Big Question: Who’s going to win Group C?

Based on history solely, HOL and ARG are by far favourites + SM should be credited for providing a surprise. That “part of the world”, no matter which country, (Remember Zahovic’s Slovenia, sometime ago… nobody even knew them…) have always generated quality football.

Based on realism… HOL’s form is still tops but much smaller than their name; ARG has to show they have a team and not a collection of stars and have to show they can beat HOL and no matter who. SM will be stronger than everybody thinks and the bunch from IVC are having a laugh reading these 36 comments, cos everybody seems to think they’ll just die without at least showing a fight…

I mean, in short, I believe everything will be very tight and only decided on the last group match for all these gents here. Implicitly, this means the chances for both ARG (who will want revenge from 98 against HOL) and HOL going through together, are very small…

Posted from  Netherlands

1. Argentina
2. Argentina
3. Argentina
4. Argentina

Vamos, vamos, Argentina….

Posted from  United States

Some of the comments listed on this site are way to over rated. ivory coast is a strong team, good, but i think they lack experience of playing against european teams. serbia and montenegro. Good team, good defense, but again, highly over rated. just because they conceded one goal, doesnt mean they have the best defense in the world cup. holland conceded three if i remember, but that still doesnt make us have a great defense. We all qualified in different groups, with different levels. From my point of view, the new sides are way over rated, but sure should not be underestimated. They qualified for the world cup, and teams that do that, can cause for an upset, but i still think the honours are to Holland and Argentina to go through, if they play at the top of there game, and believe me, holland has what it takes to go all the way this summer.

Posted from  Oman

2002 wc had taught all the big teams that the fashion of the game has changed and no opponents must be underestimated not even the underdogs… this lesson will be highly considered by major teams this time. arg & hol not only having good history but good teams even today… the questions is who will top the group among arg & hol, both the teams are wounded and having a lot to prove after their previous failure. i bliv arg will top for having a balanced side with youth & experience;
1)arg 2)hol 3)civ 4)scg.
well “bob” i hope its the dutch & argies laughing in the end not you with ur dazed predictions.

Posted from  United Arab Emirates

1)serbia & montenegro

2)dutch or arg

but i’m sure that serbia will pass the group
be easy
r.

Posted from  Poland

All I can say is that this is the Best Argentina team since 1986. Upfront you have speed and talent not even matched by brasil with Messi, tevez and Crespo, Then you have Aimar and Riquleme creating, and finally you have Sorin, Heinze, Zanetti, and Samuel anchoring a stellar defense. Not to mention Cambiasso as defensive mid. What people have to remember is that since qualifying the Argentina coach has used the friendlies and even the confederations cup as a try out for fringe players. This Argentina team is the most talented in the world and will win all three games in the group and play Holland again in the final. Vamos Argentina ! There are also enough Argentine born players playing on Mexico and Italy to form another great Argentine team. Messi makes Robben look slow and with Riquleme feeding tevez, messi, and crespo all those great balls Argentina scores at least two goals each game. Argentina dominates this World Cup!

Posted from  United States

what would people be saying if it were Spain in this group instead of serbia. I know its not possible however, lets just say for arguments sake. I beleive that many more people would predict that Spain would advance then are saying serbia. Serbia finished top of their group. I beleive that they deserve more credit and have the team that can play well. I think it will be a very tight group. However i think that Serbia will play alot of close games and have some luck thus advance. Ivory will be very nervous and not perform well.
1. Argentina
2. SCG
3. Ned
4. Ivory

Posted from  United States

1-Netherlands
2-Argentina
3-Ivory Coast
4-Serbia

man some of you guys i think are coming up with yalls prediction straight from your behinds.

“Argentina, italy, spain, and england are overated”????

i dont know if i should lol or stand amaze at the comment. The three most talented teams in the world are, brazil, argentina and spain, as for talent spain and argentina i believe have more players, the only player that brazil has that is above all is Ronnie and after that, well it ends there, adriano is terrible(he scored 8 goals this year, 8 goals)??? robinho wow, i am closer to pele than him. Kaka well he is the man. Spain has alot of good talents if they could put it together. as for argie, man yall must be dumb to think they wont win the group. find me a better starting 11 than this

Franco
Zennetti, Ayala, Samuel, Heinze
Cambiasso, Mascherano,
Messi(Lucho), riquelme(aimar)
Crespo(aguero), Tevez(Cruz)

1)Argentina(they win the first two and rest their starters for either mexco or portugal)
2)Ivory Coast(only because of goal difference
3)Holland (very very very young, van basten will cost them this world cup, he is an idiot for not taking seadorf and davids)
4)S&M(when was the last time yu saw these guys score)?????

Posted from  United States

1 serbia&montenegro

2 ivory coast

3 netherlands

4 argentina

sorry to see argentina go home soo soon, especially as their fans are so full of hope!

