Who makes the semis?

the bracket is now set. spain win group h and will play portugal; chile will play brazil. here's the bracket, without the group h updates (yet)

World Cup Bracket / Wallchart - FIFA World Cup 2010 - ESPN Soccernet

so who are your predicted semifinalists?

I'm going to pick:

*USA (not so much because I rationally think this will happen, but because I want to be supportive)
*Netherlands (beating Brazil in the quarters)
*Argentina (no brainer IMO)
*Spain (they seem to have got it together now)

I'd also say that Uruguay, Brazil and Portugal have great chances to make the semis, and Germany could, though I don't think they will.

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Originally Posted by SlavikSvensk

the bracket is now set. spain win group h and will play portugal; chile will play brazil. here's the bracket, without the group h updates (yet)

World Cup Bracket / Wallchart - FIFA World Cup 2010 - ESPN Soccernet

so who are your predicted semifinalists?

I'm going to pick:

*USA (not so much because I rationally think this will happen, but because I want to be supportive)
*Netherlands (beating Brazil in the quarters)
*Argentina (no brainer IMO)
*Spain (they seem to have got it together now)

I'd also say that Uruguay, Brazil and Portugal have great chances to make the semis, and Germany could, though I don't think they will.

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if the USA continue to play like they have done they could make the semis and win it even. players like Langon Donovan and Dempsey are World Class, and their goalkeeper ain't no slouch either.

i doubt the dutch can beat Brazil. Brazil can up their game when it suits.

Argentina should win it, but both England and the Germans are as good if they hit form.

im not sure about the spainish group. portugal could knock them out im sure. and the other teams in their group, i dont know who? parguay / japan. who knows.

think that goes for the dutch too. they haven't really played that well and they won all 3 games. when robben is in the starting lineup, they'll be hard to beat. so is brazil, but i feel like they're vulnerable.

regardless, this does feel like argentina's year so far.

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Originally Posted by SlavikSvensk

think that goes for the dutch too. they haven't really played that well and they won all 3 games. when robben is in the starting lineup, they'll be hard to beat. so is brazil, but i feel like they're vulnerable.

regardless, this does feel like argentina's year so far.

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i think it's very difficult to judge.

all the teams in the competition have a chance.

you may aswell a german octopus who is going to win ;)

hence the words "so far." you can't really extrapolate too much from the group stages. when france won in 1998, they struggled to make it out of their group. ditto brazil in 2002. this is even more true for the runners-up, e.g. italy in 1994 or france in 2006.

some teams that looked phenomenal at the group stages stunk it up in the knockout stages, like spain in 2006. at other times, the top team looked like it from the get-go, like brazil in 1994.

so everything predicted at this point has to come with a grain of salt. argentina look so strong, though. i mean, they started 7 subs in the last match and still won 2-0. when teams try to deal with messi, everyone else comes in and scores. i just don't see any other team that poses that kind of problem, or anyone who has the personnel on defense to solve it.

HOWEVER, this is the world cup and anyone can beat anyone, given the right circumstances. the most deserving team doesn't necessarily become the winning team, and there are several sides left with the quality to beat argentina, given some inspiration and luck. and as we should know too well by now, bad officiating can change the result.

shaky start for the US. Ghana is your bogey team obviously.

come on - show those mf's wot america is all about!

we looked tired and sloppy; they looked fresh and disciplined.

we had a couple chances, but if the match was only 45 minutes long, i'd say they deserved to win. thankfully it's 90 minutes long and we have a chance to redeem ourselves!

that said, the scary thing about ghana is that they're this good and are so young...average age of 24! they should be really frightening 4 years from now. pretty good now too...

it's too close to call 1-1 :confused:

ARG. outclassed them in the second half, then fell flat in extra time.

really, really hope american fans keep up the excitement about football even though the US is eliminated. but of course, it's so much better now than when i was a kid. at least all the games are televised on network and basic cable TV. 8 years ago you needed pay-per-view for about half of them, and when i was a kid you'd only see 1 or 2 matches televised...

Ghana absolutely owned the US in the first half.
You just couldnt get that ball if your life depended on it.

My 4 would be URU, BRA, ARG, & PAR. An all south american line up.

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Originally Posted by force

Ghana absolutely owned the US in the first half.
You just couldnt get that ball if your life depended on it.

