Vaultboy

So, the draw is done.

FIFA.com - The matches of 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa

No real Group of Death this year.

I think South Africa won't get past the first round. I don't see us beating Mexico or France.

I also think Portugal could have an early exit, but the vital game against Ivory Coast is the first one, so there's potentially enough time to recover.

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Strange Famous

great draw for England

England
Algeria
Slovenia
Yanks

as one paper put it...

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"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

highthief

Group G is is pretty close. The best South American team (Brazil), the best African team (Ivory Coast), the best - arguably - unseeded European team (Portugal) and the unknown quantity (North Korea).

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Glory's Sun

Yeah Brazil is in a really Tough group.. I was happy with their draw. I think England has a decent draw.. with the crucial match being the opener against the US. They win nicely and it should set up momentum.

MexicanOnABike

This should be fun. I haven't really followed any pre-match. Who is the world leaders so far?

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Vaultboy

Yeah, but its not really a group of death, where all 4 teams would have been expected to advance.

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"Failing tastes of bile and dog vomit. Pity any man that gets used to that taste."

Strange Famous

Group A is the most interesting imo, genuinely any of the 4 could get into the top 2

You'd be shocked if Ivory Coast made it out of Group G

Group D looks tough also

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

highthief

I don't know that there has been a time when all 4 teams were expected to advance. Usually it's 3 and in this case Brazil, Ivory Coast (Drogba, Kalou, Eboue, the Toures, etc) and Portugal would, in other groups, be all expecting to get into the knockout stages.

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Si vis pacem parabellum.

Strange Famous

Which of these teams do you think isnt going to go through?

1 France
2 Mexico
3 South Africa
4 Uruguay

Toughest group imo

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

highthief

Poweder puff group - France is laughing. Cheated to get in, and now - man, I've seen SA play. They're crap. Mexico is very weak these days, they had a hard time qualifying until the last couple of games when they pull away. Uruguay? Don't know much about them to be honest.

France will go through and either Mexico or Uruguay will join them, but neither will get past the next round.

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Si vis pacem parabellum.

dippin

I agree with Highthief on the France group. South Africa is crap. I mean, they had a tough time getting out of a group with new zealand and iraq during the confederations cup. Uruguay has been so bad they only beat Costa Rica because of a bad ref. call (how ironic that they are in the same group as France).

In fact, I think 3 of 4 teams in group G would have no problems advancing if they were in that group.

Cross-Over

I love the World Cup! U.S. has a good draw, and I am looking forward to the match against England.

healer

I actually think South Africa will make it to the next round with France. That might be patriotism talking, but if they can get a win over Mexico in the first game I think the momentum will carry them through.

Now, to get tickets.

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Vaultboy

I bought mine long ago. I got tickets for Germany-Serbia in PE, which should be a group-decider, I reckon, and Cameroun-Holland in CPT, which should be a fun game to go see. Blind picks worked out ok for me. I woulda loved to go see Bafana play Mexico, though or even Uruguay, but going to Gauteng that week will just be too hectic.

Oh, and unlike you, my patriotism does not negate my cynicism. Uruguay, France and Mexico play the same football we do, but are better at it. What especially kills us at the moment is that we have no strikers, and those 3 teams can all score goals. We'll go out on GD, just like in 98. I would have felt better if we had drawn New Zealand and Slovenia, or even Greece. We coulda progressed with 4 points (or even 3) if we had them in our group.

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"Failing tastes of bile and dog vomit. Pity any man that gets used to that taste."

Vaultboy

Well, can't say I'm suprised that Egypt won the AFCON. THey've been the best African team for the last five years (and cruelly missed out on both world cups). I called it ahead of the tourney already, but for some reason Ivory Coast and Ghana remain the "favourites" with European press and viewers.

In other news, England have shit rolemodels options for WC captain, although they all are super on the ball:
1. John "Tiger Woods" Terry
2. Steven "Bar Brawler and master simulator" Gerrard
3. Frank "suspected Tiger Wood" Lampard
4. Wayne "Foulmouth and master simulator" Rooney. I'll forgive him his prostitute indiscretions. He was "young and dumb", as he confessed.

Who do you think will lead them come June?

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"Failing tastes of bile and dog vomit. Pity any man that gets used to that taste."

Daniel_

I'm fairly sure it's going to be Terry. All this stuff about his sex life is not actually relevant, it's all a load of balls talked up by the press.

It gives them a peg to hang the next few months of stories on - if Terry goes, and England don't win, we'll get "Short sighted Capello shouldn't have sacked him". If Terry stays and we don't win, we'll get "Terry brought down morale".

If Terry stays and we win, we'll get "England's shame, it never would have happend in '66".

If Terry goes and we win, we'll get "It would have been more convincing if Terry had played".

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Overhead, the Albatross hangs motionless upon the air,
And deep beneath the rolling waves,
In labyrinths of Coral Caves,
The Echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand;
And everthing is Green and Submarine
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highthief

I personally think Terry should be gone as Captain. He stabbed his own team-mate in the back in the worst possible way. He's a punk and his family isn't much better.

However, I agree that the easiest thing for Capello to do is keep Terry as Captain and he may well do that.

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Vaultboy

Well, Terry's gone.

The funniest (saddest?) thing is how the Chelsea faithful are rallying behind him. Subjective morality ftw.

I couldn't care less tho - as I said, the other options weren't much better. Rio is a poor choice IMO.

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"Failing tastes of bile and dog vomit. Pity any man that gets used to that taste."

gladiator

do u think Algeria would play against england well, or she would just try to hit the talented players like what have been done to egypt??

healer

Well, I managed to get me some tickets, and yet I have no idea who will be playing.

