The Official 2006 FIFA World Cup thread. (4 Viewers)

[Komit]

England can win the group even without Rooney (not the whole thing, which they wouldn't have done with Rooney anyway). Although he does add another dimension to the line-up, there is an abundance of quality English forwards that can tkae his spot.

 

[DRAGONZ]

I'd give a go to Aaron Lennon.

He is explosive, tricky, and can create something out of nothing.

Only worry would be the fact that he isn't a very physically imposing striker.

 

[johnny_87]

Komit, if:

1) Rooney misses at least the Paraguay match
2) Sven plays with Gerrard and Lampard for the tournament

Then there is a good chance England will finish runner-up to Sweden, and will most liekely play Germany in the 2nd round. Remember no-one expected anything of Germany last time and (granted they had an 'easy' run) yet they made the final. With home support, don't rule them out when it comes to beating England if they play the Gerrard/Lampard midfield. The two both love to attack, which leaves a gaping hole in front of the central defenders when the opposition counters. Traditionally, this is what some of the 'middle' South American teams (such as Uruguay and Paraguay) do. Defend in numbers, and break with speed. So that first game vs Paraguay could easily end in a draw.

 

[johnny_87]

Dragonz - I think having Lennon and Owen up front would give England a lot of speed, however, there is no height nor phyiscal presence. Owen occasionally pops up with a headed goal (must have springs for legs like Timmy Cahill), but Lennon is about the same height? as Rooney, but is built like the 18 yr old he is. Too risky, and teams can just nullify the speed advantage by sitting very deep, preventingthe English players from playing through balls for Owen and Lennon. That is also why Defoe may not get the nod if Rooney is out. If in form, Beattie could be worth a shout.

 

[Jimmy_B]

rooney is englands turn to guy as far as being a match-winner goes. with owen now injured too, who's sven going to go for up front? bent and ashton? bahahahaha. looks like he'll have to earn his over-inflated wages now.

anyways, this is going to be hollands year at last. van basten's the best coach we've had for ages and knows how to get the best out of our amazing squad. if our defence holds then we have too much firepower for most teams to live with.

 

[johnny_87]

Jimmy - Are you Dutch (or background)?

What is their likely team?

I'm guessing:

Four of these in defence: Kromkamp, Vlaar, De Jong, Opdam, Gio and Bouhlarouz

Mids: Van Bommel, Cocu, Van der Vaart

Wingers: Robben, Sneijder

Striker: RVN

The obvious weakness is the defence. I'm not sure it can hold vs the likes of Brazil, however the S & M defence only conceded one goal in qualifying and none are big names. But the Dutch are (along with Brazil) my non-Aussie pick.

 

[Jimmy_B]

Jimmy - Are you Dutch (or background)?

What is their likely team?

I'm guessing:

Four of these in defence: Kromkamp, Vlaar, De Jong, Opdam, Gio and Bouhlarouz

Mids: Van Bommel, Cocu, Van der Vaart

Wingers: Robben, Sneijder

Striker: RVN

The obvious weakness is the defence. I'm not sure it can hold vs the likes of Brazil, however the S & M defence only conceded one goal in qualifying and none are big names. But the Dutch are (along with Brazil) my non-Aussie pick.

yeah mate, i've got a dutch background, so theyve always been my team, untill the socceroos qualified for a major tournament.

not too sure about the starting lineup but i'd say you've got the bulk of the key men there in your list. you could probably add huntelaar and davids to make a return. it'd be interesting to see if van der sar retains the armband when edgar comes back.

i'm interested to see what balance to the squad that marco wants? ie whats his ideal number of defenders/midfielders and attackers, safely assuming he takes van der sar, stekelenberg and timmer as our keepers.

in defence i'd take kromkamp, gio, vlaar, ooijer, bouma and bouhlaroz as definites, with opdam, emanuelsen and de cler fighting it out for a last spot.

midfield, i'd go for cocu, davids, de jong, van der vaart, van bommel, sneijder, robben, maduro with landzaat and boateng maybe competing for another spot.

forwards i'd take are ruud, kuyt,vennegoor of hesselink, van persie, huntelaar and maybe ryan babel as well. i'd leave castelan at home for this one as i reckon guys like van persie and babel are more dangerous players and huntelaar's form is irresistible at the moment.

from what i see, our defence is really the only shaky part of our squad. i'm not sure if some of the guys in our squad are capable of shutting out the argies,serbs and ivorians who all seem to be pretty strong up front. we need our midfield work horses like davids, cocu and van bommel to really help our backline in germany.

midfield and up-front are not surpirsingly our strong points and i reckon a couple of guys like vennergoor of hesselink and van persie can make names for themselves at this tournament.

but i think the most important aspect of the squad is that we've kept our lazy players and our crybabies at home. guys like seedorf, van der meyde, bosvelt and zenden are included in this category. all in all i'm really looking forward to seeing my two teams in action at the cup, just hope we don't lose any of our key players to injury before the big one starts

 

[Jimmy_B]

I'd give a go to Aaron Lennon.

He is explosive, tricky, and can create something out of nothing.

Only worry would be the fact that he isn't a very physically imposing striker.

he's been an absolute revelation and is in blistering form these days too. he's a must have for sven's squad.

 

[johnny_87]

Lennon should be one of the bench players who can come on with 15 to go when chasing a goal or a game. His blistering pace will prove even more effective when running at tired legs. He is definitely in better form than SWP and has match fitness so should definitely get the nod for the bench ahead of him.

