Hopefully most us here are looking forward to next year's FIFA World Cup, the greatest event in the world. And since we're now in it, I think all of us should get behind our team. :thumbsup:
I'm sure some of you don't follow the sport(boo), so here's what went down earlier this week. The 32 teams were put in final groups to see who would play who in the first round, which looks as follows;



We're in Group F, and as you can see it won't be easy. There's Brazil, the world champions. Croatia, who have a strong team. And Japan, who proved that they can definately play in the last world cup. How do you reckon we'll do in such a group? We play Japan first, which I think we can beat. The other 2 will be very tough imo.

Also, are you following any other particular team(s)? I'm a Brazilian fan first and foremost, so when and if Australia play them, it'll be one interesting match I can tell you that. ;)

And once things roll around, keep your eyes on the official site: http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/

I've been a fan of Les Bleus since I was born being french and all. So yeah, I'm still supporting France this WC. They're not in top form lately but I'm confident Domenech has some neat tactics up his sleeve, like maybe letting Pires play again! :dance:

As for Australia, sorry, but as some of you know, I'm not a big fan of their game. Aloisi is a douchebag. The only player I respect in the Socceroos is Schwarzer, the GK, he's worthy of the WC, not the strikers, especially Kewell.

I think Australia will lose their matches against Brazil and Croatia and draw with Japan.

The only challenge for France will be the Swiss. The last time they met they drew 1-1.

I'll definitely be supporting Australia. But when we get knocked out I usually go for Brazil in these kind of things. Just as long as the USA don't go far and England doesn't win I'll be happy.

USA has no chance of winning this, but they might qualify for the second round knock outs. And England is a mess atm, I think they're replacing Beckham as captain cos he's got a bad record with refs. :P

I'd like to support Australia, but i wouldn't be suprised if we got dead last.
I don't really watch that much soccer, but i support Brazil, as i've always loved the country and their soccer team.

And don't forget the women. :P Assss~!

That comes under country ;)

I think everyone is underselling the Aussies. Last time we played Brazil we won 1-0, we've beaten a full strength English side 3-1 and if we play good soccer, we can do some damage.

I'm not being the pessimist some others are being, mainly because the longer we last, the more fun and off tap it'll be. (Party wise)

Well my two teams of choice are in the same group, along with the team that I will go for if those other two teams don't make it...

First team that I go for is definately Australia, since my cousin will most likely be playing (he's the one who missed the match against Jamica to be at his brother's wedding... and sat on the bench for the WC Qualifiers). Next is Croatia, because that's my parent's country of origin. Interesting fact is that about 7 players in the Australian team have Croatian origin from their parents, and the Croatian team has 3 players who were born and raised in Australia.

And next is Brazil, a team that I always refer / look up to as a good soccer team. I do like Japan as a country, but as a soccer team, I ain't really that sure.

But we definately have one of the hardest groups I would have to say.

Australia did not beat the senior Brazilian team. All the players were under 22 so Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, R Carlos, Junihno etc didn't play, so don't be too sure. There's nothing wrong with good supporting spirit though. You go ahead.

How will Australia fare? Poorly, Croatia will pwn them. :P

It could have been worse, we are a chance I think. A slim chance, but still a chance. Go Australia!

Heres hoping we can get 2nd in group F, as we would then be able to play USA.

Are you saying USA will come out 1st in its pool?? :huh: Highly impossible, I don't think they'll qualify at all. Czech and Italy are way too strong.

Australia does have a difficult road ahead of them, the only possible win would probably be aganist Japan. It's great to see the Aussies in the World Cup regardless though.

I'm going for Australia and England. :)

Heritage. ;)

I'll go for Australia, England and Portugal. Portugal is one of the top teams isn't it?

I was thinking about that, as there's a few players with Croatian backgrounds. Will they be considered "back stabbers" in Croatia? ;)

I think USA might go far this time around, as they did reach quarter finals or something last cup. Of course I went them out asap! :P

Just wanted to mention that no matter the odds, never rule a team out. I mean, weird things have been happening in the various sports lately so the same could apply for the Australian team. Something to take into mind, even if only for a second. :P

No, but I am saying they have a chance.

*BUMP*
I honestly don't think Australia will make it past the Group Stage. I see us finishing 3rd behind Brazil and Croatia.

Personally I back Ireland, seeing as all my relatives are from Eire. So I really have nothing to look foward to this World Cup. :( What makes it worse is the dissapointment that was the 02 World Cup... That was majorly fucked. :P DAMN YOU SPAIN!!!!

Haha, I don't like the Spaniards too much either. :P They do have a good team though - always have.

Go England!

Go France!

Go England!

Go England!

Neither country will win. Stop spamming you dolts.

