World Cup Draw - Thoughts

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i am confident of a draw against Germany, a Win against Ghana and a draw against Serbia making 5 points
 
watching bbc2 coverage on an unbiased view theyve basically said its out of the other 3. we didnt really rate a mention i suppose it will be good to go into this with a low profile again.
 

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watching bbc2 coverage on an unbiased view theyve basically said its out of the other 3. we didnt really rate a mention i suppose it will be good to go into this with a low profile again.
And your suprised? Most of europe doesnt rate us and lets be honest wouldnt know or care what happens outside their little world

dunno why the doom and gloom for - Id think we'd finish 2nd

The game against the Serbs is the interesting one - they can beat anyone on their day but so can we
 
Serbia: one of the top up and coming teams. They will be 2nd favourites to progress imo ( vidic, stankovic, krasic ...)
Ghana: Essien, Muntari etc.


England and the usa got a piss easy draw :thumbsdown:
 
Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece
Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia
Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana,
Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon
Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia
Group G: Brazil, Korea DPR, Côte d'Ivoire, Portugal
Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile

England & Spain got an easy draw
It's not going to be easy for the Socceroos, but at least we have some players to go into those matches with a fighting chance..
Ghana on African soil is going to be hard..
The Kiwi's have an interesting group. Hope they beat those diving eye-ties...
 
Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece
Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia
Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana,
Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon
Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia
Group G: Brazil, Korea DPR, Côte d'Ivoire, Portugal
Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile

England & Spain got an easy draw
It's not going to be easy for the Socceroos, but at least we have some players to go into those matches with a fighting chance..
Ghana on African soil is going to be hard..
The Kiwi's have an interesting group. Hope they beat those diving eye-ties...
In fairness Chile and Switzerland were two of the earliest qualifiers from their respective continents. World beaters they aint but ceratinly deserve a little more credit.
 
In fairness Chile and Switzerland were two of the earliest qualifiers from their respective continents. World beaters they aint but ceratinly deserve a little more credit.

No disrespect intended.. However Spain is reigning Euro champs.. They would have to be considered a genuine tournament chance..
On paper, for Spain's talent and pedigree, they should pass through to final 16..
 
And your suprised? Most of europe doesnt rate us and lets be honest wouldnt know or care what happens outside their little world

dunno why the doom and gloom for - Id think we'd finish 2nd

The game against the Serbs is the interesting one - they can beat anyone on their day but so can we

nah not surprised, i was just curious for an unbiased analysis of our team. i guess i got it, in a way.
 
watching bbc2 coverage on an unbiased view theyve basically said its out of the other 3. we didnt really rate a mention i suppose it will be good to go into this with a low profile again.

Thats fine with me. Who cares if they don't rate us. The only thing that's important is the team back themselves, which isn't in doubt..
You'd think though the BBC would at least mention that we Qualified top in Asia undefeated...
 
I must be the only one that thought we did ok.

There are some lay down miseres, fortunately we're not one of them. It'll be tough but at least we're in with a chance to win the group. It's probably the hardest group to pick.
 

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I must be the only one that thought we did ok.

There are some lay down miseres, fortunately we're not one of them. It'll be tough but at least we're in with a chance to win the group. It's probably the hardest group to pick.

I agree.

Germany are always a tough opponent however we have done alright against bigger name opponents in the past and I wouldn't put it past us to grab a point from that game.

Ghana and Serbia are 2 games were we should be targeting 3 points from both. Certainly not going to be easy games by any stretch but we are good enough to get results against both sides.

Realistically 4+ points should see us through. I would love the chance to send the Yanks back home.
 
Personally I think the group is tougher than many on here might think.

Germany - always tough to beat, talented on paper and get the results on the pitch. I would accept if we played defensive against them and tried to pinch a goal on the counter. If we go head to head with them they will play us off the park. Realistically expect a loss here, at best a draw.

Ghana - A team with guys like Essien and Muntari on African soil will be hard to beat. For qualification we need at least a point against these guys.

Serbia - Finished on top of France in their WCQ group, so they can play. The squad has players from Inter, Chelsea, Man United, Valenica, and a host of other pretty good teams. I still think this is our best bet of getting a win however. Generally outside of Europe the European teams struggle.
Either we beat Serbia and draw with Ghana or vise versa.

Similarly to 06, our hope of progressing lies in a W,D,L getting us 4 points and second spot. Germany I think will be top with 6-9 points, so we just have to do well against Serbia and Ghana.

I think in the last WC Japan were a lot more beatable than either of Serbia or Ghana, but it's not the worst draw we could have gotten.



Of the other teams, the Brazil, Portugal, Ivory Coast groups shapes as a very interesting group. The Italians also look to have a pretty easy run considering they're the previous champs.
 
