Thoughts on the World Cup Draw

Boy, wouldn't it have been nice to be seeded and get Mexico's draw instead of the one we got?

[KDawgCometh]

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Poland vs England
Portugal vs Argentina



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interesting. England and argentina might meet in the quarters to continue a great rivalry, if that happens, that might end up being the match of the tournament

[jdl22]

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Poland vs England
Portugal vs Argentina



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interesting. England and argentina might meet in the quarters to continue a great rivalry, if that happens, that might end up being the match of the tournament

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I was going to put this in the other post, but I guess I took it out.

England and Argentina have to finish in different places and win their first knockout game to advance. So if England win their group and Argentina finish second or if Argentina win and Engand finish second they meet in the quarterfinal if they get through their round of 16 match.

That would be a fantastic match.

[Aceshigh7]

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Thoughts on the World Cup Draw

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U.S got screwed. Mexico lucked out.

[partygirluk]

Group 3 is fkn tough

[jgunnip]

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jgunnip,

you said "(Italy-Czech match plays after US-Ghana)" Is this true? In the past they play the 3rd matchday matches at the same time to eliminate any sort of advantage of playing later. This is precisely because a team will play differently if they know they need a draw versus maybe needing to win and a team will play differently if they may need a draw than if they're through.

I don't see why they would change that.

Puzzled,

Jared

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You are correct, this was an oversight on my part. The US-Ghana match is simply listed ahead of the other match (DOH!).

However, the scenario still remains, where it is likely one of those teams will have already secured a spot. But, they will likely also be bidding to secure the top seed and avoid Brazil so there should be a fair match.

[jdl22]

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You are correct, this was an oversight on my part. The US-Ghana match is simply listed ahead of the other match (DOH!).

However, the scenario still remains, where it is likely one of those teams will have already secured a spot. But, they will likely also be bidding to secure the top seed and avoid Brazil so there should be a fair match.

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Don't worry about it, in a thread awhile ago I said Brazil won the world cup in France '98, it happens.

The problem for the US will come if they need someone to win in the other match. It could turn into what in Spain they sometimes refer to as 'el partido de la X' or the 'X match' This refers to a type of soccer lottery game they have where you make predictions on the outcome of some or all of the games and it gets paid based on how many you get right. In that game you mark 1 for the home team winning, 2 for the away team and X if you think it will be a draw. In these matches both teams gain a lot from a draw and nothing more from winning than drawing.

Unfortunaly for the US that may be the case. Suppose the US loses to the Czech Republic and draws Italy, and both those teams beat Ghana. The US will have 1 point, Italy 4 and the Czech Republic 6. A draw puts Italy through and the Czechs avoid Brazil. Italy would obviously gain by not playing Brazil next but would obviously not be too keen on throwing everything forward to get a win. The Czech Republic would probably be playing like a team that won the first leg 1-0 in a home and home match - vaguely trying for a goal but making damn sure to not get caught on a counterattack.

Playing Australia, Croatia, or Japan instead of Brazil might be a big enough carrot. Hopefully so.

[UCF THAYER]

I'm pretty sure that in this scenario Italy will be trying their hardest to win...

[KDawgCometh]

I was watching FOx Football Friday, and the hosts brought up a very good point that will negatively effect the US. Italy normally has a bad game in their first match in big competitions, well, guess what, the US is the second game. What this means is that the US will have to play the game of their lives against the czech rep.

One thing that I have forgotten though is that Nedved is retired from international play. This is huge if he doesn't come back for the WC. Rosiscky isn't anywhere near the player that nedved is, and they will be relying on Jan Koller to get their goals, and IMO Koller isn't that strong of a striker. THe main problem for the US in that game will getting anything past petr cech. Look at his play for Chelsea and how he has done on the internation scene.

If only the US had played some more competetive friendlies in the past few years or had gone to the last Copa America we would be seeded as we only lost out on it by a measly point. The USSF is fully to blame for this, instead of programing matches against Cuba et al then we'd be talking about who the US would be facing in the 2nd rd and if they would be possibly going to the quarters. I think that the US can still advance, but, a lot of factors will have to come into play, and in the end, the talent gap might not be closed through great team play

[UCF THAYER]

When Czech were struggling to qualify, Nedved came out of retirement and played in their last few games. I assume he will play in the WC.