World Cup Seeding today!!! | Page 3 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

World Cup Seeding today!!!

US is going to have a hardd time getting out of the "near group of death" Italy is great as always, Czchek (sp) is ranked number 2 and Ghana is better than you think, their best player is probably worth more money than the whole US team. With that said.. i'm rooting for Spain (perennial chokers) and the US.
 
Prime Time said:
What does that have to do with World Rankings? Um a lot of US players have played in Europe, but they like it better in the US so they stay here or come back here. Howard and Beasley chose to get better (which is what happens when you play in Europe instead of MLS), but some decided to stay in MLS because it is more comfortable for them and to make an ATTEMPT at making Soccer more popular in the World.

The rankings don't really mean anything BUT they are based on wins, losses, ties etc. in the previous games a National Team has played.
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Who do the Americans play??? Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, Canada

They do not get the opportunity to play the big guns from Europe and South America in any meaningful games.

If you are an athlete in any sport you go to wear the competition is the best. The rest of the USA squad needs to play in England, Italy, Spain and make an impact for anyone to take them seriously
 
 
wpgfishfan said:
Who do the Americans play??? Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, Canada

They do not get the opportunity to play the big guns from Europe and South America in any meaningful games.

If you are an athlete in any sport you go to wear the competition is the best. The rest of the USA squad needs to play in England, Italy, Spain and make an impact for anyone to take them seriously
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I don't care If anyone takes them seriously...I care If they win. USA did well in the Gold Cup in 03...losing to Brazil 2-1. USA lost to Holland in a Friendly 1-0 in 03. The rest of the US Squad SHOULD play in Europe but don't because they want to make MLS more succesful.
 
soccerphinsfan7 said:
US is going to have a hardd time getting out of the "near group of death" Italy is great as always, Czchek (sp) is ranked number 2 and Ghana is better than you think, their best player is probably worth more money than the whole US team. With that said.. i'm rooting for Spain (perennial chokers) and the US.
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Why do you say near group of death? Italy is great as always? GREAT, I think not. They haven't been GREAT in a long time. Good yes....Great no. They need to play more consistantly and score more If they want to be GREAT.
 
Prime Time said:
Why do you say near group of death? Italy is great as always? GREAT, I think not. They haven't been GREAT in a long time. Good yes....Great no. They need to play more consistantly and score more If they want to be GREAT.
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Gotta agree with PT on this one. I played soccer for 15 years and 1/4 of the team was Italian, so I've been hearing it's the Italians year since about WC '94. They came close in 2000 but that was in the Euro.

They'll be stellar at the back, they always have and seemingly, always will be.
Especially in net where I think they've got one of the best in Buffon.
But I was reading an old Euro 2000 preview yesterday and thought, the same thing applies today.They lack imagination up front, in that last 1/3 of the field. They've always had the Vieri's and the Del Piero but haven't been able to always provide them with that thru ball.

That being said watch out for Alberto Gilardino. One heck of a player.
Last time I was in Italy, fans and media were asking for him on the national squad and he was only 19.
 
wpgfishfan said:
Here are the odds as of today

Brazil 16/5
England 7.3/1
Germany 8.7/1
Argentina 8.7/1
Italy 11
France 13
Holland 14
Spain 16.3/1
Portugal 24
Czech Rep 33
Sweden 40
Mexico 50
Ukraine 66
Croatia 80
USA 100
Switzerland125
Serbia and Montenegro125
Australia 125
Poland 125
Ivory Coast125
Paraguay 200
Japan 250
Ecuador 250
Ghana 250
Tunisia 300
South Korea300
Togo 401
Iran 500
Costa Rica500
Angola 500
Saudi Arabia750
Trinidad and Tobago1500
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Those are ridiculous odds for England.
I thought they would give the Czechs more respect but their lackluster showing in the QR's are the result of that. And I don't think Ukraine deserves to be higher than Serbia Montenegro, Croatia and USA. Sure they've got a top 3 player in Sheva and they're in a weak group but they're relative newcomers on the international stage.
 
