Just how wrong I’ve got it so far & amended finals results

June 26, 2010

It’s a month and a day since I made my World Cup predictions and now with the group stage complete, I thought I’d re-look at my predictions and see just where I went wrong (or, in some cases, right). I thought I’d also re-adjust my predictions for the knockout phase of the competition and re-calibrate my predictions to take into account the teams that have made it thus far and are still in with a chance of winning the World Cup.

Here are my initial predictions, crossed out where necessary and replace with the actual results 

Group A

South Africa 1 -2 Mexico South Africa 1 – 1 Mexico

Uruguay 1 – 1 France 0 – 0 draw actual result

South Africa 1 – 2 Uruguay 0 – 3 actual result

France 2 – 1 Mexico France 0 – 2 Mexico

France 3 – 1 South Africa France 1 – 2 South Africa

Mexico 2 – 1 Uruguay Mexico 0 – 1 Uruguay

Group A
Team W D L GF GA Pts
FRANCE 2 1 0 6 3 7
MEXICO 2 0 1 5 4 6
Uruguay 1 1 1 4 4 4
South Africa 0 0 3 3 7 0

Group A
Team W D L GF GA Pts
URUGUAY 2 1 0 4 0 7
MEXICO 1 1 1 3 2 4
South Africa
 1 1 1 3 5 4
France 0 1 2 1 4 1

Group B

South Korea 1 – 1 Greece South Korea 2 – 0 Greece

Argentina 3 – 1 Nigeria 1 – 0 actual result

Greece 1 – 1 Nigeria 2 – 1 actual result

Argentina 3 – 1 South Korea 4 – 1 actual result

Greece 1 – 3 Argentina 0 – 2 actual result

Nigeria 3 – 1 South Korea Nigeria 2 – 2 South Korea

Group B
Team W D L GF GA Pts
ARGENTINA 3 0 0 9 3 9
NIGERIA 1 1 1 5 5 4
Greece 0 2 1 3 5 2
South Korea 0 1 2 3 7 1

Group B
Team W D L GF GA Pts
ARGENTINA 3 0 0 7 1 9
SOUTH KOREA
 1 1 1 5 6 4
Greece 1 0 2 2 5 3
Nigeria 0 1 2 3 5 1

Group C

Algeria 1 – 2 Slovenia 0 – 1 actual result

England 1 – 1 USA

Slovenia 1 – 2 USA Slovenia 2 – 2 USA

England 2 – 0 Algeria England0 – 0 Algeria

Slovenia 1 – 4 England 0 – 1 actual result

USA 2 – 1 Algeria 1 – 0 actual result

Group C
Team W D L GF GA Pts
ENGLAND 2 1 0 7 2 7
USA 2 1 0 5 3 7
Slovenia 1 0 2 4 7 3
Algeria 0 0 3 2 6 0

Group C
Team W D L GF GA Pts
USA 1 2 0 4 3 5
ENGLAND 1 2 0 2 1 5
Slovenia 1 1 1 3 3 4
Algeria 0 1 2 0 2 1

Group D

Serbia 1 – 1 Ghana Serbia 0 – 1 Ghana

Germany 2 – 0 Australia 4 – 0 actual result

Germany 2 – 1 Serbia Germany 0 – 1 Serbia

Ghana 2 – 2 Australia 1 – 1 actual result

Australia 1 – 1 Serbia Australia 2 – 1 Serbia

Ghana 1 – 3 Germany 0 – 1 actual result

Group D
Team W D L GF GA Pts
GERMANY 3 0 0 7 2 9
SERBIA 0 2 1 3 4 2
Ghana 0 2 1 4 6 2
Australia 0 2 1 3 5 2

Group D
Team W D L GF GA Pts
GERMANY 2 0 1 5 1 7
GHANA 1 1 1 2 2 4
Australia 1 1 1 3 6 4
Serbia 1 0 2 2 3 3

Group E

Netherlands 3 – 2 Denmark 2 – 0 actual result

Japan 1 – 3 Cameroon Japan 1 - 0 Cameroon

Netherlands 3 – 0 Japan 1 – 0 actual result

Cameroon 3 – 3 Denmark Cameroon 1 – 2 Denmark

Cameroon 2 – 3 Netherlands 1 -2 actual result

Denmark 2 – 1 Japan Denmark 1 – 3 Japan

Group E
Team W D L GF GA Pts
NETHERLANDS 3 0 0 9 4 9
CAMEROON 1 1 1 8 7 4
Denmark 1 1 1 7 7 4
Japan 0 0 3 2 8 0

Group E
Team W D L GF GA Pts
NETHERLANDS 3 0 0 5 1 9
JAPAN 2 0 1 4 2 6
Denmark 1 0 2 3 6 3
Cameroon 0 0 3 2 5 0

