With seven days (!) till the World Cup kicks off, here are seven predictions for the tournament. Please share your own, and later we can compare notes--and see how dreadfully wrong or presciently right we were. #7 - Messi to win Golden Boot. #6 - Breakout players/ first-time at World Cup: Paul Pogba, Marco Verratti, Ross Barkley. #5 - Biggest surprises: Belgium and France. #4 - Biggest disappointments: Germany (injuries, lack of "nasties"), Mexico, Holland. #3 - My team: Italy will give all just to survive Group D, but last stop is the Quarterfinals vs. Brazil or Spain. #2 - Best overall players (Golden Ball): Neymar, Messi, Balotelli, Reus, Hazard, Iniesta. #1 - Winner: Brazil. Semi-finalists: Brazil, Argentina, France, Spain.
I don't think that a good performance from Belgium, especially one that finishes before the semis, can really be considered a surprise at this point. I agree that France might make a splash. They have plenty of talent and a very easy draw. I would pick Argentina to win over Brazil. Their attack is terrifying.
I would add Colombia and maybe Chile to the surprise list. I'm not sure about France, their playing style is terrible. Argentina can take it all, but will they make Messi the protagonist or all try to be superstars as usual. The coach is the most important factor here.
Aguero golden boot Reus, Pogba, Sturridge Bosnia biggest surprise disappointment - Us my team, will lose to colombia n extra time in the 2nd round or on penalties to brazil in the quarters after being 2-0 up and Balotelli dominates. Best overall players - Messi { scores winning goal in e.t n final vs germany, maybe the only goal } Di Maria, Aguero, Reus, Klose, Muller,Bastian { if fit } Cavani, Suarez, Oscar, Neymar, Alves, Luiz winner - argentina, germany runner up. brazil lose pk's to germany semis, Uruguay or holland other semi finallist
#7 - Higuain to win Golden Boot. #6 - Breakout players/ first-time at World Cup: Paul Pogba, Pjanic #5 - Biggest surprises: Ecuador, Bosnia #4 - Biggest disappointments: Belgium. I think they are so good right now that something has to go wrong. Also Holland. I think it's very possible they struggle in the group stage #3 - My team: Italy. I had them topping and then going out in the quarters. But now I think that england will find a way to finish first. Italy second. I don't think we have the team to get past the quarters and we might even trip up before then. #2 - Best overall players (Golden Ball): Neymar, Messi #1 - Winner: Struggled a little with this. Logic says Brazil. I have a gut feeling about the Germans. Lately I feel good about Argentina
I'd put 100 on Higuain because I don't care and because Argentina have the easy draw, he could score a lot against Iran
#7 Indestructible said this first, but I agree with him. Higuain to win the Golden Boot. I would have said Suarez however if he was 100% in good health. #6 Breakout players. I am interested to see what Daniel Sturridge will do for England. I watched him at Liverpool this season and I can see why England have high expectations for him. But I truly believe that everyone will be talking about Verratti by the end of this tournament. #5 Surprises. I simply cannot see Belgium having an excellent tournament. Yes, they are talented and a rising team, but World Cup success does not come quickly. I also do not believe that Argentina will be mentally strong enough to win the tournament, which to their supporters will be a disappointment. As a positive surprise, I can see Ivory Coast going further than expected. #4 Biggest disappointment in my opinion will be the Netherlands. Team unity is important, and I do not believe that this generation will ever have that. #3 Italy. This team has a great deal of courage in them, and we have seen them be mentally strong on more than one occasion. Perhaps it is optimism, but I believe we will make it to the semifinals. #2 Best players. Neymar shined in the Confederations Cup, and I do not see this tournament being any different. Whether he will be the best player remains to be seen, but I do believe he will win the Golden Ball. Really, he only needs to score two goals because they want to give him the award. Messi's history in World Cups makes it difficult for me to favor him for this. A number of Spanish players will qualify in my opinion, but will end up with more than one individual "splitting" the vote, as they say. With Ronaldo nicked, I believe he has no chance as well. #1 I would love to say that Brazil will crumble under the expectations. But playing at home is just too big of an advantage. I see them winning the Cup, and myself crying in a glass of Bardolino. *Caro Cuccio - When the tournament is over, please delete this post as it will probably be totally innacurate and I wish to retain some pride. Thank you.*
