Predictions & Pundits

Brazil have as good or better talent than Argentina. However, the difference between the two is one team has gel-ed, the other hasn’t due to Pekerman’s over-experimentation. Argentina cannot compare with Brazil’s killer instinct in front of goal. Despite that, I’ve supported and support Arg to win. If things fall into place and Messi and Tevez get a crack at attack, then that last piece of the puzzle may be solved.

I’d argue that if you take Ronaldinho out of the equation (hands down best player in the world) you ain’t looking at much (except Kaka)…Robinho, Adriano? Tevez & Messi are in an entirely different class. Having just seen what Tevez did to River last week – I’m not sure there’s ever been ‘killer instinct’ like that.

Anway, these player vs player debates have raged for weeks on this blog – what’s interesting is that Matteus feels Argentina is the more talented team.

Tevez is on another level compared to Adriano, so is Messi compared to Robinho.

Brazil best players are Ronaldinho and Kaka. I have already argued on another topic that Argentina XI are as good as Brazil XI.

If we are going to compare how every player is doing this season then you could see that almost all of Brazil XI are doing poorly. Adriano struggling to score a goal. Ronaldo out of shape. Kaka with a very inconsistent season. Robinho flopping in La liga. Dida with surprisingly poor form….only Ronaldinho is playing great.

Thats not to say that Brazil doesnt have players who are excelling this year. Juninho is doing fantastic with Lyon along with another brazilian, unfortunately he is only a sub. Ewerthon is having a great season with Zaragoza. Some good brazilians in Sevilla, Nilmar in Brazil, Mancini in Roma….

But we all know that Parreira is going to start Ronaldo/Adriano no matter what.

On paper with both team going at it with full force the result is impossible to call. The world of football is almost brainwashed by the Brazilian stars. Realistically I dont think Brazil is a clear favourite and I think they would struggle a lot if they face European teams like Italy, Czech, England or even Germany who rely on crossing the ball inside the penalty box.
Argentina is lucky to have the like of Ayala/Heinze/Zanetti/Samuel in the defense. Brazil does not have anything close to that quality there.

Thats just my opinion. Take it or leave it. Just dont bitch about it.

Let’s get real. The difference between Brazil and Argentina is one team plays as a team, the other plays as a group of individuals put together. It aches me to confess that because I support Arg. Don’t be proud of Argentina’s defence either, because you saw what England and Croatia did to them recently. Argentina’s defence is no better than Brazil’s defence.

Tanvir…Arg’s defense without Ayala, Heinze & Mascherano (re. your examples) is probably as good as Brazil’s – WITH THEM, it’s in another universe.

I love this arguement and have enjoyed watching the back and forth. Both teams are very talented but I think that if you are being fair about it the Argentine players seem to be peaking at the right time. I am not that critical of Pekerman messing around with the line up to see if some fringe guys should make the team. If Argentina would have had their best 11 against England and Croatia they would have won both games and would be a heavy favorite with Brazil to win it. The team will have plenty of time to Gel in the build up to the World Cup and I think that you will see a complete strong ten players for Argentina with the only possible weakeness being goalkeeper. If Messi and Tevez are 100% with the rest of the talent on the team Argentina should be the favorite! And Aimar is playing awsome. The only players of Brazil I would even take in our starting 11 would be Rohnaldino and goalie.

Well put Todd… Add the Chile – eliminating gift that Argentina handed to its Uruguayan brothers and Argentina keeps 1st place in the Qualifications, etc.

I’m feeling very, very good having watched Tevez and Aimar these past few days. If only Abbondanzieri could stub a toe (really badly) and Aguero make the squad.

ustari is an awsome goalie hopefully pekker takes him tot eh freindly at least

” The only players of Brazil I would even take in our starting 11 would be Rohnaldino and goalie.”

I agree with this statement.

“Let’s get real. The difference between Brazil and Argentina is one team plays as a team, the other plays as a group of individuals put together. It aches me to confess that because I support Arg. Don’t be proud of Argentina’s defence either, because you saw what England and Croatia did to them recently. ”

Right. It really pains me to see an Argentina fan with such pessimistic views. Some Argentinian seem to have developed an inferiority complex with Brazil in the past few years, sad but true.

Remember 2002 ? anyone ? Bielsa’s team was playing 100% like a team with aggressiveness and defensive awareness unseen before ? Beating every damn team before the World cup. What happened after ? All the players were not at their peak or best form and the team didnt play anywhere near its full potential. Not to mention leaving talented players like Riquelme behind.

What was Brazil before 2002 ? A pathetic side with no team spirit whatsoever, a very poor defense, and a bad qualifying campaign ( barely making it). In the end Brazil’s players peaked at the right moment and gel-ed as a group when it mattered.
Now which team would you take?

