2010 Mexico World Cup Predictions
by Doc's Sports - 3/19/2010
Outside of Argentina, perhaps no team in any qualifying region was more up and down than Mexico. They still finished second in CONCACAF behind the United States, and it took them three different coaches throughout the process to make it. Hugo Sánchez was fired after failing to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, only to see former England head man Sven-Göran Erikson coach for just 13 games, losing six times.
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2010 Greece World Cup Predictions
by Doc's Sports - 3/19/2010
If you follow world football then you know the Greeks are most well known for their amazing underdog run to win Euro 2004. Prior to the European Championship six years ago, Greece was installed at 150/1 odds to win the tournament held in Portugal. The World Cup, however, has not been as kind to them and another unparalleled title run would be exponentially harder.
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2010 Argentina World Cup Predictions
by Doc's Sports - 3/18/2010
Mario Ariel Bolatti’s 84th-minute strike in the final qualifying match against Uruguay was celebrated from Buenos Aires and Córdoba to Rosario and Mendoza. That’s because had it not been for such a timely winner, Argentina would be watching the World Cup from home this summer.
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2010 Nigeria World Cup Predictions
by Doc's Sports - 3/18/2010
Nigeria was briefly in a state of limbo after its disappointing third-place finish during January’s African Cup of Nations earlier this year. After the continental tournament they fired head coach Shaibu Amodu and hired Swedish coach Lars Lagerback in late February to run the team this summer. Lagerback, during his stint with Sweden, led them to five major tournaments, including both 2002 and 2006 World Cup appearances.
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World Cup Handicapping: Group G Predictions
by T.O. Whenham - 3/12/2010
Group G is this year's edition of the dreaded Group of Death. North Korea is totally and utterly outclassed, but Brazil, Portugal, and Ivory Coast are all very legitimate teams that belong in the second round - and perhaps beyond. Unfortunately, only two of them are going to be able to get there.
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World Cup Handicapping: Group H Predictions
by T.O. Whenham - 3/12/2010
If you sit in the stands for any games during Group H you are going to hear a lot of Spanish around you - Switzerland is the only non-Spanish speaking country represented. The Swiss, along with Chile and Honduras, also face the unfortunate reality of playing for second place.
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2010 South Africa World Cup Predictions
by Doc's Sports - 3/12/2010
2010 marks the first World Cup held on African soil and the magnitude of that statement couldn’t be any stronger in terms of the pressure that it places on the shoulders of the hosts. But before you all but count out this relatively unknown team, know that no host nation has ever failed to advance past the group stage. It certainly won’t be easy with regulars France and Mexico amongst their quartet in Group A, not to mention upstart Uruguay.
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2010 South Korea World Cup Predictions
by Doc's Sports - 3/12/2010
Eight years ago South Korea soared to heights never seen before when they rallied behind fans and their former head coach Guus Hiddink to finish fourth in the 2002 World Cup. No longer led by the Dutchman, new coach Huh Jung-Moo has helped this Asian football nation reach its seventh straight World Cup.
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World Cup Handicapping: Group E Predictions
by T.O. Whenham - 3/11/2010
There is absolutely nothing easy in the World Cup, but the draw that the Netherlands was given is as close as it gets. Their competitors - Cameroon, Denmark, and Japan - aren't disastrously bad by any means, and Cameroon is potentially pretty good, but a team as good as the Dutch are should be able to get through to the round of 16 without really breaking a sweat.
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World Cup Handicapping: Group F Predictions
by T.O. Whenham - 3/11/2010
Italy and Spain are the top two teams on continental Europe. Conspiracy theorists won't be able to help noticing that those two teams have the easiest draws in the whole tournament. You can argue whether Italy's grouping is this group is easier than Spain's in Group H, but the fact remains that both should be able to move on without a whole lot of stress.
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World Cup Handicapping: Group A Predictions
by T.O. Whenham - 3/10/2010
Group A is the answer to a trivia question that few people would be able to come up with - it is the only group in this tournament that has two former World Cup winners. France, the 1998 champion, is the obvious one. The other is more obscure - Uruguay took the first ever World Cup in 1930, and then added another in 1950.
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World Cup Handicapping: Group B Predictions
by T.O. Whenham - 3/10/2010
It's 1994 all over again. In that year Argentina, Greece and Nigeria played in the same group - just as they will be doing in Group B this time around. Greece will be hoping things go better this time. Back then they didn't win a game, and were the only team from their group to advance (the 24-team field back then meant that four of the six third place teams also advanced).
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World Cup Handicapping: Group C Predictions
by T.O. Whenham - 3/10/2010
If there is one thing we know about this group it's that it is going to play in front of some big, rowdy crowds. Outside of the South Africans, fans from the U.S. have bought the most tickets for the games, with England close behind. That means that both teams will have virtual home crowds for each game and, in the case of England at least, hooligans will be out in full force.
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World Cup Handicapping: Group D Predictions
by T.O. Whenham - 3/10/2010
Group G is unquestionably this year's group of death, but Group D should also be considered at least a group of serious injury. None of the squads in the group are serious favorites to win it all, but all have the talent and the potential to pull off a serious surprise and even win an elimination game or two.
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