Okay here are mine.... #7 Mario Balotelli and Ciro Immobile share the golden boot. Score at least 7 goals each. #6 Breakout players: Ciro Immobile, Marco Verratti, Mattia De Sciglio, Matteo Darmien, and Lorenzo Insigne. #5 Biggest Surprise: Italy wins every game by at least two goals and don't concede any. #4 Biggest Disappointment: None when it comes to Italy. Even Aquilani scores a brace against Brazil. #3 My team: Italy wins the group with 9 points, and a goal differential of 10. Chiellini takes out Mr Potato Head in the group stages and makes Sturridge cry. We make the finals and crush Argentina 4-0 to win our Fifth World Cup. Like Rocky IV, the crowd starts chanting Italia and waving our flag in unison. Messi asks if he could join the Italian National team since his ancestors come from somewhere in the south...Lavezzi also...then Palacio...then Campagnaro...then Gago etc... #2 Best Overall Player: Three way tie between Buffon, De Rossi, and Pirlo. Cassano, Candreva, and every other forward is runner-up. #1 Winner: Italy. Who cares about everyone else....
Haha. Curious to see who your all-time world cup team would be, in light of your mild bias there By the way, cool avatar. He's the only director I would consider better than Scorsese.
A pattern??? I was being completely unbiased. Well if I was a writer for ESPN I would need to include at least one American player in my starting XI all time. Either that or rank Rooney above Pirlo, like that ridiculous top 50 list they've been unveiling. Scorsese is great. Strictly english language, I would rank Terrence Malick above him also. Maybe Francis Ford Coppola if we are allowed to ignore his post 70's work. Roman Polanski if you can ignore his post 70's everything, and David Lynch if you like weird. And to get slightly back on topic…The Conformist is my favorite Italian film. Oh and The Passenger is my favorite Italian film not in Italian lol.
To be honest I think he's knackered. Superb player but coming off an absolutely exhausting campaign. Sad to see so many greats injured for the World Cup--Falcao, Reus, Ribery etc. ...
nel calcio come nella vita, o si vince o si muore! I say, Italy wins it all & Cassano is the MVP of tournament !
I also predict Italy will score 3 or 4 goals in the first round. I hope they end up scoring more but that is all I see.
Costa Rica will get slaughtered. I know we dont score a lot of goals but well beat them at least 2-0, if nt 4-0. We have to, 2nd game, well either need to rack up the goals as we lost to england or drew, or well be bouyed from beating them. With Uruguay last we have to have a good result vs costa rica and we may simply need to as it could come down to goal difference. Balo will get a brace if not a hattrick.
I set up the Bracket Predictor on the ESPN site for another forum that I participate in. If anyone is interested, feel free to join along. If you do not have an account with ESPN, you will need to register. If you have one, then go ahead and sign in. These are the particulars ... http://games.espn.go.com/world-cup-...r=MzEwMjg5Nzk=&ex_cid=invite-email-worldcupbp Group: World Forums Password: Brasil2014
#7 - Messi to win Golden Boot. #6 - Breakout players/ first-time at World Cup: Paul Pogba, Marco Verratti, Neymar #5 - Biggest surprises: Italy, Switzerland and Uruguay. #4 - Biggest disappointments: Belgium and the Netherlands #3 - My team: Italy. #2 - Best overall players (Golden Ball): Neymar, Messi, or Diego Costa #1 - Winner: Germany Semi-finalists: Germany vs. Brazil, Argentina vs. Spain.
#7 - Balotelli Golden Boot. #6 - Breakout players/ first-time at World Cup: Paul Pogba, Mateo Kovacic, "the Pescara three" #5 - Biggest surprises: Chile and Greece #4 - Biggest disappointments: Germany (injuries, lack of "nasties"), Mexico, Holland. #3 - My team: Italia: Semifinals. Won't have trouble putting the ball in the net, but injuries might hamper the defence #2 - Best overall players (Golden Ball): Neymar, Muller, Balotelli, Cavani, #1 - Winner: Brazil