Argentina does not play as a group ? Have you watched Argentina vs Brazil in the qualifying ? Have you watched Riquelme’s commanding performances in the Confederation ? Even Lucho Figeroa looked like a force at the time thanks to the teamwork by Argentina.

Of course the team wont gel when Pekerman is changing players constantly. But to say that ARgentina does not play as a team is simply ridiculous.

Our defense is better than Brazil, MUCH BETTER, that is not up to debate. The games against England or Croatia dont prove anything. Pekerman was trying new players in the shoes OF Ayala and co.

This is me getting real. Enough with the Brazil kissing ass already. It is getting old. They are not the GOD team that everyone is making them to be. They are as much of a favourite as Argentina, Holland, England, Italy and Germany.

well put lol.
unfortunately, the media in this world is becoming extremely efficient at manipulating ppl (hence, the almighty retard, George W. Bush being pres. here in America) – in this case, skewing the true worth of a Brazilian side whom I wish gets their f***ing ass kicked in the cup.

With regards to the speech that Lothar gave: I feel he hit the nail on the head. Brazil does not have a strong defence. Brazil is exceedingly arrogant at this point in time as a result of the massive amounts of smoke being blown up their ass. Moreover, only one of their “star” players has been shining as of late.

Argentina has the most playmakers on their team that any Argentine side has EVER had in the albiceleste history (Riquelme, Messi, Tevez, Aimar). No, we have no Maradona but we have the best supplement, which is a TEAM characterized by its few players that have the potential to shatter a defence within minutes.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stop talking about the England/Croatia games. We were missing MORE than 50% of our starting defence and defensive midfield. Why not be optimistic and examine how successfull our attackers were in those games – when they were playing well… These were both above average European teams, one of which is a world cup favorite.

P.S.
To all of you going on about Brazil’s team, have you forgotten that being an Argentino means that you have to HATE that team. They are RIVALS, not friends. The same goes with the British side.

It’s true when it comes to futbol we have to hate los brasileros… Cmon guys be optimistic just don’t be sooooo arrogant and get your hopes up! We have an awesome team i’m not that worried, i know we will do something this year FOR SURE. I will put my life on this if i have to! Yeah against England and Croatia we had PONZIO…cmon are u kidding me? This guy isn’t half as good as Heinze or Samuel! I noticed something: Riquelme plays when the competition is greater… has anyone else noticed this? And this is obviously good news for us…

Riquelme may turn it on when needed but what’s important is his fitness ahead of the world cup.

Maybe going in to the world cup with lower expectations than 02 (worldwide expectation that is..The argentine people won’t accept anything less than victory), will do them good. Less pressure can only be a good thing.

Agentina and Brazil are world class. We all know that Brazil’s weak point is their defense. Argentina has a better defense than Brazil what it all comes down to is how Riquelme will perform Argentina relies alot on him. Messi is unstoppable and Tevez is a great goal scorer. You have to play as a team to expect to beat any team in the world cup. Argentina does play as a team. Ronaldinho and Kaka makes Brazil very lethal, Ronaldo needs to loose weight if he expects to play in the world cup and Adriano will be fine. Remember he(Adriano) doesn’t have the service of Ronaldinho or Kaka when he is playing at Inter Milan. I would give the edge to Brazil over Argentina becasue of Ronaldinho, when you are playing with a superstar like him he makes the players around him better. Riquelme is a step behind Ronaldinho in that respect………

I dont expect Argentina nor Brazil to win this year. Meaning I would definitely NOT bet on any of them. I would be satisfied with a run to the semis for Argentina. Of course if we go this far then I will cheer for them to win it all.

The reason I dont expect Argentina to win is because of the murderous draw we are in. This group is physically exhausting. What I am hoping for is a win against Ivory coast and Serbia then resting all of our players against Holland. Any other scenario would result in our players getting tired. Pekerman needs to rotate his team, he has the players to do so. He can start Maxi instead of Messi one game, start Lucho, start Aimar…etc. We have many good offensive alternatives.

I know that the World Cup has truly changed. There are NO easy games anymore. All games are physically tiring. But Argentina’s group is the most challenging.

As for Brazil, I stated that their players are not exactly at the peak of their career. I also feel that the European teams that Brazil will face in the second round are likely to expose Brazil’s weak areal defense. Brazil group will NOT be as easy as it is on paper. Japan was very good in the confederation cup last year. Croatia is on the same level of serbia IMO.