Group F

Italy 1 – 0 Paraguay Italy 1 – 1 Paraguay

New Zealand 1 – 4 Slovakia New Zealand 1 – 1 Slovakia

Slovakia 2 – 2 Paraguay Slovakia 0 – 2 Paraguay

Italy 5 – 0 New Zealand Italy 1 – 1 New Zealand

Paraguay 4 – 1 New Zealand Paraguay 0 – 0 New Zealand

Slovakia 1 – 3 Italy Slovakia 3 - 2 Italy

Group F
Team W D L GF GA Pts
ITALY 3 0 0 9 1 9
PARAGUAY 1 1 1 6 4 4
Slovakia 1 1 1 7 6 4
New Zealand 0 0 3 2 13 0

Group F
Team W D L GF GA Pts
PARAGUAY 1 2 0 3 1 5
SLOVAKIA 1 1 1 4 5 4
New Zealand
 0 3 0 2 2 4
Italy 0 2 1 4 5 2

Group G

Brazil 4 – 0 North Korea 2 – 1 actual result

Ivory Coast 2 – 2 Portugal 0 – 0 actual result

Brazil 3 – 2 Ivory Coast 3 – 1 actual result

Portugal 6 – 0 North Korea 7 – 0 actual result

North Korea 1 – 4 Ivory Coast 0 – 3 actual result

Portugal 2 – 4 Brazil Portugal 0 – 0 Brazil

Group G
Team W D L GF GA Pts
BRAZIL 3 0 0 11 4 9
PORTUGAL 1 1 1 10 6 4
Ivory Coast 1 1 1 8 6 4
North Korea 0 0 3 1 14 0

Group G
Team W D L GF GA Pts
BRAZIL 2 1 0 5 2 7
PORTUGAL 1 2 0 7 0 5
Ivory Coast 1 1 1 4 3 4
North Korea 0 0 3 1 12 0

Group H

Honduras 1 – 2 Chile 0 – 1 actual result

Spain 3 – 1 Switzerland Spain 0 – 1 Switzerland

Chile 1 – 1 Switzerland Chile 1 – 0 Switzerland

Spain 5 – 1 Honduras 2 – 0 actual result

Chile 1 – 4 Spain 1 – 2 actual result

Switzerland 2 – 2 Honduras 0 – 0 actual result

Group H
Team W D L GF GA Pts
SPAIN 3 0 0 12 3 9
CHILE 1 1 1 4 6 4
Switzerland 0 2 1 4 6 2
Honduras 0 1 2 4 9 1

Group H
Team W D L GF GA Pts
SPAIN 2 0 1 4 2 6
CHILE 2 0 1 3 2 6
Switzerland 1 1 1 1 1 4
Honduras 0 1 2 0 3 1

The Predicted Finals Results

Group of 16

Match 49(A1) FRANCE 2 URUGUAY 3(B2) NIGERIA 1
 SOUTH KOREA 1		 Match 50(C1) ENGLAND 2

USA 1

(D2) SERBIA 2

GHANA 0

England win pen.5-3

 Match 53(E1)NETHERLANDS 2 NETHERLANDS 3

(F2) PARAGUAY 1

SLOVAKIA 1

 Match 54(G1) BRAZIL 4 2

(H2) CHILE 2 1
Match 52(B1)ARGENTINA 4 2

(A2) MEXICO 1

 Match 51(D1) GERMANY 2

(C2) USA 1
 ENGLAND 0

 Match 55(F1) ITALY 1 PARAGUAY 2

(E2)CAMEROON 0 JAPAN 1

 Match 56(H1) SPAIN 3 2

(G2)PORTUGAL 2 1

Quarter-finals

Match 58(49) FRANCE 2 URUGUAY 1

(50) ENGLAND 1 USA 1

Uruguay win 2-1 aet.

 Match 59(52)ARGENTINA 3 2

(51) GERMANY 1 2

Argentina win 5 – 3 on penalties

 Match 57(53)NETHERLANDS 2

(54) BRAZIL 2

Netherlands win aet.3-2 Brazil win 3 – 2 on penalties

 Match 60(55) ITALY 1 PARAGUAY 1

(56) SPAIN 3 2

Semi-finals

Match 61(58) FRANCE 1 URUGUAY 1

(57) NETHERLANDS 2 BRAZIL 2

 Match 62(59) ARGENTINA 2

(60) SPAIN 2

Argentina win 5 – 4 on penalties

Third Place Playoff

(L61) FRANCE 1 URUGUAY 1 (L62) ARGENTINA 4 SPAIN 2

World Cup Final

(W61) NETHERLANDS 1 BRAZIL 2

(W62) SPAIN 3 ARGENTINA 3

Spain Argentina are the 2010 World Cup Champions!

Leave a Comment » | Current events, Sport, Statistics, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by elcanguro76

World Cup 2010 South Africa – my tips, wild guesses & unsubstantiated analysis

May 25, 2010

Well, it’s that time of every fourth year and the next installment of the FIFA World Cup™ is just around the corner. Forget the Olympics, this is the biggest single sporting event on the planet - and surrounding galaxies. The World Cup Final is also the most watched event in the world with a ridiculous number of individuals from all walks of life, nations, religions, creeds and football affiliations across the globe tuning in closely to see just who will be the World Cup Champion. Legends are created, reputations tainted and fans are made as 32 squads of 23 men battle out to see what nation will win the ultimate football prize and bragging rights for the next four years. Or, next forty-four and counting in the case of England!

