World Cup 2014 Draw

The main thing Im excited about is seeing possibility of England not making out of group stage!!!

I'm more excited about Italy not making it out of the group stage.
In all honesty, I hope Costa Rica pulls out a big surprise and grab a spot.

i love the fact that the British Press have started their usual "Group Of Death" crap...it's the world cup finals for fucks' sake...what do THEY expect? ngland were seeded 3rd - so there should be TWO higher ranked countries than England in EVERY group. 

Also....Group Of Death?  Pah! Based on the seedings - these are more like Groups of Death (England could've been drawn in place of the country in italics)

[b]Brazil
Croatia[/b]
[i]Mexico[/i]
Cameroon

[b]Spain
Holland[/b]
[i]Chile[/i]
Australia

[b]Germany
Portuga[/b]l
[i]Ghana[/i]
USA

[b]Argentina
Bosnia & Herzegovina[/b]
[i]Iran[/i]
Nigeria

They'll fall on their arse at the first hurdle. The Italians will edge them out and Luis Suarez will absolutely murder them. Costa Rica could possibly get a draw. My prediction is ngland will take 1 point.

Brazil, inevitably, will win the whole thing on their own patch. USA will be Quarter-finalists.

I think the draw allows for a Brazil v Argentina final. It also allows for three South American sides to be in the last four. Now tell me that ain't rigged lol :p

My predictions (winners each group first):

Group A - Brazil, Mexico
Group B - Spain, Chile
Group C - Greece, Japan
Group D - Uruguay, Italy
Group E - France, Switzerland
Group F - Argentina, Nigeria
Group G - Germany, USA
Group H - Belgium, South Korea

Last 16:

Brazil v Chile
Greece v Italy
France v Nigeria
Germany v Sth. Korea
Spain v Mexico
Uruguay v Japan
Argentina v Switzerland
Belgium v USA

QF:

Brazil v Greece
France v Germany
Spain v Uruguay
Argentina v USA

SF:

Brazil v Germany
Uruguay v Argentina

Final:

Brazil v Argentina.

Winners: Brazil.

[QUOTE] [b]Thistleboy1980 wrote:[/b]

I think the draw allows for a Brazil v Argentina final. It also allows for three South American sides to be in the last four. Now tell me that ain't rigged lol :p

[/QUOTE]

Said, tongue-in-cheek, BEFORE I read this:

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/early-doors/did-fifa-really-fix-world-cup-draw-fantastic-160323229.html

[QUOTE] [b]greaserkat wrote:[/b]

The main thing Im excited about is seeing possibility of England not making out of group stage!!![/QUOTE]

Always have faith in their ability to underachieve.

[QUOTE] [b]Thistleboy1980 wrote:[/b]

I think the draw allows for a Brazil v Argentina final. It also allows for three South American sides to be in the last four. Now tell me that ain't rigged lol :p[/QUOTE]

So, this time the first pot (highest ranking countries in the World) included three South American countries in addition to Brazil.

Since the same method was also used for the last games, we can safely assume that for the last five years all the major football games in the world have been rigged just to ensure that S.American teams get higher rankings and manage to get into the same pot.

You tell us whether that's been rigged or not. :P

[QUOTE] [b]Thistleboy1980 wrote:[/b]

I think the draw allows for a Brazil v Argentina final. It also allows for three South American sides to be in the last four. Now tell me that ain't rigged lol :p

My predictions (winners each group first):

Group A - Brazil, Mexico
Group B - Spain, Chile
Group C - Greece, Japan
Group D - Uruguay, Italy
Group E - France, Switzerland
Group F - Argentina, Nigeria
Group G - Germany, USA
Group H - Belgium, South Korea
[/QUOTE]

Group C with Greece and Japan? Highly doubt it. Colombia has a solid team with Falcao and James Rodriguez, while Ivory Coast has Drogba still in great shape.

^ They're not solid enough. Greece are a niggly side who just dig in all the time, and produce the results if not the performances. Japan also know how to dig in deep. Columbia may play nice, but they're easily caught out. When was the last time they did anything noteworthy?

@ tero: yep, quite obviously rigged lol.

[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]greaserkat wrote:[/b]

The main thing Im excited about is seeing possibility of England not making out of group stage!!![/QUOTE]

Always have faith in their ability to underachieve.[/QUOTE]

I've been a Queen fan for the last 22 years, so yeah, I'm used to the English underachieving...

^ Ooooooooohhhhhhhhh. Touchy! Ouch :p

[QUOTE] [b]Thistleboy1980 wrote:[/b]

^ They're not solid enough. Greece are a niggly side who just dig in all the time, and produce the results if not the performances. Japan also know how to dig in deep. Columbia may play nice, but they're easily caught out. When was the last time they did anything noteworthy?

@ tero: yep, quite obviously rigged lol.[/QUOTE]

Colombia has long been criticized for playing nice, keeping possession of the ball, short passing, but low scoring. It's a style that has haunted them for decades.

However, ever since Pekerman took over as a coach they've been at the offense more than they've been before. Hence why they are #4 on the FIFA ranking.

I feel bad for England, they really have a hard group to survive. In general I think all these third class football teams like Ivory Coast or Cameroon should not even qualify if the tournament is to be taken seriously. It's really hard to believe that a fantastic team like Sweden does not qualify (vs Portugal) while Cameroon is allowed to deliver the points in the group. There has never been a winner outside Europe or South America. If the tournament would only allow for the actual best teams we would not have these "death group" discussions - any group would be a death group.

Imagine Saudi Arabia would qualify for an ice hockey world championship due to similar qualification rules while Slovakia would be thrown out of qualification by Czech Republic (just an example). That is what we have with the FIFA world cup. All the politics ruin the championship.