Ouch US seed in the group of death

[Jimmy James]

If you ask me, this is hardly the "group of death".

I think groups C and F are clearly harder. Imagine the United States replacing Serbia-Montenegro or Ivory Coast in C or replacing Australia in group F.

Group E is going to come down to that game between the US and the Czech Republic. I like both of them to lose to Italy, and I think both will probably beat Ghana even though Ghana is an up and coming team.

The US really got screwed in that they should be where Mexico is. I don't get the process they use for seeding at all. If I have it right, this has something to do with finish in 1998 even though the US beat Mexico in 2002.

 

[QB2RonnieTD23]

Yeah this is bad news. The little bit of Soccer fan i have in me is now being crushed by the fact that the US team has literally no chance of getting anywhere past 2 wins in the World Cup. Sad because i think despite having Soccer rammed down are throat for 30 years and refusing to swallow it, i'm willing to bet had the US team taken by suprise and done real well then people would have watched. I cant see it happening now.....

 

[Prime Time]

If you ask me, this is hardly the "group of death".

I think groups C and F are clearly harder. Imagine the United States replacing Serbia-Montenegro or Ivory Coast in C or replacing Australia in group F.

Group E is going to come down to that game between the US and the Czech Republic. I like both of them to lose to Italy, and I think both will probably beat Ghana even though Ghana is an up and coming team.

The US really got screwed in that they should be where Mexico is. I don't get the process they use for seeding at all. If I have it right, this has something to do with finish in 1998 even though the US beat Mexico in 2002.

Not a chance. Group E is clearly the Group of Death. 3 of the top 12 teams are in the group. I agree the other two groups are difficult but do you honestly expect to think Croatia or Japan or Australia can beat Brazil??

Also, Mexico will dominate the group stage (or they should) and their fans will be yelling WC Title all over the place. Wait until they get into the Knock-out stage. That is when we will see how good Mexico really is.

 

[Prime Time]

Yeah this is bad news. The little bit of Soccer fan i have in me is now being crushed by the fact that the US team has literally no chance of getting anywhere past 2 wins in the World Cup. Sad because i think despite having Soccer rammed down are throat for 30 years and refusing to swallow it, i'm willing to bet had the US team taken by suprise and done real well then people would have watched. I cant see it happening now.....

Didn't really understand what you were trying to say...but US made a surprising run in 02 and noone seemed to care.

 

[unifiedtheory]

If you ask me, this is hardly the "group of death".

I think groups C and F are clearly harder. Imagine the United States replacing Serbia-Montenegro or Ivory Coast in C or replacing Australia in group F.

Group E is going to come down to that game between the US and the Czech Republic. I like both of them to lose to Italy, and I think both will probably beat Ghana even though Ghana is an up and coming team.

The US really got screwed in that they should be where Mexico is. I don't get the process they use for seeding at all. If I have it right, this has something to do with finish in 1998 even though the US beat Mexico in 2002.

If you took the USA and added them to almost any group (besides G and H) it would make it the strongest group.

Group "E" in my opinion all comes down to Italy vs. USA. The Czech's are the class of the group.

Looking at all the groups I've come to a few VERY early conclusions:

Group "E" will have a very good team (Italy, USA) set home after the prelims.

A few teams (England, France, Germany and Spain) will have easy roads to the round of 16. They will all win their groups...and should do so with ease.

The 2nd place finishers in groups C, D and E will have very tough round of 16 matches. A bunch of teams ranked in the top 10 could be matched up together in the round of 16. That will create some very good games.

I think the most balanced groups (hardest) are:
1.) E
2.) D
3.) F

I judge this by the strength of the 3rd team in the group. Sure group "C" is VERY strong at the top but the 3rd and 4th ranked teams have no chance.

 

[Jimmy James]

Not a chance. Group E is clearly the Group of Death. 3 of the top 12 teams are in the group. I agree the other two groups are difficult but do you honestly expect to think Croatia or Japan or Australia can beat Brazil??

I should be clear: as they are now, I can see the argument for E as the group of death. What I'm saying is that it would have been worse for the US -- that the group they're in is not the worst case scenario. They'd be totally screwed if they were in those other two groups whereas the road is just extremely difficult in this group.

 

[wpgfishfan]

Not a chance. Group E is clearly the Group of Death. 3 of the top 12 teams are in the group. I agree the other two groups are difficult but do you honestly expect to think Croatia or Japan or Australia can beat Brazil??

