Belgium's a dark horse. Lots of talented young players. Lukaku, Hazard, Kompany, Vermaelen, Fellaini, DeBruyne, ...
That is definitely not true. The Germans wanted to play the game very much and went into it highly motivated. The only thing is that because it was not about winning the cup anymore, Löw permitted some of the bench players to start who had not been given much opportunity to play so far in the world cup. This was a gracious gesture from the coach, who had done the same thing in 2006 when they allowed Kahn to play in the last game for Lehman. Apart from that it was a fantastic game as anyone who saw it will attest, both teams played great. Out of three teams who have my highest respect for continually fielding a national team that can compete with the best in the world while drawing from a small population base (Netherlands, Portugal and Uruguay), Uruguay has got to be the most impressive. Showing a total population of just under 3.5 m people (about a seventh of the population of Sao Paulo alone) it is incredible how they do this. But having said and meaning all this, I wouldn't put any money on them being able to even repeat their success of advancing to the semis in WC 2014, although I would be very happy for them if they did.
Of course you are entitled to your hopes and dreams, but I'm afraid this is fairly illusionary. As much as I would like to see the U.S. play a bigger role in world soccer and although the national team always plays with a big heart and can be a very tough opponent for any team in the world on a good day, I believe I'm not being overly harsh when I say that they have not really come any closer to actually winning the world cup since 1994. Since that time, how many more kids have started to play soccer in the streets and parks, how many more kids have taken up competitive soccer at an age higher than 12 and most importantly: How many more U.S. players are playing on teams which are regular contestants in the Champions League or even the Europa League (I know Cherundolo is just about to make a run in the Europa league with Hannover and I'm very happy for him and the team). But I'm afraid any such progress is very limited if at all existing. If you want to talk about countries who have come a ways in world soccer take a closer look and Japan and South Korea.
As a German I feel Germany is being overrated in that poll... Brazil is the host and with their pedigree should be favourite number one by default for this tournament.
I agree. Lots of young talent doesn't always translate into a world class team a few years down the road.
Nothing against Belgium, but they have most of those players now and it looks like they're not even qualifying for the 2012 Euros.
Yeah, they have been struggling but they're in a tough group with Germany and Turkey. Still a very young group.
A tough group indeed. The inherent aim of the Qualifying Round is to determine the current top 16 teams in Europe. Judging from the level of play at least Belgium, Germany and Turkey should definitely be included in the European Top 16 and a good argument could be made for Austria, too. Too bad, really.
Come on, that's a stretch. I think an argument could be made for Belgium to be top 14 (along with about a dozen others), but to say they "definitely" belong in that group is going too far. The fact is, they'd still be in a good position to finish 2nd if they only could have beaten Austria at home and Azerbaijan. So I see no reason to put them on another level above Slovakia, Serbia, Sweden, Greece, Denmark, Croatia, etc. They're at the same level and that's being very generous.
Admitted, it's the same level, although more may yet be expected from this young group, they didn't perform that great. Still, they would have had a better chance in other groups.
I agree with the charrua. BTW, who the hell has New Zealand in the poll and omits Uruguay or Chile? It's very hard to take this seriously... unless this is a Rugby World cup poll.
I would replace Switzerland/Australia/Honduras/New Zealand/USA with Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay, Russia, Belgium, Turkey and maybe even dark horses like Ghana and Japan.
Honestly given the quality of the new generation of Swiss players they have every right to be on the list. Especially ahead of Russia, Belgium and Turkey.
The final is set in stone: Uruguay - Argentina take it to the bank... the only question is: how many brazilians are going to jump off bridges this time around?
im telling you now that Brazil in going to win the final, Neymar and Pato are going to kill the attacking, with Thiago Silva and D.Avles control the back. the only team that have a chance is Germany. When Brazil win 2014 world cup, you will say to yourself the person on bigsoccer site was right.