World Cup 2014

[Pinnacle-Project]

The World Cup is less than a week away. Anybody care? I'm looking forward to it. The American men are not contenders but the German team looks good. Here are some odds I found.

Brazil 11/4
Argentina 4/1
Germany 11/2
Spain 6/1
Belgium 20/1
Portugal 22/1
England 25/1
Italy 25/1
France 25/1
Uruguay 28/1
Holland 28/1
Colombia 40/1
Chile 50/1
Russia 80/1
Switzerland 100/1
Ecuador 125/1
Ivory Coast 150/1
Bosnia-Herzegovina 150/1
Japan 150/1
Croatia 175/1
Mexico 200/1
Greece 200/1
Ghana 200/1
South Korea 250/1
USA 250/1
Nigeria 300/1
Cameroon 750/1
Honduras 1500/1
Algeria 1500/1
Iran 2500/1
Costa Rica 2500/1
Australia 2500/1

http://www.skybet.com/football/world-cup

[Gazzak]

It's in South America so highly unlikely that a European team can win it due to the extreme temperature and humidity. For the English it's an absolute killer, and because we're pretty cr*p right now then we don't have a prayer. I love soccer so to have 3 games a day for the best part of a month is heaven for me. I'll watch as many games as I can.

Who'll win it? Put your house on Argentina.

[Pinnacle-Project]

You make a good point about the difference in climate. Even if a European team spends time before the cup training down there, they can only acclimate so much. Still, there are many variables involved so I will still be hoping Germany pulls out a victory. If not them, a Cinderella story would be interesting too.

[Pinnacle-Project]

I saw the second half of Netherlands - Spain while having dinner at a sports bar. Wow! The third goal the Netherlands got looked well earned but the fourth and fifth goals had to have been humiliating to Spain. They seemed to just lose it. There was a Dutch family in the restaurant having dinner and they were elated.

[emr]

Hee hee, great result last night. Everybody here was surprised how well we played.

[CeeBee]

Hee hee, great result last night. Everybody here was surprised how well we played.

Nice revenge for 2010, huh?

[Pinnacle-Project]

Spain certainly did not play like a favored team.

[slgrieb]

Brazil is going to be really tough, as is Germany, but I like Costa Rica for their impeccable ball handling.

OK, frankly I don't know jack about soccer and don't care. My older daughter has played Junior Varsity in High School and college, and she told me what to say. She likes Costa Rica, and who am I to argue?

[slgrieb]

Last night Elder Child, my wife, and I watched a match between Ivory Coast and Japan, which was a pretty good game. The Japanese were clearly superior in ball handling, but were outmatched physically by Ivory Coast. Elder Child's style of play was pretty physical, and she tends to root for teams that play like that.

She really got into the game and started yelling at the TV saying things like "cross the ball NOW goddammit!" and as we watched Ivory Coast kick about 4 goal shots over the net "What IDIOT coached you? Lean forward into the shot! Don't lean back!" It was really good entertainment. I just watched and laughed. At one point, my wife did offer up an opinion of the game, which was that the color of Ivory Coast's uniforms made their butts look really nice.

[Pinnacle-Project]

I saw part of that game too. Japan looked good until about the 65 minute mark and then Ivory Coast scored twice in about five minutes. After that, Japan just could not get back into it again.