[Robin101]

Quote: (Originally Posted by bobben)

Sad to se Rooney miss the WC. His replacement, Crouch, is with no doubt one of the worst soccer players in the world, seriously!

And for Italy and Argentina...in the last 2 or 3 WC's they've been favs, but they always shit their legs...every time. The same thing in Europe for Italy. There's no doubt that they both have the teams to win this years finals, but it seems like that they both have a disease that stops them to do well in the final stages! They lack the experience. Brazil and Germany have more experienced players, and that's why I see them both getting far.

I agree with you regarding the past performances of Italy and Argentina. The same can also be said about Spain and Holland. Holland have one of the most talented squads (maybe THE most talented) in the competition but they always seem to 'implode'.

However, this is generalizing. If a team is good enough it will win the competition. Germany have the home advantage and a great record but are a very average side. If we progress we will probably have to play either Germany or Poland in the second round - I'd rather play Germany.

Peter Crouch, regardless of talent, is a very unorthodox player. He wins a huge amount of free-kicks - with those legs he's so difficult to tackle! He's also a great distraction. For a guy who's 6-foot-7 he's terrible in the air. In a recent win over Argentina, a ball was floated into the box and the defenders were so worried about him they left Owen (5-foot-8, very good in the air) free and he headed home.

I'm still down about Rooney. Sven has actually said he will take him just for the Final (wishful thinking!!). People are so gutted about our chances they have forgotten that this is a twenty-year old who's missing out on his first World Cup.