I SAID GO FRANCE

So it's only 4 days until it starts!! who is excited. I am. I've been getting up and running at 7am every day recently but I imagine that is definitely going to be put on hold until after the world cup.

Australia's game against Holland had some good signs but I think they were way classier than we were and we were very lucky to get a draw. As Hiddink said - it's not the result that matters but how we play and in this case I think we still have a lot of room for improvement. I saw in the paper today that Australia is actually the favourite against Japan. That's a little surprising considering how good a side Japan has.

It's hard to see Brazil not winning. England have a good side this year as do Spain and Holland. I think France will struggle with Henry being the only serious standout player. I think the Czech republic is a bit of a dark horse. Italy will find it hard due the match fixing scandal going on. Argentina have a really good side but people said that last year and they choked so I think the jury is still out.

I would hate it if England wins - in fact I hate it if they win anything. Probably I'll go for all the non european teams apart from the US - who I also hate for political reasons.

^Lampard and Gerrard deserve something, and so does Crouch, they're all good players and are respected in the sport. Beckham has been delivering some good assistance in the past friendlies, he's been in top shape.

I'm for France, I love the new players Domenech has included in the team, that is Ribery -the next Zidane, and Abidal -a promising defender as good or even better than LeBlanc from '98!

I've downloaded the "Predictor" Excel file from FIFA's site (go here) and here are my predictions for the finals:

Final...
FRANCE 3 -1 SWEDEN

3rd...
Ukraine 2 -1 England
-OR-
Argentina 1 - 0 Switzerland

Damn, I've got too many teams to support. Switzerland because of my heritage, Australia because I live here, Ukraine because of the World Cup Sweeps at Hyper and Sweden because they're cool. And also possibly Argentina because they're cool.

Just a warning to all you new Aussie football fans out there that have only just stared watching football seriously. Everyone seems to have an opinion on the Australian's 'superb physical game' or the way they play hard with a lot of contact with the opposing players, World Cup rules do not take this sort of play lightly. Football is a game of technique, sure everyone has their own personal style of playing the game, but FIFA have rules, and football is not a contact sport. If the Socceroos carry this style into the World Cup, then expect some really ugly confrontations (especially with the Brazilians who are skilled but sometimes have no respect for officials) with many red cards and yellow cards just like in the qualifying match against Uruguay.

I am not looking forward to Aus - Brazil.

Edit: BTW, how good was Ribery this morning against China? Not the best match but again, good to see the new players on the French team dlivering. Go France! :dance3:

Aussies may win one match, one match would be great but i cant see them going to far but my heart thinks they'll win :D brasil FTW!

An European team is definitely winning this year. As for Austraila, here's what I think will happen:

Brazil 2 - 0 Australia

Japan 1 - 0 Australia

Croatia 1 - 1 Australia

:P

apparently some betting outlets had australia at like 67 to 1 until they realised they made a mistake....some people got bets in on it though :lol:

Last nights games were fantastic.

Germany beating Costa Rica wasn't much of a suprise, but Costa Rica put a pretty good effort in. When they made it 1-1 I was pretty psyched. Even though they won 4-2, I think Germany are going to have to do some improving if they're going to win this thing.

The other match, Ecuador v Poland, was great. Mainly because Ecuador won. :D But I shut my eyes for a minute and missed most of it. <_<

England v Paraguay tonight (10:30 AEST) is going to be awesome. I can not wait. COME ON PARAGUAY!!

Haha, I too crashed during the Ecuador v Poland match, being drunk obviously didn't help. :P

Although I was pretty blind I managed to watch the entire Germany vs Costa Rica game... Germany looked good but they still look really suspect in the back. Given the pressure and the low expectations I think the Ticos played decently. Klose's second goal was very lucky. I don't see the Ticos going forward but if I were a German fan I wouldn't feel great about this game - good, but not great.

Man of the match for me - Torsten Frings, didn't see him misplace a pass and did a good job in midfield and scored a great goal.

This is a difficult opener for England. Paraguay is very capable of a 0-0 draw. It's likely England wins but an upset here is very possible. At the most one team wins by one goal. Go England! :)

I don't know if I'll have the energy to stay awake to watch the next 3 matches! I really wanna see England play, but I also support Sweden (2nd to France) and I don't wanna miss any of Argentina's games cos they've got such an exciting team with Messi and Riquelme. Damn, looks like another sleepless night. :P

I nodded off halfway through the Germany - Costa-Rica game but what I saw was pretty good. Opening goal of the cup was nothing short of amazing.

England v Paraguay at 10:30 AEST sounds a lot better! I'll definitely catch that one! :P

Yeah last night confirmed that Germany won't be serious contenders this world cup. Still they play exciting football - which is much better than in previous years.

It could well be a brazil v england final.

As long as Brazil are in the final I'm happy, the skill of some of their players is almost inhuman.