This is an event that occurs once every four years. This is really not the time to be all pessimistic and gloomy. I will support Argentina and wear the shirt proudly. I think we have all the ingredients to go home with the cup. except for the keeper of course

A bit of where I come from. India is split in views. Northern India prefers Brazil. South pefers Argentina. And we grew up watching Diego Armado Maradonna kick everybody’s ass. So you know where I come from.

I had lot of hopes on Crespo but he is playing like jackass. Never generating confidence and even if he got playing minutes on the field totally missing some critical shots. I am switching my hopes on Messi, Carlito and Aguero. Here in US we dont get much soccer on TV but I read a lot on internet and catch up. I hope Messi, Carlito and Aguero unleash havoc on the oposition but I know Messi is playing a second fiddle to Ronaldino so he might not be that great. In the midfield I have lot of hopes on Riquelme but I dont know what happend to him in the Villreal vs Arsenal game he just lost confidence hope he dosent do that in World Cup. I know Aimar is going good. Hope Gabi gets 100% and Sorin gets his act together. Rest god save the goalie. My analysis is this.If defence is strong then they will pass the ball to the midfield playmakers and Argentina’s famous playmers will surely get the ball to strikers and then strikers Messi,Carlito or Aguero(strongly hoping he makes it) should go for the kill.

Correct me if I am wrong.

sudhi

I am tired actually of Brazil being favourites all the time. It’s like football is based on them, all the adverts (Nike) promotions all have to do with Brazil.
For that reason, it is time for Argentina to retake the glory. I think Argentina have a better team spirit, it is only our goalie and maybe the defense that is lacking a bit.
The Argentine people deserve victory for many reasons.. and it is a lot more dissapointing for us when we see our team knocked out.
I think with this offense Messi/Crespo/Tevez/Aimar/Riquelme, gives us a very good chance and also our team playing! I wish I could only find tickets now to see them play.

JP, where did you watch the Brazil V Argentina game of 1990? that was an awesome game, and one of my first memories of the finals. I’d love to see the whole thing again…

History and statistics are against the South American teams when playing in Europe. Only once has Brazil won in Europe. I would be extremely pleased with a run to the semis, especially after the disappointment of the previous 3 tournaments.

However, Rooney being injured gives the other teams a bigger chance, just like in Portugal 2004. We need to keep our fingers crossed that all our players will be back (esp Messi) and ready to go. Is anyone worried that we are playing a frienly 2 weeks before the first game? Suppose someone gets injured….

DM, I share your worrys for that game. But we need build up games for the WC. Let us pray no one gets injured.

DM: They’re showing lots of vintage WC games on TyC down here in Arg…

Lol: I respect your caution, but thinking about it – one image comes into my mind that makes me very optimistic: The last 15 minutes against Mexico in the Confederations. Argentina went down by a goal and then launched a relentless assault the likes of which I don’t think I’ve ever seen…They dug very deep and absolutely peppered the Mexican goal. If Pekerman’s squad can tap anything like that kind of garra in this tournament, I really don’t see how they can be beat. I love the above mentioned strategy of winning the first two games, then cruising with team B against Holland. I’m going to paper-out the route forward if Arg comes in 2nd in the group. I think it might be a bad idea because it means Brazil before the finals. By winning the group, Arg would likely face Portugal, Germany (which despite being local is weak).

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This has been a great blog and the comments I made are sincere but as a fan I am nothing but totally positive and optimistic about this team. I even go over to the Brasil blog and try to hassle those arrogent sobs. Viva Argentina! Go Messi! Go Tevez! This world cup is ours. PS Give Crespo a break he is playing on a club that is loaded with talent and will score some key goals in the World Cup. He is the exact type of forward that will be in constant motion for a pass from Aimar or Requilme. Dont forget the two goals against Brasil down in Buenos Aires.

Crespo does not deserve this criticism. For a player who has played his entire career in Serie A it is very hard to adapt to the EPL. Dont forget the 2 goals he scored last CL final. He is still a key player. A very good finisher with his foot ( both) and great in the air. He still had a good share of goals with limited playing time. AT least he wont be burned come the WC. He still has some unfinished business with the world cup.

i think these two easy friendlies b4 the world cup are just being played to bring back the team into winning terms, which will help alot for the first 2 games where argentina will be attacking from the very first minute (nice plan pekerman). crespo is my favorite watching him on the field for argentina reminds me of batistuta and i hope he wins the top scorers honor this time.

2 freindlies?? i thought there was only one?

i have a funny feeling in my gut that says we will make it far

that or i have gas

i just see the run up to it looking good

everyone is rested cause of injuries partly

most of the team will be there

and if pekker is smart he will find the right blend of old players with newer ones

mightie, comparing Crespo and Bati, no man can compare Bati with Crepso, Bati is a superhero. Crespo a benchwarmer and acting like a sissy when Dider Drogba eats his pie.

