I have heard for years in several World Cups that Spain, Mexico, African teams, are going to win, and they never win anything. Maybe the media should be more realistic.
131696
they say african teams because the africans are always the cinderella story, spain almost always does well, but they never win, they just have the talent to win so the media thinks that each cup might be their cup because of the potential, mexico always comes into the world cup with a ton of wins...but they also have so many wins cuz they lead to the cup playing jamaica, panama, and el salvador, they play the easy teams and look amazing, so the media think they will come to the world cup and beat teams 8-0
564925
They are not likely to win the World Cup, but they have a strong team. They did very well in the Africa Cup and have a lot of strong players from European leagues. On the other hand they are in a tough group with Argentina, The Netherlands and Serbia/Montenegro. To get through they probably have to beat at least one of those three and draw with another one.
632707
I agree with you, but i think they have proven something by just being in the world cup, because it is a long way to qualify for the World Cup. I also agree with Iran, and Trinidad, because Iran is a though team, and trinidad gave a pretty good defence in the last two games. But if you remeber Croatia made it to the quarter finals in their last World Cup, or 1998 i don't really remember.
187581
I honestly believe that England could win it but, they won´t, as you say they have a strong team on paper but unfortunately on the pitch they never seem to produce that magic that they are meant to posses. I can say the same for Spain where i stay, they have had and still have an extremely good team on paper but when it comes down to it they never seem to be able to play toghether just like England. Now don´t you think that this could have something to do with all the foreign players in the leagues nowadays?? What is Football going to be like in 5 years, i mean look at countries like Scotland etc. who dont have a good player anymore because the youth sistem has gone down the drain, i just hope this does not happen in England or Spain although it looks like its happening now.
652319
Thank you man for stating that out. Finally someone (apart from me) who thinks that Portugal can go reallyfar in this competition. You gave ggod examples lile the Euro 2004. They came 2nd. People are saying the loss at euro 2004 will affect. Damn well it will affect them. They'll want to win this time. The team have a mixture of both young fresh players and old experienced players. Plus they World Cup 2002 coach winner. Luis Filipe Scolari. And so far they've got 3 pts from every group stage match.
659901
It is like people and weather in that country. Individualism dominates that culture and it reflect to the society and the soccer style.\nNo way, they never will win a world cup
587237
Turkey currently stands at 14 in the FIFA rankings - they're not a bad team.  Honestly, I was stunned they didn't qualify.  I think they'll win (or come close) in 2010 - if they qualify.  Thing is, I think the 2010 World Cup will be good for them, because it will be about the SPORT, not the politics around them.  Considering it's hosted in South Africa next time 'round, it really will be all about the game and not your political stance. I really, really think they have a good chance of coming close in the next cup.  They're a strong team and play well.
621559
because they dont need it to win the world cup\nthey have a very good fighting spirit,and displayed a very good performance so far.\nwhat they lack is concentration but african teams can be the dark horse in the tournament.
601991
I wouldn't say praying for their downfall, but they probably were execssively harsh on the Brazilians. They're supposed to be one of the best teams in the world on a consistent basis, so they're bound to be held up by a higher standard.
564911
I do believe that they have done the best that they can.  However, their best is still not good enough to win.  In my opinion, they need to improve their skills by sending players to Europe or South America to learn from the best.
572544
That was a fun game. Honestly, I expected Spain to win. Until now, France hadn't been exactly excelling. All their goals were kind of, unexpected. I liked that. Especially Zidane's. Considering this will most likely be his next to last pro-game. And probably his last goal too. I highly doubt France will do much against Brazil, and some are saying that it shall be the payback for the World Cup final in '98.
586141
My wife tries to make the world cup a struggle of class against class (I thought that was a political struggle, not a sports struggle).  But she doesn't complain when her country wins (Brazil, not exactly a rich one).  So it seems a bit hypocritical.  I didn't see the Ivory Coast match, but from what I've seen in the past, African teams play rougher among themselves than non-African teams do and so when they have to play outside of Africa they get called for more fouls.
561069
The FIFA ranking is just a joke and it does not really reflect reality. You have made a couple of examples, but look at the first 15 places and you will agree that it is a nonsense.\n1 Brazil \n2 Czech Republic \n3 Netherlands \n4 Mexico \n5 USA  \n5 Spain \n7 Portugal \n8 France \n9 Argentina \n10 England     \n11 Nigeria \n11 Denmark \n13 Italy  \n14 Turkey \n15 Cameroon \n\nAbout USA, more than overrated, they have a coach that lacks on humility and focus too much on physical strategy instead of tactic and technique.\nIn addition, their Federation insists on "adopting" and investing in  Mexican players, ignoring traditional stronger Continents (in soccer) like South America and Europe. As we have seen few days in this World Cup, Mexico have done itself some improvements because of the Argentinian coach (La Volpe) who brought some "order" in their boring (dribbling) way of play. If USA don't confront itself with the reality of soccer, they will not improve on their play (maybe they will grow on FIFA ranking but then what???)\n\nfor "lonestar": if you refer to USA National Team (as asked in the question) I think you are REALLY uninformed and confused: USA is one of the few teams that invested a lot of time on preparing the World Cup (including way over 30 days of training before the competition)
287560
I was very disappointed. France showed no definition and looked weak overall. As for Mexico, their attack seems to be like a pussycat -- lots of purring, no bite.\n\nUnless both teams improve dramatically, neither will progress very far in the World Cup.
310341
If we are considering the current world cup finalist, I dont see it happening. However, judging by the performance of African players in Europe and other parts of the world, it is likely that one of the countries would probably suprise the world soon. The exposure and experience is really helping develop african football. The major impediment however is the FA in the african countries. They either lack knowledge of what it takes to win a crucial competition or are too greedy and selfish/dont really care if their country perform well or not.
247678
the  world cup is nothing like the world series, 32 teams from all over the globe have been through tough qualifying groups (5-10 teams in each) and have been playing these games for nearly 2 years to qualify for the tournament...these teams are now in 8 groups of 4 teams and will play each team in its group and the top 2 teams in each group go through to the next round ( knock-out stages) then the quarter finals, semi finals, and final this competition is only every 4 years, it all begins on the 9th of june and the smart money is on Brazil to win again, but Germany, Italy,England, argentina, Spain ,Holland or one of the African teams could do it...I hope you enjoy the tournament, it is the best competition in the world !!!
579167
Tue fans, will follow the team no matter what. The bandwagon people, we'll see them again in South Africa 2010. And yes, the team should have played better. Getting beating 3-0 is not good for a team as good as the US. No matter who the opponent is.