Like I said on the other board 3 very good teams but teams that suit us. They are slow hard working teams who build up play methodically, like us but better. They are the sort of teams we can get upsets against. Any of the 4 can finish 1st and 2nd, getting Germany first up is good always a chance of a first game slip up
 
I always look at the 2nd strongest team as a guide to how tough a group is. Our aim is to come 2nd, I would definitely trade Germany and Serbia for Brazil/Spain and any side that isn't France or Portugal.

If we got anyone other than Serbia, France or Portugal I believe it would have been a great draw.

One positive side effect of such an even group is the par score to progress might be lower. One aspect I rate highly is playing the gun side in the last game because it might be a dead rubber to them. Ghana gets Germany in the last game in our group.

While I rate Germany and Serbia highly, I think their efficient/defensive style makes getting a draw a little easier. I think we are cooked if we go 1-0 down in either game though.
 
We will get slaughtered, toughest group by so much its scary

Heres how i rate them and how they will line up

Dont forget Asamoah and Ayew on the wings for Ghana, 2 exciting young prospects for Ghana. Asamoah especially rated VERY HIGHLY and Ayew has performed very well when given the chance. He is only 19. Line ups IMO will be

Kingson
Pantsil Mensah Quartey Sarpie
Essien Muntari Appiah Asamoah
Ayew Gyan

with Annan Agogo and a few youngsters playing for Real Madrid B on the bench. A quality team if not a top 5 midfield in the world. Little chance here

Serbia is the easiest team IMO. Less quality in the middle of the park. We might touch the ball here, but the defense is sublime. Watch out for Lukovic, a gun. Zgic is a hard one Hes near 200cm+ the tallest player in the world and a beast. Containing him at set pieces will be nigh on impossible

Stojkovic
Ivanovic Vidic Lukovic Kolarov
Krasic Stankovic Miljas Tosic
Jovanovic Zigic

A ton of quality strikers on the bench such as Lazovic and Pantelic but are very weak at the CM spot. Our CMs have to domimate simply. Krasic is one to watch. Gun

Now onto Germany.Not as talented as everyone thinks. They are just VERY well coached atm. Are beatable.

Neur
Lahm Mertsacker Westermann Jansen
Schweinsteiger Frings Ballack
Gomez Klose Podolski

With Huth Ozil Trochowski Friedrich they have a team with a ton of height in the key areas, CB and upfront and a TON of pace on the wings. Australia can win but they need Kewell on the left and Cahill Kennedy entertaining the CBs.

Ill predict a loss vs Ghana who are horribly underrated here, a loss/draw vs Serbia and a loss vs Germany who although beatable will still tear us a new one
 
Like I said on the other board 3 very good teams but teams that suit us. They are slow hard working teams who build up play methodically, like us but better. They are the sort of teams we can get upsets against. Any of the 4 can finish 1st and 2nd, getting Germany first up is good always a chance of a first game slip up

You think beasts like Klose and Zigic against Neill and Moore will suit us. You think 2 of the best midfields in the cup will suit us? You high?
 
MUCH MUCH harder group than we got 4 years ago, although unlike Embers the perenial pessimist I can see some hope here. Mind you some people here who are confidently tipping us to finish 2nd are on something. Itll come down to goal difference.

Drawing Germany first up doesnt help. Theyre organised and wont be coming into this game taking us lightly like some people would like to think. Theyre just not that naive. As Embers said our wide players will need to pay attention closely due to the huge pace they possess.

Ghana is an interesting one. We have a reasonably good record against them but we are yet to play them on home soil (yes I realise its not in Ghana). Theyll get a huge lift playing on their own home turf. However I dont rate them quite as highly as my collegue. Rarely do they click on the one day and thats our hope. Should they come off a win in their first game theyll be hard to stop but any other result and theyll fold under the pressure.

Serbia are extremely tough to score against, even for the best side in the world let alone us. They qualified just as comfortably as we did, and are very well organised. One area we can exploit is in midfield definetly. Kewell and Cahill have to get forward to trouble them.

As far as im concerned 2nd is the very best we can hope for but I reckon we'll fall just short through our lack of a world class strker to score the goals. Having said that, should we get 2nd place I would love to have a crack at the Poms.
 
Rarely do Ghana play a full strength side due to the knee injuries they all seem to get. If that midfield plays together possession stats will be 65-35 at best in there favor
 
I truly think that our group is one standout team and three teams of fairly equal quality. Germany is the obvious standout but with us getting them first up, anything can happen. It is imperative that they beat the other two team for us to have any shot. IF they pick up points against Germany and we don't, we are in big trouble.

Ghana and Serbia whilst having the individual quality sometimes (historically anyway) have trouble working as a team. Obviously they have had good qualifying campaigns and are in good form but we should not go into these games thinking we are inferior to them. I believe both of these game can go either way but it is essential we get at least one win and get points from both games.

With Ghana and Serbia playing the first game we will get a chance to see which team we absolutely have to beat for that 2nd spot. Say Serbia beat Ghana, then we need to get those 3 points back and then hope Germany thrash them. Or vice versa with Ghana.

The biggest thing will be to not get thumped by Germany first up. It will kill our confidence and going through to the next round might come down to goal difference.
 
