I mean in terms of qualification. And it's one thing to lose the occasional away game, especially in our confederation, but entirely another to drop points at home. We lost away to Jamaica too, is anyone confused about whether or not they're close to us today? Outside of Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama rarely trouble the US at home. And the US is more likely to get away results at those two nations than Costa Rica. That may not play out this year, the US may get a result against CR away, I'd still say they're #3 in our region. Honduras may have won a home match against us, but they're not going to trouble the US in terms of qualification. This was true even last cycle when it was basically three spots we were playing for. Losing an away game to Honduras doesn't change the fact that we're within a few points of being the first the first team from our region to qualify. They're not as good as the US. That's been proven time and again over the last decade and for some reason people felt that that was going to change. The third best team in our region is probably Costa Rica, and that's even true at the club level. Honduras is close to Costa Rica. Close enough that Costa Rica fell behind them last time around. But for the most part the hierarchy at the moment is the US and Mexico at the top, Costa Rica somewhere in the middle, then Honduras, then Panama. That's not disputable at this point in time. Even with Mexico's current struggles in qualification, I would be shocked if they fell behind even Costa Rica and finished 3rd. I would eat my computer piece by piece. This cycle people thought that the US would actually finish behind teams like Panama and Honduras. My point is that the talk was wrong. Very wrong. There may be a year that the US is vulnerable to the rest of CONCACAF, but it wasn't this cycle, and I never thought that it was going to be. That type of talk was laughable. Just as laughable as the thought that Brazil somehow wouldn't be formidable in their own country. That's really what my point was. When the chips are down and the US really needs a win, the only teams that I really worry about are Mexico and Costa Rica.
I'll give the prediction thing a shot ahead of September. Auto Spots = 26. 1. Host = 1: Brazil 2. Asia = 4: Japan, Iran, Australia, South Korea 3. CONMEBOL = 4: Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Uruguay 4. CONCACAF = 3: United States, Costa Rica, Mexcio 5. UEFA = 9: Belgium, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Russia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, ------Ukraine, Spain. 6. Africa = 5: Cote D'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Tunisia, Egypt 7. UEFA Playoffs: Portugal, England, France, Hungary 8. Intercontinental Playoffs: Ecuador, Honduras ==================================== 1. Host Nation (1). = Brazil = In already. 2. Asia (4.5 slots). In = Japan, Iran, Australia, South Korea. ----A. Prediction: Playoff: Uzbekistan over Jordan. 3. CONMEBOL (4.5 spots not including Brazil) --A. Prediction: Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Uruguay = In automatically. --B. 5th = Ecuador to Playoff with Uzbekistan. 4. CONCACAF (3.5 spots) ---A. Prediciton: USA, Costa Rica, Mexico = In automatically. ---B. Honduras = 4th. To playoff vs. New Zealand. 5. Oceania (0.5) spots. New Zealand already through to PO with CONCACAF 4th. 6. UEFA (13 spots). ---A. Group Winners (9 spots). ----1) Group A = Belgium ----2) Group B = Italy ----3) Group C = Germany ----4) Group D = Netherlands ----5) Group E = Switzerland ----6) Group F = Russia ----7) Group G = Bosnia-Herzegovina ----8) Group H = Ukraine ----9) Group I = Spain ----B. Playoffs (have to predict the draw here) -----1) Portugal over Bulgaria -----2) England over Ireland -----3) Hungary over Croatia (upset) -----4) France over Greece (upset) --------------Norway = worst 2nd place team--------- 7. Africa (5 spots) ---A. Group Winners: Ethiopia, Tunisia, Cote D'Ivoire*, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Egypt*, Algeria*, Libya, Senegal. * = already won group. ---B. Playoffs (try to predict draw) ------1) Cote D'Ivoire over Ethiopia ------2) Ghana over Senegal ------3) Tunisia over Algeria (upset) ------4) Nigeria over Libya ------5) Egypt over Burkina Faso (upset) 8. Playoffs: ----1) Honduras over New Zealand ----2) Ecuador over Uzbekistan (upset) is only in terms of FIFA rank. ====================================
UEFA: Belgium Croatia Italy Germany The Netherlands Switzerland Russia Portugal Bosnia Ukraine Spain France England France can be the wild card as France isn't top seed so they can draw England, Croatia, Portugal and Greece. The rest of the play-offs will be predictable. Somethings I didn't predict: Turkey being so bad, I already knew they were bad but not that bad. Albania doing so well. Bulgaria being second, Czechia and Denmark and even Armenia should by all means beat them but they are managing to hold on just fine. COMMEBOL: Argentina Columbia Chile Uruguay Ecuador With AFC I predicted almost everything correct except Uzbekistan and Iran. I predicted that Uzbekistan would make it and Iran would go to play offs. CAF Ivory Coast Ghana Nigeria Tunesia Senegal very hard to predict because of the new crappy play-off system. Since any of the above teams can also as easily be defeated by Cameroon, Egypt and Senegal. At least the Africa play-offs are more interesting to watch than that of UEFA. CONCACAF: USA Costa Rica Mexico Honduras
Ok so you dont worry about anybody in concacaf except mexico because you feel they are the best. Having said all that you cant change the fact that the US can easily lose the next two games. Costa Rica will be out for revenge at home after the snow debacle in the US. And right after that Is Mexico who are the US eternal nemesis and who will have a home crowd game even in the US. There is a lot of games to be played still and a lot of scenarios and I doubt the US finished qualification first and wont be surprise to see them third or fourth. The only game that they must likely will win is vs Jamaica. Against Panama at their place wont be easy neither costa rica away and Mexico at home but will feel like an away game. []__[]
The reason the US always plays Mexico in Columbus, Ohio instead of a bigger city is because it will have a pro-US crowd. Also, the US has posted dos a cero wins every time they have played Mexico there. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...columbus-crew-stadium-history-victory-vitriol
I'll give this a shot as well, though granted some of my picks (such as the playoffs) will be total crapshoots In already: Brazil, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Iran AFC Playoff: Uzbekistan beats Jordan CONCACAF: USA, Costa Rica, Mexico, Honduras goes to the Shire to play the All Whites. CONMEBOL: Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Uruguay goes to play Uzbekistan in the playoffs CAF: Ivory Coast beats Uganda Algeria beats Congo Ghana beats Ethiopia Nigeria beats Tunisia Cameroon beats Egypt UEFA: Group winners: Belgium, Italy, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Russia, Bosnia, England, Spain. UEFA playoffs: Croatia beats the Czech Republic Greece beats Albania Portugal beats Hungary Austria beats France (Upset pick!) Unlucky loser to miss out on a playoff spot: Montenegro Intercontinental playoffs: Honduras and NZ draw 2-2 on aggregate, but Honduras goes through on away goals Uruguay beats Uzbekistan A bit rough as a LOT of it is depending on playoff spots, when September rolls around we'll have a much clearer picture.
They were....briefly. FIFA lifted the suspension http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/news/newsid=2139105/index.html