world cup predictions

[spectastic]

I only follow soccer about once every 4 years, unfortunately, but it's still fun. Here's my bracket

 

Edited June 17, 2014 by spectastic

[beyondaboundary]

I could not agree less...France all the way

[spectastic]

on second thought, Portugal and Spain might not make it into the 16. those are pretty bad goal differentials.

[beyondaboundary]

It would take Spain winning both a draw with Chile bids them bye bye and for Portugal a draw with USA puts US through...

[spectastic]

not only does spain have to beat chile, they're going to have to kick their ass. I wouldn't be surprised if they pull it off though.

 

I hope the US beats Portugal, and I hope Ronaldo cries like a little bitch.

 

But honestly, I think Germany has the strongest squad, which has remained the same since 4 years ago. They were a young squad, but now they've matured, with enough skill players to make two starting lineups.

[beyondaboundary]

I agree, but France is my sentimental favourite...I've been a fan since childhood.

PLUS

Given their recent cycle of peaks and troughs, this year is a peak so....fingers crossed - VIVE LE FRANCE!

[iphi]

Group H will almost certainly not be Korea and Russia. Don't discount Belgium... they were ranked #5 coming into the Cup!

[beyondaboundary]

I'm liking Belgium to get out of the group, along with Russia...Belgium are a talented and young team

[spectastic]

i don't follow enough to know anything about Belgium

 

and the last time France peaked was when they still had Zidane. as soon as he got the red card, they were toast.

Edited June 17, 2014 by spectastic

[TakeruK]

Here were my guesses when I made my bracket last week:

 

Advancing from Group Stage (bold for winners of second round):

A: Brazil, Mexico

B: Spain, Netherlands

C: Columbia, Greece

D: England, Uruguay

E: France, Switzerland

F: Argentina, Bosnia & Herzegovina

G: Germany, Portugal

H: Belgium, Russia

 

Quarter-finals (bold for winner):

Brazil v Uruguay

Spain v England

France v Germany

Argentina v Belgium

 

Semi-finals (bold for winner):

Brazil v Germany

Spain v Argentina

 

Finals

Brazil beats Argentina in an epic all-South-America match! 

[rising_star]

Alright, I just got home and turned on the World Cup. What in the world has happened to the Spanish side? Serious question.

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

Chile has looked really good so far. But Germany is the best. 

[rising_star]

It's not about Chile looking good, at least not at the moment. I'm wondering how on earth Spain has given up so many goals???

[hj2012]

Alright, I just got home and turned on the World Cup. What in the world has happened to the Spanish side? Serious question.

 

 

I tend to think it's because they went in with the mentality that 2014 was going to be a repeat of 2010, sticking to older athletes and a style of play that didn't serve them well.

 

But according to my Latin American friends, it was bad karma, what with Diego Costa and playing in South America, etc.

[spectastic]

i never was a fan of Spain, no skin off my back hehehe.

 

why does ozil remind me of gollum?

 

 

 

and holy crap, why is the 2022 world cup in Qatar?? who's going to provide the military escorts?

Edited June 19, 2014 by spectastic

[ahlatsiawa]

^ Are you serious?

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

Every World Cup I learn a new country. What the fuck is Herzegovina?

True story: I'm Irish (well, Irish-American) and I like all things Irish. I was a big Ivory Coast fan for like three World Cups because I thought it was a nickname for Ireland. I mean, it had the Irish flag and even had the word ivory in it. How could it not be Irish? Needless to say, I was disappointed when I found out it was some lame country in Africa.

Edited June 19, 2014 by Gnome Chomsky

[spectastic]

apparently some ass in FIFA got paid off and many have already died building the new stadiums in the scorching heat. a little like what happened with brazli, but with a dictatorship. oh this is not going to end well

[victorydance]

spectastic, I think you should know what you are talking about before commenting. You are perfectly fitting the ignorant American stereotype right now. 

[bakalamba]

Every World Cup I learn a new country. What the fuck is Herzegovina?

True story: I'm Irish (well, Irish-American) and I like all things Irish. I was a big Ivory Coast fan for like three World Cups because I thought it was a nickname for Ireland. I mean, it had the Irish flag and even had the word ivory in it. How could it not be Irish? Needless to say, I was disappointed when I found out it was some lame country in Africa.

