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The T 
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 Posted: May 23 2014 at 13:21 |
Ecuador, my country of origin, will have a fantastic performance and will reach the final stages....
.... said no one ever.
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Icarium
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Posted: May 23 2014 at 13:16 |
Maybe Iran wins..........nah 
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The T
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Posted: May 23 2014 at 13:13 |
All fair points.
Of the 0-WCs teams, Netherlands seems to have proven they will never win a final they manage to reach; Portugal always deflates at the end; Belgium is too much of a dark horse.
And Brazil is Brazil and they are at home. Much to my disliking, this year the WC is theirs.
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ExittheLemming
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Posted: May 23 2014 at 12:12 |
 The T wrote:
Well, Germany might have been a dark horse back then but nobody would put them as one now. And Uruguay... well, they fight. And they have two world cups in their trophy collection so dark dark they might not be. |
I'm not suggesting that Germany are a dark horse now (the expectation back home however is that they are expected to win the tournament) Uruguay were impressive in 2010 but they are a side whose back line is old and slow i.e. they have to sit sit very deep to avoid being outpaced and no matter how good Suarez (if fit) and Cavani are, they can do squat with zero service.
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The T
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Posted: May 23 2014 at 12:01 |
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Well, Germany might have been a dark horse back then but nobody would put them as one now. And Uruguay... well, they fight. And they have two world cups in their trophy collection so dark dark they might not be.
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ExittheLemming
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Posted: May 23 2014 at 11:59 |
The T wrote:
If the World Cups have told us anything, is that dark horses
never win.
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Less likely in the modern era yes, but Uruguay in 1950 and West Germany in 1954 gave succor to those that dare to dream.
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The T
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Posted: May 23 2014 at 11:52 |
If the World Cups have told us anything, is that dark horses
never win.
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ExittheLemming
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Posted: May 23 2014 at 11:45 |
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^ their only real discernible weakness is the lack of experience their players have had at the cutting edge of international competition.
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Icarium
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Posted: May 23 2014 at 11:40 |
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One of the very few times Belgium have more players with gravitas and oumph then nighbour Nethrlands ( and France), they will seriously be a outider and possible trophy, posdible.
Edited by Icarium - May 23 2014 at 11:41
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ExittheLemming
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Posted: May 23 2014 at 11:33 |
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^ good point and given they have Hazard, Lukaku, De Bruyne, Vermaelen, Mirallas, Fellaini, Witsel, Courtois, Mignolet, Vertonghen and Kompany who are all demonstrably world class they are gonna take a lot of stopping. Dark horses to be sure (racist equine reference, so kill me)
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Kotro
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Posted: May 23 2014 at 10:54 |
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Ahh, Belgium... They were brilliant during the quallifying stages, but how will they deal with the Brazilian pitches and weather?
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Bigger on the inside.
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Icarium
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Posted: May 23 2014 at 10:53 |
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Belgium have some class players Edin Azard and .... some others i cant name and is actualy better favourite then Dutchland, i feel i would like either Uruguai or Coute De'Ivore to do nicely go Africa..
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Nogbad_The_Bad
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Posted: May 23 2014 at 10:43 |
Well being English I'm hoping for a England win though I rate their chances as extremely low, probably less than 5%. Most England fans seem to be limiting their aspirations to hoping they play well and the younger players showing well. If we get knocked out on penalties we'll at least have got out of the group.
I fully understand your position on England Mr Lemming, it's not mean spirited, it's in your DNA.
Of the rest of the teams I don't really 'like' any of them:-
Brazil - have won too many & will probably let the pressure get to them
Argentina - Too many dirty players & divers
Uruguay - had a chance before Suarez injury (is it a hoax?)
Spain - probably too old now
Portugal - too many internally fights in the team and for all his talent and charity work I just can't get past ronaldo's smugness
Germany - Well they are germany so I can't like them
Holland - I would have rooted for them but they ruined the last final so badly by trying to kick spain off the field I can't bring myself to cheer them
USA - no chance, your not getting out of the group - sorry (I will be cheering for you though)
Italy - too old & not good enough & I hate the style of play
So given all that I'll probably be rooting for ......... BELGIUM!!
Home of Univers Zero, Present, Aranis, Julverne, Aranis, good beer & chocolate.
Oh & Donovan is horribly over-rated, he was a bit part player for Everton for goodness sake.
Edited by Nogbad_The_Bad - May 23 2014 at 10:46
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Ian
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The T
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Posted: May 23 2014 at 10:34 |
My schadenfreude is extreme in clubs (you know, Real Madrid and a team in my country), but a little lower in national teams. Argentina used to be my "enemy" but now with Messi and Jefecito I actually cheer for them 
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ExittheLemming
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Posted: May 23 2014 at 10:11 |
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I have this funny hunch (despite physio) that the Europeans will 'slay their dragon' this year i.e win the WC on South American soil for the first time.
I'd like Germany to win it simply because I love their style of play but perhaps more importantly, I'd heartily rejoice if anyone gives the English the damn good spanking they richly deserve. Is that mean spirited? Probably, but I'm Scottish and as as far as football goes, all we have to offer is an exported fine distilled blend of finely wrought schadenfreude
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The T
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Posted: May 23 2014 at 10:05 |
rushfan4 wrote:
Do you think that the US leaving Landon Donovan off of their team is a sign that they are writing off 2014 as a lost cause and looking ahead to 2018?
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To be honest I never thought Landon Donovan was much of a player. He was overrated just as every team has one or two overrated players, or even players that perform well at a local level and then fail at the national team. I think the US is a decent team as a team, a cohesive unit, but their group is very difficult. Very difficult.
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Kotro
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Posted: May 23 2014 at 10:04 |
I was betting on Uruguay to ruin the Brazilian party again, but with Suarez now KO I guess there isn't much of a chance of that happening.
Edited by Kotro - May 23 2014 at 10:05
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Bigger on the inside.
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rushfan4
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Posted: May 23 2014 at 09:45 |
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Do you think that the US leaving Landon Donovan off of their team is a sign that they are writing off 2014 as a lost cause and looking ahead to 2018?
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The T
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Posted: May 23 2014 at 09:41 |
I used to like Brazil’s national team. I have always gone
for Germany first, and then it was usually Netherlands or Brazil. But I’m getting
tired of Brazil winning, and I don’t sympathize much with the current type of
football and the players (Neymar, who plays in my FCB, still included since he
hasn’t shown sh*t, unlike former glorious Romario or Rivaldo).
And, curiously, I used to despise Argentina. I still don’t
really love the national team, but thanks to el jefecito Mascherano and,
especially, to Messi, if a South American team wins, I want it to be Argentina.
Again, the one I want to win is Germany, followed by
Argentina and Spain.
My own country? Come on I wish them the best but I’m not delusional…
yet
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Atkingani
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Posted: May 23 2014 at 09:37 |
I'd like to see a "new" champion, a national team that never won before but the candidates aren't so provocative: Mexico, Russia, Portugal, Netherlands, Colombia, USA, Nigeria, Croatia. Well, who knows? If it's to win an "old" champion then I'll go naturally with my country.  |
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Guigo
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The 2014 Fifa World Cup Thread
