htf saudi win 6-0, did they pay them billions for the win?
and i believe 2-0 against croatia as well. Very talented team, surprisingly. Specially the skinhead guy from Saudi..But 6 is probably just because Guatemala is awful.
I've watched almost all the games so far,
Nigeria
Spain
Brazil
Would be favorites in my book, but anything can happen
Mexico got a penalty shot blocked... smh weak ass shot
Mexico dominating but can't ing score.. Guarch(SP?) missed 2 right in front of goal.. smh
England bunkered all game long.
Mexico plays whoever gets second place from group B
Portugal, Uruguay, Cameroon, or New Zealand
Yeah the game was boring throughout... Mexico should've won easily 2-0...
smh
Confirmed
EGYPT vs. ARGENTINA in the round of sixteen.
Capt Pezzella is out for the compe ion looks like. We'll see how the defense for ARG holds, since that was the high point of the team.
I think Portugal has a lot of chances...
Mexico vs Cameroon
Anyone seen Cameroon play? Are they any good?
They have nothing. Mexico will advance easy I'd put my money on that. All physical play not a lot of skill
A few thoughts
Brasil - Saudi Arabia: The arabs actually played a great game against Nigeria But was super unlucky to lose. Brazil might be in quite a tough match if the asian play the way they have played the past three games and finish there chances. Still, I really dont see them getting past a much more experienced team. Brazil has been playing Entertaining football the last three games, but not in the expense of the defense which is very solid
Spain - South Korea: Korea could cause problems for Spain. They are very well organized at the back and that Could mean an interesting game, but Spain should be strong favourites. I would never count out the Koreans however.
Cameroon - Mexico: Mexico Surely played better in the group phase. But Cameroon has improved since their first game. The Mexicans are better with the ball while Cameroon is a very physical team. Hard to predict this Match-up considering the fact that they havent really showed anything special
Colombia - Costa Rica: Should be a fascinating game. Both teams love to attack regardless of opponent..But Columbia seem to be more organized at the back. Costa rica in there last three games have shown that there defense is blunder prone, and they tend to lose concentration.
Nigeria - England: The best offence vs the best defense, stat wise. But to be honest the only way England wins this is if they. end up in penalties..which i dont think would happen..ofcousre there is always the lucky goal and all
France - Ecuador: France had a horrible opening but ever since then they have improved alot on both sides of the field. They are very organized at the back and show alot of teamwork. The Ecuadorians are erratic and very unpredictable but i dont seem them beating France
Portugal - Guatemala: Portugal get a bye to the quarterfinal...I hate this 24 team format
Argentina - Egypt: Game of the 1/8 final. Honestly I think Argentina will crash out. Egypt has looked the better team in the group phase..And when it comes to teamwork,at the moment, Argentina is nowhere near Egypt
Predictions on teams I've never seen
Brazil
Spain
Mexico
Columbia
Nigeria
Ecuador
Portugal
Argentina
You've watched every team play? holy
Thanks to replaysYou've watched every team play? holy
I'm not saying it's not the case 'cause of this tournament I have only seen parts of Argentina's maches but how can a team that ended third in their group look better that a team that ended first scored 4 goals and didn't get scored on?
I haven't seen Egypt play but they got the same amount of points "7" as Argentina and they have a +5 goal differential.
first of all Egypt finished second on their group with 7 points and a 5+ goal differential. Secondly, they only conceded 1 goal and that was against Brazil. I'm not saying egypt is better in skill, tactics or whatever. I'm saying at the moment and with all the three matches played so far by both team, the desire, motivation and system are all in favor of Egypt..The kids know what they are doing. All of their goal were assisted and was a result of a team run, whilst if you watch Argentina goals, Most are because of individual play. Cohesion is Probably the most important thing in soccer, IMO.
Sorry, I heard Argentina played against a third, didn't even check. I'm not following this tournament much, just some parts of Argentina's matches, and yeah they're nothing special.
Talent is there.. Management just needs to do a little bit more work to motivate the kids and make the play team ball.
Last edited by apalisoc_9; 08-07-2011 at 08:43 PM.
tbh, if Argentina plays the same brand of defense as the first 3 games, and get a little sharper finishing, they'll win. If they get sloppy, they're out.
The problem for them in this game is that one of the two best defenders is out (the capt), and the number 8 in the midfield whose name I can't remember was a little engine and he'll be suspended for this game.
Argentina will rarely, if ever, play team ball. Cohesion never stopped them from winning at this level, though. The biggest problem is that they just don't have over the top individual talent on this team like they had in times past. So they're definitely nothing special, but I haven't seen any team outside of Spain that look all that much superior either.
Excuses already? Depth is part of a team, none can make excuses about how one is not there or whatever because frankly the same thing can be said about Egypt or every team in the under 20 world cup, save maybe for Guatemala..And I am being serious with that.
They have enough talent to make it all the way. They need not be as talented as the previous Generation to win it all, just look at Ghana 2009. What they had was Cohesion. I have no idea why you would think talent>team.
Nigeria, Brazil, Egypt, Columbia France are all in a great run and have been very impressive the past couple of game.
No excuses. This Argentina team is just average. The only high point has been defense, and it's only obvious to remark that losing one of the top two defenders in the team can have an impact.
The only player that stood out from the bunch, IMO, is that kid Luque. He might be a kid to keep an eye on. Especially since the senior team is really missing some wingers.
That's the way Argentina has been for a long time now, especially in this category. Argentina has traditionally won with over-the-top talent over team play at this level:
In '97: Samuel, Cambiasso, Riquelme, Aimar
In '99: Cambiasso, Montenegro, Galletti, Peralta
In '01: Saviola, D'Alessandro, Maxi Rodriguez
In '03: Zabaleta, Mascherano, Tevez
In '05: Messi, Agüero, Gago
In '07: Di Maria, Agüero, Banega, Zarate
I'm not saying other teams don't win with team play. I'm just saying I don't expect Argentina to do so, and that hasn't stopped them from winning before. Now, this year it might be different because they really don't have any over-the-top talent in the team.
I think it's pretty even out there. Mexico played good games too. I thought Spain looks slightly above, but it's certainly debatable.
That is what i'm trying to say, they are not as talented as the previous generation so they need to learn team..I mean c'mon i'm sure you would agree with me that on the long run Team> Talent..
Don't disagree with that, I just don't think many of these guys are going to make it to the senior team, so building a team with these guys is a waste of time.
Since Pekerman is gone from looking for and developing young talent, Argentina has nose-dived in that department. This team is a reflection of that, IMO. We'll see who takes cares of the kids with Sabella.
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