Well, Germany and Portugal are the same as Group G. Denmark is a questionable Group of Death component (didn't get out of a group with Japan and Cameroon in 2010, while the US won their group). I guess you were scared of the Netherlands, but they went zero for three. In reality Germany just might find this group more difficult than that one. Don't start thinking you're as good as Bayern.
John Anthony Brook's reaction: http://m.herthabsc.de/index.php?p=n_4018 "That's crazy. The group is unbelievable. But for me, I have to first be part of the team [before I worry about the group]", explains Brooks.
That old man might as well be the German Rip Van Winkle. He must have been asleep since 1996 if he thinks this group is a cakewalk.
Meh, that first dude seems more like he doesn't like Löw, thus implying its an easy group we should walk, which is bs and doesn't reflect the opinion of the majority of German fans. From what I've seen from the German media mostly considering a tough group with tricky opponents but not a group of death. Apart from Spiegel. But then they have no clue about football anyways.
The last part of your statement is ad hominem. I meant GOD's are made up of traditionally great teams -- in this case, 3 Group D teams happen to have been WC champions. Plus, the question about WC groupings used to be -- is there a GOD and does one group stand out as such. There is now GOD inflation where people are talking about several. The other definition, i.e., that GODs consist of groupings where several teams would otherwise have a realistic expectation of getting through doesn't work. What does that mean, that they would expect to get through if the group were easier? A lot of teams can say that about a lot of groupings. It has to be more restrictive than that.
No they cannot. This isn't that complicated. In the last 20 years, Germany, Portugal, the USA, and Ghana have all made it out of the majority of World Cup groups that they've been drawn into (although Ghana's only recently started qualifying for the tournament). And they all made it out of their group last tournament. Therefore all four teams can make a much better case for the claim you're dismissing as trivial than all four teams can in any other group in this tournament. I understand that there are other reasonable definitions of "Group of Death" you could use, but the one that some are using here strikes me as neither unreasonable nor unquantifiable.
What makes England such a tough team? They are an R16 team. They're basically a less consistent Mexico. Bobby Charlton is not walking through that door.
This is correct. What makes it the group of death are the objective facts that this is apparently the first time in World Cup history that all nations in a group made the knockout stage in the previous World Cup, and that the group has the lowest average FIFA ranking of the 8 groups. I think it's just hilarious how people are rating Uruguay's group as tougher because of what happened in 1930, 1950, and 1966. I'm not saying it isn't a very tough group, because it is. But that's because of the players on the squads now, not a bunch of dead guys whose primes all came before the Beatles broke up.
The Ghanaians took over the other thread, and the Germans took over this one. Which makes me wonder, where are the Portuguese?
What bothers me is that Concacaf has a good record of putting two teams thru to R16 in spite of the myth that it is an easy conference. Costa Rica is a good side but what a group they got. Ditto USA. Mexico and Honduras will have a hard time going through easy groups. Personally, I think Croatia will beat Mexico. Switzerland and France are smart enough to figure out Honduras' weaknesses and exploit them altho I must say Honduras plays well in the heat. I will not be too happy with the chatter about Concacrap when nobody goes thru......
It appears as if Günter Netzer close to zero research before writing this column, and I would really like to know exactly what attributes African teams possess. http://www.bild.de/sport/fussball/g...l-ist-nicht-allein-ronaldo-33756926.bild.html The most important game is definitely the match-up against Portugal. They are our biggest opponent in the battle for first place in the group. That means we have to be ready immediately. There is not a comfortable warm-up phase. Our biggest rival for first place will be waiting for us from the get-go. Portugal is made up a lot of Christiano Ronaldo, who does amazing things for his team. The German team has always been up to the task of taking him out the game so that he never makes a difference. Of course Portugal is dependent on Ronaldo. But you shouldn't believe that if you take Ronaldo out of the game that victory is guaranteed. Portugal has many very good soccer players. Ghana, in the second game, is a team that possesses all of the attributes of an African team. They have players on their team that play in top European clubs and, as a result, raise the level of the team. But Ghana can't keep up with the tempo and quality of our team. And Germany must be aware that for players of teams like Ghana just qualifying for the WC is a huge success. From time to time there are match-ups that are special for soccer. The game against the USA is special because of Jürgen Klinsmann. Soccer in America may have improved recently and Klinsmann will instill in his team commitment and a winning mentality, that is what he is known for. But the USA can't keep up with the quality of the German players. The difference will be noticeable.
Well I thought it was very insightful at any rate. It's a good thing that people get paid to write this, or else how would the public ever know?
You know how I differentiate people who know what they're talking about from those who don't? The ones who don't know think that being a "World Cup winner" from the 1930s, 50s and 60s is somehow relevant AT ALL in today's footballing climate. These are the same people who bet on sports and use irrelevant statistics to justify their picks. There are a few factors to determine the difficulty of a group, non-recent WC wins is not one of them. Here are some that are: Quality of players on each of the WC team's roster Average FIFA ranking for the group Recent results in WC, WCQ and competitive continental play (as in, within the last 4 years, 8 maximum) Most of the other stuff is just noise.
Group G is only the most difficult because the U.S. is in it. Group B would've been a draw so awful it's not even worth talking about. Group D is comparable, but in my mind would've been harder because IMO: Ghana < Uruguay in South America next door to home England = Portugal And I trust Germany much more than I would've Italy to go for the jugular from the opening whistle vs. Portugal, so their ruthlessness as the top team in the group actually makes things better for us. Overall, we got the third worst situation we could've gotten, not the worst--it's just all the storylines that are clouding that fact. Not to mention that we have a reasonable Round of 16 cross if we get through.
Let me take you back to 2010: English press said EASY E ngland, A lgeria, S lovenia, Y anks We came first and England only got out of the group because of a fluke goal. Games are played on the field and these are 4 teams that all can be tough.
Well, yeah. But we only got through because we scored in stoppage time of the third game. The margin between first and third wasn't very big at all. And games are played on the field, and the Germans historically play at the level they are supposed to play at. They have only ever been knocked out of a World Cup in the (first) Group Stage once. And that was in 1938. Also, comparing this German team to that England team is comparing apples to oranges. England's fans think they should be a world cup favorite, but no one else does. Everyone pretty much agrees that Germany are legitimately one of the favorites.
Germany is a team that always beats the teams they are supposed to. They are extremely professional, which is why I don't want to see them in the group stages.
That helps us in the end--the last thing we want is a team that would try to "speculate" in its first game with Portugal the way that Italy or Argentina might. Germany will not do that. They will go out to crush Portugal from the opening whistle. Having a dominant top seed is not always the worst thing when you're facing them last. Germany is almost an afterthought here--we have to get at least four points from Ghana and Portugal, or nothing matters anyway. If our group had been Belgium or Colombia plus Portugal and Ghana, we would be in the same situation with the added worry that these countries would settle for a tie vs. Portugal in the first game if it came to that.
Since we all expect Germany to win the group, the best we can aspire to is a date with Belgium for the R16, no? A team that already beat the USA twice in friendlies this cycle. It's going to be hard.
Nobody in Germany who has a clue about soccer thinks its going to be easy. Also,if I recall correctly the only one in the English press who called the last WC Group EASY was the Sun, who doesn't exactly stand for quality. The English bashing on here and on Yanks Abroad (apparently all the English Club fans are either arrgant snobs or have no clue) is a bit strange.
The point-of-view-thing again. Strong top to bottom makes it easier for the top seed, because the other teams will take points off each other. A group with Tahiti would have been more difficult for Germany, because you can't afford any mistakes in the other two games.