England has high chances to finnish second, I do believe Sweden is going to win the group. Beware, Paraguay will be a tough challenge.
Hey frenil, when this guy makes the absurd statement that Zlatan is better than any of the England strikers, you're damn right I am gonna step in and squash that argument......I can not wait until the World Cup, then you will see what kind of squad England has, and you will witness the Genius of Wayne Rooney....
Let'se see some facts here. In the last World Cup Sweden managed to win a group with Argentina, England and Nigeria. 2 years later in Euro 2004, Sweden was in a group with Italy, Denmark and Bulgaria. We won that group again. When will you understand that Sweden is a capable team that shouldn't been taking lightly? Or do you put a spin on everything?
Any proper fan understands that Sweden are a very capable team, hence us not being able to beat you (Sweden) since Georgey scored against Benfica.
definitely agree. paraguay, should santa cruz be healthy, should not be taken lightly. their defense isnt the same as it once was, but their players all have plenty of experience. i definitely think this group is a bit wide open. 3 way race for sure with trinidad giving the teams some trouble...
IMO Zlatan is better than both Owen and Rooney. If you don't agree fine. Owen wasn't able to cut it at real madrid and rooney plays for a manchester team that would have a very hard time against juventus. It has been said that Ibrahimovic is Juventus most important player. Also Zlatan was voted best foreign player in Seria A last year iirc.
It's going to be tough but Sweden or England should win it. England has a better midfield and defence than Sweden but Sweden have a better goalkeeper and strikeforce so it's pretty even. I cannot wait to watch that game. Paraguay seem to be weaker than last world cups and should not cause too much problems and T & T haven't much of a chance, sadly, to advance but hopefully they will cause trouble for Paraguay & England. Go socawarriors!
get your facts right, Owen was Real Madrid best goalscoring ratio with 12 goals and mostly as a sub for christ sake. and as for Rooney, don't get me wrong Ibrahimavic is class but for me Rooney is something else. Rooney is special, real special, he showed that at the euro 2004 and he'll show it at world cup 2006.
And at Madrid Owen had Ronaldo and the untouchable Raul infront of him. Whenever he played he always seemed to score. Rooney is the key player for England, without him i think we will struggle.
Without wanting to start a slagging match or anything, anyone who thinks that Rooney and Ibrahimavic are in the same class need to get their head examined. If there are any of you still in doubt, ask yourselves this question; Would Rooney or Ibrahimavic play for and be picked by every top-class manager/coach in the world?. The answer is obvious, so don't ponder over it for too long.
Brilliant facts Colm! This guy is just talking out his arse....Owen had a great goal ratio with Real, when he got to play. And was probably the number 1 "super sub" in the league.. When you play for a team that has Ronaldo and Raul, well it's obvious that the playing time will not be as high.... Owen scores goals, period. As for Rooney, you could poll every coach in the world who they would rather have on their team, Rooney or Zlatan, and the percentage would be OVERWHELMINGLY in Rooney's favor... Rooney is Greatness, and you are right, he will show it at W.C. 2006
Robinson good player, but better than Isaksson, nah. As i said earlier in this discussions, the biggest problem the english have is that they seriously overrate their players. 'We have worldclass players over here over there does not matter which sport'..., Someone mentioned winning the Rugby World Cup, for this guy (not the guy i am quoting above) if you are the top draw in Rugby how come the Lions (the best players in GB and Ireland) lost against a regional team in NZ the Mauri? Secondly, just to confirm on paper you have a top draw team, I have never denied it, on paper you have a world class team, but does it make you world beaters? Actually I can really see that you have produced so much better results than us lately... You might produce the top draw players (with 50 million people and football a religion it would be strange if you didn't) but why have you not managed to win the wc if you are so great..! Believe me, having the pleasure of seeing to cultures do open your eyes, and your main problem has always been the arrogancy that surrounds your team, media and SOME supporters.... not dragging all english down.... Typical example was last world cup when english media AND supporters were talking about the potential treat of Nigeria and Argentina typically dismissing Sweden even thou you have difficulties in playing us.... You Rooney believers wake up, he is a great player but he alone will not make you WC.... Finally I would just like to talk about Cricket, who cares about Cricket expect Britain and some countries from the Commonwealth... wake up... sorry for offending "cricket lovers" but thats my personal opinion... Some quick facts: England 1990 - Semifinal Sweden 1990 - Group stage England 1992 - Group Stage Sweden 1992 - Semi final England 1994 - did not qualify Sweden 1994 - 3rd place England 1996 - Semi final Sweden 1996 - Did not qualify England 1998 - QF Sweden 1998 - Did not qualify England 2000 - Group Stage Sweden 2000 - Group Stage England 2002 - QF Sweden 2002 - 1/16 England 2004 - QF Sweden 2004 - 1/16 Yes you truly have produced better than us, but is it a hugh different? Nah not really, don't consider yourself to be world beater when you are have produced far from the likes of Germany, Brazil, Argentina and Italy because that is truly arrogancy..
How arrogant can you be, mate the guy is writing in his second language i would like to see you try writing in Swedish, honestly wake up man!
Larsson has the best goal scoring ratio at Barcelona if i recall correctly. Does that make him better than Ronaldinho? its a nice fact but it is not the ultimate measure of skill. Your point about the poll is really laughable! there is no such poll and even if there was I don't think you are right. It has been known that if Fabio Capello, one of the worlds top managers was to go to Real Madrid he would take Ibrahimovic with him because he is such a special talent. Capello knows how important Zlatan is to the success of Juventus.
They are obviously very different kinds of players, and I am not sure that more managers would choose Rooney over Ibrahimovic. Ok, I will go get my head examined now..
...good point Mellon. Many of the users on BigSoccer do not use English as their first language. If anyone would like to take a pop at a user if he/she makes a spelling/grammatical mistake, then please try and post a comment in their language and see how well you can do it. Please respect all users and keep this debate focused on football. Regards.
how absurd branding people arragont, then end with highely ignorant comment. cricket is played in 10 countries with a combined population on 1.5 billion people! you need to "wake up"
So the Swedes think Isaksson is better or on the same level as Robinson, and that Ibrahimovic is the same level as Rooney? Hilarious and you have the nerve to post garbage like that and call other people arrogant or overrating their players. Looking forward to the World Cup, Sweden will be exposed again as a workmanlike but avearge side, lucky to even make it out of the group. Two defeats to Croatia in qualifying, 1 win in 4 Euro 2004 games - against bottom of the group Bulgaria, 1 win in 4 World Cup 2002 games - against bottom of the group Nigeria and then knocked out by Senegal. The "Facts" speak for themselves there.
In my opinion, you are right Sendo. Sweden are not the best team in the world, but they have the knack of disrupting bigger team's plans, as they will try to do to England's plans of finishing top.
Croatia had to rely on set-pieces (one free-kick and one penalty) to score against Sweden. Sweden finished second in the group with a 30-4 goal difference, of which 2 was the said goals by Croatia and one goal was in the last game against Iceland, a horrible goal it was. Granted, alot of goals came against malta but that's quite irrelevant as there are teams of similar stature in every group. As for the Euro's. Sweden began by winning against Bulgaria by 5-0, the biggest win in the entire Euro. Then Sweden went on to draw both Italy and Denmark. Sweden went out on a shootout against holland, whom they also a couple weeks after the Euro's drew 2-2. Holland who's now, only a year after, considered one of the better teams in the WC. I won't mention the WC '02 since more than half of the players who played then won't be playing this upcoming summer. Also. If you're going to argue about who's the better player atleast show some respect to both players and provide some factual information to back up your statment instead of making it a pissing contest suitible of kids.