They chose not to do that so they can get called up by Klinsman for the WC. No one was thinking of Mexico. If it wasn't for Mexico earning enough points to stay alive, they wouldn't've qualified. But Mexico qualified due to their own merit. You must remember that usa took 4 points from Mexico, so they hindered more than "helped". The Hex isn't just 1 game, it is 10 per team.
So being cool means riding a team's balls and being biased? And being bitchy to a team means being honest and stating facts? Interesting...
[quote="It's called FOOTBALL, post: 29800355, mem You must remember that usa took 4 points from Mexico, so they hindered more than "helped". The Hex isn't just 1 game, it is 10 per team.[/quote] Very good point. If Panama had scraped up one more point somewhere, say beating a really poor Jamaica squad, Mexico would be on their couches watching instead. They did just enough, even if it was ridiculously close.
My pick for worst team is Costa Rica. Not because they are a worse team than Iran, or my country (Australia), but because they are in the same group as teams I expect to have an attacking World Cup. England, Italy and Uruguay will make the group stage very tough for Los Ticos At the risk of being self-indulgent, Me and a friend of mine have put together a website which allows you to rank all 32 World Cup teams. It's free to join, and you we've put up a prize of $100 for the person who can most accurately rank the teams. You could even create a Big Soccer group to compete amongst yourselves for bragging rights If you're interested, take a look at http://wc14.com.au
I don't know... Costa Rica defends well, plays a very good counter attacking style and is a very compact team they can complicate anyone. Italy and England are big teams but not better than previous years and Uruguay is inconsistent. Plus Uruguay Italy and England will have the pressure of needing to beat Costa Rica in order to qualify and a loss against Costa Rica will look bad on them, while for Costa Rica they dont have any pressure as they are not expected of winning any game.
There's certainly some truth to what you say, pressure and implied pressure can change how clubs play. I'd argue that although they are big teams, Italy, Uruguay, and especially England don't carry much expectation with them this year. Regardless, should an interesting group to watch.
sure, but still England Uruguay and Italy are expected to win that game and not only that, the fact that these 3 big teams are fighting for 2 spots increase the pressure to win this game. They are clearly favorites I wouldn't bet in favor of Costa Rica, but frankly it wont surprise me if under the right conditions Costa Rica could manage to get ties, or who knows maybe a win.
To finish dead last you have to be in a brutal group, and Australia, Japan, USA and Costa Rica are all candidates. Additionally, there is always a decent team that collapses under the pressure, like France in 2010. Should be fun to see who that is
Japan in a brutal group? I think they have a pretty good chance of making the second round, better than the Ivory Coast and Greece's, and if Colombia disappoints I wouldn't be surprised to see Japan get first place. In the worst of cases if Japan crashes out in the first round, I think they would at least get a point, which would mean they'd most likely already have done better than Australia and Costa Rica (assuming they finish with 0).
Deff Costa Rica is a strong candidate, but i just look at the facts that i mentioned before and I totally see them graving points, you are from USA you seen Costa Rica way more than me and know they are a really hard organized defensive team that can do some damage. Im not even from Costa Rica, yes their Coach is Colombian but so is the Honduras one and last WC and I didn't have any expectations on them. Japan I dont see them as candidate for last, Greece seems weaker but our group seems pretty much even. Australia is deff a candidate also but Netherlands have some serious questions. Also Chile is a great team but can be inconsistent at times. Frankly I dont know in what level does Australia comes into the tournament so I reserve my opinion there. The US had a really though draw, Germany probably will get the 3 points, no doubt about that, and the games against Portugal and US Kriptonite "Ghana" looks like an ugly situation but I'm sure are going to be really close games.
Australia v South Africa on May 26th will be an good indicator, but I suppose the real scrutiny of teams will start once the Champions League has been decided - there are a bunch of interesting International Friendlies coming up.
Costa Rica certainly is the obvious choice but Honduras could just as well be the one. Also I think that the one that put up Bosnia but not Nigeria is way off. I agree, Greece can at times produce teamwork miracles but I don't have much faith in them this summer.
I agree with the fact that US will perform much better than Australia, but Mexico is more likely to finish second than last. Cameroon won't provide much competition and Croatia will be a good match.
Hard to see where Costa Rica gets any points. I expect Iran will get a point somewhere along the line. My prediction for the team that will be a total bust is "seeded" Switzerland. I see them losing to France, probably losing to Ecuador, and they have to play Honduras in the afternoon in the Amazon swamps of Manaus. Good luck with that, Alpine yodelers.
I'm surprised that people aren't mentionning Algeria has the potential worst team at the finals...Early in 2013 at the African Nations Cup,they bowed out with a single point from a draw and 2 losses in the group stages,they don't play a lot of friendlies and when they do,they play them at home and against average teams from the African continent.Therefor they are not used to playing quality opposition like they will face next month and it's gonna show.Yes the group is not that strong but the other 3 teams in the group are heads and shoulders above them...Other possible candidates are Cameroon,Australia and possibly the Ticos(Costa Rica)...
Yeah, The weaker fish are pretty easy to point out this year: Algeria, Cameroon, Iran, Australia, Honduras, possibly Greece. Costa Rica is by no means a complete team, but they're tougher than they look at times. Australia has been decent in the past, but this is a weaker year for them. Not sure what to think of Greece. Some people say they're pushovers, and others say they're likely to surprise.
I personally can see Iran,Australia and even Honduras get at the very least a point.Honduras is kinda hard to predict.They didn't do too good in 2010 but back then they had many old players who were ending their careers(Amado Guevara and Carlos Pavon)...I'm expecting some improvement from them...A victory against Switzerland is well within their reach.