Also, Mexico will dominate the group stage (or they should) and their fans will be yelling WC Title all over the place. Wait until they get into the Knock-out stage. That is when we will see how good Mexico really is.

First of all this thread needs to be merged

Secondly you need to win this division as whoever finishes second will play Brazil (the class of the world right now) in the round of 16

Thirdly when you talk about soccer most people go to their roots as most of us have immigrated or our parents our grandparents did. In European culture soccer is very important and you usually see most people cheer for their heritage over their new country. I cheer for Canada in everything except for soccer where I still follow the Azzurri

Fourthly (is this a word) does K-Town know if Nedved is playing in the World Cup. I read that he has not decided if he will play or not

 

[ScottishFin]

US will finish 2nd behind the Czech Republic. Italy are terrible IMO , we played them twice and drew 1-1 and lost 2-0 in Milan and were never outclassed and we were really bad at that time (clightly less bad now :))

Brazil will hose you though , best team in the world bar none.

TBH as long as england dont win it i dont give a monkeys :D

Mon the T&T , would love for Jason Scotland to score against the scummers

 

[FinsAreLife]

Are those teams that much better than the U.S. ???

Italy- yes deffiently, but i think we might be able to pull a big upset in that one

Czech Republic- two years ago no, but now they are much improved and look good, this one will be a tough battle


Ghana- inexperienced in world cup play, there not better then us but they are a sleeper and probably will upset someone, my hope is that its italy and which would help us if we can beat italy and ghana

 

[Prime Time]

I should be clear: as they are now, I can see the argument for E as the group of death. What I'm saying is that it would have been worse for the US -- that the group they're in is not the worst case scenario. They'd be totally screwed if they were in those other two groups whereas the road is just extremely difficult in this group.

Okay I got you. I understand now. Yeah they would be in BIG trouble had they been drawn into one of those groups. But it's okay this group is doable.

 

[Prime Time]

Italy will be the 2002 Argentina of this World Cup. I can already see it. Del Piero, Totti and Vieri are an amazing trio but I don't see them passing the Group Stage. Italy plays very defensive soccer (and some people think its "boring" soccer). I don't mind it, because Soccer is Soccer. You use your own tactics to win. But for this reason I think US will win. They will attack constantly with Donovan and Beasley and McBride will be there in the middle for the headers.

 

[wpgfishfan]

Italy will be the 2002 Argentina of this World Cup. I can already see it. Del Piero, Totti and Vieri are an amazing trio but I don't see them passing the Group Stage. Italy plays very defensive soccer (and some people think its "boring" soccer). I don't mind it, because Soccer is Soccer. You use your own tactics to win. But for this reason I think US will win. They will attack constantly with Donovan and Beasley and McBride will be there in the middle for the headers.

This is the second time you brought up Vieri. I still like him but he might not even make the team. Italy will rely on Luca Toni.

 

[Prime Time]

This is the second time you brought up Vieri. I still like him but he might not even make the team. Italy will rely on Luca Toni.

Vieri will be there.

 

[KTownsDolphins]

If you ask me, this is hardly the "group of death".

I think groups C and F are clearly harder. Imagine the United States replacing Serbia-Montenegro or Ivory Coast in C or replacing Australia in group F.

Group E is going to come down to that game between the US and the Czech Republic. I like both of them to lose to Italy, and I think both will probably beat Ghana even though Ghana is an up and coming team.

The US really got screwed in that they should be where Mexico is. I don't get the process they use for seeding at all. If I have it right, this has something to do with finish in 1998 even though the US beat Mexico in 2002.

I think the Czechs can go undefeated in this group.

In Euro 2004, if you all remember the Czechs came down from 2-0 to beat Holland 3-2. In soccer 2-0 is like 28-0 in football at the half it not more.

Not to mention the Czechs beat Germany with there B team resting 6 starters in Euro 2004 as well. I'm glad the rest of the world thinks the Italians are the team to beat in this group. The Czechs aren't ranked #2 in the world for nothing.

Yes we did lose to Holland twice in qualifying, main reason Koller and Nedved were not playing. Koller will be healthy for hte world cup. Nedved is playing again, who was the european footballer of the year in 2003. nedved controls that midfield and the Czechs will be tough every game.

But that being said its one game and if you don't bring your A game each game then u may be going home early.

 

[Prime Time]

You bring your A game every game. It is the World Cup, you may not get another chance like this...

And Czech is good, but their win over Germany was nothing special. Germany is expected to do bad this WC because of their bad play as of late. Germany has been horrible lately....they are lucky they got into an easy group.