 

[LMF^^]

but i think the most important aspect of the squad is that we've kept our lazy players and our crybabies at home. guys like seedorf, van der meyde, bosvelt and zenden are included in this category. all in all i'm really looking forward to seeing my two teams in action at the cup, just hope we don't lose any of our key players to injury before the big one starts

I think Seedorf haz done well thiz season, performed admirably fo Milan. It wouldn't hurt to have him in the squad, but I'm not the one decidin.

The Dutch have a decent squad, however there are some concern over the current form of certain key playerz. Like Ruud, he haven't been in good form of late, but maybe hez just restin himself fo the World Cup. And van Bommel just haven't cut it at Barca thiz season. Same goez wit Robben. Although they've only got 1 defeat since van Basten took over, they haven't really been that impressive. It'll be tight, but they should at least get above Cote d'Ivoire.

 

[Jimmy_B]

you have any idea on what type of team the ivorians will play lmf? ie their formation and inclination to attack? i know they have drogba, kolo toure, didier zokoroa, eboue, aruna, yaya toure? anyone else that's quality? they're the dark horse of the group with players like that in their squad.

 

[LMF^^]

Nope. Hard to find info on the Africanz since a lot of the playerz play in the lower leaguez in Europe or play in leaguez in Africa. Maybe check up the African Cup of Nationz would be a good idea...? Ivory Coast iz alright, but I don't consider em good enough to be the dark horse, especially in such a tight group. Cameroon deserved better when playin against em in the ACON.

Here we go

I don't know most of the playerz...

 

[HotShot]

oh boy, Brazil are favourites, they are clearly well ahead of other teams. feel sorry for australia, we are in a tough group croatia and japan.

just wondering how would you rate spain? good chance of making semis?

 

[bazookajoe]

Who said Owen was injured?
http://www.premierleague.com/fapl.r...mierLeagueNews&breadcrumb=latestfa_breadcrumb

And Spain have all the right ingredients, they can just never perform. Although they have a very nice run, I assume they'll finish first in their particularly easy group, then go up against Switzerland (South Korea are an outside chance), but then they'll must likely be up against Brazil. So I'll say Spain get knocked out in the Quarters

 

[johnny_87]

If Spain are smart they would drop points in their final group game if in a position to drop from 1st to 2nd (as long as it is mathematically impossible for them to dop to 3rd/4th). That would give them a draw of France followed by the Czechs/Italy most likely. Both tough games, but a better chance of progressing past the 1/4s!

 

[DRAGONZ]

he's been an absolute revelation and is in blistering form these days too. he's a must have for sven's squad.

Yeah, if Lennon isn't in the squad on form alone, it will be a big shock IMO.

He has the potential to break a game wide open in five minutes. A special talent.

If Spain are smart they would drop points in their final group game if in a position to drop from 1st to 2nd (as long as it is mathematically impossible for them to dop to 3rd/4th). That would give them a draw of France followed by the Czechs/Italy most likely. Both tough games, but a better chance of progressing past the 1/4s!

I think that these will be the tables:

Group A
Germany
Poland

Group B
Sweden
England -- Sweden are DEFINITELY a bogey team for England

Group C
Argentina
Serbia & Montenegro

Group D
Portugal
Mexico

Group E
Czech Republic -- yes, seriously.
Italy

Group F
Brazil
Croatia

Group G
Switzerland -- I think these guys will top France .. just a hunch
France

Group H
Spain
Ukraine

That would give the following matches in Round of 16:

Germany vs England
Argentina vs Mexico
Czech Republic vs Croatia
Switzerland vs Ukraine
Sweden vs Poland
Portugal vs Serbia & Montenegro
Brazil vs Italy
Spain vs France

Look at some of those matches!! And then, if Italy run first ahead of the Czechs, we'd see the top two ranked teams in the world play each other in the Round of 16!

Spain would have to beat France, which is definitely no easy task. And then they'd come up against Brazil in the quarters, that'd be the end of them.

If they purposely run second, they would play Switzerland .. a victory there would see them play Italy/Czech Republic/Croatia, where I think they will get knocked out anyway .. Croatia is the only team I am confident that Spain could beat of those three.

 

[Komit]

I wouldn't bet on that.

 

[HotShot]

I wouldn't bet on that.

same here, i would expect at least one african team to make it to round two, and maybe one or two giants knocked out in round one.

England i thnk will be lucky to get to the quarters...

 

[bazookajoe]

I'd have exactly the same as DRAGONZ, 'cept Netherlands to beat Serbia & Montenegro to 2nd in Group C, and Switzerland and France switch.

 

[sweet_as]

Australia's Squad for the World Cup:

Goalkeepers: Ante Covic (Hammarby, Sweden), Zeljko Kalac (AC Milan, Italy), Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough, England)

Defenders: Michael Beauchamp (Central Coast Mariners), Stan Lazaridis (uncontracted), Mark Milligan (Sydney FC), Craig Moore (Newcastle United, England), Lucas Neill (Blackburn Rovers, England), Tony Popovic (Crystal Palace, England)

Midfielders: Marco Bresciano (Parma, Italy), Tim Cahill (Everton, England), Scott Chipperfield (FC Basel, Switzerland), Jason Culina (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Brett Emerton (Blackburn Rovers, England), Vince Grella (Parma, Italy), Harry Kewell (Liverpool, England), Josip Skoko (Stoke City, England), Mile Sterjovski (FC Basel, Switzerland), Luke Wilkshire (Bristol, England)

Forwards: John Aloisi (Alaves, Spain), Josh Kennedy (Dynamo Dresden, Germany), Archie Thompson (Melbourne Victory), Mark Viduka (Middlesbrough, England).


Two debutants in Mark Milligan and Josh Kennedy, looks like a strong side and good to see some A-League players make the cut.