Seeing as I’m an obsessive football fan every four years from a month out from the World Cup until a day after the final, I thought I really should divulge my opinions, guesses and unsubstantiated analysis out onto the Internets for people who have even less idea than me about soccer. Given that I’m also between employment at this stage, I thought it would be a productive, useful waste of a day to pour over the team lists, check out the schedules and groupings in order to determine just who will win the Cup. I’ve covered all 64 matches – finals and all – predicted not only winners, losers and drawers but, also surmised the scores of every individual game on the table. Not only that but I’ve also put my money where my mouth and laid some cash on my predictions online. Thank you TAB Sportsbet.

The Combatants

The winner

For those who don’t like soccer or football or whatever you call it, here it is now, the winner of the World Cup so that you don’t have endure the hours of endless matches, analysis and random rantings and grunts from otherwise sane individuals every other time outside FIFA World Cup™ tournament month. The winner of FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa is Spain. Spain have the cattle, the ability, the form, the confidence and the je ne sais quoi to finally exorcise their underachieving demons in the big dance to hold aloft the Jules Rimet trophy come Sunday, June 11th 2010.

The runner-up & semi-finalists

Ok, now that we’ve got the winners out of the way. Let’s look at who will be the runner-up. According to my careful analysis and random guessing, I have concluded that the runner-up with be the Netherlands, who will lose to Spain 3-1 in the Final. The Netherlands may somewhat of a surprise pick but having gone through the draw and finals I came to the prediction that the Netherlands will face and ultimately beat France in the first semi-final to progress to the final match. In the other semi-final, the eventual champions – Spain will meet and beat the much-fancied Argentina 3-2 in an entertaining, fast-paced, star-filled match. Argentina will go on avenge their semi-final defeat to Spain by demolishing France 4-1 in the third place playoff.

The quarter-finalists & round of 16 entrants

Now, to the quarter-finalists. England, having beaten Serbia 5-3 on penalties - yes penalties! after a 2-all draw in the round of 16, will succumb to the immense pressure of their fans and the darstardly French losing 2-1. They will be left to rue yet again just what went gone and unfortunately for Fabio Capello, the Italian will be made the scapegoat – as there’s always gotta be a scapegoat – and swiftly sent back to Milan.

Germany, having disposed of the impressive Americans 2-1 in the round of 16 - a flashback to World Cup ’02 - will go down to the Argies 3-1 in their quarter-final.

Brazil, lacking the flair, the panache and the two Ronnies (Ronaldo & Ronaldinho) of previous World Cups will be a shadow of their usual selves and go down in the quarter-finals to the eventual runner-up, the Netherlands 3-2 in extra time after a 2-2 draw. Brazil’s last victory in the 2010 World Cup will be their 4-2 win over fellow South Americans, Chile in the round of 16 match.

The reigning World Cup champions and prima donnas of the highest order, Italy will not reach the dizzy heights of the final this time round falling at the quarter-final stage to the eventual champions, and much more likeable, Spain. The Italians will go down 3-1 to the Spaniards and yes, there will be tears – both from the victorious Iberians and from the distraught lads of Italia. Cameroon will see their World Cup campaign end in the round of 16 as a result of a clinical, defensive Italian 1-0 victory.

Nigeria will get through to the round of 16 as runner-up to the Netherlands in their group but will fall to France 2-1. Mexico, having finished second to France in their group, will be thoroughly outplayed by Argentina 4-1 in their round of 16 clash. Paraguay, the second placed team in Group F, will be kicked out by eventual runners-up, the Netherlands 2-1. And, the Portuguese will fall to the Spaniards 3-2 in the all-Iberian round of 16 match having finished second in Group G.

Having got the champion, runner-up, quarter-finalists and round of 16 entrants out of the way. Let’s now have a look at the confederations – which confederation will have good results, which will be disappointing, which realistically shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

Africa (CAF)

First, let’s look at Africa as this is the first World Cup to be played on African soil and with a record six entrants from the continent, it’s only fair to start there. I think in this World Cup we have four very highly capable, skillful teams in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria; as well as two decent teams in Algeria and hosts, South Africa. Any or all of the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria – equipped with their star-studded lineups of European club match-harden players – are capable of knocking off the more established football nations and rightfully claiming their place in the final two weeks of the tournament. As luck would have it, or not have it, all four of the more-fancied African nations – barring Nigeria – are placed in tougher groups in the early stage of the competition and will find it tough to get through to the round of 16. As such, despite their immense ability and highly-skilled players, I don’t think Ivory Coast and Ghana will be able to get past their respective groups with Brazil and Portugal standing in the way for the Ivory Coast, and Germany, Serbia, and even Australia, standing in the way of Ghana and a round of 16 appearance.  Nigeria and Cameroon, credited with slightly easier groups should make it through to the round of 16 but, unfortunately I think that will be where their campaigns end as they come up against France and Italy respectively. Meanwhile, Algeria will be outmatched by their Group C opponents – England, the US and Slovenia – and will finish winless on the bottom of their group. And, perhaps the saddest news of the whole World Cup will be the failure of South Africa to score points against France, Uruguay and Mexico to be the first host nation not to make it past the group stage.

