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Post by betahat on May 26, 2010 18:20:37 GMT -5
So, any world cup predictions, smack talk or favorites?
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Post by betahat on May 26, 2010 18:21:52 GMT -5
My sentimental favorite is Paraguay, followed by Korea, followed by Argentina, Uruguay, Chile. I'd also be happy to see the African teams do well.
Realistically, it's hard not to like Spain or Brazil. I'll give Brazil the edge because of their history and tradition, plus World Cup host inside/outside of Europe jinx (for those who don't know, no European team has ever won a World Cup outside of Europe, and a non-European team only won once in Europe (Brazil in Sweden 1958).
The one team I really want to lose is Italy. Their style just annoys the hell out of me. I hope Paraguay and Slovakia can take them out in the group stages.
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Post by Ganbare! on May 26, 2010 18:47:10 GMT -5
My girlfriend naturally supports the Italian team so she must never discover I secretly hope their plane crash and their calcinated bodies get devoured by hyenas. France inspires me shame since their 2002 failure so I'm probably going to shelter myself in the dark eating noodle cups until the World Cup is over else a pitchfork-wielding mob will go after me. My personal favorites besides Holland are Argentina, England and Japan, honestly I wanted to vote Germany just because of its players' haircuts but I guess the sheer appeal of Clockwork Orange and its sexy fans was far too strong. *POTENTIALLY NSFW* 1.bp.blogspot.com/_931gr8XgT7g/SFfQiEajTSI/AAAAAAAAAUo/3ndbEbzDVag/s400/Dutch%2Bsoccer%2Bfans%5B1%5D.JPG
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Post by LaFace on May 28, 2010 4:08:30 GMT -5
Smack talk? Would enjoy seeing the following teams fail and fail hard: Brazil - Everyone loves them because of their so called 'joga bonito', but at the same time people conveniently forget that their diving and denial of sportsmanship is worse than just about every other 'big' country in world football. Oh wait, dunga isn't even going to try and play 'joga bonito' this world cup. I also have a fond memory of wearing my Italy shirt just before the 2006 world cup and befriending a guy wearing a Brazil shirt in a department store (just trying to make small talk about the upcoming tournament), to which he greeted me with the utmost arrogance (I realise this post has a tone of rudeness attached ) - made the Italian victory just that touch sweeter. My dislike for this team stems from the 1994 final too - 7 years old and crying my eyes out! France - Biggest douchebag of a coach I've seen in my life. Didn't deserve to qualify for the world cup based on merit via their qualifying legs against Ireland, however they did, and conveniently got placed with the easiest seed in their group - you just knew it would happen. My dislike for them admittedly also stems from the 1998 and 2006 world cups in the quarter and grand finals respectively. Also, I love how Zidane can headbutt Materazzi and get applauded as a hero, but if the roles were reversed you just know that that same principle would not apply. England - Because they're England. Most overrated team on the planet because of having the most overrated league on the planet. Who Do I think will win? My mind says Spain, they simply have the best team on paper. They always choke in the big tournaments, however now that they've won Euro 2008, this should be the catalyst they need to at least reach their first semi final in the world cup and seriously challenge for the title. As for Brazil, I have a sinking feeling that they're going to do well... Favourites? Italy. Then Italy. and finally, Italy. I enjoy watching the African teams from a neutral point of view, but hopefully they don't get umpiring favouritism similar to how Korea did in the 2002 world cup when they played Portugal/Italy/Spain. I also like Portugal. When it comes to Australia, I like Culina, Grella, Bresciano and Kewell. Dutchman Sneijder is a star.
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Post by Ganbare! on May 28, 2010 4:36:26 GMT -5
Smack talk in sports is arguably more fun than matches themselves. No wonder everybody applauded, by everybody's account Materazzi is an a-hole! Italians are good but the last thing they can claim is sportmanship, they are even bigger than Brazil on cheating and other less than honorable maneuvers furthermore they have no idea what the word modesty means, that sums up why half the planet hates them, your affiliation is clearly clouding your judgement.
I honestly hope annoying Brazil, Italy and France fail early, I'm sick of seeing the same finals every 4 years, I want to see some spark, something crazy so long as Turkey, Algeria and South Korea are not involved either because of their detestable supporters that said Portugal would be great.
