2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil

[Ben Herbert]

5 Days to go..Up Next Belgium

Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea), Simon Mignolet (Liverpool), Sammy Bossut (Zulte-Waregem)

Defenders: Toby Alderweireld (Atletico Madrid), Anthony Vanden Borre (Anderlecht), Daniel Van Buyten (Bayern Munich), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City), Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham Hotspur), Thomas Vermaelen (Ars*nal), Nicolas Lombaerts (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Laurent Ciman (Standard Liège)

Midfielders: Axel Witsel (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United), Steven Defour (Porto), Moussa Dembélé, Nacer Chadli (both Tottenham Hotspur), Kevin De Bruyne (Wolfsburg)

Forwards: Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea), Divock Origi (Lille), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Kevin Mirallas (Everton), Dries Mertens (Napoli), Adnan Januzaj (Manchester United)

Coach: Marc Wilmots

The key players
On paper, Belgium can call upon an armada of stars, all plying their trade in Europe’s most prestigious championships. The depth of their talent pool is striking, with Nacer Chadli threatening to eclipse crowd favourite Eden Hazard before the latter has approached anything near his peak. Romelu Lukaku, Kevin de Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois and Toby Alderweireld are the latest stars to emerge, while the likes of Vincent Kompany, Thomas Vermaelen, Axel Witsel, Marouane Fellaini and Steven Defour have already established themselves as senior figures.

Best Finish – Forth place(1986)

 

[Ben Herbert]

4 Days to go..Up Next Algeria

Goalkeepers: Rais M’bolhi (CSKA Sofia), Cedric Si Mohamed (CS Constantine), Mohamed Lamine Zemmamouche (USM Alger).

Defenders: Essaid Belkalem (Watford), Madjid Bougherra (Lekhwiya), Liassine Cadamuro Bentaiba (Mallorca), Faouzi Ghoulam (Napoli), Rafik Halliche (Academica), Aissa Mandi (Stade Reims), Carl Medjani (Valenciennes), Djamel Mesbah (Livorno).

Midfielders: Nabil Bentaleb (Tottenham), Yacine Brahimi (Granada), Medhi Lacen (Getafe), Mehdi Mostefa (Ajaccio), Saphir Taider (Inter Milan), Hassan Yebda (Udinese).

Forwards: Abdelmoumen Djabou (Club Africain), Sofiane Feghouli (Valencia), Nabil Ghilas (Porto), Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City), Islam Slimani (Sporting Lisbon), Hilal Soudani (Dinamo Zagreb).

Coach: Vahid Halilhodzic
The key players
Madjid Bougherra is a key figure at the back, and he scored the all-important winner in the second leg against Burkina Faso. Sofiane Feghouli is an exciting attacking midfielder, while Medhi Lacen holds things down in front of the defence. Islam Slimani emerged as the most prolific option in attack during qualifying.
Best Finish Group Stage(1982,86,2010)

They Will Play Belgium first.

 

[Ben Herbert]

3 Days to go..Up Next Russia

Russia squad:
Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow), Yury Lodygin (Zenit St Petersburg), Sergei Ryzhikov (Rubin Kazan)

Defenders: Vasily Berezutsky, Sergei Ignashevich, Georgy Shchennikov (all CSKA Moscow), Vladimir Granat, Alexei Kozlov (both Dynamo Moscow), Andrei Yeschenko (Anzhi Makhachkala), Dmitry Kombarov (Spartak Moscow), Andrei Semenov (Terek Grozny)

Midfielders: Igor Denisov, Yury Zhirkov (both Dynamo Moscow), Alan Dzagoev (CSKA Moscow), Roman Shirokov (FC Krasnodar), Denis Glushakov (Spartak Moscow), Viktor Faizulin, Oleg Shatov (both Zenit St Petersburg)

Forwards: Alexander Kerzhakov (Zenit St Petersburg), Alexei Ionov, Alexander Kokorin (both Dynamo Moscow), Maxim Kanunnikov (Amkar Perm), Alexander Samedov (Lokomotiv Moscow)

Current coach: Fabio Capello

The key players
This latest Russian side is built on solid defensive foundations. Goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev did not miss a single minute of the qualifying competition and conceded just five goals during the course of it, while Sergey Ignashevich marshalled the defence with aplomb. Yet Fabio Capello’s most prized assets can be found in what is a technically gifted and astute midfield unit, where Roman Shirokov and Victor Fayzulin have continued to hone the partnership they have forged at Zenit St Petersburg, scoring six goals between them in the qualifiers.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the team’s top scorer was Kerzhakov. Though not always a starter, the Zenit striker helped himself to five goals during the campaign, the most important of them being that winner against the Portuguese. A lethal finisher, the former Sevilla man could wreak havoc in Brazil.

They will Play South Korea first

 

[Ben Herbert]

2 Days to go..Up Next South Korea

Goalkeepers: Jung Sung-ryong (Suwon Bluewings), Kim Seung-gyu (Ulsan Hyundai), Lee Bum-young (Busan I'Park).

Defenders: Hong Jeong-ho (Augsburg), Hwang Seo-ho (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Kim Chang-soo (Kashiwa Reysol), Kim Young-gwon (Guangzhou Evergrande), Kwak Tae-hwi (Al Hilal), Lee Yong (Ulsan Hyundai), Yun Suk-young (QPR), Park Joo-ho (Mainz).

Midfielders: Ha Dae-sung (Beijing Guoan), Han Kook-young (Kashiwa Reysol), Ji Dong-won (Augsburg), Ki Sung-yueng (Swansea), Kim Bo-kyung (Cardiff City), Lee Chung-yong (Bolton), Park Jong-woo (Guangzhou R&F), Son Heung-min (Bayer Leverkusen).

