Hey guys.
Good to see your all ok!
These are my views on the group stage...
Group A: Germany and Poland (not too much value here) Ecuador and Costa Rica are going nowhere in this WC.
Group B: Value, in this order, is on Sweden and Paraguay. England should be in the second round, but a bad day could spell disaster for them. TNT, thanks for coming.
Group C: Up for grabs! Which Argentina will show up this time? I have always think that Bielsa is a much better coach than Pekerman and look how he fared in WC2002 with a better team. Plus, they have'd trouble in the past with African style which gives Ivory Coast a boost in the ratings. And Serbia's defensive style may spell trouble for all of them.
Value here is on Ivory Coast (+900@thegreek; +798@pinn)
Group D: HOMER TIME! LOL! Nah, it's not a homer pick, it has some value @ ++odds, and since '94 Mexico has fared real well on the group's stage, winning a couple against the likes of Italy and Holland. Plus, this is the best team we have'd since WC1994. Look out fellas!
Group E: Value is on the Czech Rep. Italy would only do the necessary to get to the next round.... But watch out with Ghana. And I will be surprised if the Americans win a game in this group.
Group F: HA! Of course value is only on the Croats. The only thing between Brazil and the 6th cup is a bad day against an inspired team.
Group G: This might be the weakest group of them all. France is the logical choice (no value), but we might get a surprise with Togo and the South Koreans. Heck, the winner of that match could take this group and there's where the value is, cuz any of these two could take over the dissapointing French, with Henry and all (he was there in the scoreless team four years ago too). I think the Swiss will lose all three.
Group H: Ukraine all the way. Value and all. Nope, not Spain! They might pull another "almost" anytime... And look out for Tunisia as well.
The questions are: who will dissapoint? and, who will overachieve?
IMHO France, England and Holland won't go far. Germany either, but they will take some advantage of being the home team, but that's it. I don't give them any chances to win it all.
Portugal will be more of the same. To my Portuguese friends, no offense please, but your team is full of great players as it has been for the past 12 years or so... and nothing happens. Very similar to Uruguay, lots of great players in every position, all the time, but never a team and with a slow and old fashion playing style... And this is why I pick Mexico to win Group D pick, and not because I'm a homer :P
On the other hand I think that at least two African teams will advance and one will get into the semis. Ukraine and Serbia could be nice surprises and Croatia and Argentina should perform well again (no surprise here).
My picks to win it all are Italy and the Czechs. And yes, of course, I have some $$ on Mexico too
Just my two cents guys.
