Monday, March 5, 2012

Premature Predictions - Group C and D

Group C
Out of all the groups, Group C has the most unknowns. Nigeria often has some hype around them, but never seem to live up to it. It's unfortunate, because everyone wants to see them play well. Last year, they submitted their team to play in the RSA Men's Tournament, and they played extremely good, losing a close final 3-2 to an all-star team(a team that would likely be the best team in the WCP Cup). This year's men's tournament didn't fare so well for them, as they didn't even make it out of their group.

SIDENOTE: Columbia, Nigeria, Hungary and Northern Ireland all participated in the Men's Tournament. Columbia was the only one that made the playoffs, losing to Enter (Men's League Powerhouse) in the semi-finals.

Poland will benefit some team continuity, and new attacking additions in Brett Levis and Jay Tomchuk. This will be interesting to watch, because Poland played so good as a team last year. They didn't have any star players. Now you add playmakers, and suddenly everyone feels obligated to get them the ball, even if it isn't the best option at the time. If they can make it work, then you'll see Poland in the final. Germany has always been strong. The team hasn't changed that much from year to year, but the outcome is always the same. The talent and desire is there, but they need something to push them through to the playoffs. This year, they finally get a group in which they have no excuse for not making it through. Portugal has had a young team the last couple years, with the idea they'd mature into a contender. Hasn't happened. They've got some more fresh faces this year, likely the youngest team in the group. If they play hard, it could happen for them. We get to the newcomers, Vietnam and Hungary. While not much is known about their final tournament teams, word is that Vietnam won't be so good. Exhibition game showings haven't looked good, but keep in mind they're only exhibition games. If anything, Vietnam should be thrilled to be overlooked here. Hungary played hard in the Men's tournament, but won't have the skill to compete with the likes of Poland and Germany. Again, it wasn't their complete team, but don't expect Hungary to be a surprise contender here.

Predicted order of finish
1. Poland
2. Germany
3. Portugal
4. Nigeria
5. Hungary
6. Vietnam

Game of the Group: Poland vs. Germany - Friday, April 6, at 9:00.

Group D
Is it D for Death once again? That would seem to be the case, with El Salvador, France, Greece and Norway all being playoff teams last year. With 4 playoff calibre teams, you can be sure that this will be a great group to watch. El Salvador comes in as the favorite, after beating France in Quarters last year and losing to Ireland in penalties. A great showing by a very good team. Will they be able to do the same thing this year? El Salvador was successful due, in large part, to the defensive shell they were able to master in playoffs last year. France and Ireland had the majority of possession, but couldn't break through everyone.  It's not often you see scores of 0-0 and 1-1 at the end of playoff games. However, there's no arguing with results. El Salvador deserved their standing completely. But this year, will their defence be able to do the same thing? Losing key defenders could force them to change up the gameplan. They're capable of doing this though, because their attackers are deadly. France will be interesting to watch, as they've lost their two best defenders and top striker, as well as a couple other players. Don't write them off though, because new additions will make them just as strong as before, and young defenders have stepped up. Norway had an easy go of it last year to make the playoffs, and they only really had two tough games (2 of the top 3 teams in the tournament, unfortunately) in which they weren't really a threat. They'll have to step it up this year to make it out. It would only take a bit more talent to push them in strong contender status.Greece was the ultimate team last year, and really exceed expectations. Lacking the individual talent of other teams, they played hard, and came away with results. Can't fault them for that. They arguably should have beaten France last year, but tied them. They get France again this year. Italy is up next...and we're all familiar with Italy's results. I really hope they can put together a decent team and make some of these games interesting. The newbie in this group is South Korea. No real information about South Korea yet, but apparently they've been training here and will be decent. Don't expect a Sudan-experience with them, but keep an eye on them. To see South Korea come in and steal a playoff spot would be the upset of the tournament.

Predicted order of finish
1. El Salvador
2. France
3. Greece
4. Norway
5. South Korea
6. Italy

Game of the Group: El Salvador vs. France - Saturday, April 14 at 10:00.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

no way el salvador wins group D. losing chico kills any defence they had and their strikers arent even good anymore. france 1st, norway 2nd.

Anonymous said...

"Chico" was a like chicken with his head cut off last year on the field. He played centre mid and was a big part to why ES lost to Ireland. It made be a good thing that he left. Who are is ES losing defensively? Spencer and Alvi? As both those two played the full match vs ROI last year.

By: ES SuperFAN

Anonymous said...

Awwwwwwwwww yeah ES! Let's do this, son.

Anonymous said...

German is going to be a better team than Poland, they have way to many technically good players than most team just can't put it together but this could be there year, I see them in sem this yr for sure

Anonymous said...

Great blog but from what I've seen sofar group c is going to be a battle and anyone in that group can make it to the next round and then will be crashed by the mighty ROI or Sudan but group c games are really going to be fun to watch, Poland have hyped them selves lets see if they live up to it, group d is definitely going to come down to ES and France, who wins the group, that can't say either team can come out on top but with France loosing a couple of players that gives ES a slight advantage

Anonymous said...

Chico is not that good. The guy plays with the ball too much, and never subs off. If anything he was a cancer on that ES team last year. I don't know what the heck all the hype is about this guy.

As for Germany, I don't think they are that good. They tied 1-1 against Botswana in a friendly which I watched to the end. From what I saw they played hard the entire time and went in hard for tackles which aint really a good thing cause it's a friendly but also proves they aint that great.

Anonymous said...

Germany didnt have their best players as they are in Stoon and if they did Botswana had no chance of even making it a game to watch, Germany is a better team than Poland and they are in semi finals this year, and there were no hard tackles as far as I saw.

Anonymous said...

Poland, a bunch of no-names that got lucky and somehow made it thro last year.

Ashton is very a skilled player and Germany's defence is very strong, so they should easily win the pool this year.

Anonymous said...

I hope that last comment is not serious about ashton being a very skilled player.
Clearly all the soccer skill in the family was taken by karl, if he could stay healthy he would definitely be one of the most dangerous strikers in the tournament.

Anonymous said...

Dudes, why are you guys trying to be Gab Marcotti and Tommy Smyth, why analyse the game on a blog...go out on the field and show it...not on the internet...

Anonymous said...

In group c ... Poland will finish in first and either Nigeria or Hungry who is a good new team will finish in second. I don't think Germany will. Riley I think your a bit biased adding Germany finishing second in this group because you have friends on that team. Sorry but I can't really rely on your info.

Anonymous said...

Poland's style of play last year was top notch. They were a team, spread the field and had great shooters. This year will be different as they have acquired Levis who likes to hold on to the ball and hardly passes. I think that will ruin their team chemistry considering he'll be playing big minutes. I'm taking Nigeria 1st, Poland 2nd. BUT they will regroup and win the tourney.

Anonymous said...

GREECE vs Norway- final score will be Greece 7 Norway 2-- if they get lucky enough to score 2 goals