Asia (AFC)

Seeing as I’ve spent the past seven years in Asia and seeing as Australia is now according to FIFA an Asian nation – Or, perhaps, just an Oceanian nation with an identity crisis! - it’s apt that I look at the Asian combatants next. World Cup 2010 will not be a good World Cup for Asia. In fact, it will be a dismal World Cup for the Asian entrants and will question whether Asia truly deserves the 4.5 spots it receives for each World Cup - politics and economics however dictate that if anything Asia will be more likely of receiving more rather than less WC spots in the future. I predict that confronted by superior opponents with more skilled and battle-harden squads, none of the Asian nations will win a match in this World Cup and as such all of North Korea, South Korea, Japan and Australia will finish bottom of their respective groups. North Korea will not relive their 1966 heroics and will be lucky to score a goal against the Ivory Coast, Brazil and Portugal, and escape the gulag once they return to Pyongyang. Japan will be no match for the likes of the Netherlands, Cameroon and Denmark. South Korea, whilst along with Australia being the best prospect of Asian advancement in their final stages, will falter against Argentina and Nigeria, yet manage to regain some pride with a draw against Greece. Australia, a nation that has aged but not advanced in the four years since their heroic defeat to Italy in the round of 16 in Germany, will have little strength to withhold the might of Germany, Serbia and Ghana in Group D. My head says that Australia will be lucky to gain a point, hell a goal even!, against their opponents. However, I have gone with my heart and predicted that Australia will gallantly lose to the Germans 2-0 and go on to draw with the Serbians and Ghanians. Regardless, they will not progress to the next stage and questions have to be raised as to the immediate future of Australian football as there seems to be a lack of young talent ready to step in once this golden generation retires in the upcoming years.

Oceania (OFC)

Can you believe it? For two World Cups in a row there will be an Oceanic entrant. First in 2006, was now Asian, Australia carrying the flag for humble, little Oceania, and now in 2010 thanks to New Zealand knocking off fifth placed Asian competitor, Bahrain, we have another Oceania representative. New Zealand‘s fairytale run to make the World Cup is one of the happier stories of this World Cup and I’m sure that along with South Africa, New Zealand will be many people’s second team going into the finals. As evidenced by last night’s clash against Australia they will be competitive and will surprise with their tenacity and spirit. However, they really are outmatched by their opponents and truth be told Slovakia, Paraguay and Slovakia shouldn’t have too many problems against the All Whites, though I’d love to be proven wrong!

South America (CONMEBOL)

As mentioned before I believe Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Paraguay will advance to the second stage of the tournament with Argentina, semi-finalists and third place winners, being the best performed nation in the confederation. That leaves Uruguay, the only one of the five CONMEBOL contestants not to make the second round. Uruguay, as Australians all know, are undoubtedly a strong, competitive, skilled football nation. But, I believe that it will be Mexico, not Uruguay, going through Group A and into the second stage of the finals.

North and Central America (CONCACAF)

Three nations will represent the regions of North and Central America in this World Cup and the good news is that two of them – the US and Mexico will advance to the second round. The US are an improving outfit who are better than many believe will have a good World Cup, being runners-up to England in Group C, but do not yet have the answers to get past Germany in the round of 16. Mexico, a proud, competitive team will always play their best but will ultimately fall to the might of Argentina in their round of 16 match. Meanwhile, Honduras will be fairly competitive but will not have the talent, skill or battle-hardness to get past their Group H opponents – Spain, Chile and Switzerland.

Europe (UEFA)

Last, but definitely not least, is the largest confederation represented in South Africa with 13 members in the Cup – Europe. Europe will ultimately have a good World Cup as a whole with Spain picking up their first trophy meanwhile the Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, England, Serbia and Portugal will all put in worthy performances and reach the second stage. Which leaves us with the European competitors who do not reach the second stage of the Cup: Greece, Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland. None of these teams will have a truly poor World Cup in my opinion, just not good enough to get through their groups to the round of 16. Greece, stacked against Argentina, Nigeria and South Korea will be the tight, tenacious unit they always are but will end up finishing third in their group with two draws. Slovenia will knock off Algeria and be competitive yet unable to beat the US and England. Denmark, placed against the might of the Netherlands and Cameroon will finish third in their group ahead of Japan. Slovakia will also finish third, taking account of New Zealand, failing against Italy and just missing out on the second stage to Paraguay on goal difference. And, Switzerland will manage draws against Honduras and Chile but fail against the champions, Spain, and finish number three in their group too.

The Star

The World Cup is the ultimate stage and is the event where legends can be set in folklore, or conversely egos are brusied and damaged beyond repair. Who will ever forget the exploits of the Pelés, the Maradonas, the Zidanes, the Ronaldos, even the Schillacis  and the Roger Millas. Who will be the one who will shine brightest in this World Cup? No one truly knows, not yet at least, but it’s the greatest opportunity available for a player to leave a permanent mark on the game of football. The individual who I believe will really shine in this World Cup is Argentina’s Lionel Messi. Messi will confirm his status as the world’s premier football player but will be unable to achieve in this World Cup what his coach, Diego Maradona, has achieved – a World Cup triumph. Not this World Cup at least.

