Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay . . . how do they possibly fail to advance!!!
Germany given a tough draw.
Group E: Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia.
Green light for Brazil.
Group D: Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria
The toughest group of all.
Group C: France, Australia, Peru, Denmark.
France should sail thru easily.
No USA, no Netherlands, no Ireland, no Italy...
And not much interest. A Final Four prediction: Germany, Brazil, Argentina, and.... England.
Call me an old fashioned patriot, but whatever I might think of soccer, I want the U.S.A. to *WIN*.
At least once, then we can fugetaboutit.
Personally, I think it’s an interesting sport that suffers more from bad camera work and lack of commercial breaks than anything else. But I want to see us kick some international heiny ;-)
From the BBC:
England in Group G with Belgium, Tunisia & Panama England's first game against Tunisia in Volgograd
Group A: Russia, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, Egypt. Group B: Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran
Russia v Saudi Arabia is first game of World Cup
Group C: France, Australia, Peru, Denmark. Group D: Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria
Group E: Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia. Group F: Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea
Group H: Poland, Senegal, Colombia, Japan
Russia's group might look easy; I have found though, that despite people talking about "easy" group, if one runs basic "strength of group" tests, they are often comparable.
Advancing predictions, group A. Uruguay, Russia.
Group B. Portugal Spain.
Group C. France, Denmark
Group D. Argentina, Croatia
Group E. Brazil, Costa Rica
Group F. Germany, Mexico (Sweden is very good)
Group G. England, Belgium.
Group H. Poland, Colombia
Anybody but Mexico, and I think they got a pretty tough draw.