WC 2014 Brasil; Starts June 12th 2014

TheMilkyPirate

Well the draw has been made and one thing I will take from it is how good a group the Argies have landed. Iran, Bosnia and Nigeria stand in their way.

Taking this into account I'm gonna have to take Messi for top scorer at 11/1 (Boyles) He could easily rack up an impressive tally against said teams whereas his nearest rivals in the market - Ronaldo, Neymar, Suarez and V.Persie all have much tougher groups to overcome.

Looking at the long shots I like the look of Negredo at 40/1 (Lads) although I have to admit I'm not too sure how Spain will line out with Costa also in the squad. Hopefully someone could help me with that.

In the outright market it's between Brazil, Germany and Argentina for me. This is Messi' prime world cup and he really could light up the tournament. I'm siding towards Brazil ATM but won't be having a bet in either market for a while.

What's everyone else's fancies?

inforfun

Alright

For those who cant help themselves and want to put their thoughts and bets for the WC now already....

Go ahead

markc91

Sticking a tenner a week on Brazil since October until it starts. So will be fully behind them

ShamoBuc

Messi top goal scorer.

Suarez to score against England.

England 0 Italy 1

Netherlands to get a red card v Spain.

USA to get out of their group at the expense of Portugal.


...that will do for now, I do think I'll be backing the above when it comes around.

This thread should be a good read in the lead up and during the competition.

TheMilkyPirate

I opened a World cup thread yesterday, What's the need for this one?

inforfun

TheMilkyPirate wrote: »

I opened a World cup thread yesterday, What's the need for this one?

None whatsoever.
Missed yours last night....

Threads merged.

Pen.Island

I can't waiiiiiiiit. Although this is my first year I'll be working during the summer Sucks!!

markc91

Pen.Island wrote: »

I can't waiiiiiiiit. Although this is my first year I'll be working during the summer Sucks!!

Ah you might get lucky if your working 9-5 :P

Pen.Island

markc91 wrote: »

Ah you might get lucky if your working 9-5 :P

I know :P But for every sporting event (in the summer) I'd watch them all day and night :P Working life sucks :P

Austria!

After his display today Barkey to make the England squad @3 with Will Hill is calling to me with it's beautiful siren song. If you can win MOTM away to Arsenal, you can get on a plane to Brazil.

Everton seem to be doing well this year and there is a huge bias towards players playing in the top teams. He's young, and so only going to get better as the season progresses I think. On the usually reliable F365 world cup ladder he's 22, and on oddschecker there's only 23 players shorter odds than him and 4 of those are keepers.

I have now talked myself into rebacking this.

markc91

Austria! wrote: »

After his display today Barkey to make the England squad @3 with Will Hill is calling to me with it's beautiful siren song. If you can win MOTM away to Arsenal, you can get on a plane to Brazil.

Especially when your up against Cleverly

P.Walnuts

Austria! wrote: »

After his display today Barkey to make the England squad @3 with Will Hill is calling to me with it's beautiful siren song. If you can win MOTM away to Arsenal, you can get on a plane to Brazil.

Everton seem to be doing well this year and there is a huge bias towards players playing in the top teams. He's young, and so only going to get better as the season progresses I think. On the usually reliable F365 world cup ladder he's 22, and on oddschecker there's only 23 players shorter odds than him and 4 of those are keepers.

I have now talked myself into rebacking this.

Is there any injury insurance on these kind of bets?

PEACEBROTHER

As of right now
If hodgson takes Cleverly over Barkley he would be slaughtered
Barkley is 3 times the player Cleverly is
Pace , Power , Skill ,

Only thing Barkley needs to do is work on the end product ( shot or killer pass)
This will come with time and I can see him becoming an exceptional player

ASOT

Henderson 3/1 at the moment to be brought to the WC, with the way pool are playing at the moment that seems overpriced.

Austria!

ASOT wrote: »

Henderson 3/1 at the moment to be brought to the WC, with the way pool are playing at the moment that seems overpriced.

@6 with will hill and betvic

Was on it already. In a 23 man squad versatility counts, and he can play in a few positions.

Am keeping an eye on A. Carrol too

Mokuba

Columbia, Chile and Uruguay all look pretty decent shots in my view.

BuilderPlumber

The winner of 2014 World Cup surely has got to be one of these: Spain, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Holland, Portugal or France.

France probably least likely but would never rule them out either. I'd kind of go for either Argentina, Italy, Spain, Germany or Brazil. Reason? Argentina have Messi, Italy have more or less consistently been won, been in the final or in the top four in most world and European cups (2010 being a rare exception), ditto for Germany, and Brazil are playing on home ground. Of course, you can't rule out Spain. I said in 2012 that they'd hardly win that one because they had won the previous European cup and the previous world cup, but they are a very capable team and the best I have ever seen in recent times.

