Yeah. There’s a reasonable chance Holland don’t make it out of their group I think.
Surprised to see a German tip England to win. And someone else tipping Germany not to get out of their group! I’m not sure which of those would surprise me more, but I’d want 50/1 at least to bet on either happening.
Belgian / German final. I’ve got money on it. I expect the outcome of that game to be vaguely similar to 1914.
The US - Portugal game is going to be good. The US team is not that bad, Germany is probably not as good as they can be, and Ronaldo, good as he is, is after all one player, and it’s a winnable game for the US.
You´d better give that money to charity. Belgium maybe, but Germany will never make it into the final!
^Yeah right, Brazil is not going to win this…I expect Lionel Messi to humiliate Brazil at the Maracana…
I am pulling for Spain though.
^Yeah right, Brazil is not going to win this…I expect Lionel Messi to humiliate Brazil at the Maracana…
I am pulling for Spain though.
Bros, I like your youthful enthusiasm about hot and upcoming teams. However keep in mind that FIFA is a corrupt organization running a mutibillion dollar business operation that can easily influence any game based on political and economic priorities. A south american team will win this WC. There will be at most one “underdog” by the semifinals, most likely from south america. The other teams that make it to the final four would be some of the usual suspects from Europe - certainly no Belgium, Croatia or any other surprises. Please be sure to incorporate these objective parameter constraints into your passionate analysis for optimal bracket prediction success.
So u r saying that all of the games in the coming world cup would be fixed…if u r saying so i am much more pissed at u then i am at my CFA L1 exam…lol just kidding…i doubt there would be any game influenced by FIFA …they r already in trouble with 2022 world cup
It depends on how you define “influence”. FIFA can easily influence a referee, but can’t really influence a serious player all that much. A top player is already a millionaire forever. If he wins the WC, he’ll be treated as a national hero until he dies (and afterwards) everywhere he goes. An extra 10 or 100 million can’t hold a candle to that. The only way to truly affect an individual top player would be to hold his familiy hostage or something along these lines - not impossible, but far-fetched.
The final four often has uncommon teams and if FIFA could really cheat without any kind of restrain, South America wouldn’t have 9 titles.
I remember there was a bet related referee scandal in Brazil in 2005. One of the games was Figueirense 4 x 1 Corinthians and the referee got money to cheat to Corinthians - later he would declare that he cheated as much as possible but “Edmundo (Figueirense’s attacker) played too well”.
I think it will be more like…you know Brazil and Croatia are tied at 1-1, but they give like 6 min stoppage time…or perhaps Luis Suarez punches David SIlva in the face, but both get sent off. Or maybe Gotze is blatantly tripped in the box by Demichelis…and no foul etc etc.
Damn pal, You like loosing money ? :). I have some crazy bets too but that is quite ridiculous. Germany aren’t half as strong without Reus and Klose is aging.
One of the most balanced teams in the tournament. Could win this but i think it will be Argentina too.
Mobius comment is too stupid to even respond too. There will be ref favoring but that’s got a more human factor to it.
Belgium too weak still to win it for me, glaring deficiencies. Netherlands look horrible as someone pointed out. Ghana and USA could easily pull an upset and we might see one of them go through.
I think its hard for them to influence the games at this stage. They already have most of the markets they want and it mostly comprises of European and South American teams anyway. And the teams in those regions are pretty good. The games will be watched regardless.
Anyhow, it’s the eve of the world cup. Lets talk about better things than how corrupt FIFA is. We can talk about how those of us who will be watching on tv are missing out big time.
http://www.switchingtheplay.com/life-and-style/in-images-the-beautiful-game
No, of course games won’t be “fixed” and players won’t be influenced when they play for their home country. But to think that FIFA doesn’t put subtle pressure on refs based on how viewership and ad revenue is impacted by the teams that advance is just laughable. An experienced ref can pick up vague signals from FIFA and tilt the game ever so slightly, which would be just enough in a high stakes competition for the “correct” team to go forward. Given the amount of money involved and the corruption scandals that always surround FIFA elections and venue selections, the game-rigging scandals in Italy, France and some UEFA contests - to think that there are no shady backdoor dealings while the World Cup is taking place is naivity bordering foolishness.
is suarez playing or no
FIFA is a big time joke. Why the hell did Qatar get bidding rights over the Mericans is beyond me?
^have u been hiding under a rock? google qatar world cup corruption
Russia will not make it out of their group.
Suarez has to play…i want to see some biting in this world cup.