Turrable said:Any system where a team that is objectively the best in its qualifying group gets the worst draw of any team from said qualified group is a fucking flawed system.
ConigliarosPotential said:
Who's to say that Ronaldo won't get injured in the Champions League semifinals and miss the summer, in which case Portugal becomes a virtual minnow?
ConigliarosPotential said:
No, it's not. As long as geographic diversity is thought to be important in the tournament - i.e., making sure that you don't wind up with four European teams or three South American teams in the same group - you're going to have to live with a system like this. And why does fairness have to be central to the system? In most domestic cup competitions (like the FA Cup), there are no seeds at all and everyone is drawn out of the hat randomly, and everyone loves that. The only reason the World Cup draw system seems unfair is that there is only one short tournament every four years, so a bad draw can seem to have momentous consequences for almost a decade.
The following games' kickoff times have been adjusted (all times stated are local):
Saturday 14 June
Côte d'Ivoire-Japan, 22:00 (from 19:00) in Recife
England-Italy, 18:00 (from 21:00) in Manaus - similar conditions as at 21:00
Wednesday 18 June
Cameroon-Croatia, 18:00 (from 15:00) in Manaus
Spain-Chile, 16:00 (from 19:00) in Rio de Janeiro
Sunday 22 June
USA-Portugal, 18:00 (from 15:00) in Manaus
Belgium-Russia, 13:00 (from 19:00) in Rio de Janeiro
Korea Republic-Algeria, 16:00 (from 13:00) in Porto Alegre
sdiaz1 said:Though team USA got a pretty bad draw, I have to say that of all teams that got screwed, there is no team that got more jobbed than Spain. They win their qualifying group rather easily (only a three point gap, but for all intents and purposes they had the group won with 2 matches to go) and they got drawn alongside with Holland for a repeat of the 2010 final for their first match, and they also have to contend with a very dangerous Chilean side that scores tons of goals and will likely have a large contingent of fans present. Even worse, if they do pass the group stage, but fail to win, they will almost certainly be stuck with playing against Brazil in the first knockout round.
Meanwhile, France gets to be in the second easiest group that if they win (which they should comfortably) they get to play against the second best squad from group F. I guess that would likely be Nigeria.
This is even before that we consider the fact that group B will be played exclusively in the tropical northern part of the country. Spain struggled mightily with fitness in the hot and humid conditions of the Confed Cup, and that factor will certainly play a role.
mgoblue2 said:How much does everyone put into the SPI metric? We both know it has Portugal and the US with a 40/39 percent chance to escape, but how do you view it? I'm not sure what to think. All I know is that as far as ESPN statistics go it's better than Total QBR.
I think two draws and a Ghana win is believable. Bring on the Belgians (and a 3-1 L).
DrewDawg said:Also, how the odds changed after the draw:
DennyDoyle'sBoil said:It's kind of interesting that three teams in the same group -- England, Italy, and Uruguay, are all in the top 11 at 25/1.
Uruguay seems to me the best value of teams that I think have a realistic chance of winning this thing. South American team with its top player approaching other-worldly status in a top Europe league and a strong supporting cast. Sounds a lot to me like Argentina, which is second favorite. Argentina has reason to be a higher favorite, with an easier group and being on the other side of the bracket as Brazil, but if one were handicap this thing, 25/1 looks like the best value on the board.
I don't think it's Ecuador matching Uruguay; it's Uruguay having dropped lower than you would expect them to. If Brazil wasn't the host nation and the Cup was in Europe, Uruguay probably wouldn't have made it to the finals.Infield Infidel said:Ecuador matching Uruguay on points is mainly due to their home pitch being 9,000 feet above see level. They were 7 wins and 1 draw at home and zero wins, 3 draws and 5 losses on the road.
Uruguay at least won two road matches in qualifiers. They got in the same way in the 2010 World Cup, and made it to the semis.
"The real challenge is how to put the pieces together and build this parcel," Klinsmann explains enthusiastically. "We are already working on logistical solutions. Maybe we won't be going back to our base camp and going straight from one game to the next to cut down travel. Any big sport coach will tell you 50 percent of everything is to be prepared."
wilked said:Did some searching, couldn't find this...
Looking for a WC schedule by day and times, not by group. Anyone know where to locate? I need to start scheduling 'doctor' appts for the big matches such as Germany / Portugal and Spain / Holland