Nick Against the World (95 Viewers)
- Thread starter IncuboRossonero
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Prediction in lieu of the World Cup draw:
Italy will tie the opener against Ghana...demolish the U.S. and have great difficulty with the Czech Republic. After the typical comments about the state of the Italian team and their game they will fight their way to the final to capture the World Cup.
Player of the tournament for Italy: Andrea Pirlo.
Most goals for Italy: Luca Toni.
Most "clutch" player for Italy scoring when they are in dire need: Alberto Gilardino.
Italy will tie the opener against Ghana...demolish the U.S. and have great difficulty with the Czech Republic. After the typical comments about the state of the Italian team and their game they will fight their way to the final to capture the World Cup.
Player of the tournament for Italy: Andrea Pirlo.
Most goals for Italy: Luca Toni.
Most "clutch" player for Italy scoring when they are in dire need: Alberto Gilardino.
You won't neccesarly DEMOLISH the United States...infact I think we have a better chance against the Azzurri than we do the Czechs because they will take the game to us and our defense cannot handle constant attacking football. That's something Karl Bruckner (look him up) instills in his side...relentless attacking even when you're up by a couple goals. I'm afraid we will not be able to handle the Czechs.
However, Italy is known to mess around during the group stage and with their more conservative play we have a better chance against them in my opinion. The pressure will also be on Italy and Lippi to make up for recent failures, and if Totti has another blunder we could honestly beat or at least tie Italy in the summer. The money is going to be all on them, however I wouldn't count my boys out. But hopefully Lippi will take my side as lightly as some are around here...that would be perfect for us.
Ghana is really unkown at this point however their midfield is going to cause us problems, especially containing Essien. I wish we would have received an easier draw but that's the breaks and I believe in my side to fight till the death and perhaps upset one of these superpowers in Germany. Think Argentina, France, and Portugal last time around for further reference on whether the US has a chance or not..
However, Italy is known to mess around during the group stage and with their more conservative play we have a better chance against them in my opinion. The pressure will also be on Italy and Lippi to make up for recent failures, and if Totti has another blunder we could honestly beat or at least tie Italy in the summer. The money is going to be all on them, however I wouldn't count my boys out. But hopefully Lippi will take my side as lightly as some are around here...that would be perfect for us.
Ghana is really unkown at this point however their midfield is going to cause us problems, especially containing Essien. I wish we would have received an easier draw but that's the breaks and I believe in my side to fight till the death and perhaps upset one of these superpowers in Germany. Think Argentina, France, and Portugal last time around for further reference on whether the US has a chance or not..
Erik said:
Group of death? Wanna trade?
And to top that off; *if* we were to progress, it's likely we would meet Portugal who knocked us out of Euro2004
And to top that off; *if* we were to progress, it's likely we would meet Portugal who knocked us out of Euro2004
That has to be one of the most fascinating Groups I have ever seen in any football tournament. Argentina is clearly a favorite in Germany who should top the group and Serbia is one of the those sides who, despite the good qualification, might stumble in a group with such massive opponents. Therefore I believe Holland has a very good chance of progressing to the next round because I really can't see Cote D'Ivoire doing anything in Germany.
However, Argentina could also stumble is such a difficult group just like they did in 2002...but as they say lightening never strikes twice. Very interesting group though and I just can't wait until this summer.
No no no Vinni...I'm relishing the chance of playing the Azzurri in the summer, however as I have already stated I did not want to face the Czechs because they will just attack us to death and Ghana is perhaps the best African nation at the whole tournament. I was hoping for a lighter draw from the other pots except Pot 1, however it was not meant to be. I cannot wait until we play Italy though..
Tonight I went down to the MCI Center in Washington DC to watch my Red Wings play the Caps. Stepping out of the subway in Chinatown all of a sudden I hear a "Lets go Red Wings" chant firing up in the crowds while walking to the arena. I overheard someone saying the MCI Center had sold out of tickets and that about 10,000 of the fans would be sporting Red and white jerseys at the game, much to the dismay of the Capitals supporter. Sure enough, when we received our first goal from the brillaint Swede Henrik Zetterberg, the MCI Center errupted into applause and it seemed like we were actually watching the game at the Joe in Detroit. We were also able to out-do the Caps fans in team chants, which is an embarrassing proposition to say the least.
Some Caps fan next to us said the MCI Center is now the fourth largest city in Michigan, which was kind of funny but not really. The only chants Caps supporters were able to come up with were the generic "Red Wings suck" which can be heard in any other stadium barring the Joe, like we haven't heard that all before...where is the creativity?
During the first intermission I went down with my dad to the bar and I talked to a guy named Michel from Prague. Seeing as he had a Czech Republic hockey jersey on it was easy to strike up a conversion with the guy, and I commented on how we will be facing each other in Germany. Upon that remark he was seemingly surprised that I actually gave a damn about soccer, and when I was letting the names Rosicky, Nedved, Bruckner, Heinze and others flow freely from my mouth he was even more awestruck, seemingly in a state of shock and awe. It must be some experiance for a native European to hear some total American prick keep up a conversation about football...let alone know something about the football of his own country.
At least that somewhat confirms I'm not an average American..
Some Caps fan next to us said the MCI Center is now the fourth largest city in Michigan, which was kind of funny but not really. The only chants Caps supporters were able to come up with were the generic "Red Wings suck" which can be heard in any other stadium barring the Joe, like we haven't heard that all before...where is the creativity?
During the first intermission I went down with my dad to the bar and I talked to a guy named Michel from Prague. Seeing as he had a Czech Republic hockey jersey on it was easy to strike up a conversion with the guy, and I commented on how we will be facing each other in Germany. Upon that remark he was seemingly surprised that I actually gave a damn about soccer, and when I was letting the names Rosicky, Nedved, Bruckner, Heinze and others flow freely from my mouth he was even more awestruck, seemingly in a state of shock and awe. It must be some experiance for a native European to hear some total American prick keep up a conversation about football...let alone know something about the football of his own country.
At least that somewhat confirms I'm not an average American..
I go to restaurants in SF with my Juve warm-up jacket and get comments all the time. Invariably, I'll get into some discussion with a guy working there who is from Chile (for example) and supports Inter because of Ivan Zamorano. And so I get into a discussion with him about David Pizarro, Mark Gonzalez, or the youth prospects of Matías Fernández -- and he'll look at me like I've disguised myself as a gringo. 
Brasil, Germany, Argentina, France, Italy, England, Portugal, Czechs and Holland are the teams with more probabilities. Anyway, lets remember the last two fvckin lesson : last world cup Korea (plagued with odd, bizarre and strange situations) and Last eurocup with an strambotical Greece, had tought us that any team, no matter how much they sucks, can arrive at the tournamen in the right time, get momentum, grab a streak and win it all.
Korea got so far as they got just thanks to refs help....you can just go to wc site and whach those videos where the commentators himself say korea won wrongly.....like those dissalowed spain goals for example, and also against italy......it looked like, after ref had given that pen, and buffon saved it....there was no other way, than, italy had to loose.....
i really hope we wont have problems with refs in germany..........and thats why i am worryng about totti even more.......
f-ck someone better injure him before that tournament......he better get to that uefa cup final with roma, and get a massive injure from opponent.....
Or in our first game against ghana.....
i really hope we wont have problems with refs in germany..........and thats why i am worryng about totti even more.......
f-ck someone better injure him before that tournament......he better get to that uefa cup final with roma, and get a massive injure from opponent.....
Or in our first game against ghana.....