[kanasai100]

Teams

A (Excellent)
Brazil- World cup champions. The best team in this tournament
Germany- Unexpected run to the final, because of Kahn
Senegal- Good performance as a newcomer. Beat France the ex-champions
Turkey- Show good teamwork and determination as a team. Good goalkeeper Rutsu


B (Very Good)
England- Good defence but has over-rated stars
Japan- Second timer, good hosts, went into the second round and lose with dignity.
Korea- Good athletes but cannot win the games without help from referees
Spain- Show that the are not under-performers this time, but lose out due to bad referee decisions
USA- Good athletes. Won Mexico and give Germany a scare.

C (Good)
Belgium- Show determination to win especially when playing with Russia
Costa Rica- Give Brazil a good fight despite being a small team
Denmark- Win France, but lose badly to England
Ecuador- Have win one match being a newcomer
Ireland- Give Spain a good fight
Mexico- Young team, nice goal when playing with Italy
Paraguay- Give Slovenia a good fight and went into second round
Sweden- Show good teamwork but play too defensively

D (Average)
Cameroon- Good athletes, but had no luck
Croatia- Win Italy but their fairy tale does not continue, show up its age
Italy- Play too defensively, think they can win with 1-0
Portugal- A team with over-rated players that cannot perform except in the match with Poland
Russia- Had a good opening game but fade away in the subsequent matches
South Africa- Win Slovenia, draw with Paraguay and came in 3rd in the group
Uruguay- Play an exciting match with Senegal and give France a good fight

E (Poor)
Nigeria- Lost two matches but keep England to a goal-less draw
Poland- Lost two matches, but give USA a hard fight
Tunisia- Lost two matches, but give Belgium a good match

F (Fail)
Argentina- The most under-performing team. Players are tired and impatient
China- Lose all 3 matches and scored no goals
France- The biggest joke in this World Cup
Saudi Arabia- The worst performing team in this world cup
Slovenia- Lose all 3 matches but scored two goals

[soccerfan220]

Cool. But i would swap Ireland and Japan. I thought Ireland were really good in the WC and gave it their all. Japan tried, but weren't very good. Also, I would put Portugal nad Cameroon in the Porr section. Both those teams were expected to get to the quarters/semis and really underachieved.

[AFCA]

Have you ever heared of 'bad form'? That can happen. Portugal is still a very strong side.

[silahsiz kuvvet]

I agree with your ratings

[Nobby]

A great assessment, Kanasai100! Maybe a little harsh on Argentina, but they were expected to win the whole thing, weren't they?

[mr magoo]

Originally posted by silahsiz kuvvet
I agree with your ratings

i second tht agreement

[Sachin]

Was Senegal's performance the best by a debutant?

Not counting the first World Cup of course.

Sachin

[Bauser]

Originally posted by Sachin
Was Senegal's performance the best by a debutant?

Not counting the first World Cup of course.

Sachin

Croatia in 1998 wasn't bad either.

[lanman]

Originally posted by Sachin
Was Senegal's performance the best by a debutant?

Not counting the first World Cup of course.

Sachin

I would exclude the first two World Cups, as most European teams did not compete in 1930.

Portugal were the most impressive debutants reaching the semi-finals in 1966. Wales in 1958 reached the quarter finals, losing 1-0 to Brazil (giving them by far their toughest game) even though they were missing their star player John Charles. North Korea also reached the quarter finals in their debut tournament in 1966.
I don't really count Croatia, as they were formally part of Yugoslavia, and many of their players had previous World Cup experience.

[Don Homer]

Reached q/fs on debut:

R. of Ireland (1990)
N. Ireland (1958)