OT: 2014 World Cup predictions

Submitted by Geaux_Blue on

You have to believe the Brazilians are going to be HEAVY favorites with home turf and poor performances the past eight years... twelve years without a title is an eternity for them lately (though it was 24 years at one point...)

Germany is bringing back an outstanding team, though, and upstart nations have shown capable of knocking out the giants (who would have thought Switzerland almost caused the eventual champions to not qualify out of groups?!)

Thoughts?

MGoShoe

July 11th, 2010 at 5:13 PM ^

... Brazil for the reasons you mentioned (but will they be able to withstand the expectations that will come from being hosts?)

Germany is a scoring machine and is young.  They'll definitely be in the mix.

Argentina will be highly motivated to raise the Cup in South American and Brazil to boot.

Spain will clearly be expected to contend for a second straight title.

MGoShoe

July 11th, 2010 at 5:23 PM ^

...BISB. Here's the article and the quote:

In addition to home-field advantage, we also account for home-continent advantage, treating it as 50 percent as valuable as home-field advantage itself. There is powerful evidence for this, too, according to both anecdotal and statistical evidence, and it may be especially important in Africa -- a continent to which the best teams in the world rarely travel.

HartAttack20

July 11th, 2010 at 5:15 PM ^

But, then again, they are favored in most world cups. I'm not sure if it's the crazy ball they are using at this World Cup or what, but it's too low scoring for me. Watching 120 minutes of scoreless soccer can be painful.

bronxblue

July 11th, 2010 at 5:15 PM ^

Right now, probably Brazil, Germany, and maybe Argentina (if they can develop a coherent plan for developing a team).  Spain could always cause problems, but I could definitely see them go the way of Italy and show up with a fractured team and bow out early. 

And because I am a proud Stanzi-ite, USA!  Love it or leave it!

hailtothevictors08

July 11th, 2010 at 5:25 PM ^

and maybe reach the quarterfinals if....

1. We can find defenders who will be solid, espicially in the middle, if gooch is healthy he pry has one more cup

2. Midfield will be stacked ... donavan and dempsey each have one more cup pry, bradley is only 22ish, holden and others are young as well

3. Forward ... can we develop anyone other than a very young (20) altidore

4. If we get the same/simlar draw we got this yr

5. Keeper should be fine

grand river fi…

July 11th, 2010 at 5:30 PM ^

It's hard to see anyone other then Brazil winning it since they are the hosts.  The atmosphere of the tournament will be out of control.

Brazil never plays home friendlies.  Only the other South American's will have experienced it since they've played there in Qualifiers.  An Argentina - Brazil Final in the Maracana would be a dream though.

mrjblock24

July 12th, 2010 at 12:28 PM ^

I´m currently living in Rio, and there´s been a sign up saying in Portuguese "the future home of the final game for the 2014 World Cup." Final will be in Rio at Maracana. FYI, they recently closed it down for 2 years for renovations in preparation for the cup.

Plegerize

July 11th, 2010 at 5:41 PM ^

I'm thinking Brazil and Argentina have to be the front runners. I could see Spain competing for a second consecutive cup but it'll be tough. Germany will also be in the mix as well, does anyone see them slowing down?

I think the US will see improvement this time around as well. They could make it back to the round of 16 with a good draw. Who knows though. A lot can happen in 4 years.

Big Boutros

July 11th, 2010 at 6:18 PM ^

USA will destroy the world. Unbeaten, undrawn, unscored upon. 26 goals for. Juan Agudelo wins the Golden Boot with nine goals; Jack McInerney wins the Golden Ball. Head coach Jeff Cunningham.

Zone Left

July 11th, 2010 at 7:08 PM ^

I predict some type of instant replay on scoring plays and a less controversial ball.

I hope for a final that doesn't look look like a quasi brawl.  The ref seemed to lose control pretty quickly.  How the dude that jump kicked the Spaniard didn't get a red card, I'll never know.

SpartanDan

July 11th, 2010 at 7:55 PM ^

Who knows who will still be playing, what new talents will have worked their way up, what sort of form players will be in, or for that matter who will qualify?

That said: given the home-field advantage, I'd have to assume Brazil will be the odds-on favorite. Have to think Germany, whose young players looked so impressive this time out, will be a contender. Argentina will be great if they can get anyone to complement Messi (part of the reason he looks so unstoppable at Barcelona is that they've got enough other dangermen that you can't assign two guys to harass him all game long). We'll have to see how things develop for the USA; if we can solve the whole problem of showing up 10 minutes late to games, we've got a real shot at the quarters unless we get the draw from hell.

MGoRobo

July 11th, 2010 at 8:08 PM ^

Germany will win it all.  I think not having Ballack was good in the World Cup experience factor for the midfield, since Ballack won't be around much longer, I'd think.

HoldTheRope

July 11th, 2010 at 8:18 PM ^

The obvious ones that have already been mentioned...Brazil, Argentina, and Germany. However, if I were to throw out one dark horse (not that I necessarily think they will win), I'd have to say Ghana. If it wasn't for Suarez's ridiculous hand ball then they would've been in the semifinal against the Netherlands. Also, apparently they beat Brazil in the U-21 WC, which is impressive. So, like Germany, it seems like they have a good pool of young talent. Also, let's not forget that Essien was out for the Black Stars. By 2014 he will be 30, so he should still have a good bit left in the tank. That said, I doubt they win on Brazil's turf, but I think they should be able to make some noise again.

Transatlantic Flight

July 11th, 2010 at 9:20 PM ^

Statistically, no European team has ever won a World Cup in South America (Spain this year is the first to win one not in Europe).

Therefore, my analysis of teams that I think could perform well:

Argentina: should have a lot of talent returning (with a hopefully superior goalscoring Messi) and should have lots of support, coaching will probably make or break them

Germany: a young team with good talent and a lot of trips to the final four, could possibly win it, though I'd guess it's unlikely

USA: with Dempsey and Donovan playing their final World Cups (probably), with an influx of younger talent and better coaching we could really perform well

Spain: count me among the people that believe this world cup is heralding in a new era of Spanish dominance. While they could go the way of Italy and France in 4 years, with their feeder systems for Real Madrid and Barcelona I'm inclined to believe they will bring in a bunch of young talent and look similar to Germany this year instead of relying on has-beens like Italy and France did

Some African Team (Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Cote D'Ivoire, you pick): I believe that eventually one of these guys is going to really step it up and finally get a coherent team together. Ghana, based on performances from the last two cups is probably the most likely to do this, but I firmly believe Africa is one talented coach away from having a shot at winning the Cup

Japan or South Korea: both looked really good at times, and could really grow from their showings at this year's cup

 

JustGoBlue

July 11th, 2010 at 10:16 PM ^

as Spain has Vincente, count me in their camp.  I like that the man doesn't jump up and down screaming after ever goal (for or against) and just keeps the same face the whole time.  Stoic coaches are awesome.  But then, I have Red as an example.  Also, I love possesion games.  Maybe it's boring to other people, but when a team can pull it off as well as Spain (or the Wings, most years) it's incredible.

JustGoBlue

July 11th, 2010 at 10:38 PM ^

I know.  It's probably a pretty big paycut to be the national coach versus a League coach too and they do it more for prestige/patriotism than the money.  Especially when you have a WC (much less your countries first) to your credit.  But it would make me very happy.