Daffy I'm calling Argentina to win it all. I wasn't ignoring this thread, its just this Cup I'm finding it different, I'm going with the gut pick to all the exposure . I've called the last two World Cup winners and the last Euro winner, only losing the Euro 2004 pick when Greece surprised everybody.
Its going to be my only bet to win it all. I had it down to this and Spain. Spain would have been my "homer pick" (crazy story I got going). Spain is the most in-form team coming in to the tournament. There really isn't any country looking as good, and coming from winning the Euro, its their tournament to lose. They really look good for it but.
Now Argentina, there's a huge uncertainty to this team. Local folks are of course supportive but they don't know what to expect. What Maradona has done is to go for in-form players, be it experienced or not, or with European past or not. Angel Di Maria is a possible break out star, possibly going to Real Madrid next season. If, if they get a couple of players clicking together and the team gel as a whole they got this. At the feet of Veron (as we have seen in Estudiantes), I think there's a huge possibility this could happen.
Now Brazil completes the three obvious choices. What Dunga has done is to go for European experienced players only. He absolutely ignored some great in-form players, like Paulo Henrique Ganso, considered the next Kaka and the future Brazilian #10, without a doubt a future world football phenom (remember the name). But not just him, there's atleast a half a dozen players that could have easily been in the squad. There's many unhappy people in Brazil. Yes you have lots of stable European based players, but that didn't shined this season, just stable. Completely opposite of Argentina. And people are not complaining in Argentina, but they are in Brazil.
Now we go to the eternal contender Italy. Italy is not good, they are not well- experience and talent wise. In Lippi we don't trust, and the high of the winning generation is long passed. Having spent a good chunk of last season there I got say that people are not enthusiastic of their possibility of winning, reading the daily press the tifosi are wild 'cause of the tournament but they are realistic of what they can achieve. As a fan of the Azzurri I would love to be surprised though and see them go through as far as possible, and they are always considered eternal contenders.
Similar to Italy, Germany is always in the running and you never discard them. And similar to Italy the Germans are in a bit of disarray and without identity. Their main problem is that they are not a purebred team, its looking more like a Bundesliga selection more than a German national team. They have lost alot of what makes "Germany" Germany. Its very hard to picture them successful. But eternal contenders they are.
Two underdogs that I like very, very much are England and Chile. And a huge reason for it are their master strategist at the helm Fabio Capello and Marcelo Bielsa. Argentine Bielsa has Chile so smooth that I consider them the second most in-form team after Spain coming in. I easily see this two able to go deep and even reach the final. And you know what they say about World Cups in the Southern Hemisphere (South American team wins it).
The only bet I'm making in the Top Goal Scorer is Luis Fabiano of Brazil.
Now seeing Carlitos Teves (a very special player to me) champion and Diego win it in the ultimate rastaman redemption would be just awesome. It would be football poetry. Have no doubt though, Brazil is my country, that's the team I'm cheering, that's the country I adopted a long time ago. This is a generation of players I've been following for so long, sometimes very close, you'd be surprise how close. The So Paulo of Luis Fabiano, Kaka and Julio Baptista. The Santos of Elano and Robinho. The Flamengo of Julio Cesar and Felipe Melo. The Cruzeiro of Maicon and Luiso. Most people are stuck being patriotic to the country they are born in but I chose Brazil.