Forwards: Kim Shin-wook (Ulsan Hyundai), Koo Ja-cheol (Mainz), Lee Keun-ho (Sangju Sangmu), Park Chu-young (Ars*nal).

Current coach: Hong Myungbo
The key players
The squad's make-up kept changing during the qualifying and under new coach Hong Myungbo, a new-look team has taken shape. A series of emerging stars, notably German-based Son Heungmin and Koo Jacheol, have graduated into the team's backbone force. Bolton Wanderers' Lee Chungyong is the new man wearing the captain's armband and home-based Kim Shinwook and Lee Keunho are proven goal-scorers.
Best Finish – Fourth Place(2002)

They will play Russia first.

 

[Ben Herbert]

1 day to go
Just some Videos to get you in the mood,enjoy

 

[Ben Herbert]

Group A Brazil v Croatia
Arena de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo Date: Thursday, 12 June Kick-off: 21:00BST

World Cup hosts Brazil are expected to face Croatia with the same starting line-up that beat Spain in last summer's Confederations Cup final.
That means playmaker Oscar is likely to start despite his recent poor form and a Brazilian media lobby for his Chelsea team-mate Willian.
Croatia are without suspended striker Mario Mandzukic, so Nikica Jelavic or Eduardo will deputise.
Sime Vrsaljko will play at left-back in place of the injured Danijel Pranjic.

Brazil beat Croatia 1-0 with a goal from Kaka in their only previous World Cup meeting during the 2006 group stage in Berlin.
The two sides drew 1-1 in Split in August 2005 in their only other encounter.

My Prediction Brazil 2-1 Croatia

 

[the_sigman]

If you're against strong opposition, it is always likely that you will concede, however hard your defence try.

Wrong. Just see Greece in Euro 2004. In the knockouts our team conceded no goals from teams like France (Zidane, Henry, Trezeguet...), Czech Republic (Rosicky, Koller, Baros...) and Portugal (Cristiano, Figo, Simao...)

Didn't you see the handball from Suarez off the line, where he pushed the ball away, otherwise Ghana would have won? That was very unlucky

Sometimes you make up your own luck. And Ghana was lucky to even go to the quarters.

 

[mystaaRS]

Wrong. Just see Greece in Euro 2004. In the knockouts our team conceded no goals from teams like France (Zidane, Henry, Trezeguet...), Czech Republic (Rosicky, Koller, Baros...) and Portugal (Cristiano, Figo, Simao...)

I said its likely, but it didn't happen there

Sometimes you make up your own luck. And Ghana was lucky to even go to the quarters.

They weren't lucky, they used skill to get there (and in that case Greece were also lucky if you say so). Make up your own luck? LOL, handballing off the line isn't really making luck, Suarez gone over the line there (pun intended).

 

[the_sigman]

They weren't lucky, they used skill to get there (and in that case Greece were also lucky if you say so). Make up your own luck? LOL, handballing off the line isn't really making luck, Suarez gone over the line there (pun intended).

Surprises always want luck, but in the quarter final, they had the chance to get through. They missed it. That's why I said that you make up your luck. Had they scored their (third btw) penalty of the tournament, we wouldn't have the discussion that Ghana were ''unlucky''.

The other two penalties of Ghana were. A missed header by a Serbian defender, with the ball later on his hand, and a strong shoot from a Ghana player ON Kewell, with no time react with the ball only just going into his hand. Surely penalties, but earned with quite a lot of luck.

PS: I don't mean to offend if it seems so in some of my phrases, I am trying to have a friendly discussion, but I am not sure if the way I use English makes it seem so

 

[mystaaRS]

Surprises always want luck, but in the quarter final, they had the chance to get through. They missed it. That's why I said that you make up your luck. Had they scored their (third btw) penalty of the tournament, we wouldn't have the discussion that Ghana were ''unlucky''.

The other two penalties of Ghana were. A missed header by a Serbian defender, with the ball later on his hand, and a strong shoot from a Ghana player ON Kewell, with no time react with the ball only just going into his hand. Surely penalties, but earned with quite a lot of luck.

PS: I don't mean to offend if it seems so in some of my phrases, I am trying to have a friendly discussion, but I am not sure if the way I use English makes it seem so

Oh well, doesn't matter now

 

[oldwolf]

What about '' Peiratiko''?
@Manolis Sigoulakis

 

[the_sigman]

What about '' Peiratiko''?
@Manolis Sigoulakis

We'll see. We must take each game alone, not caring about the other teams.

 

[the_sigman]

Full schedule!

 

[Paul M Jones]

The World Cup has begun!

 

[Milos]

Great match so far!

 

[mystaaRS]

Full schedule!

Oh yeah I saw that wallchart in an excel pack

 

[Milos]

3-1 for Brasil, that penalty was totally unfair. But Brasil still made a legitimate lead. Good match

 

[mystaaRS]

3-1 for Brasil, that penalty was totally unfair. But Brasil still made a legitimate lead. Good match

The Ref made some decisions that maybe were soft, like the Penalty. Great Opener none the less, would have like some skill for the opening Goal, but still quite entertaining stuff

 

[Manuel De Samaniego]

Quite an exciting game especially in the end when Croatia where really close to geting the 2 - 2 but that last goal by Oscar was class, Brasil won 3 1 but in my mind it was only 2 1 that penalty was absolutely embarrassing and makes me doubt if the tournament is actually any fair, this match leaves me with quite a bad taste.

Croatia didn't deserve to lose this match I think they should have tied atleast.

I hope México does well against Cameroon tomorrow

@Senad Subasic

 

[Jimlaad43]

Damnit, I wanted Croatia to at least nick a point there.