World Cup Picks

Despite the facts that the tourney is already in progress (halfway through the first round to be exact) and that my predictions are, without fail, terribly wrong and consistently embarrassing, your author will not be deterred. So here are my picks, as made before the Cup began (I'd ask you to trust me on that, but that won't be necessary once you see my picks...Costa Rica?!?):

Group Stage:

Group A: Germany, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Poland
Group B: Sweden, England, Paraguay, T&T
Group C: Argentina, Holland, Ivory Coast, S&M
Group D: Portugal, Mexico, Iran, Angola
Group E: Czech Rep, USA, Italy, Ghana
Group F: Brazil, Croatia, Australia, Japan
Group G: Switzerland, France, South Korea, Togo
Group H: Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia

2nd Round:

Germany beats England
Sweden beats Costa Rica
Argentina beats Mexico
Portugal beats Holland
Czech Rep beats Croatia
Brazil beats USA
Switzerland beats Ukraine
Spain beats France

Quarterfinals:

Germany beats Argentina (penalties)
Portugal beats Sweden
Czech Rep beats Switzerland
Brazil beats Spain (penalties)

Semis:

Germany beats Portugal
Brazil beats Czech Rep

Finals:

Brazil beats Germany

Other possibly interesting, but probably mistaken, fearless preditictions: The best soccer, or rather "jogo bonito", will be played by Argentina, Spain and the Czech Republic, all of whom play that attractive, attacking futbol that is so revered but unfortunately, rarely successful (see Greece, 2004). There will be far fewer upsets than in Japan/Korea 2002 - with the tourney in Europe, European teams will (surprise surprise) be much more successful than they were four years ago. Young blood will be on display; as seen in the Champions League with the success of teams like Arsenal and Barcelona, youthful speed and flair will be vitally important. Players like Messi, Rosicky, Ronaldo (the skinny one from Portugal with a fondness for diving and blond highlights), Tevez, Podolski, Kaka and, of course, Ronaldinho, will be the chief protagonists. Germany, as hosts, will go much further than anyone seems to expect, inspired by their hometown fans and their talisman Ballack. The Mannschaft might not be half as good as half a dozen other teams in this Cup and they probably wouldn't get past the first round if they weren't the hosts and were in a difficult group (as we saw in Euro 04), but they'll be one of the tourney's surprises. Still, there's just no one in the same league as Brazil. Ronaldo might be a shadow of his former self (although shadows aren't normally 30 pounds heavier, but I digress), but they'll still be fine. This is the last hurrah for this core group of stars, but there's still enough left in the tanks of Cafu, Roberto Carlos, and Emerson that, coupled with young studs like 'Dinho, Kaka, Robinho and Adriano, I can't see them losing in Germany. There are 10 teams that, on paper at least, have the talent to win it all (Brazil, Argentina, England, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Holland, Germany, Czech Rep), but only one that stands out: la canarinha. Come July 9, they'll be partying down in Rio. (But seriously, when are they not?)