Just one short note on ‘one side is playing as a team and the other as individuals’. If I look at the last two WC Brazil won, then I don’t see much of a team play either – especially the last one. Brazil won it simply because it had the better individuals and not the better team. But that’s how football is, it’s a mix between both of it. Germany made it to the final because they worked as a team of mediocre players (so did Greece win the EC) and Brazil won the WC because they had enough individual players in form who can decide a game on themselves at any point. I think France was imo the most worthy champion in a while, simply because they combined team and talent.

How it hurts when our predictions dont come true.Thats why i like to hope instead of predict, i believe Argentina can and will win it,not only becuse im an Arg fan or because they have a super supreme team to do it but also because there is another variable involved, the Argie players know what winning the WC will mean to the people back home going through a tough crisis and how it could boost their morale and also i thik the Argentinians want it more than the Brazilians,to them it will be another one on their shelves to add to their collection which will only keep growing in the future but to the Argentinians it will mean more and not to mention that their reputation as a futbol power is now under threat for havent won anything since 86,look at whats happened to Italy, no one has faith in them nowdays,not even Italians,come on Argentina, the 2006 trophy has Buenos Aires written all over it.

Oh Oscar, you are mistaken.

“i thik the Argentinians want it more than the Brazilians,to them it will be another one on their shelves to add to their collection”

It seems you’ll never understand our hearts. Good luck!

EULER…
DONT GET ME WRONG,I KNOW HOW PASSIONATE BOTH ARGIES AND BRAZILIANS ARE ABOUT THEIR FUTBOL, AND TRULY IM A FAN OF OUR SOUTH AMERICAN FUTBOL IN GENERAL BUT I WAS REFERING TO THIS PARTICULAR TOURNAMENT IN 2006, IF BRAZIL LOSE THEY WILL STILL HOLD THEIR HEADS UP HIGH IN THE SKY AND WILL BE CONSIDERED A MIGHTY FORCE REGARDLESS OF WHAT HAPPENS,BUT IF THE ARGIES DONT WIN THIS TIME AGAIN OR IF THEY HAVE A BAD CAMPAIGN THEY WILL BE UNDER LOTS AND LOTS OF TROUBLE,THEY WILL BE SEEN AS INCOMPETANT AND PEOPLE WILL REGARD THEM AS GOOD FOR NOTHING, I REALLY BELIEVE THAT THIS TIME ROUND THE ARGIES WILL BE PLAYING FOR A LOT MORE THAN JUST THE WC,THEY NEED TO LIVE UP TO THEIR REPUTATION OR THEY WILL LEAVE THE TOURNAMENT DRAGGING THEIR HEADS ON THE GROUND UNLIKE THE BRAZILIANS.

I don’t know how many times I have to say this if you don’t play as a team in the world cup no matter how many super stars you have YOU WILL GO HOME EARLY. Individuals by themselves cannot go through a midfield and defenders and score they have think fast and make good passes and let the fowards score Brazil played as a team in 2002 with their superstars being dominant, Argentina played as a team in 2002 but could not score, were some what unlucky of course they were in the group of death and the difference this time is MESSI, TEVEZ, and RIQUELME all superstars and very young with speed except RIQUELME he is not very fast but still special. Make no doubt about it Argentina has more explosive players than 2002 world cup team did. You guys are worrying a little too much . Haven’t you watched Messi in La Liga and the champions league before his injury, whom if he is fully fit will be the hardest player to defend other than Ronaldinho. I am anxious to see Argentina play because they are damn good only a few teams in the world cup can match up to them. In my opinion they are Brazil, Italy, Spain, England with Rooney healthy and Holland.

Crespo was at his best in Italy. Ever since then he hasn’t been allowed to settle and is kept like a glorified sub. Isn’t his fault

believe me, ill be back when crespo silences the lot of u doubters, JUST WATCH

As an Argentina fan I tend to believe we will win because we need the world cup more than any other team. Argentina has always been the greatest team at least within the last 20 years in the world cup and has always lost. This year I am hoping we will win, no matter what happens I will still wear the Argentine shirt proudly (even though I am not arg myself). Have you guys noticed that you don’t have to be Argentinean to have passion for the team that’s what I love about Argentina, cause during WC no matter where you are from you become Argentinean

This WC clearly gives all of us the prrof that it is not always the Brazilians or the Argentines dominationg the Game.
I really respect France as a team and is one of my favouraites to win the WC but i have only one Fear and that is “Italy ” The team with Talent / Strength and for sure the best style.
Italy is my choice for the 2006 World Cup…

The best is getting wore and the worse are getting beter.