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true, but we redeemed ourselves in the second half. had loads of chances, dominated possession and even defended well. unfortunately, we couldn't get a second one in. then, in extra time, they managed to exploit our weakness on counter-attack one more time in extra time, and we couldn't capitalize on our chances.

they're a good team that should be truly scary 4 years from now when those young players have more club experience.

in light of the US elimination, i'll revise my quarters:

uruguay
netherlands
argentina
spain

too early to be talking about it...

let's enjoy the football...


although I think Uruguay will lose to Ghana... maybe

hmmm...obviously it's possible, but i don't think it's gonna happen. ghana scored both its goals on counter-attack against a side that, let's face it, can't defend the counter-attack. those are the only goals ghana has scored other than penalties in the entire tournament.

uruguay, unlike the US, defend well on the counter-attack. i didn't see much reason to think ghana can score off of pressure attacks. and the forlan/suarez attack should put at least one in the net.

my tip for semis: GER, SPA, URU, NLD.

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Originally Posted by C.O.Prodigy

too early to be talking about it...

let's enjoy the football...

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i'll drink to that.

i'm enjoying the football, i even enjoyed the Jerry's hammering England yesterday.

argentina will win it, personally i hope germany do though.

my mate text me a joke before, the england team will be suprised when they arrive home, the first white men to be told to get back to africa.

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Originally Posted by DarkYoung

i'll drink to that.

i'm enjoying the football, i even enjoyed the Jerry's hammering England yesterday.

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yup.

as long as football is the main focus and not the refs and fifa, i'm drinking to that and enjoying the footy, like this Japan - Paraguay match - it might go to penalties.

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Originally Posted by Esox Lucius

my mate text me a joke before, the england team will be suprised when they arrive home, the first white men to be told to get back to africa.

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lolz


Brazil is making the semis - 99%

it's never a bad idea to put a tenner on brazil. but they'll face a much sterner test against the oranje. they've had trouble with the dutch in the past, and this is a quick and sure-footed dutch side. brazil is vulnerable at the back, but then again, they can make you pay in so many ways.

the other day i thought it would be 2-1. now i think it will be 3-2 and the match of the tournament. GO ORANJE!

Ive got a Semi

Dont know how much that contributes to the conversation though?

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Originally Posted by SlavikSvensk

it's never a bad idea to put a tenner on brazil. but they'll face a much sterner test against the oranje.

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Because of them I wrote 99% instead of 100%. Oranje isn't strong at the back either. They have a more then solid midfield and Robben needs to perform big if they are to get a result. If Van Persie scores then they have a bigger chance of advancing because he has yet to put one in.

In the Brazil squad everyone can score, not so with the dutch.

Uraguay v Holland and Germany v Portugal. Maybe.

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Originally Posted by morbid

Ive got a Semi

Dont know how much that contributes to the conversation though?

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Porn is always fun.

:.;

I hope Japan beat Paraguay, but I'm pretty sure the winner of that game will lose to the winner of the Spain v Portugal game!

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Originally Posted by Will

I hope Japan beat Paraguay, but I'm pretty sure the winner of that game will lose to the winner of the Spain v Portugal game!

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me too, Honda is really impressive, but somehow over the course of the game Paraguay has played the prettier football, either team deserves to win but Paraguay, football wise, maybe a bit more.

As for the semis, Ghana - Brazil is one likely one also the other semi finalist is Spain and a tossup in the ARG|GER game.

But it would be suppacool if Japan proves me wrong =))

well, paraguay won on penalties. gutted for the dude who missed, but that's how it goes.

C.O., ghana will likely lose gyan and prince boateng for the quarter. if that's the case, where's the offense going to come from?

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Originally Posted by SlavikSvensk

well, paraguay won on penalties. gutted for the dude who missed, but that's how it goes.

C.O., ghana will likely lose gyan and prince boateng for the quarter. if that's the case, where's the offense going to come from?

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Paraguay deserved it and will make a better opponent for Spain.

Why are Ghana losing their best players? Not fair.

If they don't play Gyan and Boateng, Stephen APPIAH and Sulley MUNTARI can win games. Andre AYEW is more then capable then again if Ghana play like a team they can make a scoring chance for anyone on the team like Kwadwo ASAMOAH.