The Golden Boot

Playing against minnows in the early group stages: Argentina, Portugal, the Netherlands, Brazil and Spain will all have ample opportunity to put the ball in the back of the net. However, whilst some of these teams will prove to find goals easily initially, not all will have as much success when the going gets tougher in the second stage of the finals. As such, I’ve narrowed down the golden boot recipient to be either a Spaniard or an Argentine - ie. Messi. After careful analysis I predict the Golden Boot for the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be Spain’s Fernando Torres, who along with David Villa provide a particularly potent striking combination upfront.

The Predicted Group Results & Standings

Now, the games results and predicted scores. A lot of these predictions were undertaken with little more thought than a guess, an inkling, a whim. As such, most of these scores and many results too are most likely not to occur - so don’t bet your house on them! But, I’ve put my money and ahem, reputation, on the line in making these predictions so I will stand by them despite the fact that there’s no way this many goals are going to be scored in the tournament unless the goalkeepers are on strike! Anyways, here are my tips. I look forward to seeing just how wrong I am!

Group A

South Africa 1 – 2 Mexico

Uruguay 1 – 1 France

South Africa 1 – 2 Uruguay

France 2 – 1 Mexico

France 3 – 1 South Africa

Mexico 2 – 1 Uruguay

Group A
Team W D L GF GA Pts
FRANCE 2 1 0 6 3 7
MEXICO 2 0 1 5 4 6
Uruguay 1 1 1 4 4 4
South Africa 0 0 3 3 7 0

Group B

South Korea 1 – 1 Greece

Argentina 3 – 1 Nigeria

Greece 1 – 1 Nigeria

Argentina 3 – 1 South Korea

Greece 1 – 3 Argentina

Nigeria 3 – 1 South Korea

Group B
Team W D L GF GA Pts
ARGENTINA 3 0 0 9 3 9
NIGERIA 1 1 1 5 5 4
Greece 0 2 1 3 5 2
South Korea 0 1 2 3 7 1

Group C

Algeria 1 – 2 Slovenia

England 1 – 1 USA

Slovenia 1 – 2 USA

England 2 – 0 Algeria

Slovenia 1 – 4 England

USA 2 – 1 Algeria

Group C
Team W D L GF GA Pts
ENGLAND 2 1 0 7 2 7
USA 2 1 0 5 3 7
Slovenia 1 0 2 4 7 3
Algeria 0 0 3 2 6 0

Group D

Serbia 1 – 1 Ghana

Germany 2 – 0 Australia

Germany 2 – 1 Serbia

Ghana 2 – 2 Australia

Australia 1 – 1 Serbia

Ghana 1 – 3 Germany

Group D
Team W D L GF GA Pts
GERMANY 3 0 0 7 2 9
SERBIA 0 2 1 3 4 2
Ghana 0 2 1 4 6 2
Australia 0 2 1 3 5 2

Group E

Netherlands 3 – 2 Denmark

Japan 1 – 3 Cameroon

Netherlands 3 – 0 Japan

Cameroon 3 – 3 Denmark

Cameroon 2 – 3 Netherlands

Denmark 2 – 1 Japan

Group E
Team W D L GF GA Pts
NETHERLANDS 3 0 0 9 4 9
CAMEROON 1 1 1 8 7 4
Denmark 1 1 1 7 7 4
Japan 0 0 3 2 8 0

Group F

Italy 1 – 0 Paraguay

New Zealand 1 – 4 Slovakia

Slovakia 2 – 2 Paraguay

Italy 5 – 0 New Zealand

Paraguay 4 – 1 New Zealand

Slovakia 1 – 3 Italy

Group F
Team W D L GF GA Pts
ITALY 3 0 0 9 1 9
PARAGUAY 1 1 1 6 4 4
Slovakia 1 1 1 7 6 4
New Zealand 0 0 3 2 13 0

Group G

Brazil 4 – 0 North Korea

Ivory Coast 2 – 2 Portugal

Brazil 3 – 2 Ivory Coast

Portugal 6 – 0 North Korea

North Korea 1 – 4 Ivory Coast

Portugal 2 – 4 Brazil

Group G
Team W D L GF GA Pts
BRAZIL 3 0 0 11 4 9
PORTUGAL 1 1 1 10 6 4
Ivory Coast 1 1 1 8 6 4
North Korea 0 0 3 1 14 0

Group H

Honduras 1 – 2 Chile

Spain 3 – 1 Switzerland

Chile 1 – 1 Switzerland

Spain 5 – 1 Honduras

Chile 1 – 4 Spain

Switzerland 2 – 2 Honduras

Group H
Team W D L GF GA Pts
SPAIN 3 0 0 12 3 9
CHILE 1 1 1 4 6 4
Switzerland 0 2 1 4 6 2
Honduras 0 1 2 4 9 1

