no italy? they always manage to go through by forcing cards on their opponent, dirty playing fuckers :>

stop with the Italy hate already.. at least they have their own style

Group G
Brazil 1
North-Korea
Ivory Coast 2
Portugal
no.

Group A
France
Mexico

Group B
Argentina
Greece

Group C
England
USA

Group D
Germany
Serbia

Group E
Netherlands
Denmark

Group F
Italy
Paraguay

Group G
Brazil
Portugal

Group H
Spain
Switzerland

GHANA, IVORY COAST, CAMEROON TOP 3


MOTHER AFFRIIIIIIIIIIIICAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

uruguay > france?

SA not to go through. (Unfortunately)

1 greece
2 slovakia
3 south korea

Group F
Italy
Paraguay 1
New Zealand
Slovakia 2


what ? do you even follow football!

i know it sounds crazy. guess well see :P

Slovakia are rubbish :S

I mean, I know Lippi's selection policy is to just pick the guys who played in 2006, but still, even those OAP's will surely manage Slovakia?

you forgot that Spain always chokes in playoffs, I dont think they can win semi's even if they reach there. My money is on a Germany vs Brazil final, again!

EC 2008.

pfff they just didn't have a decent opponent in the semis.

Russia and the Netherlands > Germany in EC 2008 to be honest.

only skillwise :P

Bracket fixers Germany

well, Russia lost to Spain, both times, with a lot higher difference than we did, so it really is down to speculation. Did play a really bad final, though.

That said, what I meant with "only skillwise" is how they play when it doesn't count for much. But in a tournament situation Germany has the tendency to play better than they should.

expect better performance from Schweinsteiger this time, he was starting to look promising in EC 2008, however germany still lacks beastly strikers of klinsmann caliber, klose/podoloski looks better on paper than on field, this fact alone can stop their campaign even early on.

agreed on the striker part.

klose/podolski don't even look good on paper right now with 2 and 3 goals this season.

but our MF, if they're able to play to their full potential, is pretty fucking awesome. with guys like schweinsteiger/ballack as CM and Özil/Marin left and right and Müller/Kroos behind the strikers ...

kießling ftw

BALLACK!!!

:(((((

drew, pls shoot K-P Boateng.

Russia had missing players both games :)

Hmm, I just can't see it (Injuries/Fitness permitting obviously).

They've been awesome pretty much every game since the EC2008 qualifiers, I think they have the players not to bottle it this time!

You also don't get Germany vs England that way, which is always great for getting the English to think it's WW2 again.

Too bad it won't happen on our home turf at Wembley ;(

You really wouldn't want it to be played on the new Wembley pitch.

Group A
South Africa
Mexico 2
Uruguay
France 1

Group B
Argentina 1
Nigeria
South-Korea
Greece 2

Group C
England 1
USA 2
Algeria
Slovenia

Group D
Germany 1
Australia
Serbia
Ghana 2

Group E
Netherlands 1
Denmark 2
Japan
Cameroon

Group F
Italy 1
Paraguay 2
New Zealand
Slovakia

Group G
Brazil 1
North-Korea
Ivory Coast
Portugal 2

Group H
Spain 1
Switzerland
Honduras
Chile 2

*fraggerr mode on*

;DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

maradona is a piece of shit as dt, i dont think argentina will get far they barely qualified

brazil was a beast in qualifiers

paraguay is currently a pretty good team but remember its best player cabañas got injured in mexico, fucking beaners.

spain is on board one of the if not the best stacked team, but as some1 said they choke in playoffs

germany has a solid young team

italy have (imo) the ugliest football style which is also boring and atrocious to watch but is useful for them so i dont blame them, i think we will see a dejavu inter-barcelona 2nd leg match in all their games in their way to the finals

so my prediction is that we will see finals between brazil spain italy and germany

I predict cooller...

I wouldn't rule out South Africa: So far the home team always survived the group stage.
Also Italy not making it playing in the easiest group with New Zealand and Slovakia? That won't happen.


Group A
South Africa 2
Mexico
Uruguay
France 1

Home team bonus for SA, but it will be close between those 3 teams for 2nd place.


Group B
Argentina 1
Nigeria
South-Korea
Greece 2

Argentina coming out on top, but all 3 other teams can make it.


Group C
England 1
USA 2
Algeria
Slovenia

USA is (slightly) underrated, and Algeria and Slovenia should be happy that they are among the best 32 teams this time. (Are there still some DVD's left "Discover Slovenia" and "Taste Slovenia" to make the players happy after their defeat? :D)


Group D
Germany 1
Australia
Serbia 2
Ghana

Ghana and even Australia can take 2nd place, but both need to play their best and also need some luck.


Group E
Netherlands 1
Denmark
Japan
Cameroon 2

Maybe Denmark will come out as runner-up behind Netherlands. Who knows ...


Group F
Italy 1
Paraguay 2
New Zealand
Slovakia

Imho this is the easiest group to predict.
New Zealand is one of those teams that makes it easier to reach next round in a World Cup than in an European championship. :p


Group G
Brazil 1
North-Korea
Ivory Coast
Portugal 2

This group has the potential for the biggest surprise: There is a small chance that Ivory Coast and Portugal are going through.


Group H
Spain 1
Switzerland 2
Honduras
Chile

Chile or Switzerland? I think Chile has the better players, but Switzerland got an excellent coach with Hitzfeld.