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Post by betahat on Jun 1, 2010 0:56:25 GMT -5
Final world cup rosters named as we speak. I feel better knowing we have four Argentines on the team. 3/4 are legit in having a Paraguayan parent. Lucas Barrios has looked like a beast in the last two friendlies, should provide good replacement for gunshot-to-the-head victim Salvador Cabanas.
Speaking of Italy, I read an interesting article the other day on Giuseppe Rossi, the only player on the World Cup roster not playing for an Italian club. The Americans really wanted him - as he was born and grew up in New Jersey until he started playing professional football in Italy - but he was raised on Italian football.
Canada lost its best player in years to a similar deal - Owen Hargreaves decided to play for England. But I can't blame him, he never would have gotten a chance to play in a World Cup with Canada most probably. Rossi, on the other hand, would have been a top 3 forward on the US squad but remains to be seen if he gets any time for Italy.
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Post by Ganbare! on Jun 1, 2010 2:13:17 GMT -5
Thank God I left Canada before the World Cup, suddenly everyone finds himself an ethnic heritage sometimes imaginary just to justify their support for foreign teams. It's sad how a small snowy country such as Denmark qualified but not Canada, outside of hockey we fail big time and have no self-respect. Talking about players' affiliation: 19 out of the 22 players of the Algerian team are French nationals... I hope Japan kicks ass, they are full of surprises and their sweeper Marcus Tulio Tanaka is a half Brazilian half Japanese EA, here: www.nippon-ganbare.com/IMG/jpg/00000847-s2.jpgTo illustrate what I mean by full of resources, I present to you the very best of goalies: Legendary *Nihon kick* goal from 100 metres. www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0r8kyXt46Q www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB9CKvOyLws[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IyY0DoH75o&feature=related [/youtube] Crazy how Japanese and Korean commentators have the hilarious habit of ridiculizing people on TV. edited.
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Post by betahat on Jun 1, 2010 4:17:11 GMT -5
^It's sad how a small snowy country such as Norway qualified but not Canada, outside of hockey we fail big time and have no self-respect.
Um, not sure what you're talking about with Canada and Norway. Both countries have made it to the world cup before but neither are in this time. I would say Norway is one of the few countries that Canada would crush at a majority of sports, with the exception of football and skiing. (and World's Strongest Man of course).
I get the sense that like most sports in which we do not participate much, Canadians tend to cheer on England (or France depending on the region) and more than anything, cheer against the US squad. But why not adopt a country?
Most sports thrive on international cross-contamination, there's no doubt about that. Where would the French team be without the infusion of players of African origin? Would Canada have ever won a medal in track and field without our great Jamaican sprinters? One of the reasons I cheer for France over the Spanish and Italian teams is their multinational team - it would be hard for the French soccer fans to be as racist as the Italians or Spanish, as they would only be able to field a team of about 4 or 5 players!
On an EA note, Brian Ching got cut from the US squad so no other Eurasians that I'm aware of in the world cup. Unless anyone else wants to do some research?
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Post by Ganbare! on Jun 1, 2010 4:29:17 GMT -5
^Norway is on the back my mind as I'm leaving for Oslo tomorrow therefore I meant to write Denmark sorry. My personal experience simply differs from yours. The majority of my friends in Canada are located in Montreal and are either American thus automatic support for the US, Anglo-Quebecer supporting the favorites and minority supporting their respective countries, surprisingly the only 'real' French-Canadian friend I've got is behind Britain with me so my social circle is really not representative of Canada nor Quebec but that's to be expected from a multicultural/lingual EA living on both Atlantic shores.
There definitely is an international cross-contamination like you said but sometimes they take it too far. I don't mind the Korean team being trained by a foreign coach but does 90% of the French team has to be Black? People make fun of our team for this very reason, racism sucks but aren't international sports competition all about displaying one's ethnic pride? Besides them failing, I don't feel represented by such a team and I'm not going to say X nation is kweeler if it's not. Just because I often mention that France has a superior model of society than America it doesn't mean its team is more likable or even better, I try to remain objective as I'm not the narrow-minded nationalist type.
Even if the Canadian team had qualified my girlfriend's family would still support the Italian team because of their affection for Italy. Despite it being natural, their mentality is not my cup of tea, I was often considered a traitor for not supporting the side I was expected to but better that and remain true to myself than be a blind follower. As a fellow Canuck EA you might be able to imagine how much bulls*** I got from my family, French-Canadians and acquaintances for speaking a different language, the same language only with a different accent or my ethnic and national affiliation...
