World Cup 2014 Super Thread copyright warning #1645

Paully D

Today's the day

COYVB

would there not be a good case to be made for a world cup sub-forum for the next month?

~Rebel~

Gents, looking for a bit of assistance.

Organising a World Cup pool at work, everyone gets a team, all teams used.
I want to keep it interesting for all parties though so going for a range of prize categories;
Winner
Team with worst overall record
Top scoring team in the group stage
Side to qualify for knockouts with the worst record.

Any others you folks can think of?

batistuta9

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Gents, looking for a bit of assistance.

Organising a World Cup pool at work, everyone gets a team, all teams used.
I want to keep it interesting for all parties though so going for a range of prize categories;
Winner
Team with worst overall record
Top scoring team in the group stage
Side to qualify for knockouts with the worst record.

Any others you folks can think of?

first red card
most cards - a points system 1y, 3r or whatever
first OG
first penalty scorers
first penalty save
first to win penalty shootout
first free kick scorers
first defender to score
first to use all 3 subs
hatrick scorer
biggest winning margin
biggest losing margin

Knex*

Anyone want to do a last man standing competition for this?

Pick a team each week to win. Can't pick same team twice.

Not sure how feasible it is with the later rounds though. It's too early for me to think about it. Can it be done?

MagicIRL

Last night Spain were 13/2 to lift the trophy. Why are they suddenly the #3 favourite behind Brazil and Argentina? I understand the whole South American location, the winner's history etc, but it's Spain!

MagicIRL

MagicIRL wrote: »

Last night Spain were 13/2 to lift the trophy. Why are they suddenly the #3 favourite behind Brazil and Argentina? I understand the whole South American location, the winner's history etc, but it's Spain!

Prices have been falling and will fall all day prior to kick-off this evening.

Beefy78

Knex. wrote: »

Anyone want to do a last man standing competition for this?

Pick a team each week to win. Can't pick same team twice.

Not sure how feasible it is with the later rounds though. It's too early for me to think about it. Can it be done?

I'd say run each round every two days. That gives six fixtures to choose a single winner from.

Looper007

MagicIRL wrote: »

Last night Spain were 13/2 to lift the trophy. Why are they suddenly the #3 favourite behind Brazil and Argentina? I understand the whole South American location, the winner's history etc, but it's Spain!

I see Brazil buckling under the pressure, they haven't got a player like a Ronaldo or Messi to pin their hopes on but they get to quarter finals. If anyone says Neymar I go crazy :pac:.

I expect a Germany and Spain final unless they clash earlier.

Shanotheslayer

Kerrydude1981 wrote: »

Will there be a thread like their was for the Euro 2012?

It was called "Euro 2012 politically incorrect photos of hot girlies in the crowd"

Wonder will Russia bring their star of the Euro's with them

God I missed her! Haha

Looper007

Shanotheslayer wrote: »

God I missed her! Haha

Never got the hype and love the Russia girl got, there were better looking women at Euro's that year.

Shanotheslayer

Looper007 wrote: »

Never got the hype and love the Russia girl got, there were better looking women at Euro's that year.

It's the smile/laugh and looks very natural that does it for me

Looper007

Shanotheslayer wrote: »

It's the smile/laugh and looks very natural that does it for me

Ah I see, I thought it was based on looks alone. The thing that stuck out from Euro 2012 was the amount of Glamour Models who were trying to get some screen time and get some attention. It was a bit of a dour point as it's always nice to see the Normal natural beauties in the crowd been picked out by the camera men.

Maximus Alexander

It's still so weird to me how Spain have become this world powerhouse. All through my childhood there was a smell of England off them on the international stage! :pac: How things change.

Looper007

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

It's still so weird to me how Spain have become this world powerhouse. All through my childhood there was a smell of England off them on the international stage! :pac: How things change.

It's amazing how many are writing them off right now. I'm going for Germany this world cup but Spain winning it again wouldn't surprise me.

Maximus Alexander

Kerrydude1981 wrote: »

Will there be a thread like their was for the Euro 2012?

It was called "Euro 2012 politically incorrect photos of hot girlies in the crowd"

Wonder will Russia bring their star of the Euro's with them

Russia should have had automatic qualification on this basis.

Nuri Sahin

OdgeXD

What time's kick-off?

OdgeXD

OdgeXD wrote: »

What time's kick-off?

9:00pm I think

grumpymunster

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

Good God that is scary

GLaDOS

Can't wait for the big kick off

Average-Ro

A lot of people seem to be going for Germany to win this time round; am I the only one who sees 2 or 3 other teams finishing ahead/doing better than them?

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see them win it myself (I love the country) but I don't see them doing well enough to get to the final.