On the other hand, Forlan can turn the game around with one move, one kick, he is that good.

injury. gyan is almost certainly not going to play, and prince boateng is 50/50.

seeing as how they only scored 2 goals outside of penalties so far, and those came from gyan/prince combo upfront, i have a hard time seeing them sustain the magic touch against uruguay, who are playing much more disciplined football than the US did.

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Originally Posted by SlavikSvensk

injury. gyan is almost certainly not going to play, and prince boateng is 50/50.

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The USA were very physical. You gotta learn how to lose US, or your football skillz will never be champion worthy. Team Ghana is really strong the US needed to work really hard to injure the two players. I wish I could say good work.

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Originally Posted by SlavikSvensk

seeing as how they only scored 2 goals outside of penalties so far, and those came from gyan/prince combo upfront, i have a hard time seeing them sustain the magic touch against uruguay, who are playing much more disciplined football than the US did.

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Of course, now there is a better chance of Uruguay in the semis.
It also coincides well with whole history repeating theme of the WC.
In 1930 Uruguay made the very first semis of the FIFA world cup legacy.
If that feat is achieved this world cup, it would signal the full circle back to the very first world cup to nostalgists and traditionalists, thus enforcing the history repeating theme of South Africa 2010.
It wouldn't surprise me that you are right and that I should put some money on Uruguay.

BBC Sport - Football - Tuesday's World Cup round-up

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Burglars stole seven replicas of the golden World Cup trophy on Sunday after breaking into Fifa's offices in South Africa, police have said.

"We know there was a burglary at the FIFA offices. Seven replicas of the World Cup were stolen and several sweaters. Police are looking into it," said national police chief Bheki Cele.

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http://www.sportskacentrala.com/fudb...ej-aero-14.jpg

No trophy for the winner?
Unbelievable.

The FIFA burglars were burgled themselves.
It's disappointing when FIFA promotes cheating by example but it's satisfying when what goes around comes around. Too bad for the footballers that got cheated because their next time is in 4 years.

Thinking about who I want to see in the semis.
Looking at the 4 Quarter-finals matches, BRA-NED and GER-ARG can make a great semi final line up on their own, URU-GHA and ESP-PAR are less marquee matchups but as it stands we are in store for four footballing epics as long as FIFA don't start burglarizing teams, again.

Who do I want in the semis?
The prospect of Spain vs Argentina is too mouthwatering to ignore but on the other hand I don't like what happened in the Mexico match so I'm forced to support Germany in that match, although the prospect of ESP-ARG in the semis is to good to ignore. I don't know, If Argentina win the first game then I want Spain to challenge them in the next round, but if Germany win a Spanish victory would set up a repeat of the Euro 08 final which is great in itself but I like the way Paraguay have played so I might support them against Spain. I dunno.
PAR-ARG also would make a good game but it seems highly unlikely to me at the moment, also it wouldn't be as good as ARG-ESP or ESP-GER. I guess I can't really decide.

Same thing with the possible BRA-URU semi final matchup, it seems unlikely because even though it's possible to have 4 south american teams in the semis I think that some of them aren't going to make it. URU and PAR are the likely ones to miss out but judging by the way they have been playing anything is possible.

Holland have a good chance with this almost being a home fixture for them in South Africa so if they can't beat Brazil now, they never will.

I guess for the footballing neutrals and for the drama effect I would like to see... .... ...

I will have to watch the Quarter-finals first in order to form an opinion, I just can't decide right now because all of the teams would make a great and exciting semi final line up. I guess that all I can say with some certainty is that the least possible semi final line up would have to be...

BRA-URU and ARG-PAR

... that would make it 4 south american teams and it would make history.

We'll see which ones make it and which don't, but I would like to see a BRA-GHA semi for footballing reasons, although NED-URU would be an instant classic.

Whoever wins, let's just hope we see more of football for a change.

playing this game online... I would like these players to perform in the Quarter-final...

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/3673/cetrvrtina.jpg

i think it will be
uraguay- brasil
germany- spain

i think the dutch can upset brazil. will they? that's another story. same goes for germany...they have the tools, but followed up their last clinical de-pantsing of an opponent with a disappointing performance. if they play with the kind of speed and efficiency they showed against england, they should be able to punish the argies for their suspect defending. but i don't see them having much answer for messi n' co. either. both matches should be exciting.

i'm predicting holland with a thrilling upset and argentina dodging a bullet against die mannschaft.

uruguay and spain should progress