Well this is all very arbitrary. But I'd say maybe you can call it a Group of Death if you have multiple teams in your group who have won a World Cup in the semi-recent past. (England's last one was ~ 50 years ago, and Uruguay's was over 60 years ago.) Otherwise the Group of Death to me is the group with the greatest number of teams who could reasonably aim to advance to the knockout stages in any otherwise typical draw.
Last year's Euro loss to an Italy that was then blown out by Spain pushes them down a little though. Even when they went deep and lost to the eventual winners, in 2008 and 2010 they had group stage losses to Croatia and Serbia, so there is hope for us.
I could see us beating them if they have six points, have already advanced and we need it a lot more than they do.
I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm making the point that "GoD" is an arbitrary label that really tends to come down to the press.
Another take on it that's being posted around: Avg @FIFA rankings per group: A - 24.25 B - 21.00 C - 20.25 D - 14.25 E - 22.75 F - 24.25 G - 11.25 H - 28.25
Actually, I'd completely forgotten they'd lost to Italy last time. I was thinking Spain again because of the prior two tournaments.
Can I ask you what exactly you mean by "athletic" and why Ghana is the most "athletic"? Do you watch Ghana a lot during training and see them practicing vertical leaps, sprinting, and other feats of "athleticsim"? Do you have some sort of system which rates one country of professional athletes in terms of athleticism over another? Germany's entire A-team plays professionally in either the Bundesliga, Premier League or Seria A. No one on Ghana's defense, as of today, plays outside of Africa. Why exactly are the higher achieving professional athletes of Germany less athletic than their counterparts in Ghana?
I think you'll see a noticeable shift in the emotions coming from the media of Germany especially as the games get nearer. Anxiety will build immensely the closer we get. Obviously you don't wish injury upon any players but Schweinsteiger seems to be having a tough time getting fully fit (sort of like Dempsey). If he's out of the picture for the DFB or not 100% it'd be a massive boost for us especially if they're without Khedira.
We arent in the group of death..Italy, Uruguay, and England are in the same group, and Spain, Netherlands, and Chile. On paper Portugal and Germany are much better teams than the US and Ghana, and should be pretty heavy favorites. I think we have a chance but looking at it from a foreigners perspective I wouldn't consider it the group of death
We (Germany) actually played against Ghana in the group stages of 2010, and they were not that impressive, I thought. I'm nost sure how they've developed since then, but I don't think they are significantly better compared to then.
Listen dude. Everywhere Im stating the simple truth that in Germany "NO ONE" considers this to be a GOD gets me the same "oh these arrogant Europeans" reactions. Then I thought maybe we're coming from different perspective but this cant be the only reason. I think we have different definitions of what a GOD is. After your definition group C or group H must be GODs too cause all teams are more less even and could get out of the group. They all got out to the knock-out stages? Are you for real? Then others quote the FIFA rankings. You know that everyone who's more into soccer than just for WC every four years will confirm that these rankings are crap? Im sorry but thats not we are used to call a GOD. A GOD is most times one group that consists of the biggest and strongest teams in soccer history and current world soccer. If you can count yourselves to them depends on how you did in the last tourneys and how much stars you have got on your shirts. If this is a GOD, what is EURO 2012s Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Denmark then? A group of annihilation? Then if we follow this European(German) take on Americans coming up claiming this to be a GOD -- it seems the other way very arrogant of you guys. Just because you guys might go home doesnt make it a GOD.
These are good questions. First, suffice it to say that all top level footballers are athletic relative to the general population. That's a given. Athletic is both a relative and subjective term. Athletic in soccer/football typically refers to strength, speed, and power (the application of strength at high speed). Second, there is a lot more to a football player than athletic ability as defined above. There is quickness and endurance and agility, and most important -- skill and intelligence. There are some players in lesser leagues that are more athletic than some players in higher leagues. That's just a fact. "Athletic" isn't the be all and end all in soccer. That's one reason why it's such a beautiful game. Heck, some very fast players play in MLS -- Dominic Oduro (Ghana), Marvell Wyne, and Marvin Chavez. You have to look past the league labels and look at the players themselves. Also, if I say that Ghana is more athletic than Germany, that doesn't mean that every Ghanian player is more athletic than every German player. It just means there is a higher preponderance of athleticism on the Ghana team. And this is just a determination on my part made by watching games. It's subjective and not very scientific. I'm just using the eye test in large part. Christian Atsu and Asamoah Gyan, for example, are very fast and Gyan is strong as a bull. The Boateng half-brothers cancel each other out. Muntari is very strong and fast. Thomas Mueller is pretty fast. We could go thru the list of players on each team, but you get the idea.
Who cares about the Euros? This is the WORLD cup. Based on FIFA Rankings at least recognize that it's a hard group and according to World Cup group standards, it's among one of the most difficult - hence, group of death. It's not just the "Americans" saying it's a group of death. Jesus. Repeating the same thing over and over and over and over in the US forum about how you don't think this is a Group of Death. We get it. We bow to the superiority that is the European Cup. How the heck do we get called arrogant for calling this a GoD? When the hell did that happen? It's not because we think we're so awesome, it's because the three other teams are fantastic opposition.
Old, very old saying: WC is just Euros but with Brazil and Argentina. Yes, that's pretty the public opinion in G. Ive posted the articles. It's a hard group. Not more - not less. And who else on this planet is doing so? Do you have some sources for that?
In my view, a group of death is a group in which at least 3 teams are acknowledged as world soccer powers, and thus each faces elimination at the hands of the other two. I am from Chile, but we do not presume to be acknowledged as a world football power. This does not mean that Chile may not surprise and knock out one of the 2010 finalists, because it currently has the quality to do that. But still, it would be a surprise around the world. The only group that under this definition is a GOD is group D, where at least one former World Cup champion and country that is often among seeded teams, will not advance. It is somewhat arrogant of the US press and soccer public to consider that they are in a group of death. In fact, if Germany does not consider it so, it isn't. It is as simple as that. No question, though that it is a difficult group, as is Group B.
Seeing how Colombia, Belgium and Russia haven't made a World Cup in quite a while, and Greece and Algeria haven't made a knockout round ever, how exactly would those groups fit my definition? No doubt nobody in Germany considers this a GOD. I don't think anybody would be concerned about any World Cup group ever, given the format of the tournament. However, seeing how this is the first group to feature four teams that made the knockout rounds in the previous edition, and that none of the teams have dropped significantly in quality, it is about as difficult a group, top to bottom, that you would ever see in a World Cup. Arguably Group B and D feature a stronger top three teams, but top to bottom, this is the most difficult group in the tournament. And yes, it is arrogant to be dismissive of the quality of Ghana and the US, particularly Ghana, given how those teams have performed at the actual World Cup in the past.
Forget the labels, guys. This is about perceptions, nothing more, and old perceptions die hard. If we claim some scalps in the tournament then we can laugh at them. Same as it always was.
Which means in your view there would never be a group of death in the World Cup, since it is virtually impossible to get three title contenders in the same group. But whatever makes you able to feel smug and act superior in our forum, you go with that .
Here some average Nationalmannschaft fandude's take on the draw: Jogi Löw and DFB president Niersbach laughing when the US was drawn into the same group:
New saying: WC is the Euros with Brazil, Argentina, and the USA, the greatest nation in the world. [/hyperbole]