Knex*

grumpymunster wrote: »

Good God that is scary

Aye. Utterly ridiculous.

I'm struggling to believe that this is less than 100% tested and secure. 2014, no excuse for Stadium Safety issues anymore.

Looper007

I always love a good upset or a team that comes out of nowhere and sets the world cup alight.

Hopefully this world cup isn't as disappointing as the one in South Africa, a lot of poor games came out of that. I expect a few cautious 0-0's during the first and second round of games. But hopefully we can get a few top matches in the group stages.

Looper007

Average-Ro wrote: »

A lot of people seem to be going for Germany to win this time round; am I the only one who sees 2 or 3 other teams finishing ahead/doing better than them?

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see them win it myself (I love the country) but I don't see them doing well enough to get to the final.

No way Germany will power through them all, I think Spain and Brazil with the home crowd behind them might beat them. But they got a awesome squad, power and pace. I want them to win as they do play some wonderful football and it be nice for a European team to go to South America and win it

glued

I can't see Germany doing that well tbh. Reus is a massive loss and I think he is their best player. Gotze and Ozil have had a mixed bag of a season although Gotze was on the treatment table quite a bit. They have no striker of note and their defence has never impressed me over the past few years.

I think Muller like the last WC will be key to anything that Germany do.

Average-Ro

glued wrote: »

I can't see Germany doing that well tbh. Reus is a massive loss and I think he is their best player. Gotze and Ozil have had a mixed bag of a season although Gotze was on the treatment table quite a bit. They have no striker of note and their defence has never impressed me over the past few years.

I think Muller like the last WC will be key to anything that Germany do.

This is basically what I was just about to type:)

Would LOVE for them to do well, but I don't see it happening.

ben.schlomo

Same as the two opinions above i just dont think Germany will have enough to do it this time, Reus is a massive loss. Cant see beyond one of Argentina, Brazil and Spain. Tiny e/w bet on France purely as their price is huge.

Nuri Sahin

Average-Ro wrote: »

A lot of people seem to be going for Germany to win this time round; am I the only one who sees 2 or 3 other teams finishing ahead/doing better than them?

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see them win it myself (I love the country) but I don't see them doing well enough to get to the final.

Germany won't win zilch with Loew at the helm. There's more optimism with Arsenal supporters for the NT than Germans mates I know.

Nuri Sahin

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

Germany won't win zilch with Loew at the helm. There's more optimism with Arsenal supporters for the NT than Germans mates I know.

Agree, not going to win it. But there still a safe bet for the Semis

glued

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

Germany won't win zilch with Loew at the helm. There's more optimism with Arsenal supporters for the NT than Germans mates I know.

Why is that? I know you follow German football so maybe you can explain why they don't like Low?

Knex*

The Onion give a breakdown on their "Teams to Watch".

http://www.theonion.com/articles/world-cup-teams-to-watch,36253/#1

An Example of the type of insight to expect:

BRAZIL

Strength: As host country, team will play in the stadium least likely to collapse at any moment

Weaknesses: Only qualified for World Cup through back door as tournament hosts; Nation will probably fall into total anarchy regardless of team’s performance

Roster: Contains a record seven “Next Pele”s

World Cup History: Has never advanced past championship match in seven tries

Official Team Suffix: “-inho”

Knex.

Knex. wrote: »

The Onion give a breakdown on their "Teams to Watch".

http://www.theonion.com/articles/world-cup-teams-to-watch,36253/#1

An Example of the type of insight to expect:

:pac::pac: My lunch time reading material

Looper007

ben.schlomo wrote: »

Same as the two opinions above i just dont think Germany will have enough to do it this time, Reus is a massive loss. Cant see beyond one of Argentina, Brazil and Spain. Tiny e/w bet on France purely as their price is huge.

Can't wait to see Germany prove you doubters wrong. Just cause Reus is missing doesn't make them weak. They are a far stronger team then Brazil and Argentina.

Looper007

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

Germany won't win zilch with Loew at the helm. There's more optimism with Arsenal supporters for the NT than Germans mates I know.

Who are you all of a sudden The Chosen one?

Average-Ro

Looper007 wrote: »

Can't wait to see Germany prove you doubters wrong. Just cause Reus is missing doesn't make them weak. They are a far stronger team then Brazil and Argentina.

Do you not think only one recognized striker and one inexperienced left back will hamper them though? Apparently some of their main players are carrying injury niggles too.

greendom

M!Ck^ wrote: »

Agree, not going to win it. But there still a safe bet for the Semis

does anyone know of any bookies who pay-out on each way bets if teams reach the semis. Paddy Power only pay out if they reach the final.

