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[WC 2006] Groupings done

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2002AGAIN

2002AGAIN

Who wants to be a Wilderness Explorer?
Is no one looking forward to Germany 2006? Groupings came out, we seem to be in one of the groups of death this year...

Group A
Germany
Costa Rica
Poland
Ecuador


Group B
England
Paraguay
Trinidad &Tobago
Sweden

Group C
Argentina
Ivory Coast
Serbia & Montenegro
Netherlands

Group D
Mexico
Iran
Angola
Portugal

Group E
Italy
Ghana
USA
Czech Republic

Group F
Brazil
Croatia
Australia
japan

Group G
France
Switzerland
Korea
Togo

Group H
Spain
Ukraine
Tunisia
saudi Arabia

Still a ways away, but I can't wait for it to start...
 
B and C look at least 3-deep to me too...B may be the toughest. I think group D and A will be the easiest to finish in the top 2. Also a darkhorse group is H...Tunisia will make it tough on Spain and the Ukraine is also very good.
 
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Bucklion said:
B and C look at least 3-deep to me too...B may be the toughest. I think group D and A will be the easiest to finish in the top 2. Also a darkhorse group is H...Tunisia will make it tough on Spain and the Ukraine is also very good.
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Toughest group is group E. B is close...but group E is just too deep. Czech and USA could have easily been seeded w/o all the politicing. And Italy will be strong this summer, not the strongest team in the cup, but a solid seeded team.

I still hate how we beat Mexico, and yet they get seeded and look at their group. Easy as pie.

If we come out of our group, we will at least get some respect. Even if you are in the toughest group, if you can't finish top 2, then you obviously weren't that great of a team to begin with.
 
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That last place finish in '98 is still huanting us...

If we ever want a better draw... we've got to get out of this group, someway, somehow.

Hey, anyway, I remember not so long ago, when I didn't think we could get a point.

Anyway, HAVE to beat Ghana, tie one of the other two, and hope its enough.

(of course the problem with the dehth group is that if the Czechs and Italians tie... it turns bloodbath in a hurry... But it will be fun :wink2: )
 
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Group B is difficult, but, by contrast Group E is brutal.
If the USA gets out of Group E into the next rounds they will assuredly deserve it.

The grouping into E for the USA is pretty rough treatment to accord a #9 seed. Blatter et al are stillplaying geo-politics with the pairings, rather than giving the better teams a straight shot with correct seeding.
 
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Personally...I think we can beat Italy. Czech's scare me more. I'd liek to see the Czech's go 3-0...everyone will beat Ghana, and then we can beat Italy. That's our way in. If we can at least tie Italy, then maybe we could win the tiebreaker. 4 years ago was fun...we deserve a better draw than we got, but i'm still looking forward to it.

Who all is going to Germany?
 
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As much hype as everyone has put on how bad the pairing was for the US (if we had gotten #1 seed and been in Mexico's spot...wow), I still think we have a fairly good chance at advancing. Czech is definitely #1 in this bracket; seems their blend of veteran leadership with some of the younger rising stars is going to lead a high-powered offense; wouldn't be surprised if they were top 5 in goals scored. Italy plays some hard-nosed D, but can also score goals; an all-around solid team but I think their storied past overlooks the fact that they tend to lose focus late in games. Ghana could be considered a darkhorse in most groupings, but in those one they should just be fodder. Not saying they're bad or they'll get blown away; they'll hold their own, but it's a tough way to enter their first WC.

The main thing I think we have to do is hold the midfield. The 3 teams play diverse styles but the common theme is they have strong midfielders. I think if the midfielders do their job, we should be fine. I think that'll be the biggest question mark.

Oh, and I'm also rooting for South Korea...
 
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The Americans are going to be dangerous. Not because of their talent, which they don't really have that much of compared to the Italians, Brazillians, French, etc., but because they're going into Germany with something to prove. The Europeans don't respect American soccer at all, and they're going to try to change that.
I just wish they weren't trying to gain that respect by playing Italy. :(

Will anyone else be going?
 
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Buckeye513 said:
The Americans are going to be dangerous. Not because of their talent, which they don't really have that much of compared to the Italians, Brazillians, French, etc., but because they're going into Germany with something to prove. The Europeans don't respect American soccer at all, and they're going to try to change that.
I just wish they weren't trying to gain that respect by playing Italy. :(

Will anyone else be going?
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Actually, I love the shot at Italy, more than Brazil or Argentina. Italian soccer seems to have much more of a penchant for ties than South American soccer does (especially Serie A), so we could take a point from Italy, I think, more easily than one of the other powerhouses that play agressive 2nd half soccer. We've got decent talent, and I don't think a march to the round of 8 is out of the question again, depending on who our 2nd round matchup would be.
 
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Bucklion said:
Actually, I love the shot at Italy, more than Brazil or Argentina. Italian soccer seems to have much more of a penchant for ties than South American soccer does (especially Serie A), so we could take a point from Italy, I think, more easily than one of the other powerhouses that play agressive 2nd half soccer. We've got decent talent, and I don't think a march to the round of 8 is out of the question again, depending on who our 2nd round matchup would be.
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Serie A doesn't reflect the play of their NT. They put up 17 in the qualifiers, which was more than the U.S., England, and France - and that was without their prized goalkeeper.
I honestly don't think the U.S. is going to be able to keep up with Gilardino, Totti, Cessano, Lucarelli, Toni, or even the over-the-hill Vieri and Del Piero. And with Buffon coming back, don't expect them to come out in a 4-5-1.

America's definately not going to go down easily, but that's just one game I don't think they have a chance in. If they advance, I'll be extremely surprised.
 
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