Anyone but Greece. I aint watching the World Cup for negative soccer.
I really wish Chile and Spain weren't drawn together. Spain is probably my second favorite national team (I do have peninsular heritage as well as through Puerto Rico) and I like Chile a lot because of their tactics and Artuo Vidal. Same thing with Algeria-Russia-Belgium. I like all three teams for different reasons. Algeria because all their players get poached and I can relate, Russia because they're a huge country that is eh at soccer and I can relate, and Belgium because Kompany and a whole lot of potential. Would be nice to see CIV and the irrelevant Japanese advance.
I'm probably rooting more for individuals more than anything else, though.
Re: Switzerland, wasn't joking when I said Rodriguez is the best LB in the world. Well I was exaggerating, but still. He's been a monster this season in the Bundesliga. Benaglio is solid, as are the three Neapolitan CMs. Drmic is quietly racking up goals in the Bundesliga as well. Star of course is Shaqiri. Swiss have a very good side, I don't think they're in the top 8 of teams in this tournament but they are still up there.
Alright, with the WC quickly approaching, who are your rooting interests?
Alright, with the WC quickly approaching, who are your rooting interests?
+1Germany, so I was doubly unhappy to see the group draw.
Anyone but Greece. I aint watching the World Cup for negative soccer.
I think Chile knocks out the Dutch. I don't think they are as good has they have been.
I also think Australia might be the worst team in Brazil. I hope they are not 2002 Saudi Arabia bad.
Clichy and Nasri might not make the France squad. Brazil deserve to lose without Ferna, I think he's going though. As long as Felipao doesn't do anything stupid and take Lucas Leiva over him or something.
I think the latest reason is because he was shit during the Ukraine game. Clichy has fallen down their national depth chart as well, though I can't remember who their preferred #2 LB is.
Russia squad
Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow), Yury Lodygin (Zenit St Petersburg), Sergei Ryzhikov (Rubin Kazan)
Defenders: Alexander Anyukov (Zenit St Petersburg), Alexei Berezutsky, Vasily Berezutsky, Sergei Ignashevich, Georgy Shchennikov (all CSKA Moscow), Vladimir Granat, Alexei Kozlov (both Dynamo Moscow), Andrei Yeshchenko (Anzhi Makhachkala), Dmitry Kombarov (Spartak Moscow), Andrei Semenov (Terek Grozny)
Midfielders: Igor Denisov, Yury Zhirkov (both Dynamo Moscow), Alan Dzagoev (CSKA Moscow), Yury Gazinsky, Roman Shirokov (both FC Krasnodar), Denis Glushakov (Spartak Moscow), Pavel Mogilevets (Rubin Kazan), Viktor Faizulin, Oleg Shatov (both Zenit St Petersburg)
Forwards: Vladimir Bystrov (Anzhi Makhachkala), Alexander Kerzhakov (Zenit St Petersburg), Artem Dzyuba (Rostov), Alexei Ionov, Alexander Kokorin (both Dynamo Moscow), Maxim Kanunnikov (Amkar Perm), Pavel Pogrebnyak (Reading/ENG), Alexander Samedov (Lokomotiv Moscow)
tournament.
Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Toronto FC, on loan from QPR), Jefferson (Botafogo), Victor (Atletico Mineiro).
Defenders: Marcelo (Real Madrid), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Maicon (AS Roma), Maxwell and Thiago Silva (both Paris St-Germain), David Luiz (Chelsea), Dante (Bayern Munich), Henrique (Napoli).
Midfielders: Paulinho (Tottenham Hotspur), Ramires (Chelsea), Willian (Chelsea), Oscar (Chelsea), Hernanes (Inter Milan), Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg), Fernandinho (Manchester City).
Forwards: Bernard (Shakhtar Donetsk), Neymar (Barcelona), Fred (Fluminense), Jo (Atletico Mineiro), Hulk (Zenit St Petersburg).
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Eiji Kawashima (Standard Liege), Shusaku Nishikawa (Urawa Reds), Shuichi Gonda (FC Tokyo)
Defenders: Masahiko Inoha (Jubilo Iwata), Yasuyuki Konno (Gamba Osaka), Yuto Nagatomo (Inter Milan), Masato Morishige (FC Tokyo), Atsuto Uchida (Schalke), Maya Yoshida (Southampton), Hiroki Sakai (Hannover), Gotoku Sakai (Stuttgart)
Midfielders: Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka), Makoto Hasebe (Nuremberg), Toshihiro Aoyama (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Hotaru Yamaguchi (Cerezo Osaka)
Forwards: Keisuke Honda (AC Milan), Yoshito Okubo (Kawasaki Frontale), Shinji Okazaki (Mainz), Shinji Kagawa (Manchester United), Hiroshi Kiyotake (Nuremberg), Yoichiro Kakitani (Cerezo Osaka), Manabu Saito (Yokohama F Marinos), Yuya Osako (1860 Munich)
(Bentaleb an interesting call)Goalkeepers: Izzedine Doukha (USM El-Harrach), Rais M'bolhi (CSKA Sofia), Cedric Si Mohamed (CS Constantine), Mohamed Lamine Zemmamouche (USM Alger).
Defenders: Essaid Belkalem (Watford), Madjid Bougherra (Lekhwya Club), Liassine Cadamuro (Mallorca), Faouzi Ghoualm (Napoli), Rafik Halliche (academica Coimbra), Nacereddine Khoualed (USM Alger), Aissa Mandi (Stade Reims), Carl Medjani (Valenciennes), Djamel Mesbah (Livorno), Mehdi Mostefa (AC Ajaccio).
Midfielders: Nabil Bentaleb (Tottenham), Ryad Boudebouz (Bastia), Yasine Brahimi (Granada), Adlene Guedioura (Crystal Palace), Amir Karaoui (Entente de Setif), Medhi Lacen (Getafe), Saphir Taider (Inter Milan), Hassan Yebda (Udinese).
Forwards: Abdelmoumene Djabou (Club Africain), Rafik Djebbour (Nottingham Forest), Sofiane Feghouli (Valencia), Nabil Ghilas (Porto), Foued Kadir (Rennes), Riyad Mahrez (Leicester), Islam Slimani (Sporting Lisbon), Hilal Soudani (Dinamo Zagreb).
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer, Roman Weidenfeller, Ron–Robert Zieler
Defenders: Jerome Boateng, Erik Durm, Kevin Grosskreutz, Benedikt Höwedes, Mats Hummels, Marcell Jansen, Philipp Lahm, Per Mertesacker, Shkodran Mustafi, Marcel Schmelzer
Midfielders: Lars Bender, Julian Draxler, Matthias Ginter, Leon Goretzka, Mario Götze, Andre Hahn, Sami Khedira, Toni Kroos, Max Meyer, Thomas Müller, Mesut Özil, Lukas Podolski, Marco Reus, Andre Schürrle, Bastian Schweinsteiger
Strikers: Miroslav Klose, Kevin Volland