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Post by LaFace on Jun 1, 2010 4:33:26 GMT -5
Speaking of Italy, I read an interesting article the other day on Giuseppe Rossi, the only player on the World Cup roster not playing for an Italian club. The Americans really wanted him - as he was born and grew up in New Jersey until he started playing professional football in Italy - but he was raised on Italian football. I'd play for Italy in an instant, no worries. You grow up under the influence of Italian family introducing the sport into your life, following the Serie A, cheering on Italy in the world cup, getting to idolise the players as a child, and so it's natural for a boy to want to play for their favourite team which just happens to represent what their family affiliation is. Growing up, I associated soccer with Italy/family, and Italy with soccer. Dreaming of playing for them thus becomes second nature.
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Post by Ganbare! on Jun 5, 2010 4:21:44 GMT -5
ZOMG Italy lost 1-2 to Mexico in an exhibition match. What's next, being eliminated in the first round by New Zealand? That's almost exactly what happened to defending champion France during the 2002 World Cup.
Jokes aside I was actually sad to see Buffon who arguably is the best active goalie not really putting up a resistance against the Mexican strikers.
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Post by betahat on Jun 5, 2010 16:59:46 GMT -5
They were really outplayed. With the possible loss of Pirlo and with some of their more creative strikers not getting called up - yes, we jinxed Rossi by mentioning him and he got cut - I think Paraguay even has a chance of winning the group outright, which would be awesome since we could probably avoid a match with Netherlands (though Robben might be out after today) in the next round and instead play a much weaker Japan or Denmark or Cameroon. This is the best Paraguayan squad we've ever had for offense (though it would be nicer to have Cabanas) - Haedo and Roque are vets and we also have the top scorer in Portugal and third top scorer in the Bundesliga. I just wish we had Chilavert in nets and Arce, Ayala and Gamarra on the backline.
The Chelsea jinx seems to be in full effect now with Essien, Ballack, Drogba, Obi Mikel, etc. all getting injured. Hope we don't lose any marquee players in the next week of friendlies - quite a blow to the African teams.
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Post by LaFace on Jun 6, 2010 2:53:53 GMT -5
Beta, how come Paraguay is your sentimental favourite?
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Post by betahat on Jun 6, 2010 5:09:25 GMT -5
My grandmother was born and grew up there (to British parents) and has always self-identified as Latin American, though she lived most of her life in South-East Asia. She's the only reason my mother learned Spanish and spent a lot of time travelling in Latin America when she was younger and I followed in her footsteps, though I only spent a week in Asuncion myself (but did manage to buy the national team jersey). So when I first got into World Cup football in 1998, I adopted them as my team. Canada was obviously not an option, though I have attended a World Cup qualifer where we beat Belize 3-0, no self-respecting Canadian can cheer for the US, Singapore is out of the question, and while I suppose I have some family connection to England I kind of love that they're the lovable losers of Europe who always have their hopes dashed by penalty kicks. To me it's the ideal balance of rooting for a team that consistently makes it to major competitions but is still an underdog.
Beyond the family connection, I like that they're a bit of an underdog but a very skilled underdog - a relatively impoverished nation with a small population that is a South American football powerhouse. I also like that the indigenous character of the team really come through - the players often communicate in Guarani so opponents can't understand them. They've also had some real characters, like the great Jose Luis Chilavert. While they have traditionally been a more defensive oriented team - not quite on the Italian level, but certainly more defensive minded than neighbors Argentina or Brazil - they've become a much more balanced and offensive oriented team. Something like 75% ball possession in their loss to Ireland, and number two in goals in South American qualifying behind Brazil.
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Post by Ganbare! on Jun 7, 2010 0:46:55 GMT -5
WOWZOR France lost 0-1 to China, not only the players are arrogant on and off the field, fail to sing the national anthem but have no teamplay whatsoever.
Chauvinism and loyalty in sports are fine but race is a disturbing growing subject of debate in international sports competition. Athletes are striving to achieve the best performance, countries are competing and to a lesser extent individuals not ethnicities! The fuss about the racial composition of certain teams is ridiculous.
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