Two predictions:
Which teams will be playing the semi-finals?
Who will win the world cup?
Germany, Argentina, Spain, Netherlands.
Germany will win.
Yes, no Brazil!
Brazil to win, but Spain with a good chance as well. Or Portugal could win! On paper, I’d give the edge to Spain, but I think Brazil has more of a will to win than Spain.
I don’t think Germany will win, but without the Ballack, the team may actually pull it together.
Argentina will bomb. So will England.
Great! Make your predictions then trash the other guy’s prediction! 
You’re going with the three top ranked teams from theFIFA rankings. Playing it safe for a guy who really knows soccer!
I will actually cheer for Ivory Coast. I like Drogba.
Drogba’s injured, isn’t he? And didn’t Ivory Coast just draw against a Swiss SECOND DIVISION club? Seriously?
Ballack’s injury is more of a wild card. Either it makes Germany much better as a team, or they will fall apart without him. I think he’ll be missed.
[quote=“BigThumb”]You’re going with the three top ranked teams from theFIFA rankings. Playing it safe for a guy who really knows soccer!
[/quote]
I picked Spain for the Euro 2008 tournament as well, didn’t I 
Right here on HTMF. Go find the thread
And they weren’t at the top of the rankings then.
But I still think Brazil has more of that unmeasurable quality that makes World Cup winners – it’s the extra 10%, the heart, the history, the passion. Spain has it too, just not at the same level that Brazilian players do.
Ironically, the top few players in the Spanish league are Argentine, Brazilian and Portuguese.
Argentina will bomb simply because Maradona is a nutcase. They’re weak defensively and haven’t cemented as a team – no way they could, since he seems to call up a new batch of random players for every match. And no Zanetti? No Cambiaso? What’s he smoking? Contrast that with Brazil, who pretty much picked their team a year ago.
England – Rooney’s grown up a bit, but I’ll bet you can make his anger issues come out with a kick to the shins. And England doesn’t have a decent goalkeeper.
So, my hope is that Portugal wins. But realistically, my prediction is Brazil.
I guess I have to change my avatar. :-) Back to Kaká I guess.
That’s a great pic of the family.
You’re not happy about me cheering for Ivory Coast because they are in the same group as Portugal and Brazil. Win or not, I’ll cheer for them. Seriously.
I want Spain to win but I pick Germany just because I don’t have a clue!
Your rugrats are adorable!!!
I think canada will win the world cup…wait do we even have a team?..
I’m going for Canada too!! 
As long as those evil scalliwags France are eliminated in the early going all will be good (cheaters never prosper you know and Irish eyes remember long into the tournament). 
Will be interesting to see how far South Africa goes what with the whole nation behind them and all, England will struggle as will Germany.
For the sake of a vote, I 'll select Italy for the win, they seem to have a penchant for the dramatic
Spain’s got my vote
Brazil
Brazil
Netherlands takes it.
I have set up a Yahoo Fantasy League for the World Cup.
us.wc.fantasysports.yahoo.com/wo … join-group
You will need a Yahoo ID if you don’t already have one.
Go to Join Group
The league ID is 32007 and the password is htmf
The rules are simple. Predict the winner of each game. Bonus points are awarded for guessing the correct score.
Ok, I’m there!
I have to get back to work, unfortunately, but I’ve filled in my first group stage predictions.
my choices:
1- south africa
2-brazil
3-england
Ok, I predict that it is going to be a long couple of weeks for me. The only reason I watch it is to look at the cute, sweaty boys on the pitch. Every now and then I will remember a fact to dazzle the hard core soccer fans who take up space in my rec room.
Thanks for the compliments on the photo and the cute kiddies in it. I am learning the whole photo taking thing.
Sweaty? I dunno, some of those boys don’t run very fast from past viewings, though some do fall down a lot which I guess does take some effort. 
The fact that you used the word pitch instead of field however probably puts you in near Goddess status, light years ahead of many who follow the game I suspect. Any extra facts relayed most likely only secures your status in perpetuity.
A little late to the photo compliment team, but they were very nice shots, though I’m sure in countries other than Portugal, dressing the young ones up in those colours is probably covered under child welfare regulations.
Enjoy your month of benevolent altruism, I’m sure there’s a suitable reward after the middle of July!
Spain, Italy, England, France
Italy with the win
Sorry, premature predictions
Spain, Italy, England, USA
LOL, very correct edit by the way. Go go Uruguay!