Oh you are right, they would be like locals? I rather not play any CONMEBOL side but, being honest, all teams in POT 2 are hard to play. In the end, as long as we dont get Spain, i guess its kinda ok. We honestly could lose to any of them (and beat them too).
Well, even if they're really that bad , they'll have trouble to match number of goals Brazil conceided in 2014 as a host.
Well more so than Peru. But also from the fact that refs are going to use "Uefa reffing"-style, which means less thuggery, mending your mistakes, no help for underdogs etc. than some Conmebol teams have used to, and help teams like Croatia over Peru I think. Second worst, North Korea was worse. That's probably true. Also I don't think they're really the worst, and will probably have a great showing in mind, for Trump.
Only two European teams can be drawed and each from other confederations. So, there is no chance that Colombia, Peru or Uruguay will be in same groups with Argentina and Brazil. I Have feeling that we'll get either England, or Switzerland in the group.
That's actually a much harder group than it sounds. Croatia with Modric, Rakitic, Mandzukic, Perisic.... Egypt has Salah, who has been tearing it up for Liverpool, and also Elneny.... Panama has often been a surprising dark horse in recent years Ideally the easiest drawing we could get IMO would be Switzerland (since our options are limited in this pot, easier than Spain, England, and Croatia), Denmark/Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia.
Oh, i see, i had no idea Egypt was any good and had tagged Panama as quite weak. Lets hope for an easy group this time around, please
Well Panama isn't the greatest (I'd take them before Serbia or Nigeria, for instance) but I would consider them tougher than Saudi Arabia, who are quite poor.... especially if Bauza remain at helm come June. On paper, I'd say the Saudis are the weakest of the 32 participants
I was reading the power ranking for quite some online sites earlier today and most of them had us ranked between 5th and 10th place. So is safe to say that Argentina in I dont know how long (maybe since 2010?) is now NOT A FAVOURITE to win it. In 2014 we were overwhelimingly favourites to win it (along with brazil, but thats cause they were the host nation-and brazil- but the truth is everyone was expecting us to win): we were close. we got to the final. In 2015 we were the absolute favourites to win copa america. Again, final, again, almost. In 2016 we were the absolute favourites to win copa america centenario. Oh well, same story. Always almost made it. Now we are nowhere near the favourites...do you think this will bennefit the players somehow or the pressure will be there because messi, golden generation, last messi tournament, our periodismo deportivo exitista, yada yada yada? Could this non favourites new tag can bennefit us somehow?
Given how likely we will face european oposition from pot 2 in the group stage, im in the mood for a revenge: Argentina-England in group stages! I think it could be great. How long since we faced england?? 2005 i think? I would love this matchup to happen. I dont say it would be easy (it wont) but it would be exciting and nerve wrecking!!! And its about time, tbh
I wouldn't worry about what people have to say where we will be placed. All those rankings are merely subjective.
Argentina Croatia Iceland/Costa Rica Morocco/Australia Will be something I wouldn't mind. I think it will be good balance of good competition that will challenge us. Best case, but I say this cautiously because we would have to deal with the teams bunkering. They'd hope to get points off each other and then sit back and try to get a point against us. Argentina Switzerland Tunisia Saudia Arabia Worst case Argentina Spain Denmark Nigeria
I have a feeling we will get the group of death. Like the hardest most insane group when anything can happen. And we will go through, because Messi.
Panama were mostly the beneficiaries of USA sucking so bad, and still only qualified thanks to a goal that actually never crossed the line. I honestly think they are worse than the previous cycle and don't particularly deserve to be in Russia. I wouldn't worry about them too much. Agreed on Croatia and Egypt though. Denmark is a little dangerous I think as they can score in bunches sometimes.
Here is a simulator if anybody wants to see what group we may get. http://ultra.zone/2018-FIFA-World-Cup-Group-Stage-Draws
It's not that anyone's worried about them per se, it's just that to me it's a no-brainer picking Saudi Arabia before Panama.
I think we will qualify comfortably regardless the draw. We struggled in 2010 qualifier and basically had a very shit team, yet we still won the first 4 matches comfortably.
Getting Panama probably would be similar to facing Jamaica in 1998. When we beat Russia, you could see the big gap in quality despite the narrow scoreline. We're playing in third gear with Messi just walking around and the only survived for long period because because some great goalkeeping. European teams probably just contain to sit back though , like when we played Greece, Serbia ,Switzerland ,Belgium and even Iran. African & Asiam teams in comparison, will trying to press and attack , like when we played Ivory Coast & Nigeria .
I wouldn’t mind being in a group of death. It could perhaps help us grow as a team. A group of life gives you a fall sense of security, even though you could potentially rest your stars in the final match. I’d rather avoid being next to the team that is in group of death. For example, if we are group C and in group D, it’s a group that has France or Spain or Germany or Spain then it could be worrisome since we may have to play them in the R16. Or who knows, one of those teams could be knocked out in the group stages. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Like I said earlier, Argentina was in tough group in 1978 & 1986, also in 2006. In 2010, they were in easy group and when things got tough, they crumbled. In 1978 & 1986 they won the titles while in 1990, 1998, 2006 and 2014, the team only lost narrowly via shootout , gift penalty and late late goal. Look at Holland & Chile, they were in same group with Spain and they destroyed them. Both Chile and Holland only lost via shootout to Argentina and Brazil respectively. As SM said, easy group tend to give a false sense of security.
Yeah, but at the same time an easy group allows the players to arrive more rested to the knockout stage, which is never a negative. And yes, I know that to be the best you have to beat every team and blah blah, but soccer can be peculiar.... you might not necessarily deserve to lose a match, but top rivals can liquidate a game with just one opportunity....... and then you're done for. A group of death might be a more accurate test of mettle, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the more deserving teams will advance either. I'd rather cruise through the beginning and decide our fate later on in the tournament. Besides, I don't know how far the whole false sense of security thing goes -- the players are not dumb, they too know if their rivals were weak or not. Of course the positive of being in a group of death is its potential to generate an increase in confidence and momentum if you overcome it, especially if you beat the other particularly "tough" team like Spain or England in the process (however, one could also argue that this too might generate a "false sense of security", if you win in a bs manner like we did in, say, the recent friendly vs. Brazil). I'm now actually curious.... how many teams placed in a "group of death" actually went on to later win the whole tournament?
Well, Argentina in 1978 (Italy & France) , in 1986 (Italy as reigning champ). In 2006 , we're in group of death and finished 1st and Argentina basically would have beaten Germany if wasnt their own manager. Statistically, they didnt lose a single match. In 2014, Argentina was in pretty tough group although definetely not the toughest. Even if we endup in group of death, you cant say you deserve to win the tournament if you cant even finish at 2nd place in the group. We should at least get 5-6 points at the worst.