LOL you know Juventus is known for fishy things as well by the way? In the last few seasons, Juventus themselves have been in relationships with a number of the Serie A refs in terms of fixing matches.
Not sure what you're getting at. Its not like the hosts got an easy group last time (nor in WC 2010 for that matter).
2010 was not rigged. That was a fair draw. Well in 2014 no their group wasn't that easy, but keep in mind Mexico and Croatia were not in great form prior to the World Cup and and were not expected to do well at all. They were really underperforming before but surprised at the World Cup. And boy were Croatia robbed vs Brazil. That game was just horrendous. Clearly rigged. Mexico were also disallowed 2 legit goals against Cameroon.
Mexico should have won that group. Also, before the draw took place and before we knew what cities Mexico would be playing in...Mexican travel agency was already selling travel packages that would be on a cruise ship. You would be traveling from city to city on a cruise ship. And what happened? Mexico was drawn into its position allowing them to go port to port on a cruise ship. Natal, Fortaleza, Recife. All in Northern Brazil. Hmmmm.
Breaking news: Brasil has a long coastline! Nine of the host cities were either right on the coast or within a short bus trip from the coast. And that excludes Manaus which I assume is fairly accessible by boat given that it sits along the biggest river in the world. But why let facts get in the way of a good conspiracy theory?
To be honest Brazil shouldn't have even advanced. Mexico should have won that group, and I am convinced if Brazil vs Croatia was done correctly, Croatia would have beaten them. Brazil was really not that strong in that World Cup. This is the events that occurred in the game: 1. Croatia leads 1-0 2. Neymar elbows Modric really hard, should have been sent off 3. Olic was running in a counterattack and Alves trips him (People say he should have been sent off, but he should have at least gotten a yellow, and a free kick awarded for Croatia. Nothing was given which is what led to Brazil's first goal). 4. Neymar equalized before half time. Score is 1-1. 5. Half Time: Brazil 1-1 Croatia 6. Lovren is just behind Fred in the penalty box, and Fred clearly dives. Lovren did not even touch him. Penalty to Brazil rewarded. 7. Brazil scores the penalty. 2-1 Brazil. 8. Perisic equalizes, and the goal is called off for some odd reason. Maybe foul on the goalkeeper, but there was not even contact. Goal should have stood. 9. Ramiras kicks Rakitic in stoppage time which makes him fall and lose the ball. Nothing is given which allows Ramiras to keep going and feeds the ball to Oscar who scores the third goal. 10. Oscar makes it 3-1 Brazil 11. Full Time: Brazil 3-1 Croatia While there was controversy in many World Cup games. That game was clearly rigged. Unacceptable officiating. One or two of those might be acceptable, but so many incidents in that game. Refs make mistakes, and I really hate to blame the refs, but this game I just had to. It was atrocious. Its hard to say what would have happened if the game was officiated properly, but considering how the teams were playing I think a 2-1 win for Croatia would have been a good guess.
I'd say this is a good guess if the draw is rigged: Group A: Russia, Peru, Egypt, Australia Group B: Germany, Colombia, Sweden, Saudi Arabia Group C: Brazil, England, Denmark, Japan Group D: Portugal, Mexico, Iceland, Morocco Group E: Argentina, Spain, Costa Rica, Nigeria Group F: Belgium, Croatia, Senegal, South Korea Group G: Poland, Uruguay, Iran, Serbia Group H: France, Switzerland, Tunisia, Panama Not necessarily the exact letters, but I see FIFA doing something similar to those groups. The letters I just did in order to rank, so that would be mixed up more.
I just did a manual draw myself, here is what I got: Group A: Russia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Denmark Group B: France, Iran, Nigeria, Croatia Group C: Portugal, Switzerland, Egypt, Japan Group D: Poland, Iceland, Colombia, Australia Group E: Belgium, Peru, Panama, Sweden Group F: Brazil, England, Senegal, Serbia Group G: Argentina, Spain, Morocco, Costa Rica Group H: Germany, South Korea, Uruguay, Tunisia This draw has a few interesting matchups, but I think I'll take the real draw. I do not like Group E at all, as it would be a walkthrough for Belgium literally. I think the only groups that aren't obvious are Groups A, D, and F.
No matter how the draw turns out someone will claim conspiracy because Team A and Team B are in the same group and/or Team C and Team D somehow managed to avoid each other yet again. Happens every time whether it's World Cup or Champions League.
Switzerland usually gets the easiest group, let's hope that this time they don't get the Russia/Poland/Belgium-Iran-Panama type of group. They have a decent, though not that interesting, squad and can actually advance from a tougher group this time.
They have always had a decent squad honestly. Kind of an underrated team. I put Switzerland around the same level as England, just a little below Portugal.
Exactly. It reminds me of the college basketball forum I go to in March. "well they are just putting Team A and Team B in the same region to create storylines, this thing is rigged" And I'm sitting there thinking "well you can basically take ANY two teams and create a story line" lol