I did not like the recent Holland team at all. They were defensive and dirty and lacked the great excitement of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s Dutch teams that earned the country's team as the Brazil of Europe. I would love to see an old style Dutch team win the world cup.

BuilderPlumber

I recently read that there are plans to expand the world cup finals from 32 to 40 teams. In my previous post, I listed that the winning team will be most likely one of Spain, Germany, Brazil, Italy, France, Argentina, Holland or Portugal. Perhaps there are others: Russia, Turkey, Czech Republic, England, Sweden, Croatia, Greece and Denmark all had decent outfits in the past and one of these could spring a surprise. However, you notice that they are all either European or South American!! Russia and Turkey theoretically span two continents but most of their teams come from clubs based in Moscow, St Petersburg and Istanbul.

Are there any real chance of a non-European or South American team winning? Probably not for the moment as the status quo of soccer is so strong. But I have a feeling we will be seeing more and more top notch African sides. Ever since 1990's Cameroon team, we have seen some great African sides. Ghana in 2010 were particularly sensational. Could this side have won the world cup if things went their way? Definitely.

Asia has also seen some glimpses of greatness. Japan and South Korea had good outfits in recent years. I would like to see Iran win the world cup as it would mean a lot for democracy and confidence among the Iranian people. They have had some good outfits that did very well in the Asian cup but have never done well yet at world cup finals. It would be good to see Iran become the surprise package this time around akin to Turkey in the early 2000s. Saudi Arabia and Iraq also had some teams in the world cup but did not do well there either. China seems to occasionally qualify but make no impact. However, there are many other Asian countries that do not seem to have any serious soccer background: I don't ever remember say India, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia or Indonesia feature in the world cup for example.

Then, Australia and New Zealand are 100% rugby focused nations. I remember both play in one world cup but they did not do well. North America: Mexico and USA have done ok in some world cups. Good solid teams but never a serious threat to the status quo. Canada is another country I don't ever remember in the world cup?

Most South American teams have at some stage participated. Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay and Chile have all given us solid outfits but none ever looked like being serious rivals for the two biggies Brazil and Argentina. Uruguay actually was a world cup winner but never in recent times. The Caribbean nations, Guyana and Surinam have never featured I don't think?

baddebt

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

The winner of 2014 World Cup surely has got to be one of these: Spain, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Holland, Portugal or France.

.

I can only see 1 of 3 teams with any chance of winning the WC
Brazil
Spain
Uruguay. 28/1 an each way bet is well worth it.

Germany , Achillies heel is defending , their terrible at the back

Argentina Have the players , but they don't have a team spirit all the ego's are too interested in gunning for their own individual glory ...............if they put there ego's aside and rally around Messi , that would win it no doubt about it.

Dark horse will be Portugal , as it looks like the whole team want to rally around Ronaldo (just like Argentina done with Maradona in 86.). worth an each way bet

inforfun

Uruguay?
Get real. 5th in the S-Americans qualifiers. If Brazil werent the hosts and had to qualify, Uruguay would have been watching tv this summer.



1 bet that will probably stay the same value for now is: Of which continent will be the winner from: Have to get on South America there.
Common knowledge no European country have even won the WC in S-America and it will not happen this time either i reckon.

BuilderPlumber

inforfun wrote: »

Uruguay?
Get real. 5th in the S-Americans qualifiers. If Brazil werent the hosts and had to qualify, Uruguay would have been watching tv this summer.



1 bet that will probably stay the same value for now is: Of which continent will be the winner from: Have to get on South America there.
Common knowledge no European country have even won the WC in S-America and it will not happen this time either i reckon.

Brazil or Argentina will win it so.

Collie D

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

I recently read that there are plans to expand the world cup finals from 32 to 40 teams. In my previous post, I listed that the winning team will be most likely one of Spain, Germany, Brazil, Italy, France, Argentina, Holland or Portugal. Perhaps there are others: Russia, Turkey, Czech Republic, England, Sweden, Croatia, Greece and Denmark all had decent outfits in the past and one of these could spring a surprise. However, you notice that they are all either European or South American!! Russia and Turkey theoretically span two continents but most of their teams come from clubs based in Moscow, St Petersburg and Istanbul.

Are there any real chance of a non-European or South American team winning? Probably not for the moment as the status quo of soccer is so strong. But I have a feeling we will be seeing more and more top notch African sides. Ever since 1990's Cameroon team, we have seen some great African sides. Ghana in 2010 were particularly sensational. Could this side have won the world cup if things went their way? Definitely.

