And it has begun…
(picture from soccernet.com)
Germany leading Costa Rica 2-1 after forty-five minutes of play. Some pretty good goals already… so exciting.
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On a side note, I’ve tried to see if the number forty can be spelled fourty and I don’t believe it’s acceptable.
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So here’s Pekerman’s lineup for the Cote d’Ivoire match… I have no problem with Messi and Tevez not starting… It gives us options. I just hope they use Messi and Tevez during the tournament.
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So here are my predictions:
A1 Germany - not because they are leading right now… they are not the most
A2 Poland - I don’t know enough about Costa Rica / Ecuador, although as I’m writing this, Costa Rica is making match interesting, it’s 3-2 Germany after 73 minutes.
B1 England - With or without Rooney, they’ll do fine.
B2 Sweden - can’t see Paraguay + T&T challenging or this.
C1 Argentina - Just because we didn’t make it out of group stages in 2002 doesn’t mean we won’t this time. Different coach, different results.
C2 Serbia/Montenegro - This is more of want than a prediction. The Netherlands kicked us out and I hope we can do the same in the 3rd match.
D1 Mexico - Strongest team in CONCACAF… I think they will do well.
D2 Iran - Again, I can’t stand Cristiano Ronaldo… Portugal must go.
E1 Czech Republic - Pavel Nedved and Milan Baros will steal the show in this group. Cech will shine.
E2 USA - I really think the Americans can do it… Italy is really not that strong as much as the Azzurris like to think they are…
F1 Brazil - As much as I detest this team… I don’t think they will have too much of a problem finishing first
F2 Australia/Japan - I can’t decide… I just think it won’t be Croatia… ya I don’t like them for beating us in a friendly 
Plus I think the EPL players from down under, if they are not hurt, are gonna go well. (Edit: I have decided that Australia is probably too strong for Japan)
G1 France - Zizu’s last cup, I think he will carry the team… also about time for Henry to do something on the World Stage.
G2 Korea Republic - I hope they can show the world what they did four years ago wasn’t too much of a fluke.
H1 Ukraine - Sheva!
H2 Spain - no upset here, well except I put Ukraine over Spain… Tunisia and Saudi are not strong enough to pull off an upset.
If I’m right, these would be the matchups in the knock-out stage:
A1 Germany vs B2 Sweden
B1 England vs A2 Poland
C1 Argentina vs D2 Iran
C2 S & M vs D1 Mexico
E1 Czech Rep. vs F2 Australia/Japan
F1 Brazil vs E2 USA
G1 France vs H2 Spain
H1 Ukraine vs G2 Korea Rep.
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Jennie sent me this today… thanks 
… don’t know how she got it… but that’s AWESOME:
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Great pre-game speech at WorldCupBlog.org.
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