Up to now: 1- Spain (#1) 2- Germany (#2) 3- Brazil (#11) 4- Argentina (#3) 5- Belgium (#5) But by WC time: I think Argentina and Germany will be top2 favorites, with Brazil of course as host
Why do you think the next roughly half-a-year will see Germany and Argentina overtake Spain? What's gonna happen? (Not trying to defend Spain, just curious)
how do you rate brazil over argentina when the argies have bested them in recent memory. Its difficult to gauge Uruguay level because they were slaughtered by spain without effort, yet manage to play competitively against brazil and Argentina
Maybe he's looking at age and fatigue/recuperation ... older players might have a harder time enduring the heat & humidity at the World Cup. Buffon also complained that the Italiens didn't have enough rest ... players are pressuring FIFA not to play during the hottest moments of the day (yet then it's prime-time in the European media markets).
SPain NT now have a problem like Brazil of older time ... too many great talents to choose from and who shall be great with whom ... and will fit with coaching tactic! The "right selction" was done well (WC10 to Euro12) but they are going to be older every day ... while other talents had RARELY exposed together ... as a "new great team" ... so ... that's a great dilemma for the coach
1.Spain 2.Germany 3.Brazil 4.Italy 5.Belgium I don't see a clear favorite. Everyone of the national teams above can be the best next year.
My vote is heavily skewed to recent form: 1. Germany 2. Brazil 3. Spain 4. Netherlands 5. tie - Belgium*, Ghana** (not on the list). * Belgium have not been world-beaters, but they've been very consistent. I've seen them play and I've seen their players play for club teams. If they develop the right team chemistry, they should knock off some elite teams and make the WC semifinals. ** Ghana -- I know it's just one game, but either Egypt is that bad (doubtful), or Ghana is suddenly that good. Basically, their incredible individual talents lived up to expectations. 6. Mexico -- just kidding!
Seems pretty crazy to me that of us voters, one in five says Spain is not a top 5 team at the moment (and even more people say Brazil isn't a top 5 team).
Are we talking neutral ground or come 2014 in brazil? If so i would flip flop Spain and Brasil depending on location. 1. spain 2. Brasil 3. Argentina 4. Germany 5. Netherlands/colombia/
The top 4 teams are clearly the ones you mentioned, although how you order them is quite susceptible to argument. And, as you mentioned correctly, there is no side with a clear claim to be the 5th on this list. That 5th team could be an 'upcoming side' like Colombia or Belgium or even Chile, or it might be an established team with pedigree such as Netherlands or Italy or even England? Or perhaps even Uruguay, and if you mention Uruguay, you must also mention Ghana!
I wonder that myself. I voted for both. If it's not hating, then the only possible explanation I can think of is that perhaps some voters are influenced by the whoopings that Barcelona and Real Madrid took against German teams in the UCL semifinals. Perhaps those results lead some to question the current form of the Spanish National Team, since at least half of the squad play for Barca and RM. As for Brazil, maybe some folks blindly look at the FIFA rankings and see Brazil way below the top 5.
because Germany NT deserved a fair share with them ... and look out for the new Argentina NT as another favorite too