By position rank the top 3 teams.

[rizzuto123]

Goalies:

1.Germany.....lehman,kahn
2.Brazil....dida, julio cesar
3.Spain...top goales at top clubs, Casillas,Canizares,Reina

Defence
1.Italy...Nesta and Cannavaro, two of the best, Zambrotta, great Rb
2.England...Campbell,a.cole,ferdinand,Neville,Terry
3.Serbia...broke records in qualifying with 8 clean sheets, and allowed only one goal, also vidic is a machine

Mid-field
1.Brazil....best midfield, ronaldinho,kaka,emerson,ze roberto
2.England...gerard,lampard,beckham(who played amazing yesterday),cole
3.Portugal....Proven winners with players at top clubs around europe, deco,figo,maniche,c.ronaldo

Forwards
1.France.....Henry,Saha,Trezeguet,Cisse
2.Italy...Toni,Totti,Del piero,Inzaghi,Gilardino
3.Holland....Robben,Van nistelrooy,van persie,Kuijt

[goliath74]

Goalies:

1.Germany
2.Brazil
3.Spain

Defence
1.Italy
2.England
3.Serbia

Mid-field
1.Brazil
2.England
3.Portugal

Forwards
1.France
2.Italy
3.Holland

Any explanation how you arrived at these rankings? The criteria? The methodology?

[Delirious]

Goalies:

1. Germany
2. Spain
3. France

Defence

1. Italy
2. England
3. Spain

Mid-field

1. Brazil
2. England
3. Germany

Forwards

1.Brazil
2.France
3.England/Germany

[Sempre]

Something more like this maybe?

'Keepers:

1. Spain
2. Italy
3. France

Defense:

1. England
2. Italy
3. France

Midfield:

1. Argentina
2. Brasil
3. Portugal

Forwards:

1. Brasil
2. France
3. Italy

[Sempre]

Why on earth are people saying Germany has the best 'keepers?
Casillas/ Valdes/ Canizares and Buffon/ Amelia/ Peruzzi are better
as a trio than Kahn/ Lehman/ and Hildebrand.

[Coniga]

Goalies:

1. Spain (Casillas, Canizares
2. Italy (Buffon)
3. Germany (Lehmanm, Kahn)

Defence

1. Italy (Nesta, Cannavaro and Zambrotta, all in top10 in the world.
2. Croatia (Have no star defenders, but the defence is always solid.)
3. Spain (Puyol, what a inspire)

Mid-field
1. Brazil (Very balanced with Emerson and Ze Roberto as more defending and Ronnie and Kaka as attacking)
2. Argentina (Cambiasso, Veron, Riquelme, Sorin, need to say more?)
3. England (Very good players but a little bit unbalanced)

Forwards
1. Argentina (Full of stars player, they have routin (Crespo), talent (Messi) and others huge stars)
2. Sweden (Larsson is always good and Ibrahimovic is hugely unpredictle. No more stars than that, but Rosenberg will maybe surprise.
3. Brazil (Adriano and Ronaldo, mmm)

[Colm]

Goalkeepers

1. Italy
2. Spain
3. France

Defenders

1. Italy
2. England
3. Spain

Midfielders

1. Argentina
2. Brazil
3. Spain

Fowards

1. Brazil
2. Argentina
3. France

[levineto]

Goalkeeper
1 - Spain
2 - Italy
3 - Holland

Defence
1 - Italy
2 - Serbia and Montenegro
3 - England

Midfield
1 - Brazil
2 - England
3 - italy

Forward
1 - Brazil
2 - Italy
3 - Argentina

[STHLM]

Why on earth are people saying Germany has the best 'keepers?
Casillas/ Valdes/ Canizares and Buffon/ Amelia/ Peruzzi are better
as a trio than Kahn/ Lehman/ and Hildebrand.

Why on earth are you questioning their opinion? The German trio definently belong in the top three at the very least in my opinion.

[Sempre]

Why on earth are you questioning their opinion? The German trio definently belong in the top three at the very least in my opinion.

That assumes that Kahn is still world-class and Lehman reliable;
and I don't think either assumption true.