Posted from  United Kingdom

1. Netherlands
2. Argentina
3. Ivory Coast
4. S&M

Netherlands will win with Robben and Van The Man!!

Posted from  Netherlands

1.Argentina
2.Serbia
3.Netherlands
4.Ivory Coast-terrible defence

Posted from  Croatia

What I would like to see:
1) Holland
2) Ivory Coast
3) Argentina
4) Serbia & Montenegro

What is going to happen:
1) Argentina
2) Holland
3) Serbia
4) Ivory Coast

What all retards say is going to happen:
1)Argentina
2)Serbia
3)Holland
4)Ivory Coast

I would love to see Ivory Coast upset Argentina and the Dutch whip S&M so badly that the Dutch looked like the sadists and the Serbs looked like the masochists.

1. Argentina
2. Serbia
3. Holland
4. Ivory coast

Serbia-Holland 1-0
Serbia-Argentina 1-1
Serbia-Ivory Coast 1-0
Argentina-holland 3-2
Argentina-Ivory Coast 2-1
Holland-Ivory Coast 3-1

Posted from  United States

1, Argentina
2. Serbia & Montenegro
3. Ivory Coast
4. Nederland

Posted from  Netherlands

1.Holland
2.Serbia
3.Argentina
4.Ivory Coast

Argentina won’t ever be World Champion. If their new star is Roman Riquelme, let’s remember this guy vs. Arsenal’s Jens Lehman. Besides, Holland and Serbia, both very tough teams.

Posted from  United States

It seems that there are alot of hopeful Serbs in this blog and they fancy taking down the Oranje in the group stages, but be serious, SCG defence really isn’t that great, the only reason that they conceeded only 1 goal is because ALL THEY DO IS DEFEND!!!!!!!

They practically sit all 10 men in the box and hope that Kezman can score on the counter attack. The fluid playing of the Duch and to a lesser extent Arg. will tear your defence to shreds. I think the Ivory coast will finish ahead of SCG….

So then it is between Arg.and the Oranje. This is very difficult to pick but i think that, tough they are a young side, the Dutch with their new-found social cohesion will break the shackles of internal conflict and show to the world the team that they are. I don’t think that Van Basten has revealed all of his cards yet (in the friendlies) and i expect that the Dutch WC campaign will be nothing like the low-scoring friendly games in which they grind out a result. Expect large scores, free flowing games of total football and dominant posession by the Duth. I am in no way counting out Argentina though… i think they will finish 2nd and the Dutch and Arg. will meet in the finals. I think that some of you in here rate some individuals too highly (Messi being the most notable), you don’t win the world cup with just one man!!

So to sum up:

1)The Netherlands
2)Argentina
3)Ivory Coast
4)Serbia

Posted from  Australia

Holland
Serbia Montenegro
Argentina
Ivory Coast

Anybody else believe Ivory Coast is overated?

Posted from  United States

N.B. Mr. Pekerman and Mr. van Basten…

Beware the intense defense of the serbs and the athletic prowess of the cote d’ivoire.

Le Cote D’Ivoire will not only win this group, they will advance to the semi-finals, eventually losing to France.

Anchored at the back by Arsenal standouts Eboue and Toure, stars of this year’s Champions League, these Cup virgins will play an entertaining brand of football.

The question is whether Mr Drogba can play a whole 90 minutes.

Group C Predictions by Dave Hamilton

Advancing: ARGENTINA and IVORY COAST

ARGENTINA is loaded with talent as usual, but still smarting from not surviving group play four years ago. Marcelo “El Loco” Bielsa resigned and youth specialist Jose Pekerman moved in to fix the squad. The roster carries more strikers than midfielders, and all of the latter can attack and pass nicely, so defenders will have a nightmare trying to ascertain where the attack is coming from. Juan Roman Riquelme can lay legitimate claim to being the best playmaker in the world and often positions himself as a third striker. If he doesn’t take the shot, assassin Hernan Crespo, perpetual-motion machine Carlos Tevez, or teen sensation Lionel Messi can. Forward Javier Pedro Saviola and midfielder deluxe Pablo Aimar can also bomb the netting. The defense reads like an all-star lineup because it is. Esteban Cambiasso and Javier Mascherano cover the midfield flanks and both are superb passers and dribblers. The back is even better: Robert Ayala, who can man-mark with the best of them; left-footed Juan Pablo Sorin, possibly the best left back in football at the moment and aggressive attacker with unerring crosses; and hit-man Gabriel Heinze, who has recovered from injury and is fired up. One also mustn’t forget mop-haired Fabricio Coloccini, another key defender. In goal is rangy Roberto Abbondanzieri, who is experienced and can hold his own with anyone. Pekerman has seemed to be confused about which combinations to use on several occasions, and one cannot blame him entirely with such a reservoir of skill on his side. It is virtually unimaginable that this “Albiceleste” side will make an early exit from Germany, but if: injuries hit the defense; Coloccini decides to collect cards as he is sometimes wont to do; and an attacker like rival Brasil, Italy or Holland decide to launch their own offensive, Pekerman might have to stop watching the show and earn his salary.