 

I guess the World Cup is a great place for us Americans to learn about geography for once.

 

And that Ivory Coast has qualified for the last three World Cups. Where was Ireland? And why is a country lame after you just found out it existed?

[spectastic]

sorry, I'm not against an Arab country hosting a world cup. I just read somewhere that a terror attack was "likely"

 

 

 

 

I'm against FIFA making these countries use up so much resources to fit their fancy standards. And these stadiums are supposed to have air conditioning open to atmosphere in their 50k capacity stadiums. good luck with that.

 

and also the corruption...in FIFA

Edited June 19, 2014 by spectastic

[victorydance]

There are a number of reasons why Qatar was a horrible selection, but safety is not one of them. Using the global peace index (despite it's shortcomings), Qatar is actually one of the safest countries in the world. Qatar is a no bigger risk than the Olympics in Russia or the World Cup in South Africa despite its proximity to a relatively unstable region. 

 

I don't think anyone approves of the corruption in FIFA. But it seems to be the par for the course with these sporting organizations (IOC being another great example), as it appears to be very hard to hold these organizations accountable. 

[I am not sure yet]

As a Brazilian, I love soccer and I love to watch my team playing (and I do hope we'll win this year!).

 

But I've seen first hand the mess FIFA causes. For instance: in Brazil, selling beers in stadiums is forbiden. Guess what: FIFA made the Brazilian Congress change that law just for the World Cup. FIFA also made patent for words like "cup" and "pagode" (which is a musical style very popular in Brazil), so that if you use these words you may have to pay them royalties. Not to mention all the money our government spent in stadiums and other useless works. They built a huge bridge in my town that goes from nowhere to nowhere, just because it looks nice for the tourists.

 

Good thing is: this is the first time I see people worldwide talking about the problems with hosting a big event, such as the World Cup. The Olimpycs in London and the World Cup in South Africa also ripped-off the host countries, but nobody seemed to care. Now people are becoming more aware of the corruption, so hopefuly, things will change from now on! =S 

[spectastic]

yea, that was good on Brazilians to have the protests and recognize the issue, ironically... when their country is the biggest soccer nation in the world and should be proud of this opportunity.

 

how were the other host countries ripped off?

[rising_star]

All host countries/cities are ripped off. This is actually one of my research areas so I'm quite familiar with it. To get you started, here are a few links:

 

http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/02/03/270950685/did-london-get-an-economic-boost-from-the-2012-olympics

http://www.opb.org/news/article/npr-the-games-are-a-great-party-but-not-a-great-investment/

http://news.yahoo.com/brazils-wcup-anger-over-waste-poor-planning-143713966--spt.html

http://www.maskmagazine.com/the-post-friendship-issue/struggle/brazils-fight-against-the-world-cup-continues

 

There's actually entire books on this topic. For the Olympics, the general consensus is that the host city may improve its name recognition (Atlanta/Salt Lake City) but that broader economic benefits from hosting are nearly impossible to realize. The facilities have ongoing maintenance expenses to be borne by the host city for years/decades into the future (note that the last Summer Games with a really good facility reuse plan was Atlanta). In Athens, facilities built for the 2004 Olympics are literally falling apart 10 years later. Taxpayers are typically the ones paying (Sochi had lots of corruption but also lots of private investment, making it atypical in that regard).

 

Note that these don't even touch on the environmental issues. Here's one on the environment: http://www.thenation.com/blog/179389/brazils-world-cup-will-kick-environment-teeth

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/19/world/americas/memo-to-olympic-sailors-in-rio-dont-touch-the-water.html?emc=edit_th_20140519&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=23470553

 

I actually spent several weeks covering these topics in my spring course. We had a lot of fun. But, hosting these events is generally a bad idea economically. In Soccernomics, they make the argument that hosting makes people happier, which is harder to measure but for which there is some evidence. Some places are recognizing that this is a bad investment, with two cities cancelling their bids for the 2022 Winter Olympics (which is fairly historic and HUGE news): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Winter_Olympics#Cancelled_bids. In Krakow's case, it's because they didn't get the benefits that people talk about after co-hosting the European soccer (football) championships a few years ago. In Stockholm, the citizens voted against going forward with their bid.