Pink_Dove said:
Those are ridiculous odds for England.
I thought they would give the Czechs more respect but their lackluster showing in the QR's are the result of that. And I don't think Ukraine deserves to be higher than Serbia Montenegro, Croatia and USA. Sure they've got a top 3 player in Sheva and they're in a weak group but they're relative newcomers on the international stage.
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Ukraine? :lol: Bad odds
 
phunwin said:
Not to talk trash, but it's insane that Mexico was seeded, and not the USA or Netherlands. The USA has clearly been a better team than Mexico over the last four years and did far better at the 2002 WC, and the Dutch are ranked 3rd in the world.
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Really? now I am just as much of a fan of both teams (kind of weird I know, but my dad is american so I can't really leave that aside). But I really don't see how you can say that it is clear that the US is better than Mexico in anyway.

We have divided wins depending on who is the home team when playing the game between us. Both teams where head to head in the Concacaf seeding sistem, and MExico ended up first, plus they held for a longer time without being beat by anyone, and the only team that beat them was the US in America (so again it was 1-1 per country). Now US lost 3-0 to Costa Rica. So that means a worst seeding in the Concacaf tournament.

US won the Gold Cup, true, but Mexico won the one before that. And ended up fourth place (only under brazil, argentina and Germany, beating Brazil in the process) in the confederations Cup. They won the under 17 world championship. They clasified to the second round of the 2001 American Cup...

So, how is the US clearly above Mexico right now? I agree that the playing field is at the same time, and that in any given sunday if both teams play each other, we have no idea which one of them would win... But stat wise (which is what defines which team is head of group) Mexico has more to speak of, in the same period of time...

And that is not even going into club games, in which Femexfut completely blows MLS out of the water. I mean just now Pumas of UNAM is playing in the finals of the continent tournament. After reaching semifinals twice, and the finals in another time. So... These are the stats that count, not the fact that USoccer is so much improved.

Now if you want to know my opinion, US has to stop being so nationalistic, Donovan should get out of the states now, go play in Europe, as should Freddy Adu and the guy that is in Dallas (Eddie Johnson?) if this does not happen soon, then your forward progress (which has been a lot and and at an extremely fast pace) will stall and you will never be better than what you are right now (which would screw my prediction that US will win the world cup in South Africa).

Now Mexico is steadily improving, the only thing they need is a reliable striker, and the ability to not choke in the big games (which they have so consistently done throughout their history) I think it is a great thing that they are accepting naturalized players, which will helpt the game to get better, and that they are so willing to participate in all these club championships... This is going to be a good world cup for MExico....

US got it tough though, I dont know if they can get Czech republic, and Ghana is going to be a darn tough one to get through.
 
Quelonio said:
Really? now I am just as much of a fan of both teams (kind of weird I know, but my dad is american so I can't really leave that aside). But I really don't see how you can say that it is clear that the US is better than Mexico in anyway.

We have divided wins depending on who is the home team when playing the game between us. Both teams where head to head in the Concacaf seeding sistem, and MExico ended up first, plus they held for a longer time without being beat by anyone, and the only team that beat them was the US in America (so again it was 1-1 per country). Now US lost 3-0 to Costa Rica. So that means a worst seeding in the Concacaf tournament.

US won the Gold Cup, true, but Mexico won the one before that. And ended up fourth place (only under brazil, argentina and Germany, beating Brazil in the process) in the confederations Cup. They won the under 17 world championship. They clasified to the second round of the 2001 American Cup...

So, how is the US clearly above Mexico right now? I agree that the playing field is at the same time, and that in any given sunday if both teams play each other, we have no idea which one of them would win... But stat wise (which is what defines which team is head of group) Mexico has more to speak of, in the same period of time...

And that is not even going into club games, in which Femexfut completely blows MLS out of the water. I mean just now Pumas of UNAM is playing in the finals of the continent tournament. After reaching semifinals twice, and the finals in another time. So... These are the stats that count, not the fact that USoccer is so much improved.

Now if you want to know my opinion, US has to stop being so nationalistic, Donovan should get out of the states now, go play in Europe, as should Freddy Adu and the guy that is in Dallas (Eddie Johnson?) if this does not happen soon, then your forward progress (which has been a lot and and at an extremely fast pace) will stall and you will never be better than what you are right now (which would screw my prediction that US will win the world cup in South Africa).

Now Mexico is steadily improving, the only thing they need is a reliable striker, and the ability to not choke in the big games (which they have so consistently done throughout their history) I think it is a great thing that they are accepting naturalized players, which will helpt the game to get better, and that they are so willing to participate in all these club championships... This is going to be a good world cup for MExico....