The Predicted Finals Results

Group of 16

Match 49

(A1) FRANCE 2

(B2) NIGERIA 1

 Match 50

(C1) ENGLAND 2

(D2) SERBIA 2

England win pen.5-3

 Match 53

(E1)NETHERLANDS 2

(F2) PARAGUAY 1

 Match 54

(G1) BRAZIL 4

(H2) CHILE 2
Match 52

(B1)ARGENTINA 4

(A2) MEXICO 1

 Match 51

(D1) GERMANY 2

(C2) USA 1

 Match 55

(F1) ITALY 1

(E2)CAMEROON 0

 Match 56

(H1) SPAIN 3

(G2)PORTUGAL 2

Quarter-finals

Match 58

(49) FRANCE 2

(50) ENGLAND 1

 Match 59

(52)ARGENTINA 3

(51) ) GERMANY 1

 Match 57

(53)NETHERLANDS 2

(54) BRAZIL 2

Netherlands win aet.3-2

 Match 60

(55) ITALY 1

(56) SPAIN 3

Semi-finals

Match 61

(58) FRANCE 1

(57) NETHERLANDS 2

 Match 62

(59) ARGENTINA 2

(60) SPAIN 3

Third Place Playoff

(L61) FRANCE 1

(L62) ARGENTINA 4

World Cup Final

(W61) NETHERLANDS 1

(W62) SPAIN 3

Spain are the 2010 World Cup Champions!

2 Comments | Africa, Current events, Sport | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by elcanguro76

Perhaps I should keep a low profile till this crap boils over

February 27, 2010

Big news in Korea is the disqualification of the South Korean women’s 3000 metres short-track skating relay team. The Korean ladies crossed the line first only to be disqualified by an Australian referee, Jim Hewish, with the gold subsequently going to arch-rivals, China. The result displeased many locals to put it midly with Jim Hewish, who happened to disqualify Kim Dong-sung in ’02 enabling Korean arch-nemsis Apolo Anton Ohno to win the men’s 1500 metre gold medal, being the subject of their ire.

While, in my opinion the decision was overly harsh and therefore  disqualification was not warranted,  I don’t think any sane individual can justify the following developments undertaken by the Korean netizen community: threatening to bomb the Australian Embassy in Seoul, death threats made against Mr. Hewish with his Sydney house subsequently being placed under police protection after his address and Google map image of his house was leaked onto the Internet via enraged Korean netizens as well as Mr. Hewish being placed under police protection in Vancouver and unable to officiate Friday’s racing due to death threats and 20,000 angry emails.

Here’s a Youtube video of the critical decision in the race, judge for yourself.

I posted my comments in regards to this situation on the Marmot’s Hole, who along with Brian in Jeollanam-do (now in western Pennsylvania) have covered this latest controversy.

With reports now that Hewish’s house in Sydney is under police guard due to threats from the Korean netizen community I think it’s finally time to say that yes, whilst the decision was quite harsh and a bad question, the netizen community has to take a deep breath, release any lingering han and chill the hell out because you’re not doing your country any benefit and in fact are potentially sabotaging any chances of South Korea holding a major sports event in the near-future.

Ohno and Jim Hewish in ‘02, the Swiss national soccer team and FIFA in ‘06 and now Jim Hewish and the Australian Embassy in Seoul – death threats, e-mail bombing and other malarkey may help overturn decisions within Korea but does bugger all for your cause in the rest of the world. FIFA and the IOC have long memories and it’s not a good idea to piss ‘em off if you hope to host a winter games in Pyeongchang and the ‘22 World Cup in Korea.

I think someone high up really needs to step in and tell the lunatic-fringe subset of the population that these shenanigans that follow any and every time something goes against Korea, has the potential to damage the country’s image far more than a hundred Korea, Sparkling™ ads can help the country’s image.

I hate when netizen losers sabotage Korea’s image as often the result is Korea making news for all the wrong reasons. One minute we have Kim Yu-na, the personification of grace, goodwill and ability; the next we have the netizen nutbars. *sigh*

P.S. I lost interest in short-track skating once Steven Bradbury retired.

Leave a Comment » | Australia, Current events, Korea, Olympics, Sport | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by elcanguro76

The World Cup 2010 draw is out!

December 5, 2009

Many of you are no doubt aware by now that the 2010 World Cup has been released and has probably offered some of the most even groupings in a long time, granted some groups are tougher than others and Group G consisting of Brazil, Ivory Coast, Portugal and North Korea has unanimously been named as the Group of Death™. But, even this group is in my mind not as infamous as some of the Groups of Deaths of the past, who can forget England, Argentina, Sweden and Nigeria of World Cup 2002 – Now, that was a Group of Death!

South Africa first ranked in Group A, as is custom for the host nation, must feel a tad slighted with their tough group members of Mexico, Uruguay and France. Odds are South Africa will be the first host nation not to make it past the group stage, but it’s the World Cup and anything can happen particularly when you’re got rabid support on your side.

South Korea have been handled a tough but not impossible group if they’re good enough, having Argentina, Nigeria and Greece in Group B.

