dfb547490
08 Dec 2005, 08:54 AM
Used a random-number generator to come up with this, only took about 5-10 minutes, if you guys want to do the same maybe we can get an idea of how we might fare.
GROUP A: Germany, Ecuador, Japan, Portugal
GROUP B: Italy, Ghana, Iran, Ukraine
GROUP C: France, Togo, Saudi Arabia, Czech Republic
GROUP D: England, Angola, Costa Rica, Poland
GROUP E: Mexico, Tunisia, South Korea, Switzerland
GROUP F: Brazil, Ivory Coast, Serbia, Holland
GROUP G: Spain, Paraguay, USA, Croatia
GROUP H: Argentina, Australia, Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden
Hard group for the US but not impossibly so--along with E (Mexico's group), by far the most evenly-matched group across all 4 teams. Honestly any 2 teams could qualify without surprising many people. That said I like our chances--I'd say we're the #2 team on raw talent (although not by much); Spain is beatable; Paraguay and Croatia are not the teams they were in the late 90s. The US isn't a lock to qualify by any means but you have to like our chances.
Looking at the other groups, E will be a total dogfight as I mentioned, as Mexico and SK are the stronger teams but Tunisia (lots of immigrants living in Europe) and Switzerland will have the home-field advantages; Italy's group is a joke; Brazil, Holland, Argentina, France, Germany, and the Czechs all look to have fairly smooth sailing as well. As for the other CONCACAF teams, Trinidad looks to be pretty much done as they're the weakest team in their group by far, Costa Rica is probably the underdog to finish 2nd in their group but is definitely good enough to beat out Poland, although neither is in England's class. You have to think Poland has the edge there both in talent (albeit perhaps very slightly) and familiarity with the group's top dog (who they've played quite a few times in recent years).
GROUP A: Germany, Ecuador, Japan, Portugal
GROUP B: Italy, Ghana, Iran, Ukraine
GROUP C: France, Togo, Saudi Arabia, Czech Republic
GROUP D: England, Angola, Costa Rica, Poland
GROUP E: Mexico, Tunisia, South Korea, Switzerland
GROUP F: Brazil, Ivory Coast, Serbia, Holland
GROUP G: Spain, Paraguay, USA, Croatia
GROUP H: Argentina, Australia, Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden
Hard group for the US but not impossibly so--along with E (Mexico's group), by far the most evenly-matched group across all 4 teams. Honestly any 2 teams could qualify without surprising many people. That said I like our chances--I'd say we're the #2 team on raw talent (although not by much); Spain is beatable; Paraguay and Croatia are not the teams they were in the late 90s. The US isn't a lock to qualify by any means but you have to like our chances.
Looking at the other groups, E will be a total dogfight as I mentioned, as Mexico and SK are the stronger teams but Tunisia (lots of immigrants living in Europe) and Switzerland will have the home-field advantages; Italy's group is a joke; Brazil, Holland, Argentina, France, Germany, and the Czechs all look to have fairly smooth sailing as well. As for the other CONCACAF teams, Trinidad looks to be pretty much done as they're the weakest team in their group by far, Costa Rica is probably the underdog to finish 2nd in their group but is definitely good enough to beat out Poland, although neither is in England's class. You have to think Poland has the edge there both in talent (albeit perhaps very slightly) and familiarity with the group's top dog (who they've played quite a few times in recent years).