US got it tough though, I dont know if they can get Czech republic, and Ghana is going to be a darn tough one to get through.
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Mexico has had reliable strikers for years now. They are missing Midfield. They don't have the BIG playmaker type guy in their Midfield like other teams do. France has Zidane. Argentina has Aimar/Riquelme. Brazil has Ronaldinho. USA has Reyna. Mexico doesn't have someone like that...they need one badly If they want to go far.
 
Quelonio said:
Really? now I am just as much of a fan of both teams (kind of weird I know, but my dad is american so I can't really leave that aside). But I really don't see how you can say that it is clear that the US is better than Mexico in anyway.

We have divided wins depending on who is the home team when playing the game between us. Both teams where head to head in the Concacaf seeding sistem, and MExico ended up first, plus they held for a longer time without being beat by anyone, and the only team that beat them was the US in America (so again it was 1-1 per country). Now US lost 3-0 to Costa Rica. So that means a worst seeding in the Concacaf tournament.

US won the Gold Cup, true, but Mexico won the one before that. And ended up fourth place (only under brazil, argentina and Germany, beating Brazil in the process) in the confederations Cup. They won the under 17 world championship. They clasified to the second round of the 2001 American Cup...

So, how is the US clearly above Mexico right now? I agree that the playing field is at the same time, and that in any given sunday if both teams play each other, we have no idea which one of them would win... But stat wise (which is what defines which team is head of group) Mexico has more to speak of, in the same period of time...

And that is not even going into club games, in which Femexfut completely blows MLS out of the water. I mean just now Pumas of UNAM is playing in the finals of the continent tournament. After reaching semifinals twice, and the finals in another time. So... These are the stats that count, not the fact that USoccer is so much improved.

Now if you want to know my opinion, US has to stop being so nationalistic, Donovan should get out of the states now, go play in Europe, as should Freddy Adu and the guy that is in Dallas (Eddie Johnson?) if this does not happen soon, then your forward progress (which has been a lot and and at an extremely fast pace) will stall and you will never be better than what you are right now (which would screw my prediction that US will win the world cup in South Africa).

Now Mexico is steadily improving, the only thing they need is a reliable striker, and the ability to not choke in the big games (which they have so consistently done throughout their history) I think it is a great thing that they are accepting naturalized players, which will helpt the game to get better, and that they are so willing to participate in all these club championships... This is going to be a good world cup for MExico....

US got it tough though, I dont know if they can get Czech republic, and Ghana is going to be a darn tough one to get through.
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A lot of that has to do with Mexico playing it's home games at the Azteca.

And I disagree with the US being nationalistic. Players like Donovan have gone overseas and apart from Beasley with PSV, they've flunked. Donovan was glued to the bench in Leverkusen, while he's doing circles around defenders in the MLS. In Donovan's case, I disagree with the decision to come back, because he's not going to learn anything in the MLS. On the other hand, he's the biggest star and lives comfortably with his girl seaside.
But for young players like Adu and Johnson, I'd stay in the U.S until I'm ready to go to Europe and do well there. I don't think they've developped to the point where they could warrant first team action on a quality team.
Heck Adu struggled with playing time in the MLS.
 
Beasley, Hejduk, Donovan, Howard, Friedel, Keller, O'Brien, Reyna are players who have played or play in Europe. That is just naming a few....
 
Prime Time said:
Mexico has had reliable strikers for years now. They are missing Midfield. They don't have the BIG playmaker type guy in their Midfield like other teams do. France has Zidane. Argentina has Aimar/Riquelme. Brazil has Ronaldinho. USA has Reyna. Mexico doesn't have someone like that...they need one badly If they want to go far.
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The only reliable striker we have is Borgetti, and we are not about to call him in any way that reliable. Though he did have a good stretch of games that led to him going to Bolton. There is no one that could play with him though... Kikín Fonseca has a lot of heart but he is very limited... I hope that LaVolpe calls Franco.

And the fact tha Mexico wins in Azteca has nothing to do with anything, taking advantage of home field advantage is something that every team should do. The truth is that the rankings are stupid, but I think a case could be done for both of them to be where they where.

About the US star players leaving, I think they should, I think that everyone should leave (and i come from a country that never lets players leave) it is the only way to move from really good, to elite.
 
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