What I mean is, based on just the opening match performances, who looks like they could be World Cup finalists? Try to limit your choices to 2.
I went with N. Korea. I'd rather have Germany face the US than North Korea, that's how impressed I was.
watched the usa-north korea match again, and i agree north korea is a bad match-up for the usa... they're defensive pressure took usa out of any concerted attack during the run of play... and usa did NOT exploit an obvious advantage on set plays.... still, it's early, and i think germany can match usa on set plays, while they can't pressure nearly as well as north korea... we need to see what the match-ups are for the elimination phase... if you were germany, you don't want usa or north korea... china is NOT back to where they used to be... gotta see brasil against a better team than new zealand....
Well... the most impressive team so far was Korea. If they can make it to the finals? Not sure. I think the USA didnt play their best football.
I think England and Brazil are setting themselves up nicely for this. Lucky goal from Japan will make the English girls toughen up... We will know alot about Germany when that match is done. If England pulls out a win, they could take it, a Tie will not get them out of group play Still Germany played a weak team, it started to look like a US Friendly without the experimenting and just going for the throat Look for Brazil to get stronger as they play more games...
I still went for the favorites: Germany - USA Korea gave a great performance, but I think they'll burn out before the final...
I also really doubt North Korea will be that good in every game. USA and Germany are still bigger favourites. Korea sure is a candidate now though. Other than that, Brazil could make the final, but they're a real outsider. Norway certainly doesn't seem great, and there's probably no one else. Oh China, i'd put them above Norway.
England's forwards except Smith are horrendous. Some of THE worst finishing of this world cup so far. They need to be more efficient with their chances against Germany. Brazil. I don't know why, but I hate them. Oh wait, I know why. Because they're a bunch of hacks against stronger teams. In the USA friendly, their defenders played like a bunch of thugs. I was sincerely afraid they were trying to intentionally injure someone.
So you want Germany to go home early then? I really think N. Korea's style of play would fit better against Germany (in Germany's favor). The Koreans love throwing numbers forward. Germany's flank play is good, and would be a perfect countering weapon. I can see Prinz put 2 or 3 goals in from services from Gerefrekes and Behringer . The USA on the other hand will be out for blood against Germany, especially after the '03 'incident'. They have a little something special reserved just for Germany...
I picked Germany-Norway. Germany for obvious reasons ... Unless they go down on a PK r golden goal, they'll be in the finals. N. Korea looked good, but you know -- I'm not entirely convinced. I'd like to see them play the rest of their group. And the U.S. -- I don't know. I wish I could say for a fact they'd be in the finals, but the N.Korea thing threw me for a loop. And I chose Norway because I'm hella biased ... And truth be told, they surprised the crap out of me today. Once Canada was up, I just knew this was going to be a WWC99 repeat. But once I saw how the team came together in the second, I started to perk up. So, Germany-Norway.
North korea has surely let everyone stand up and take notice. Norway was superb in the second half against canada. Germany showing no mercy for argentina. China showing their great fighting spirit against denmark. My opinion the champion will come from this 4 teams not usa or sweden.
Every team plays differently against another. You see that in all sports. Some teams just have the other teams number no matter where they stand.
Lol. No, considering that North Korea outplayed the US and seemed fitter and technically more skilled than the US, I think it would be easier to beat the US than North Korea.
The Usa is still impressive and so is NKorea. I think that English players is overrating their own team against a team like Germany. Brazil will get better and better and so will Norway, China is a great team but they wont match up against Norway, Germany, Usa ,Brazil and NKorea. Another team i like is Australia, they are fun to watch. I cant pick just one team so these are the teams that has impressed me most Usa, NKorea, Norway.
north korea's defesnive pressure is just intensity, the willingness to take others out of the match.... defense like that can be a constant.... we will know a lot about germany and england after they play.... and do NOT give up on canada yet, they might be under the radar NOW, but i see them getting on a roll and making the final 8... hot team, with confidence....who knows.... need to see norway and china play before deciding on them
NK's performance against the USA has been the biggest revelation Australia's win over Ghana 4-1. That's pretty impressive if you consider that Ghana and Nigeria are very similar and Nigeria tied Sweden. Nigeria's tie with Sweden. That wasn't expected at all. Germany's win over Argentina. It wasn't the lopsided score, but their attack looked very well sorted out.
Where's Argentina? Any team that gives you eleven goals is good value for your money. I wan to see Argentina WNT vs. Brazil MNT
My choice is for North Korea to be in the finals. The most improved team so far I think is Australia.
This is sort of off-topic, but I don't have thread-starting privileges and I just wanted to say that I have been impressed by New Zealand, my official favorite bad team of the tournament. They lose, but they're just a bunch of kids who look like they're trying really hard. You feel bad for them--they seem well-coached, and their defense hangs together really well for awhile until the floodgates invariably open. And when that happens they look disappointed but they don't blow up at each other either. They're losing with dignity.
which is really important if FIFA decides to expand in the next cup or 2. Every game has been quite competitive and no real David and Goliath matches with exception to Germany Argentina. Of course that day, Goliath stomped another shit hole in Argentina.
I think it's impressive that not one team has clinched a spot in the next round yet, and Brazil is the only 2-0 team in the tournament. (And, yes, for all practical purposes they're in - China would need to beat New Zealand by something like 12-0 to knock them out even if they lost to Denmark.) That starts to make up for the way things started out.