The Group C opening match of England and US is already been much talked up and should be an interesting match. Joining the English and Americans in their group are Algeria and Slovenia.

Australia has got a tough group but this is the World Cup and not tiddly winks so it is to be expected to a degree as there really no easy matches once you reach the cup. The Aussies will compete against Germany, Ghana and Serbia for a place in the second round.

The Netherlands, Denmark, Japan and Cameroon make up the teams in Group E. This group has been somewhat overshadowed by talk of the other groups, though it should prove to be a fairly interesting group.

New Zealand will be working hard for pride and the hope of one or two results going their way as they face tough opponents in Italy, Paraguay and Slovakia in Group F. Can their fairytale continue through to the next round?

Group G – The Group of Death™ . Rumour has it that the North Korean regime will not televise any matches unless the North Koreans win. I’m sorry to disappoint them but any chance of a replica of their 1966 heroics are highly unlikely. Brazil, Ivory Coast and Portugal stand between them and their inevitable post-Cup trip to the gulag. Poor bastards!

Spain, Switzerland, Honduras and Chile make up the final group – Group H. A fairly easy group for the number one ranked team and favourite, alongside Brazil, going into the Cup. But, the Spanish have a knack for butchering World Cup campaigns so they can’t go counting any eggs just yet!

The Group of 16 shall see the winner of Group A play Group B’s runner-up and Group C’s top team play D group’s runner-up. Possible match-ups include France vs Greece and England vs Ghana.

The top dog in Group D will play the second placed team in Group C and Group B’s winner playing Group A’s runner-up. Possible matches could be Germany vs US ( a potential re-match of their WC 2002 quarter-final) and Argentina vs Mexico.

Group E’s top team will play Group F’s second team and Group G’s best team will play Group H’s second team. The Netherlands vs Paraguay may well be a potential match-up along with Brazil vs Chile.

And, finally Group F’s best team will compete against Group E’s runner-up, while Group H’s will play Group G’s second best team. Here we could possibly see Italy vs Cameroon and Spain vs Portugal or Ivory Coast.

The winners will then proceed to the quarter-finals of the knockout tournament playing against the winners of the match they are aligned with, and so on until the final.

I was considering making predictions on winners, losers and runner-ups but will wait a little closer to the games before I start making any rash predictions. Here’s a closer look at the draw (and in Excel format):

World Cup 2010 Draw – South Africa
Group A Group B
South Africa Argentina
Mexico Nigeria
Uruguay South Korea
France Greece
Group C Group D
England Germany
USA Australia
Algeria Serbia
Slovenia Ghana
Group E Group F
Netherlands Italy
Denmark Paraguay
Japan New Zealand
Cameroon Slovakia
Group G Group H
Brazil Spain
North Korea Switzerland
Côte d’Ivoire Honduras
Portugal Chile
Round of 16
1A vs 2B 1C vs 2D
1D vs 2C 1B vs 2A
1E vs 2F 1G vs 2H
1F vs 2E 1H vs 2G
Quarter finals
16E vs 16G 16A vs 16C
16B vs 16D 16F vs 16H
Semi finals
Q2 vs Q1 Q3 vs Q4
3rd Place Game
LS1 vs LS2
Final
S1 vs S2

See you in South Africa! ;)

Leave a Comment » | Current events, Sport | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by elcanguro76

Most successful football nation of the past 16 years

November 29, 2009

Having some time off over the past few weekends and relishing my newly assumed position as Statistician of Suncheon International FC, I’ve decided to let my inner-nerd roam free and get into some hardcore statistical analysis. I decided to look at FIFA’s ranking system which has produced monthly stats since 1993 to determine who have been the most successful and consistent national teams over the past sixteen years and past four World Cup finals.

Those familar with football (soccer) and FIFA – its governing body – know all too well the oft-maligned ranking system it employs is far from perfect and the source of considerable debate. Many argue it favours some nations and confederations over others, places too much clout on results, too little clout on results, too much on history, too little on history, etc. FIFA has realised this too and has tweaked the rankings on a couple of occasions over the past sixteen years, but it still hasn’t silenced a large proportion of ranking afficionados who favour rankings systems such as Elo Ratings, modeled from the rating system employed by Chess and Go governing bodies. That said, no ranking system can be perfect and in my opinion, FIFA’s ranking system does a useful job of determining at any given time which are the more powerful nations with the best current record and best recent history.

That said, let’s look at just who have been the best, most consistent football nations of the past sixteen years. Who has been the best? Will it be superpower Brazil with its ’94 and ’02 World Cup victories and its runner-up performance in France ’98? Will it be France who thrilled the world by beating the seemingly invincible Brazil in ’98? How about the ever efficient Germans, runners-up in ’02? The Italians with their victory in ’06? Or, the ever menacing Argies? Or, even the Spaniards?

Well, perhaps it is no real surprise that the most consistent, high performing nation of the past sixteen years has been none other than Brazil with their two recent World Cup victories in ’94 and ’02, runner-up performance in ’98 and consistent performances in all competitions and matches over the past sixteen years which has seen them sit in the number one ranking position for far longer than all its opponents. Brazil proves it has been the most dominate football nation of the past sixteen years with an average ranking of #1.

