DU Soccer fans: The World Cup So Far...

So far I'm impressed with Ecuador but to me they are not contenders to the trophy. But I am pulling for them to go far. I'd love to see them pull at least a tie with Germany on Tuesday to win Group A.

First round performance doesn't mean much. And the US can still pull through! :-) The top teams, who were criticized for not impressing, are built for the later rounds and they usually try to stay healthy and card free in the first round. So don't expect a show from them. The right time to peak is not in the first round but in the later rounds. When was the last team that really looked great in the first round and won the cup?

Maybe Brazil in 1970. Brazil is the only team to win every game in the world cup and they did it twice in 1970 and 2002. Every other championship team slipped a tie or a loss along the way.

In my opinion, the only team to impress in the beginning and win was Pele's Brazil in 1970. You can't put the perfect Brazil team of 2002 in the same category as the 1970 Brazil side because they didn't look all that impressive in their opener against Turkey in 2002. Brazil won the opener that year with the help of the ref. But in 2002, Brazil peaked at the right time, looked great later when they beat England in the quarterfinals, and eventually won the trophy.

So, to me, the true (and equal) contenders are still England, Germany (because they are hosts), Argentina, Czech Republic, Italy, and Brazil. All these teams have the players that can make the difference later on after their players have a few games together and gel as a group.

That's my two cents.

England for obvious reasons (since I'm living in England), but also because there's a suit store here that had a promotion saying if you buy one of their suits and England win the Cup, you'll get your money back, £130! I bought two, so... :D
And I drew the Czech Republic in the office pool, so I'll win £96 if they win...but, sentimentally, I'm for England...

With your bets and potentially free suits!

I don't have time to watch all of them so I watch them in sped-up speed.

I have to say that Brazil looked like they were having a nice little practice out there. They ran less than anyone (yes even the USA), they were totally clicking on all cylinders.

The most controlled I have seen yet has to be the orange of Holland. They were playing one touch in their first match.

The Czechs got results but they didn't even look like they were all together at all. That is scarey.

Scary are the teams that are playing poorly or average and manage a win. In the Brazil game people witnessed what happens if you give 3 extra seconds to a player like Kaka. He will settle the ball and precisely put the it on the top shelf from outside of the box so the keeper can't reach it.

this will be another World Cup of upsets. Who'd have thought that Ecuador would go to the 2nd Round? I didn't think that Australia would beat Japan. This is by no means over.

My guess is Brazil vs. Netherlands for the final match.

Was Spain.

But Spain's record in both the World Cup and European Championship is miserable so it might take a miracle for them to get past the quarter finals.

The Netherlands looked pretty good in their first game, but the Dutch team hate each other and whilst the players have the skills to win the tournament, they'll fail because they can't stand each other.

Argentina looked good in their first match, but there are a lot of disruptive calls for Lionel Messi to play coming from Europe and further calls for the more inventive, creative, flair players like Lionel Messi and Pablo Aimar could unbalance the team.

Brazil and France were terrible.

England have the best squad of players since 1990 and have the quality to win the cup, but a coach with all the tactical nous of General Custer is likely to see England get to the semi-finals at best (where we can go home glorious in defeat, almost better than winning for the English ;) ).

Honorable mentions should go to Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire who have played some good football and haven't looked overawed by the experience.