The wife and I weren't willing to travel around that time so we decided we'd stay at home and get tickets for the games in P.E. only. We chose the quarter final and the 3rd/4th place play-off. not the most exciting, I know, but I'm pretty sure we'll see some decent teams.

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Glory's Sun

take pics

Vaultboy

I'll be in PE for the Germany - Serbia game, and in CPT for Holland - Cameroon, and I expect the latter to be a cracker. THought about buying a Semis ticket, but balked at the price. Bought me a HDTV instead.

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"Failing tastes of bile and dog vomit. Pity any man that gets used to that taste."

Cross-Over

Not the most exciting? Shit, I think all the games are exciting, but you will definitely have a great match-up in the quarter finals. It will either be elite teams or a surprise team that has defied the projections. Win-Win.

Vaultboy

Hey, turns out South Africa has outsourced the world cup to South America.

Talk about geographic stupidity.

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"Failing tastes of bile and dog vomit. Pity any man that gets used to that taste."

Strange Famous

England Expects!

Although the Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday and other cunts seems to want to do the best they can to undermine our chances.

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

MexicanOnABike

I subscribed to HD just for this.

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Dixy

For those that are going to South Africa for the world cup, here is some advice.

Africa is a noisy place. There might be thousands of vuvuzela's in the stadium, each making noise. Do remember your ear plugs, you might just thank me later. Even in some taxi's the music is loud.

Do not underestimate our sun. Remember to use a good sunscreen. Even when you just go outside for an outing, remember a hat. Getting sunburned is dangerous.

But welcome, it is a beautiful (and colourful) country.

Vaultboy

Dude, its winter. The need for sunscreen is not that high, and only applicable inland. Its going to rain along the coast.

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"Failing tastes of bile and dog vomit. Pity any man that gets used to that taste."

stonecurran

go the aussies
1st game aginst germany
2nd against ghana
3rd agianst sebia

i rekon we will finish 2nd in the group

and play england in the next stage

Cross-Over

Just a little over two weeks left. I am stoked! I am going to search to see if my Motorolla Droid has an application I can buy where i can watch games for when I am away from home.

hunnychile

Me and The Man are hoping little Denmark does very well and kicks some Ass!!
Also me love Netherlands & England, for sure.

The man said Spain could be a surprise...is that true?

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Cross-Over

Spain a surprise? They are one of the favorites. They won the European Football Championship in 2008 and are still a very strong team.

Strange Famous

Spain are the favourites with most bookies, but they have an ageing team, and Torres isnt fully fit.

I ended up picking Netherlands in the thing we did at work, although I dont really know why - has there ever been a Dutch team that doesnt flatter to decieve and then self destruct?

I think England are a dangerous team, someone none of the top boys want to draw, but its hard to see them going all the way.

I also picked Miroslav Klose as top scorer, and then found out he's scored about 3 goals this season.... so what the fuck do I know.

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

Vaultboy

Klose might not even be fit enough for the Cup. We'll see tomorrow.

My money (as always) is also on the Netherlands, but I think Dunga might have been correct in a defensive approach. I anticipate defensive, slower games at altitude, with long range stunners winning a lot of games. The lightest ball in history, coupled with a 5% increase in ball speed on the highveld (vs at the coast) could mean penetrating long range passes and shots could win the day.

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"Failing tastes of bile and dog vomit. Pity any man that gets used to that taste."

Strange Famous

This "lightest ball" thing came up on a Radio Show the other day.

Every world cup I can remember watching, there have been claims that it was the lightest ball ever used. But in fact any football used in any professional game has to be the regulation size, pressure and weight (and the tolerances are quite tight)

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

healer

I was one of the people thinking this exact same though, but wasn't willing to say it aloud. I hoped that the SA team could pull off some kind of a miracle and play well enough to become a team that was able to meet the other teams in their group head-on and win.

Watching their international friendlies over the past few weeks, I've been fairly impressed with their progress. They look a lot less like the 'Bafumbles' of old and more like a team that know what they're doing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they're going to clock a 4-0 over Mexico on Friday, but I'm quietly confident they can make it to the second round.

So, Vaultboy, do you stand by your initial statement...albeit more than a year later?

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Strange Famous

In my opinion South Africa are probably the worst host nation in the history of the world cup. I'd love to see them get out of the group stage, but you really cant see them picking up a point. Uruguay arent mugs, no one that qualifies out of South America is. (and they are also by the way the most succesful team in world cup history in terms of championships/population). Mexico are a top team who have a great history in world cups. France, a fading giant perhaps, but still full of world class players.

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

Vaultboy

Well, we picked up the point - and could even have stolen the win through Mphela hitting the post and Teko's chances. Teko is useless - I've said that for the last three years and stand by my statement. I still don't see us qualifying, but I've always hoped we would. The scoreless draw of URU vs FRA helped to make that hope burn a little brighter.

On another point: Do the vuvuzelas upset you guys as much as it does global viewers on some of the other forums I frequent? What's your view.

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"Failing tastes of bile and dog vomit. Pity any man that gets used to that taste."

guy44

Yup.

Long answer: It sounds like a swarm of bees or something is about to descend, and you can't hear the crowd on TV at all. Just the horns. Everyone blowing one of those should be forced to sit on them, if you know what I mean.

Also, what a weird game between USA and England. Sucks for Green, but great for us. But I can't see the US advancing too far without a finisher or a true playmaker. We've always been lacking that.

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Vaultboy

What i've gathered is that foreign producers are too dumb to split the sound feed to lower stadium noise (like South African producers do). But even in stadium, vuvus don't really bother me, and I can hear the other sounds in the stadium just fine (on tv, and especially live). On the whole, I find people just lack tolerance. The repetitive electric piano tunes at American baseball irritates the hell out of me, but its part of the american game.

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"Failing tastes of bile and dog vomit. Pity any man that gets used to that taste."