[jambon-beurre]

Goalkeeper
1 - Spain
2 - Italy
3 - Germany

Defence
1 - Italy
2 - France
3 - England

Midfield
1 - Brazil
2 - England
3 - Argentina

Forward
1 - Brazil
2 - France
3 - Netherlands

[goliath74]

Why on earth are people saying Germany has the best 'keepers?
Casillas/ Valdes/ Canizares and Buffon/ Amelia/ Peruzzi are better
as a trio than Kahn/ Lehman/ and Hildebrand.

I'll take both Lehman and Kahn over any one of the goalkeepers you listed. Buffon is close.

Kahn is still world class and Lehman is extremely reliable.

[DVN_]

2. Argentina (Cambiasso, Veron, Riquelme, Sorin, need to say more?)




hmmmmmm :rolleyes:

[Big balls]

Keepers

1. Czech ( are you people crazy and why am I the first one to even mention Czech ?)
2. Germany
3. Spain

Defenders

1 Italy
2. Brazil (instead of going by old merits, take a good look at the 06 defending line, it's extremely solid)
3. England

Midfield

1. Brazil
2. England
3. Holland

Forwards

1. France
2. Sweden
3. Brazil

[Monte_Cristo]

Keepers

1. Spain
2. Czech
3.

Defenders

1. Italy
2. Mexico
3. England

Midfield

1. Brazil
2. England
3. Argentina

Forwards

1. Brazil
2. France
3. Italy

[Carlillos2theMex]

GK
Italy
Germany
Spain

D
Italy
England
Spain

M
Brazil
England
Argentina

F
France
Italy
Sweden

[Big balls]

Something more like this maybe?

'Keepers:

1. Spain
2. Italy
3. France

Defense:

1. England
2. Italy
3. France

Midfield:

1. Argentina
2. Brasil
3. Portugal

Forwards:

1. Brasil
2. France
3. Italy

Criticizing a mod might be a bad idea but is that list meant as a joke ?, nothing makes sense. No Germany GK ?, Czech GK ?, Portugal has a stronger midfield than England ?. Argentina has a stronger midfield than Brazil ?. Adriano and Ronaldo are your top forward pair ?. I do believe Ronaldo will be the top scorer in the cup but that is because....

1. Brazil will score a lot of goals in the group

2. Brazil will go far

3. Ronaldo has the cup's greatest midfield behind him.

There are better attackers than Ronaldo but he will have to score again and again when considering these factors.

[juanse_moncayo]

GK
Italy
Germany
Spain

D
Italy
England
Argentina

M
Brazil
England
Argentina

F
France (Henry)
Italy (Toni)
Brazil (RONALDO, Do I need to say more?)

[Sempre]

Is that list meant as a joke?

No, it's not.

nothing makes sense. No Germany GK? Czech GK?

The Czechs don't have much depth after Cech. Germany is in the
top five for GKs, perhaps, but Kahn is no longer world-class and Jens
is a bit unreliable as a starting 'keeper. I'd prefer the depth of Spain
(Casillas, Valdes, Canizares) and the class of 'keepers Italy and the
French can call upon (Buffon, Peruzzi, Coupet, Barthez, etc.). Just
my opinion, feel free to disagree.

Portugal has a stronger midfield than England? Argentina has a stronger midfield than Brazil?

England may have better midfielders individually, but Portugal's midfield
works better. Beckham is possibly a weakness because of his lack of
pace and indiscipline, and Gerrard and Lampard won't work together unless
Sven can find a holding mid to free them. Just think: that holding mid might
be Carragher (!). Deco, Cristiano Ronaldo, and co. are a tighter group imo.
Take a look at the Euro 2004 match and compare the midfields.

As for Argentina - they're the best passing team in the world. Riquelme,
Camibasso, Mascherano - these guys can move the ball around all day.
It helps having the best passer in the world on your team. ;)

Adriano and Ronaldo are your top forward pair? I do
believe Ronaldo will be the top scorer in the cup but that is because....

1. Brazil will score a lot of goals in the group

2. Brazil will go far

3. Ronaldo has the cup's greatest midfield behind him.

There are better attackers than Ronaldo but he will have to score again
and again when considering these factors.

Brazil play with four forwards: Adriano, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and Robinho.
That's the best forward line in the world and is a key factor in why Brazil
will score so much: they have great forwards. :)

[Ebbelwoi]

...Barthez...

So you call Lehmann a liability? :eek: :rolleyes: