Chris the Human

His record is good, there's no doubt - but the majority of those wins have come against sides that the Socceroos are leagues better than in terms of quality - yet they've mostly been 1-0 victories. Yes, we've beaten some good sides along the way - but in almost every game it's been a grinding, unattractive win. The kind of football that a side plays when it sees itself as well beneath their opposition. In some cases (like against the Netherlands) - this is true. But it's the same EVERY game. Four years on from our last World Cup and there's been barely any progress made. If anything, our quality of play has gone backwards despite having dozens of games to prepare through thanks to the Asian Nations Cup and the extended World Cup qualification route. Verbeek's essentially stuck with the same squad Hiddink achieved mixed success with. Guys like Scott McDonald, Joel Griffiths, Nick Carle, Simon Colosimo etc should have been in the squad. Kennedy's showing himself to be an inefficient option at sole striker, yet we're basically stuck with it because he left our best two striking options at home. We're basically relying on Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill to do all of our scoring, when we could have had a handful of players in the squad who can create and/or score.

After several years of the fans begging for it, Verbeek gives the 4-4-2 thirty minutes and we look infinitely better in attack as a result. Now, if only he'd thought to bring more than one recognised striker along for the ride. Bring on his replacement.

Group A 1. Uruguay 2. France 3. South Africa 4. Mexico I know that a host has never failed to make it out of the group stages, but we've never had a host quite as bad as Bafana Bafana. Mexico can't score goals, so that leads me to have a pretty good Uruguay side taking out first and the French squeezing through on luck much as they did to qualify. ====== Group B 1. Argentina 2. South Korea 3. Greece 4. Nigeria With Argentina as obvious group winners, I went with a very underrated South Korean side to pip a pretty average Greek outfit. Nigeria to try hard but make up numbers. ====== Group C 1. England 2. United States 3. Slovenia 4. Algeria USA aren't even in England's league, and would struggle to make it out of any other group. Damned lucky. ====== Group D 1. Serbia 2. Australia 3. Germany 4. Ghana Germany are bringing in an average side and doing it without Ballack, whilst Ghana have lost Essien. Serbia to win the group with the Australians to shock Germany first up to keep things interesting (for me). Really, though, I'd say it's more likely it'll be Serbia/Germany/Australia/Ghana. ====== Group E 1. Denmark 2. Netherlands 3. Cameroon 4. Japan Japan are an utter shambles, and Cameroon don't have much firepower beyond their obvious go to guy. Netherlands to be pipped by a very good Danish side. ====== Group F 1. Paraguay 2. Italy 3. New Zealand 4. Slovakia Italy to make it in after a scare in their game against Slovakia. New Zealand are a better coached team than many expect, and I reckon they'll jag a draw or win somewhere in there. Paraguay to qualify first courtesy of said Italian hiccup. ====== Group G 1. Brazil 2. Ivory Coast 3. Portugal 4. North Korea Brazil to get through this very tough group, with Cote D'Ivoire to become the defacto team for all Africans as the only one to make it out of their group. ====== Group H 1. Spain 2. Chile 3. Switzerland 4. Honduras Chile/Switzerland/Honduras to finish very close to one another. I think the Chileans are due for a big performance this time around. Second Round South Korea def. Uruguay Argentina def. France England def. Australia Serbia def. USA Denmark def. Italy Netherlands def. Paraguay Spain def. Cote D'Ivoire Brazil def. Chile Quarter Finals Argentina def. South Korea England def. Serbia Netherlands def. Denmark Spain def. Brazil Semi Finals Argentina def. England Spain def. Netherlands Finals Spain def. Argentina

Just as I correctly predicted Australia's run to the Round of 16 last time around, I'm now tipping our lads to not make it out of the group stage this year. The talent is there to again be a surprise packet, but Verbeek is just a dire coach. Tonight's undeserved 2-1 win over New Zealand just proved to me that the man has one idea and it's not a very good one. A dour draw with Germany to get hopes up, and then two losses on the trot to Serbia and Ghana to send us home.

And I could have sworn I started an NRL 2010 thread when the Knights beat the Dogs in round one...

It would seem so. There are a minority of crazies out there. It would be in the NRL's best interests to cover up the Storm's indiscretions and allow them to continue to win on the field, and win the fans' support off of the field. This decision has set them back about ten years in Victoria.

That loss was pretty bad

Because it needs to happen. What did folks think of the opening round? I managed to catch the Dragons/Eels game, the Knights/Bulldogs game, and the Souths/Roosters game. I've got to say, it was a real joy to see the unfancied and much maligned Knights do what they do best and win a game on pure guts. I think we'll surprise a few people this year. The forward pack is one of the most skilful you'll find, we've got a backline of mostly young, big guys with pace and skill to burn; and Jarrod Mullen is a young guy finally maturing into a first grade footballer. Add the level heads of guys like Simpson and Cross in the forward; the X-factor of Kurt Gidley at the back; and the raw talent of Isaac De Gois when fit - and we've got a side that could even push for the eight if they can stay mentally focused. The Dogs... they just looked lazy. Idris is a myth. From the other games, I was shocked to see the Bunnies go down so easily. I do fancy the Roosters as a side to give the comp a shake-up this year, but I also expect (and somewhat hope for) a good year from the Bunnies. I still think the Sharks and the Warriors are the two likely to battle it out for the spoon.

Will never happen. Ever.

I'm surprised to see people picking Ghana above Australia. I could see Serbia doing it, but Ghana have never beaten us and, aside from their midfield, don't really have what it takes to beat us now, either. I'd say Germany first, Serbia/Australia to fight it out for second, and Ghana to look admirable in finishing fourth.

Any idea how they went about it beyond swapping teams?

Apologies if this has been asked before, but I'm right bored with playing the Premier League and the A-League. The latter, in particular, is ridiculously boring in FM. I was toying with the idea of finding a way to move the Australian clubs to a different league with promotion/relegation and less of a constrictive salary cap. Has anybody been able to successfully transplant leagues? If so, how did you do it and what league did you transfer into? I tried this with Turkey in 08 and it crashed as soon as a cup competition started. Doing it with Indonesia this time causes it to crash before it loads. Is it possible? Or would a game like FIFA be better for that?

That was glorious!

Technically, they're the best. We don't share a continent with that filth anymore when it comes to footballing. It was a near thing, though. New Caledonia really gave them a run for their money, and they had to cheat to beat Fiji.

Possibly Bahrain, and only if they could jag a draw away. No chance against Saudi Arabia. Alas, South Korea eliminated Iran and Australia eliminated Iraq in the round of qualifying before the most recent one.

And you're surprised?

I dislike the attitude national media can take of: We're not good at it, so we won't cover it. It used to infuriate me about football in Australia - especially now that we're winning games and the hypocrisy is evident.

You know you're a shit footballing side when South Africa are beating you

Hiddink has kept two substitutes in reserve for extra time so we could wear them out. They'd used all of their subs and were a man down. I don't doubt, had the game kicked into extra time as expected, it would have been a gamble rewarded. Ultimately, he focussed too much on getting to extra time rather than trying to win the game in regulation and we got what conservative play deserved. ------------- On the topic at hand, kudos to Iraq on a narrow loss to Spain. Leagues ahead of New Zealand, and they didn't even make the final round of World Cup qualifiers in Asia. Doesn't bode well for the All Whites chances.