IVORY COAST is the toast of Africa in this Cup after advancing despite two losses in qualifying to Cameroon, who didn’t. Headed by French World Cup veteran coach Henri Michel, the Elephants cannot be overlooked in what is truly this year’s “Group of Death.” Didier Drogba is the man who will draw the most attention. Chelsea’s star striker in yet another glory year, he has the package: speed, physical condition, good in the air, and power in both feet. His running mate on the other side isn’t shabby either: Arouna Kone, who regularly labors for PSV Eindhoven. Didier Zokora organizes matters in the middle of the pitch, but isn’t an especially good provider. That duty falls to, and is readily embraced by creative Yaya Gnegneri Toure just ahead of him. Behind Zokora are two extremely active defenders on the right, Habib Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue, who both were instrumental in the Gunners’ just-completed run to the Champions League final. Another excellent youngster of note in the pachyderms’ stampede is midfielder Fae, who can seemingly run up and down the flank all day. Goalkeeping is the responsibility of veteran Jean-Jacques Tizie, 33, who has quick reflexes, but sometimes has trouble with high balls and crosses. The question is whether physicality and athleticism can cover some weak spots defensively and technically. I’m thinking they barely will.

THE NETHERLANDS would ordinarily be considered one of the top teams, but new head man Marco van Basten has shaken the Dutch football world by its foundations with what is either a youth movement or a message to veterans who complained and pointed fingers too much in the past – or both. Gone are Oranje greats like Stam, Maakay, Seedorf and probably van Basten’s least favorite, Edgar Davids. That’s too bad, because the young midfielders and forwards are going to need someone like Davids to settle and direct them. That job may fall to one of the few old vets to survive van Basten’s axe: Phillip Cocu, 35, but he, Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder and Giovanni van Bronckhorst are all injured in one way or another, necessitating the activation of two standby midfielders. The coach also threw a late lifeline to Mark van Bommel, who looked good in Barca’s Champions League win over Arsenal recently. Despite van Basten’s tinkering, Oranje should provide plenty of shots on goal with box predator Ruud van Nistelrooy still among the best; Dirk Kuijt emerging as one of Europe’s best strikers; and thrilling Arjen Robben, if he has finally overcome his injury woes. Main defensive chores will fall to Jan Kromkamp, van Bronckhorst, Khalid Boulahrouz and Joris Mathijsen, but all have some shortcomings. Well-organized and even better-experienced, goalie Edwin van der Sar has been a star internationally for nearly a decade. Look for a 4-3-3 formation or, if defense is more of a concern, the standard 4-4-2 or even a 4-5-1. Regardless, van Basten probably comes out of this Cup either a national hero or fired.

SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO should not be overlooked in this group, even though their vaunted defense that only surrendered a single goal in all of qualifying hasn’t looked quite that good in friendlies leading up to the Cup. Too much is expected of forward Mateja Kezman, whose running mate Nikola Zigic won’t be much of a factor even if he provides a big target for standout midfielder Dejan Stankovic. The most reliable defenders are probably Albert Nadj in the middle and Goran Gavrancic in the back. With all the hubbub about nepotism and coach Ilija Petkovic, fans might want to be more concerned with the need for more firepower to advance in this group.

Posted from  United States

Argentina remains in first position in Group C

Netherland follows a second place

Ivory Coast catch up third place

Serbia Montenegro ends with fourth place

Finally Argentina catch the Germany WorldCup Football 2006

Stalin
Tamilnadu, India

Posted from  United States

Predictions
———–
ARGENTINA 2 VS IVORY COAST 1
NETHERLANDS 1 VS S&M 0
ARGENTINA 2 VS S&M 0
NETHERLANDS 1 VS IVORY COAST 1
NETHERLANDS 1 VS ARGENTINA 2
IVORY COAST 0 VS S&M 1

ARGENTINA 9PTS
NETHERLANDS 4PTS
S&M 3PTS
IVORY COAST 1PT

THATS HOW IT WILL BE!

- PETE

Posted from  United States

“sorry to see argentina go home soo soon, especially as their fans are so full of hope!”

oh, still angry because of the “hand of god?”. poor thing.
you know argentina is one of the best soccer teams in the world, you just don’t want to see them win because you are jealous.

SIX GOALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARGENTINA SCORED SIX GOALS!!! WE’RE ALREADY IN THE NEXT ROUND!
GOOOOOOOOO ARGENTINA.

Posted from  Argentina

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Posted from  United States