Asia has also seen some glimpses of greatness. Japan and South Korea had good outfits in recent years. I would like to see Iran win the world cup as it would mean a lot for democracy and confidence among the Iranian people. They have had some good outfits that did very well in the Asian cup but have never done well yet at world cup finals. It would be good to see Iran become the surprise package this time around akin to Turkey in the early 2000s. Saudi Arabia and Iraq also had some teams in the world cup but did not do well there either. China seems to occasionally qualify but make no impact. However, there are many other Asian countries that do not seem to have any serious soccer background: I don't ever remember say India, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia or Indonesia feature in the world cup for example.

Then, Australia and New Zealand are 100% rugby focused nations. I remember both play in one world cup but they did not do well. North America: Mexico and USA have done ok in some world cups. Good solid teams but never a serious threat to the status quo. Canada is another country I don't ever remember in the world cup?

Most South American teams have at some stage participated. Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay and Chile have all given us solid outfits but none ever looked like being serious rivals for the two biggies Brazil and Argentina. Uruguay actually was a world cup winner but never in recent times. The Caribbean nations, Guyana and Surinam have never featured I don't think?

Is that you, Pele?

Pen.Island

No chance for Uruguay. Have they still got the OAP partnership in ddefence?

BuilderPlumber

Pen.Island wrote: »

No chance for Uruguay. Have they still got the OAP partnership in ddefence?

I cannot see Uruguay winning it either but they do appear to be a good solid team. It is surprising too how highly ranked Colombia are (only Spain, Germany and Argentina are ranked ahead of them!). Again, I can't see them win it but it would be great to see a surprise package like this make the top four anyway. Their ranking make them the 4th best team in the world at the moment.

BuilderPlumber

It is rather scary how low Ireland are ranked at present. 67th. I don't remember Finland, Israel, Libya, Burkina Faso, Iceland or Wales ever make any headway in the world cup finals (can't even remember any of these in them?) but all are placed ahead of Ireland at present!

BuilderPlumber

baddebt wrote: »

I can only see 1 of 3 teams with any chance of winning the WC
Brazil
Spain
Uruguay. 28/1 an each way bet is well worth it.

Germany , Achillies heel is defending , their terrible at the back

Argentina Have the players , but they don't have a team spirit all the ego's are too interested in gunning for their own individual glory ...............if they put there ego's aside and rally around Messi , that would win it no doubt about it.

Dark horse will be Portugal , as it looks like the whole team want to rally around Ronaldo (just like Argentina done with Maradona in 86.). worth an each way bet

Portugal are one of the great underachievers at the world cup. They have given us top notch teams with some of the greatest footballers (Eusabio, Figo, Ronaldo) and have often featured in the top 4 or 8. But they have been unlucky (up against the likes of the best teams that Brazil, Germany, Spain and France have had).

The world cup winners club is made up of three South American teams (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay) along with five European sides (England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain). Assuming none of these were to win, I wonder who the winner of the world cup would be?

Portugal and Holland automatically come to mind. And Colombia are so highly rated.

Stojkovic

Brasil or Germany will win it.
They should meet in SF.

Argies outside bet.

BuilderPlumber

Stojkovic wrote: »

Brasil or Germany will win it.
They should meet in SF.

Argies outside bet.

And I'd put Spain in there too as another possible. The ones you mention and Spain are what I'd predict somehow as possible winners.

Stojkovic

Spain are probably slightly past it and dont think they'll get past the semis.

They need another year or two to replace a few ageing bodies. Plus most have hardly had a decent break in 5 years.

BuilderPlumber

Stojkovic wrote: »

Spain are probably slightly past it and dont think they'll get past the semis.

They need another year or two to replace a few ageing bodies. Plus most have hardly had a decent break in 5 years.

Of course, I have seen pre-tournament favourites fall apart completely. For example, I remember France at the 2002 world cup: hot favourites before the tournament and they failed to make it out of their group. And yes, they had Henry and Zidane at their best at the time (they easily won the previous world and European cups and would go on to do well in 2006 ending up in that championship's infamous final: France was easily the best team in the world at the time). But, for some reason or another, things didn't work out well for them. In 2010, Italy (WC winners in 2006 and in the finals of 2012 Euro cup) had a similar experience. Bearing this in mind, anything can happen. Spain are bound to have many players past their prime but all said and done, I'd say they will make the final four if they don't get jinxed.

Wild_Dogger

true .. France didn't even score a goal in that world cup