With that question answered, let’s find out the answers to the following questions: Who has been the second most dominate football nation in the world?, Who are the twenty most consistent football nations of the past sixteen years?, Who’s been the best African nation?, The best Asian nation?, The best team from CONCACAF? Well, I’ll let the statistics do the talking…

Average FIFA Ranking since Rankings commenced in 1993
Nation Confed. 2010 WC? Current Rank Highest Rank Average Rank Best WCsince ’93
Brazil CONMEBOL YES 2 1 1 Champs in’94, ’02
Spain UEFA YES 1 1 5 QF ’94, ’02
Italy UEFA YES 4 1 6 Champs in 2006
France UEFA YES 7 1 6 Champs in 1998
Germany UEFA YES 6 1 6 Runner-upin ’02
Argentina CONMEBOL YES 8 1 6 QF ’98, ’06
Netherlands UEFA YES 3 2 7 Fourth in ’98
England UEFA YES 9 4 10 QF in ’02, ’06
Czech Rep. UEFA NO 23 2 10 Gr. Stage ’06
Mexico CONCACAF YES 15 4 12 R/16 ’94,’98, ’02, ’06
Portugal UEFA YES 5 4 14 Fourth in ’06
Denmark UEFA NO 26 3 16 QF ’98
Romania UEFA NO 32 3 17 QF ’94
USA CONCACAF YES 14 4 18 QF ’02
Sweden UEFA NO 42 2 18 Third in ’94
Russia UEFA NO 13 3 20 Gr. Stage’94, ’02
Cameroon CAF YES 11 11 28 Gr. Stage’94, ’98, ’02
Rep. of Ireland UEFA NO 36 6 28 R/16’94, ’02
Japan AFC YES 43 9 32 R/16 ’02
South Korea AFC YES 52 17 36 Fourthin ’02
Scotland UEFA NO 46 13 37 Gr. Stage’98
South Africa CAF YES 86 16 45 Gr. Stage’98, ’02
Australia OFC/AFC YES 21 14 50 R/16 ’06
Wales UEFA NO 79 27 72 Have not qualified
N. Ireland UEFA NO 39 27 73 Have not qualified
Canada CONCACAF NO 57 40 73 Have not qualified
New Zealand OFC YES 77 47 98 Qualifiedfor ’10
North Korea AFC YES 84 57 121 Qualifiedfor ’10

Stats also available here in Word format.

As the stats show whilst Brazil has been the clear-cut top performed football nation of the past 16 years, Spain have – somewhat surprisingly considering their comparatively poor form in all four previous World Cups – emerged as the number two football nation since ’93 with an average ranking of fifth. Next, there’s has been a four-way tie for the third best football nation with Italy, France, Germany and Argentina all averaging a ranking of #6 since 1993. Next comes the Netherlands – another side which has been disappointing in the big tournaments at seventh position, while England and the Czech Republic round up the top ten football nations of the past decade and a half with a shared ranking of tenth.

Rounding up the top twenty most consistent football nations of the past 16 years have been (in order): Mexico (CONCACAF’s most consistent nation), Portugal, Denmark, Romania, the US, and – somewhat surprisingly – Russia at #20!

Countries that have been up and about at one stage or another but not consistent enough over the past 16 years to average in the top twenty include: Cameroon (Africa’s most consistent nation with average of #28), Republic of Ireland (also ranked at #28), Nigeria, Bulgaria, Norway, Sweden, Turkey and Colombia.

Despite South Korea’s appearance in the last seven consecutive World Cups (including ’10), its impressive fourth-place performance in Korea/Japan ’02 and reputation as Asia’s most consistent powerhouse, Japan proves to have been the most consistent of the two Asian powerhouses over the last sixteen years with a ranking of #32 to South Korea’s #36. Asian upstarts and former lone Oceanian regional powerhouse, Australia, despite its recent strength are significantly behind in Asia with an average ranking of fifty over the past 16 years.

Scotland prove to be Britain’s next best team behind England with an average ranking of #37, well behind are Wales at #72 and the recently improved Northern Ireland at #73.

World Cup 2010 hosts, South Africa despite some ordinary form of late show that they have been a competitive side over the past 16 years with a  ranking of #45. Canada, despite not having made the last four World Cups, are not entirely easybeats with an average ranking of #73. Whereas, New Zealand and North Korea, who will both return to the World Cup finals in 2010 after significant hibernations since their first and only WC appearances in 1966 (NK) and 1982 (NZ), show that recent history has not entirely been on their side with average rankings over the past sixteen years of #98 and #121 respectively.

Think these teams are easybeats, think again. The Seychelles, Andorra, San Marino, Papua New Guinea, Monserrat and Anguilla all are some of the worse teams going about at the moment. American Samoa, however, would have to be  the worse team of the past 16 years – who can forgot their 33-0 flogging at the hands of Australia – with an average ranking of #201.

Leave a Comment » | Sport, Statistics | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by elcanguro76

« Previous Entries