 PM']If USA can't beat Slovenia then they really don't deserve to progress farther than the group stage anyway. I think the big deal is whether they can upset England because winning their group means facing Ghana/Serbia in the next round and avoiding Germany.



And, yes, Portgual is very good, but that group is very difficult, and Ivory Coast is very capable. I've used up my quota of "very"s so I will end the post very soon.[/quote]



Yeah, I noticed how 2nd in E faces winner of D. I think that will give Englad all the incentive to go 3-0 and win the group because they don't wanna play the Germans. In fact, no one should. It's like a golden rule of the WC. DO NOT FUCK WITH GERMANY in the WC. Besides 1978, post WWII, they've done no worse than the Top 8. Bar Brazil, no other team has been more consistent in the tournament.

[Tallgeese]

GROUP F: Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay and Slovakia

Well, NZ is fucked.

Not necessarily. Only Italy is a "sure bet" in that group. I call CEFH the "easier" groups because they're all similarly configured in the sense that there's one overwhelming favorite (anyone who knows anything about soccer can easily tell the favorite in each of those groups. It sticks out like a sore thumb) and the 2nd spot is kind of up for grabs.

[Ap2000]

20€ on this:



GROUP A: Mexico France



GROUP B: Argentina Greece



GROUP C: England Slovenia



GROUP D: Germany, Serbia



GROUP E: Netherlands, Denmark



GROUP F: Italy, Slovakia



GROUP G: Brazil, Portugal



GROUP H: Spain, Switzerland





The fat ones are the safe bets.

[kaorin]

I got tickets for the first round games so this was a pretty exciting day for me as didn't know who I was watching untill now. Games lined up are Argetina vs South Korea, Brazil vs Ivory Coast, and Italy vs Paraguay. Don't know how we managed to pull that off but am super pumped, I want to go now! I like your picks AP, only thing I would change is USA instead of England because well...its England <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... stling.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':huh:' />

[Melon]

[quote name='KN' post='72605' date='Dec 5 2009, 01:35 AM']I got tickets for the first round games so this was a pretty exciting day for me as didn't know who I was watching untill now. Games lined up are Argetina vs South Korea, Brazil vs Ivory Coast, and Italy vs Paraguay. Don't know how we managed to pull that off but am super pumped, I want to go now! I like your picks AP, only thing I would change is USA instead of England because well...its England <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... stling.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':huh:' />[/quote]







<img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... >/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':hahaha:' />





Plus, I am super jealous of your ticket scores!

[AquaChan]

That's what happen when your country doesn't even make the selections XD



You lucky europeans. XD

[thamychan]

I don't like soccer but it looks fun to bet!



GROUP A: South Africa and France



GROUP B: Argentina and Nigeria



GROUP C: England and USA (because that would be cool *_*)



GROUP D: Germany and Australia



GROUP E: Japan and Denmark (again, just kidding xD)



GROUP F: Italy and Paraguay



GROUP G: North Korea and Portugal (Brazil is so getting eliminated right from the beginning if Dunga is still the coach o.O)



GROUP H: Spain and Switzerland (or Chile?)

[EmEl]

[quote name='JSp' post='72672' date='Dec 6 2009, 04:54 PM']GROUP E: Japan and Denmark (again, just kidding xD)



GROUP G: North Korea and Portugal (Brazil is so getting eliminated right from the beginning if Dunga is still the coach o.O)[/quote]



Daaayum, your choices would make some crazy World Cup! <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... nceman.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />



No Holland, no Brazil? Even Australia would be a big upset. North Korea qualifying over even Ivory Coast would be huge. I like your style!

[thamychan]

C'mon, I let Australia qualify, didn't I? <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... tongue.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D/' /> And North Korea is something so interesting in the World Cup that it will be a pity when we don't even get to see it play, so I decided that it should be qualified but it is not like I believe so. Well, I will probably see it play as it is in the same group as Brazil but teams tend to be strange in the first games of cups. Plus, I decided to show that there is a possibility of both a great team not getting it and also of a good-for-nothing getting to the semifinals or even further.



Now, it would be interesting to see a final between Brazil and Holland just to prove how I'm never the right person to ask advice when placing bets, huh? <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... umbsup.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />



Go, go, North Korea!

[Special Needs Tricycle]

I don't really follow soccer, even though I did surprisingly watch quite a bit of it during the last world cup, but I have a feeling that some sort of nuclear disaster would happen if North Korea and Japan somehow faced eachother.

[aine]

GROUP Q: Ireland, Potato

[EmEl]

Yes, aine, you're right. We all need to take a moment to lament how Ireland was cheated for the big name to make it. FIFA is like the worst organization ever. I understand there is nothing you can really do about it after the fact that a referee missed a damn obvious call, but damn if I never liked their attempt at omnipotence.

[lextenou]

I was disappointed at first, because I've been obsessing over the 2011 Rugby World Cup (NEW ZEALAND, WOO!). I was all set to sit in the corner with my tiny little Rugby!!! flag...then I read the seeded rankings.



I about fell outta my chair.



I haven't tracked the recent rankings, but I agree wholeheartedly that there are only a few of the groups that will offer contested advancements and serious skill.



Group A: Mexico or France

Group B: Argentina

Group C: England

Group D: Germany, with a possibility of an upset by Serbia or Australia

Group E: Japan or Denmark

Group F: Italy

Group G: Brazil

Group H: Spain



These are strictly gut instinct predictions based on past performances. We could see total upset and have the maligned countries come out in force. And granted, some are just because I like the national teams and really want them to win.



It'll be a bloody miracle if the US ranks higher than England. Sad panda.



Zazie: They make up for it with rugby dominance. DOMINANCE! Too bad I'm a Wallabies fan.