The World Cup begins in less than 3 weeks!

[ThatPercussionGuy]

Who do you think will win?

Who do you want to win?



I think there is going to be a first time winner emerge this year. I've been a big fan of Spain for a while, really enjoyed their Euro win two years ago. With Torres not quite the same I can't see them winning, but they are who I would like to see win.

I'm going to go with the Netherlands as the pick this year...


Join the discussion!!

 

[The Fallen Angel]

WOOO love the world cup, GO GERMANY!!!!!!!!!

as a darkhorse i say watch ghana

 

[me4o]

I think that Argentina will be a major force in this WC. With the likes of Messi, Tevez, Aguerro and Milito up front, I really can't see anyone beating them. England are also to be considered favourites, but then again,they always are, and always fail. Spain are a good team, probably the best in Europe lately, so I can predict a strong run for them too. Lets not exclude Germany and Brasil, although with Dunga having called 7 defensive midfielders to his squad, I can't see it happening for them this year. I personally will be supporting Serbia, but I'd bet on Argentina for winning 🙂

 

[Liu Kang]

I think that Argentina will be a major force in this WC. With the likes of Messi, Tevez, Aguerro and Milito up front, I really can't see anyone beating them. England are also to be considered favourites, but then again,they always are, and always fail. Spain are a good team, probably the best in Europe lately, so I can predict a strong run for them too. Lets not exclude Germany and Brasil, although with Dunga having called 7 defensive midfielders to his squad, I can't see it happening for them this year. I personally will be supporting Serbia, but I'd bet on Argentina for winning 🙂

Argentina had hardships to earn its qualification. Furthermore, Maradona is a poor coach.

 

[deadlywiffeathr]

LOVE THE WORLD CUP!!!

I'm tipping Brazil and Spain to be in the final, but go the Socceroos aswell!!!

 

[me4o]

Argentina had hardships to earn its qualification. Furthermore, Maradona is a poor coach.

You are quite right of course, and I agree that Don Diego ain't the best coach in the world, but with those players... they just can't fail again 🙂

 

[rhiannon]

WOOO love the world cup, GO GERMANY!!!!!!!!!

as a darkhorse i say watch ghana

Don't count on Germany...with Ballack AND his replacement out of the picture, they even discussed whether to play or not!!

 

[mass1926]

England!!!!

 

[rhiannon]

I'm all for England, but they haven't been good enough for a while now. 🙁

 

[McNoodle]

I can't help but think if the ref's are in their pockets again that Italy will repeat.

That being said I am going to South Africa in roughly a year and a half (plus neither of my primary nationalities nor my home country qualified) so I hope the host country takes it all. 😀

 

[Abel14]

You are quite right of course, and I agree that Don Diego ain't the best coach in the world, but with those players... they just can't fail again 🙂

In 2002, Argentina had a stellar team as well. We all know what happened...

 

[fantastic8]

Does anyone even care? I know all of you outside the US love soccer, but how is it fun to watch a sport that usually ends up 1-0 and so little going on during the game? I honestly don't get it.

 

[red devil]

Well i'm backing England to do it this time, just need to beat the USA in our first game, which we should do!!!!

Beaing a realist though, England proberble won't win it, not good enough in defence, so you have to say Spain or Brazil( the only country to win the cup outside of their own continent) will be there or there abouts!!!

What ever happens just enjoy the tornament!!

 

[rhiannon]

Does anyone even care? I know all of you outside the US love soccer, but how is it fun to watch a sport that usually ends up 1-0 and so little going on during the game? I honestly don't get it.

And that coming from the country where BASEBALL is popular. 😉

 

[mass1926]

And that coming from the country where BASEBALL is popular. 😉

His response is very typical of American culture. We are a culture of "hard-hitting" and "lots of scoring" type of sports. We are not known for having the patience to watch a sport where a team may not even take the lead over the other during the match at any point. They had to add the "shoot out" to hockey because Americans began losing interest in hockey because there were the dreaded "tie games" if one team didn't score more than the others. Even hockey is the least popular of the 4 Major Sports in the U.S. because it doesn't have lots of scoring. The only thing keeping hockey watchable for most in American Culture is the physical intensity. We need Boxing, Football, Basketball (best example of american sports culture cuz teams score non-stop all game), high scoring Baseball games (we need homeruns or else the fans get tired of games that end 1-0). To sum it up, we don't have the attention span and appreciation for the little things in a sport that Europeans and other cultures seem to possess.

 

[bensaunders]

Personally, as much as i would love to see England win, we don't stand a chance, my money is on either Spain or Holland.

 

[rhiannon]

@mass:

That is a very interesting theory!

Not too long ago, I talked to a co-worker of mine (she is American) after she went to a soccer game. She also used to play soccer in high school, and her theory for soccer not being popular in the US was that there are not enough time-outs and breaks for commercials, so you won't find sponsors for it! 🙂

 

[mass1926]

@mass:

That is a very interesting theory!

Not too long ago, I talked to a co-worker of mine (she is American) after she went to a soccer game. She also used to play soccer in high school, and her theory for soccer not being popular in the US was that there are not enough time-outs and breaks for commercials, so you won't find sponsors for it! 🙂

I listen to a lot of sports talk radio when I'm driving. The sports analysis guys always point out that sports like basketball are far more popular in the US than sports such as Hockey or Soccer because there is nonstop scoring and fast-paced action. It's American culture. We count on hard hitting and lots of scoring potential. A tie game in an American sport is like a "slap in the face" to the fans. To them it's like "how dare this game end without a winner." Hence the fact that the NHL now has shootouts and no longer ends in tie games. Even the MLS (us soccer league) has shootout at the end because games are not interesting to American fans if nobody wins.

P.S. You're friend is very, very correct. Sports are a HUGE marketing potential for all kinds of products and industries. Constant commercial breaks during time-outs in basketball and football are opportunities for networks to make Big Bucks because industries pay lots of money to air their commercials. You're co-workers was very right on that theory. Marketing is a huge part of sports in the United States. In our country, sports such as Basketball have their playoffs dragged out over a two month span because the goal is to get all the games squeezed in on nights when no other major sporting events are taking place. This allows maximum ratings potential and thus more big corporations bye commercial time on the network to air their commercials during time-outs, in between periods, before and after games, and just about every other free second of a game that marketing through commercials can occur.

 

[rhiannon]

Even the MLS (us soccer league) has shootout at the end because games are not interesting to American fans if nobody wins.

In some soccer tournaments it is like that too...like in the worldcup or european cup. But in other games, usually the total points of the season count towards who will win the cup and who will remain in first league or move up, so a tie is not a big problem.

Yeah, it would be hard with commercials for a soccer game...only one break! 🙂 And that is what makes that sports so much more straining than Football or Basketball.