Favorites to win in Russia' 2018?

Discussion in 'FIFA and Tournaments' started by MIGkiller, Jun 27, 2016.

?

Favorites to win in Russia' 2018

  1. Argentina

  2. Brazil

  3. Chile

  4. England

  5. Germany

  6. Italy

  7. France

  8. Spain

  9. Uruguay

  10. Netherlands

  11. Portugal

  12. Other

  13. Belgium

Multiple votes are allowed.
Results are only viewable after voting.
  1. zahzah

    zahzah Member+

    Jun 27, 2011
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
    I'll just quote: "Argentinians themselves always say they played nobody during that World Cup until the semis when they faced Netherlands."

    I'm not saying Argentina didn't deserve to get to the final, just that they struggled to do so and it wasn't easy sailing.

    BTW: For what its worth Bosnia gave Argentina much more of a run for the money than Belgium. Argentina struggled to contain them.
     
  2. zahzah

    zahzah Member+

    Jun 27, 2011
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
    OK. I understand now what you meant. Even if that does paint Argentinians as being disrespectful to others.

    Not as easy a path as Portugal to the Euro final, but sure. You have somewhat of a point.
     
  3. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    I don't think its a coincidence that the teams that are getting to the finals of these major tournaments are the same ones who are getting the easiest path (people keep mentioning Argentina and Portugal, but same holds for France and Germany). There is no 1 or 2 stand-out NTs right now like there was in, say, 1997-2002 or 2008-2012.

    There are about 8 NTs at roughly the same level so I think the ones getting to major finals will continue to be those that get the easiest draws. At least until another 1 or 2 standout NTs emerge again. I don't see that happening before 2018 though so I think the 2018 WC draw will be absolutely critical!
     
  4. zahzah

    zahzah Member+

    Jun 27, 2011
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
    France 2016 OK. Everyone else killed each other so in order to get to the final France only had one tough game vs Germany, where they were outplayed but managed to scrape through. Other than that Ireland and Iceland...

    But Germany 2014 did not have an easy route. They had the group of death with Portugal, Ghana (who played their best game at the tournament vs Germany and almost won the game), USA then followed by Algeria, France, Brasil and then Argentina. They made easy work of Brasil and Portugal, but to claim they had an easy route is just so not true. They had one of the hardest routes of any World Cup champion in history. They made it look easy (coincidently only really struggling vs Ghana and Algeria).
     
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  5. Pipiolo

    Pipiolo Member+

    Jul 19, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina


    Glad that you remember me from way back when, guess I must have made an impression. I for my part had no idea about you, that's how inconsequential and sorry you are.

    You will always lose a soccer smack down against me, just like Belgium to their betters (aka Argentina).

    [QUOTE="Blondo, post: 34798666, member: 231207"
    [​IMG][/QUOTE]

    Congrats Chile, they showed the resolve to beat Argentina in two finals. I believe the Chilean FA is giving tours for the holiday season, may be the only way a Belgian ever gets close to an international trophy.
     
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  6. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    Group of death my ass! Portugal weren't at full strength, while USA and Ghana are average teams (not at their peak either that year). The second-place team got dominated by Belgium in the R16, that tells you how "tough" the group was.
    They also got a big break with Brasil reaching the semis minus Neymar and Silva. Probably the weakest final 4 team since WC 2002 in terms of their starting XI on the day.
     
  7. zahzah

    zahzah Member+

    Jun 27, 2011
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
    Yes, it was.

    OK, Portugal wasn't at full strength, but even then they should not have been rolled over as they were. Even not at full strength it was a strong squad.
    Ghana an average team? Sure, the internal strife toppled their campaign but for what its worth they were the only team that played like equals vs Germany though. Ghana showed up for one game in 2014 and that was vs Germany, they didn't against Portugal and to a lesser extent USA. And Germany basically salvaged a point from that game.
    I agree however that USA was just too easy for them.

    But even if you ignore the group phase then even a Neymar-less Brasil is not a weak team, France were not a weak team and as it turned out Algeria wasn't a pushover either. Add to that Argentina.

