http://news.bbc.co.uk/sol/shared/spl/hi ... fault.stm#

I'm sure all you soccerphiles are getting excited about the World Cup, perhaps to such an extend that you'll be making sure you see all the games and will be delaying getting a summer job until after the Final.

Anyway, give the BBC predicator a shot and let's see what you come up with.

Those knock out rounds could turn out to be pretty tasty. Here's my predictions.

Match 1 - Germany v England (awesome!)
Match 2 - Holland v Mexico
Match 3 - Sweden v Poland
Match 4 - Portugal v Argentina (lookin' good!)
Match 5 - Czech Rep v Croatia
Match 6 - South Korea v Ukraine
Match 7 - Brazil v Italy (yowsah!)
Match 8 - Spain v France (woah!)

QF 1 - Germany v Holland (probably the most hated rivals in world sport, brilliant! bring it on!)
QF 2 - Czech Rep v South Korea
QF 3 - Sweden v Argentina
QF 4 - Brazil v Spain (great potential here)

SF 1 - Holland v Czech Rep
SF 2 - Argentina v Brazil (monster!)

F - Czech Rep v Brazil

i've already done this...i'll dig up my results and let you know.

MATCH 1 GER v SWE
MATCH 2 IVC v MEX
MATCH 3 ENG v POL
MATCH 4 POR v ARG
MATCH 5 CZE v JAP
MATCH 6 FRA v UKR
MATCH 7 BRA v ITA
MATCH 8 SPA v KOR


QUARTER FINALS

QF1 GER v IVC
QF2 CZE v FRA
QF3 ENG v ARG
QF4 BRA v SPA


SEMI FINALS

SF1 GER v CZE
SF2 ARG v BRA


FINAL AND THIRD PLACE
The World Cup Trophy

WORLD CUP FINAL
GER v BRA

World Cup 2006
Winner: BRA
2nd: GER
3rd: ARG

THIRDPLACE
CZE vARG


Some amazing games going on in the quarter finals onwards!

What did you think of the England squad that was named? Big suprises. Glad he has given Lennon a chance but Hargreaves should of been left out for a striker. I think Gerard will end up playing behind Crouch if Owen & Rooney are not fit.

Germany vs. Sweden
Argentina vs. Portugal
England vs. Poland
Mexico vs. Holland
Italy vs. Croatia
France vs. Ukraine
Brazil vs. Czech Rep.
Spain vs. Korea

Germany vs. Argentina
Italy vs. France
England vs. Holland
Brazil vs. Spain

Germany vs. Italy
England vs. Brazil

Germany vs. Brazil w/ Brazil winning
Italy wins 3rd.

what do you think about ericsson keeping rooney in the squad (if they don't get out of the 2nd round he might not see the pitch) and dropping bent for walcott who's never played a senior international match?

if owen's not in form by the time the cup rolls around england might be relying on walcott and fucking "bambi on ice" crouch as forwards. yikes!

To me it was unbelievable that Eriksson picked a player that a) hasn't played all season and b) he's never even seen.

In a way though it tells you a lot about the England team. Strong first eleven but not much strength in depth.

I think a better option would be Joe Cole, rather than Gerrard in that role.

how did you guys copy and paste so cleanly...the one i used is this applet thing i can't do that.

Be hatin' on the US!

I agree, i think it is crazy. Taking just four strikers when two could be doubtful is unbelievable as well, although we certainly have no depth in the striker division. Carrick, Jenas & Hargreaves. I don't understand that. I like Carrick but surely one of the other two could of been sacrificed. I'm glad he did not take Bent and Defoe is so similar to Owen. As crazy as it sounds i would of liked to see Heskey or Beattie just for some physical presence up front. He's going to try and play like Chelsea with one up front and attacking wide men i fear. Just where Beckham fits into this is interesting. Maybe in the middle with Gerard & Lampard with Cole & Lennon/Downing wide. Whatever, it makes for interesting viewing.

Edit - Just been watching Sky Sports and they have been showing some of Walcott's goals for Southampton. Still a crazy move but holy shit he is so quick.

w00t.

GERMANY > PARAGUAY
ARGENTINA > PORTUGAL
ENGLAND > COSTA RICA
HOLLAND > MEXICO
CZECH REPUBLIC > CROATIA
FRANCE > UKRAINE
BRAZIL > USA
SPAIN > SWISS

GER > ARG
CZE > FRA
HOL > ENG
BRA > SPA

CZE > GER
HOL > BRA

HOL > CZE
BRA > GER

Match 1: GER>PARA
Match 2: HOL>POR
Match 3: ENG>ECU
Match 4: ARG>MEX
Match 5: CZE>CRO
Match 6: FRA>SPA
Match 7: BRA>USA
Match 8: KOR>UKR

QF1: HOL>GER
QF2: FRA>CZE
QF3: ENG>ARG
QF4: BRA>KOR

SF1: HOL>FRA
SF2: ENG>BRA

WCF: HOL>ENG
3rd: BRA>FRA

nice.

YEEAAH.

Croatia are going DOWN.

Not least because they stole three of our players (grew up in Aus, went through our development system etc)

The thing that is pissing me off at the moment is that my exam period is last 2 weeks of June (though I do only have 3), and then I go to uni games for a week, where I will be out drinking late night/early morning when the games are on here.

Oh, and hey amgl, did you hear about Vidmar being ruled out? It's not like we have much depth in defence anyway.

AUS>EVERYONE

no way germany's gonna make the semis. its a three-horse raise between argentina, brazil and holland prbly, with czech rep the dark horses (but they lack the bigtime experience). that said, italy or france may very well get in there and england too if they play to form. basically what i am trying to say is, its anyones game, expect the nazis. fuck them.

no matter how much i root for them or love their brand of football argentina are gonna fall short again tho. and brazil's prbly gonna take it. argentina's got the better defence and midfield (marginally), but i mean, just look at taht, too much strike power there. even if ronaldho sleepwalks most of his game he's still gonnna middle it into one or two goals.

when is (was) holland's side announced?

all the squads were announced today. I'd imagine they're all listed on the WC website.

Actually, they should be here:

http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/team/index.html

Ok, maybe only the Australian team has been put up there. The others can't be too far away though. Time difference I guess

They have already announced a 28 man "pre-squad" which will obviously be cut down to 23.

Keepers: Edwin van der Sar (Man Utd), Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax), Henk Timmer (AZ Alkmaar).

Defenders: Khalid Boulahrouz (Hamburg), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Barcelona), Tim de Cler (Alkmaar), Kew Jaliens (Alkmaar), Jan Kromkamp (Liverpool), Joris Mathijsen (Alkmaar), Andre Ooijer (PSV), Johnny Heitinga (Ajax), Barry Opdam (Alkmaar).

Midfielders: George Boateng (Middlesbrough), Mark van Bommel (Barcelona), Phillip Cocu (PSV), Nigel de Jong (Hamburg), Denny Landzaat (Alkmaar), Hedwiges Maduro (Ajax), Wesley Sneijder (Ajax), Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg).

Strikers: Ryan Babel (Ajax), Romeo Castelen (Feyenoord), Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Ajax), Dirk Kuijt (Feyenoord), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Man Utd), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Arjen Robben (Chelsea), Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (PSV).

I've ended up with 2 of four semi-finalist and was nearly four for four.