[fractal]

Well, if there's anyone who knows violence, it's the Victorians. I blame the shit beer.

Wait? You're a Saffer?

That explains why you're living here, then...

Gee, you don't beat around the bush. What gives you the impression i'm South African, exactly?

And XXXX promotes peace & tranquility as opposed to raucous brawling- in thongs.

[Jools]

I don't think you can leave Argentina out of that bunch.

I gotta agree with you landscaped1, about Argentina. Never know how far they can go, tight squad.... the world's their oyster.

But on a second note, the U.S. played well on Saturday against Australia. (Of course, a friendly). Not that easy to underestimate them. So expectations should be high at this point. Still, it should be a great game on Saturday. Best of luck to all. Jools.

[kcmadr]

Some call me crazy...

Some say I'm "hard core"...

I'll be watching every game pre-recorded when I get home from work at night.

All 64 games.

Every four years!!!

Coming from there, I just hope none of the tourists and fans leave in body bags - they don't deserve that. But we'll see...

[Unsinkable II]

This is effectively a "winter" World Cup, so expect the Europeans to do well.

The other factor is altitude.

Favourites have to be Spain, depth in every position and different styles of play they can call on. But then again, they lost 2-0 to the USA last year... funny old game.

I just switched cable TV carriers for the tournament. I'll now be getting it in HD goodness :-)

Little-known fact is that SONY have a lot of state of the art 3D recording equipment in S.A.

[Edvinas]

Some call me crazy...

Some say I'm "hard core"...

I'll be watching every game pre-recorded when I get home from work at night.

All 64 games.

Every four years!!!

I do it every two years Because we have European championship every four years, so Europeans get major football tournament every two years

Favourites have to be Spain, depth in every position and different styles of play they can call on. But then again, they lost 2-0 to the USA last year... funny old game.

They are my favourites too. If they will manage to play at the same level as they did in EURO 2008 - they're going to be unstoppable.

[Jasvox]

hmmm.. as an avid football fan, I can say I will be watching ther Cup as much as allowable, being on the road and all...but, here is what I will watching for:

Team USA (home team and who I'd love to see do well, but let's face it...the Jamaican Bobsled team are a nice gimmick too)

Greece (sort of adopted team since having lived here for the past 6 years...one in a thousand they will even reach the quarterfinals)

Argentina (Great players, dickhead for a coach....they could win it all or fall on their faces depending on how sober Maradona is when coaching)

Australia (Sooceroos are a great group and shame about that crap call against Italy in 2006...maybe they will have success this time around?)

Brasil (Perennial favorites each time they play. A final between Brasil and Argentina would be epic)

England (love to see them lose)

Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Italy, France and Germany... All solid teams and all could make a splash, but I don't think they will take it this time around.

Cameroon (Strong African team, but can they go all the way with only Eto'o and Webo?)

Serbia (a lot of very talented players on this team, they could just be the surprise of the Cup)

Ivory Coast....this could be their year. Besides, wouldn't it be great to see a home continent team win it all? It's good for the country, it's good for Africa, it's good for football.


Jason

[lithos]

And XXXX promotes peace & tranquility as opposed to raucous brawling- in thongs.

That's not the XXXX. That's the Bundy...

All I can say, thank god I'm not in Bangkok, like I was for the last cup.

"Hey! You're Australian! The Socceroos didn't win!"

"Er, what these...'Socceroos' you speak of?"

I saw Harry Kewell on a cereal packet today. The apocalypse is upon us.

[landscaped1]

Argentina (Great players, dickhead for a coach....they could win it all or fall on their faces depending on how sober Maradona is when coaching)

Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Italy, France and Germany... All solid teams and all could make a splash, but I don't think they will take it this time around.

Jason

I still like argentina, but Maradona is another story! Did you see the article on espn about Maradona request to have bidets installed in his hotel bathroom!(link)

And Spain will win it all! and how easily you discount the Italians and the French!

Friday should be a good day!

[Edvinas]

Argentina (Great players, dickhead for a coach....they could win it all or fall on their faces depending on how sober Maradona is when coaching)

Argentina has all-star forward selection, however its midfield and defence aren't very convincing. Goalkeeper also can be a weak link. And Mascherano as a captain... Well, I think he will be more busy in teaching referees than playing...

[netuser]

I will enjoy all the games I can watch no matter who wins!

[Jools]

I will enjoy all the games I can watch no matter who wins!

In the end, you are correct.
That should be the spirit. I hope for good play and good games whoever wins.
Just a few days to go...

[Jools]

I still like argentina, but Maradona is another story! Did you see the article on espn about Maradona request to have bidets installed in his hotel bathroom!(link)

And Spain will win it all! and how easily you discount the Italians and the French!

Friday should be a good day!

Friday will be a great day and Saturday better (for the sake of the U.S. side)

But I gotta disagree, the Italians and French are not bringing their strongest teams so it is understandable to discount them at this point. The Italians are an aging team, the French got to this point by Gallic hand of god and now they are bickering about how much the team is paying to stay in South Africa.

I don't see much for these teams.

As for Spain, I expect a lot and Argentina is certainly a contender.

We'll see.
Yup, Friday should be a good day!

[kcmadr]

I do it every two years Because we have European championship every four years, so Europeans get major football tournament every two years

I also watch Euro, but they only have 16 teams in 4 groups of 4 which makes a total of 31 games for the whole tournament - not really such a stretch when you have a full-time job as when the World Cup is on.

[lithos]

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!

[Edvinas]

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!

My five years old daughter said that she will support Australia