    All in all I can't imagine Germany having a tougher run. They played all the best teams at the tournament (France, Brasil, Argentina) minus maybe Holland and came up on top.

    No. Simply no. Germany did not have an easy route, they just made it look easier than it really was. They had a bit of luck with Ronaldo, Neymar or Thiago Silva, but honestly - what teams would you have put in their path to make their route to the final tougher? I honestly can't think of any. Maybe Chile instead of Algeria.
     
    Dage repped this.
  8. Pipiolo

    Pipiolo Member+

    Jul 19, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    Chile (or Colombia) instead of Brazil.
     
  9. Blondo

    Blondo Member+

    Sep 21, 2013
    Why would I remember you ... your join-date is right there below your name, you genius :ROFLMAO:

    "a soccer smack down" ... :confused::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

    Congrats Chile, they showed the resolve to beat Argentina in two finals. I believe the Chilean FA is giving tours for the holiday season, may be the only way a Belgian ever gets close to an international trophy.[/QUOTE]

    Chile broke that failed HGH experiment ... looks like a crap Bieber now.

    Rage-quitting, having to pay taxes, being convicted of fraud, taking as much drugs as a moody midget can handle while puking his guts out yet losing again and again and again. Despite adding an extra moneygrab for Messi to win ... that no team took seriously, except the argies ... he didn't show up 3 years in a row. In Brazil he went AWOL after a very soft group stage. ADM's injury was a much bigger loss for the argies and Mascherano usually was their best player. Why bother sticking around here ... open a thread in World Rivalries ... here's a few pics to get you started.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
    artielange84 repped this.
  10. zahzah

    zahzah Member+

    Jun 27, 2011
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
    You mean the Colombia that was outplayed by Brazil in the 1/4 final and resorted to a fist fight to stand a chance?
     
  11. thedragonrik58

    thedragonrik58 Member+

    Los Angeles Football Club
    Mexico
    Jul 5, 2011
    Palmdale
    Club:
    CD Chivas USA
    Nat'l Team:
    Mexico
    I don't know what the fvck happened to Colombia in that quarterfinal, they completely dominated their opponents before that game. It's like they saw the name Brazil and shit their pants.

    Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk
     
    zahzah repped this.
  12. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    "Easy" is a judgement call but it wasn't tougher than average, IMO. We will never agree on this though because, in part, you rate African teams much higher than I do. And Germany met 2 CAF teams en-route to the final so how highly someone rates those teams really tips the balance on whether it was a tough route or fairly easy one.

    I am surprised at how highly you rate a Brazilian side with Bernard and Dante in there instead of Neymar and Silva. Who was supposed to score goals for Brasil? Who was going to do the defending? Their goalkeeper was English second-division caliber, so can't expect him to save the day either.
     
  13. zahzah

    zahzah Member+

    Jun 27, 2011
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
    Algeria and Ghana do not determine the toughness of Germany's path. France, Brasil and Argentina do however.
    That said I think anyone can agree Algeria and Ghana gave Germany a very strong run for their money with very good performances against them in particular.

    As for USA: I don't think its controversial. Germany absolutely outplayed USA.

    Dante of Bayern Munich is supposedly poor? Wow, talk about a ridiculous argument. Sure, he's not Thiago Silva, but we're talking about a downgrade to a player who as a starter for one of the top 3 clubs in the world. Sure, Bernard was crap.
    But Brasil is a World Cup legend team, they were hosts, have multiple world class players. Not the best Brasilian team ever? Sure, obviously.

    But your argument is self-defeating given there were no stronger teams at the World Cup. Brazil beat both Chile and Colombia, so those teams are out of the argument.

    The only path that could have been harder for Germany would be Chile instead of Algeria or being in group B (instead of Spain).

    The idea that Germany had an easy path to the World Cup final in 2014 is just absolutely baseless. If the path seemed easy it was only because Germany was so good.
     
  14. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    No its not self-defeating. You're assuming that just because Team A beat Team B, then Team A is better.