We will get slaughtered, toughest group by so much its scary

Heres how i rate them and how they will line up

Dont forget Asamoah and Ayew on the wings for Ghana, 2 exciting young prospects for Ghana. Asamoah especially rated VERY HIGHLY and Ayew has performed very well when given the chance. He is only 19. Line ups IMO will be

Kingson
Pantsil Mensah Quartey Sarpie
Essien Muntari Appiah Asamoah
Ayew Gyan

with Annan Agogo and a few youngsters playing for Real Madrid B on the bench. A quality team if not a top 5 midfield in the world. Little chance here

Serbia is the easiest team IMO. Less quality in the middle of the park. We might touch the ball here, but the defense is sublime. Watch out for Lukovic, a gun. Zgic is a hard one Hes near 200cm+ the tallest player in the world and a beast. Containing him at set pieces will be nigh on impossible

Stojkovic
Ivanovic Vidic Lukovic Kolarov
Krasic Stankovic Miljas Tosic
Jovanovic Zigic

A ton of quality strikers on the bench such as Lazovic and Pantelic but are very weak at the CM spot. Our CMs have to domimate simply. Krasic is one to watch. Gun

Now onto Germany.Not as talented as everyone thinks. They are just VERY well coached atm. Are beatable.

Neur
Lahm Mertsacker Westermann Jansen
Schweinsteiger Frings Ballack
Gomez Klose Podolski

With Huth Ozil Trochowski Friedrich they have a team with a ton of height in the key areas, CB and upfront and a TON of pace on the wings. Australia can win but they need Kewell on the left and Cahill Kennedy entertaining the CBs.

Ill predict a loss vs Ghana who are horribly underrated here, a loss/draw vs Serbia and a loss vs Germany who although beatable will still tear us a new one

I'm not happy about this group either but Ghana has to be a best bet for us at this stage. They are very tough team but the other two are tougher. Go 1:0 down against Serbia and Germany and it's "bye bye, see ya later". Serbia's defence is awesome and Vidic and Ivanovic are also capable of scoring goals themselves. They are also very well coached, some people in Australia may have never heard of Radomir Antic but he is very respected in Europe for his achievements. Germany's team might be a bit different to what you posted. Trochowski and Kiessling are certain starters IMO ahead of Podolski and Gomez atm. Adler will probably be on the goal. The young trio in Ozil, Muller and Marin will probably push for selections as well if their respective form in the Bundesliga continues. The thing about Germans is that even when they play shit, they're very likely to win the game. Lock 'em in for a top spot here.
All in all, I'm not very optimistic. 2nd spot is not an impossible outcome but it will be very hard. It certainly won't be embarassing to bow out in the group stage against this opposition.
 
Germany finished on top of their group with an impressive 8 wins and 2 draws (both were against Finland, strangely). They scored 26 and conceded just 5. Very typical of Germany to smash weak nations, so expect them to top this group without any hassles.

Serbia finished on top of their group (which contained France) with 7 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw (one of those losses was away to France, the other was a dead rubber in Lithuania). The Serbs scored 22 and conceded 8, so clearly they are also a strong side and have good form behind them.

Ghana topped their first qualifying group (against rubbish opponents, it must be said) with 4 wins and 2 losses. They scored 11 and conceded 5, which ensured they qualified ahead of Gabon and Libya, who both finished on equal points. A shaky start for Ghana, but in their second qualifying period, they turned it on. They won their first four games with an aggregate of 7-0, before dropping the last two dead rubbers.
 
I'm not happy about this group either but Ghana has to be a best bet for us at this stage. They are very tough team but the other two are tougher. Go 1:0 down against Serbia and Germany and it's "bye bye, see ya later". Serbia's defence is awesome and Vidic and Ivanovic are also capable of scoring goals themselves. They are also very well coached, some people in Australia may have never heard of Radomir Antic but he is very respected in Europe for his achievements. Germany's team might be a bit different to what you posted. Trochowski and Kiessling are certain starters IMO ahead of Podolski and Gomez atm. Adler will probably be on the goal. The young trio in Ozil, Muller and Marin will probably push for selections as well if their respective form in the Bundesliga continues. The thing about Germans is that even when they play shit, they're very likely to win the game. Lock 'em in for a top spot here.
All in all, I'm not very optimistic. 2nd spot is not an impossible outcome but it will be very hard. It certainly won't be embarassing to bow out in the group stage against this opposition.

I think Ozil wil push Podolski out but in a 4-3-3 which I think they will play against us Podolski would be the better option.

Serbia have trouble working as a team.You high Stinger. Very well coached and organised especially down back. One of the better defenses around.

A major problem. The 3 RW for Chippers to contend against. Essien, Schweinsteiger and Krasic. 3 of the very best RW at this World Cup, dont underrate Krasic either, hes immense when hes on. Hes got no hope... Skinned alive
 

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World Cup Draw - Thoughts

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