MagicIRL

Knex. wrote: »

The Onion give a breakdown on their "Teams to Watch".

http://www.theonion.com/articles/world-cup-teams-to-watch,36253/#1

An Example of the type of insight to expect:

This little gem from the above regarding Spain:

Fun Fact: 23-man team currently country’s biggest employer :pac::cool:

glued

My favourite is England:

Weakness: Insists on “Wourld Cup” spelling

Knex*

MagicIRL wrote: »

This little gem from the above regarding Spain:

Fun Fact: 23-man team currently country’s biggest employer :pac::cool:

There's a few good ones in fairness to them.

I want that job. Nobody pays me for being a plonk on boards, yet over on The Onion its not only mandatory, but monetarily encouraged.

greendom

greendom wrote: »

does anyone know of any bookies who pay-out on each way bets if teams reach the semis. Paddy Power only pay out if they reach the final.

Nope if you bet before 9 tonight you can get any team even reaching the last 16 on PP. Its on the world cup specials page.

Nuri Sahin

glued wrote: »

Why is that? I know you follow German football so maybe you can explain why they don't like Low?

Loew doesn't seem to know what his best team is, still(!), constantly tinkering with the line up, trying all sorts of line ups and formations, but yet despite that, the team lacks a Plan B when out on the pitch in terms of style. They were famed for being mentally the strongest out of any side collectively around over a number of years, but this side seems wilt frequently when the opposition have any meaningful possession for decent periods of time. A lot of Germans, including Dortmund fans believe Gotze should be the main man to build the team around from an offensive stand point too as Ozil still goes missing for large spells of games. Then there is the mess with the strikers. For me, Volland should have been integrated far sooner into the team. But considering that didn't happen, up until his injury, I was adamant Reus should have lead the line with Gotze behind him.

This time around, Schurrle aside, lack of pace will kill them. One mustn't forget how ruthless they were on the counter in South Africa and up until Greece and then Italy, in Ukraine and Poland a couple of years ago.

Nuri Sahin

Looper007 wrote: »

Who are you all of a sudden The Chosen one?

Who are you?

TimeToShine

Knex. wrote: »

The Onion give a breakdown on their "Teams to Watch".

http://www.theonion.com/articles/world-cup-teams-to-watch,36253/#1

An Example of the type of insight to expect:

Haha, here's a good one:

FRANCE
Strengths: Great individual chemistry on roster; New crop of promising young talent finally ready to implode on international stage.

OwaynOTT

Knex. wrote: »

There's a few good ones in fairness to them.

I want that job. Nobody pays me for being a plonk on boards, yet over on The Onion its not only mandatory, but monetarily encouraged.

Nice linkage there.

Favourite of mine:

Nickname: The German International Soccer Team

Knex*

Also, the whole Costa to Spain thing went way over my head until recently enough actually.

Not quite sure how I missed that, as its pretty big news.

Must say, was quite surprised by it all. Imagine if Spain do play Brazil at any stage, he'll get one hell of a hostile reception. Deserved too, IMO.

OwaynOTT

Knex. wrote: »

Also, the whole Costa to Spain thing went way over my head until recently enough actually.

Not quite sure how I missed that, as its pretty big news.

Must say, was quite surprised by it all. Imagine if Spain do play Brazil at any stage, he'll get one hell of a hostile reception. Deserved too, IMO.

What? I'm a bigger sap.

Lucas Hood

Knex. wrote: »

Also, the whole Costa to Spain thing went way over my head until recently enough actually.

Not quite sure how I missed that, as its pretty big news.

Must say, was quite surprised by it all. Imagine if Spain do play Brazil at any stage, he'll get one hell of a hostile reception. Deserved too, IMO.

Him playing for both spawned my favourite football trivia question.

Which footballer made his international debut twice against Italy in the space of less than a year?

Lucas Hood

OwaynOTT wrote: »

What? I'm a bigger sap.

He's Brazilian and played for them last year before switching to Spain.

glued

What does everyone make of England's World Cup chances? Personally I don't think that they stand a chance. They may limp it out of the group but Hodgson isn't good enough to get 150% out of this team which is what they'll need to have any meaningful impact on the side. Gerrard has been good this season but has been dominated by better midfielders in the Premier League. He's going to be a massive lynch pin of this side and I'm not sure how effective he can be against some of the better teams in the World Cup. I don't understand the squad selection either. Aside from Gerrard there is no other natural player in the squad to set the tempo for England. Carrick, albeit off form should still have gone as he was the obvious alternative. The only way I can see England progressing is if Rooney can finally do it for England on the World Cup stage. If Rooney can get playing then him and Sturridge could do some damage but I think England's midfield is pretty poor. Baines was also shocking last week too.