    That itself is actually a self-defeating argument because if that were true then everyone would have a tough draw. For e.g. one could then argue that France had a tough draw in 2016 because they got Ireland who beat Italy. Then they got Iceland who beat England and the Netherlands.

    Plus Brasil would never have gotten that far without Neymar. He was their only good goalscorer.

    "legend team" ? Doesn't matter what they did 30 years ago or even 10 years ago. Talent-wise they're a team that can't make any noise in the Copa America or World Cup lately.

    "multiple world class players"? Perhaps. Like maybe 2 or 3. But overall their starting XI had so many holes in it. Topped off with a poor manager.

    It was easier than their Euro 2016 draw.
     
  15. zahzah

    zahzah Member+

    Jun 27, 2011
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
    The knockout phase was marginally tougher, sure (a Spain in freefall, a rebounding Italy and a developing France). But the group stage at the World Cup was much harder, ergo overall it was tougher at the World Cup.

    We won't agree on this and your arguments don't convince me in the slightest, so lets agree to disagree and leave it
     
  16. Pipiolo

    Pipiolo Member+

    Jul 19, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    :laugh:
     
  17. AlbertCamus

    AlbertCamus Member+

    Colorado Rapids
    Sep 2, 2005
    Colorado, USA
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    The peculiarity of the the international game is that player's can't switch teams so lots of good players have missed out on World Cups due to the decisisions of coaches or the smallness of their country. Cantona was dropped by France prior to the 1998 WC. George Best (Northern Ireland) and George Weah (Liberia) were both from countries that are too small to likely qualify. I always thought Dwight Yorke would never play in the World Cup but then Trinidad and Tobago qualified at the end of his career. My point is Messi wouldn't be a first- George Best would be a comparison.
     
  18. thedragonrik58

    thedragonrik58 Member+

    Los Angeles Football Club
    Mexico
    Jul 5, 2011
    Palmdale
    Club:
    CD Chivas USA
    Nat'l Team:
    Mexico
    Alfredo Di Stefano as well.

    Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk
     
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  19. thedragonrik58

    thedragonrik58 Member+

    Los Angeles Football Club
    Mexico
    Jul 5, 2011
    Palmdale
    Club:
    CD Chivas USA
    Nat'l Team:
    Mexico
    I believe Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will be another one of those.

    Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk
     
    AlbertCamus repped this.
  20. GunnerMan8705

    GunnerMan8705 Member

    Oct 3, 2016
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Brazil on a roll, a loss for Argentina to Colombia and they in some trouble...
     
    zahzah repped this.
  21. AlbertCamus

    AlbertCamus Member+

    Colorado Rapids
    Sep 2, 2005
    Colorado, USA
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Good call. Also, how did I overlook,
    Zlatan Ibrahimović

     
  22. thedragonrik58

    thedragonrik58 Member+

    Los Angeles Football Club
    Mexico
    Jul 5, 2011
    Palmdale
    Club:
    CD Chivas USA
    Nat'l Team:
    Mexico
    Zlatan played in both 2002 and 2006. [emoji15]

    Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk
     
  23. zahzah

    zahzah Member+

    Jun 27, 2011
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
    Thankfully for them Chile and Colombia drew, Ecuador lost, so their lost meant no real distance between 3rd and 6th.

    Also Paraguay lost at home to Peru, so Argentina manages to stay in 6th. It also does get easier for Argentina from his point on, albeit they still have Uruguay and Ecuador away plus Chile at home. Bolivia away always a big risk as well...

    Uruguay also on quite the roll.
     
  24. MNNumbers

    MNNumbers Member

    Jul 10, 2014
    Argentina path from here:
    Colombia (home), Chile (home), Bolivia (away), Uruguay (away), Venezuela (home), Peru (home), Ecuador (away)

    On current form, I would think they struggle next Tuesday.
    Then they get a big break of 4 months, which should be good for them. If they get 4 pts from the March window, I think they will be ok. If not... Trouble.

    It could be that the last Ecuador game ends up deciding the 5th spot.
     
  25. zahzah

    zahzah Member+

    Jun 27, 2011
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
    And Ecuador away is the worst possible decider given their Quito record...
     

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