1) Bayern Munich
2) FC Barcelona
3) PSG
4) Athletico Madrid
5) Real Madrid
6) Man City
7) Liverpool FC
8) AS Roma
9) Chelsea FC
10) Borussia Dortmund
Monday, March 31, 2014
Sunday, March 9, 2014
My personal 23 man USA World Cup 2014 Roster
GK- Tim Howard, Brad Guzan, Nick Rimando
D- Demarcus Beasley, Matt Besler, Omar Gonzalez, Michael Orozco, Geoff Cameron, Brad Evans, Clarence Goodson
MF- Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Kyle Beckerman, Mix Diskerud, Graham Zusi, Fabian Johnson, Alejandro Bedoya
F- Landon Donovan, Chris Wondolowski, Clint Dempsey, Aron Johannson, Jozy Altidore, Eddie Johnson
D- Demarcus Beasley, Matt Besler, Omar Gonzalez, Michael Orozco, Geoff Cameron, Brad Evans, Clarence Goodson
MF- Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Kyle Beckerman, Mix Diskerud, Graham Zusi, Fabian Johnson, Alejandro Bedoya
F- Landon Donovan, Chris Wondolowski, Clint Dempsey, Aron Johannson, Jozy Altidore, Eddie Johnson
Saturday, March 8, 2014
50 Questions To Answer Going into Brazil 2014 1-5
It happens every four years. The World's Greatest Sporting Spectacle- The Fifa World Cup. What makes the World Cup so special is both it's rarity, only being once every four years, and the fact that it is the sole sporting event that the entire world cares about. With every World Cup Final, 31 nations will leave in tears, one will leave in triumph. Four years ago South Africa hosted the Cup, and Spain took home the title. This year, Brazil hosts for the first time since 1950, Spain looks to repeat, Neymar makes his debut, a Cristiano and Messi try again, and the US looks to stun. If that wasn't enough, Italy and France look for redemption, Holland tries again, Germany's a dark horse, and Russia looks to set the stage for 2018. With all that said, here are the 50 biggest questions for Brazil 2014.
1. Will Brazil be ready?
I don't even want to have to answer this because it's just so boring, but when thinking of 50 questions, this is the most important. You would think that for a country who has won the most World Cup's and who has a large part of their culture related to football, Brazil would have all the resources needed for a World Cup. But the answer to that misconception is- no country is ready for a World Cup. Brazil will use 12 venues for the World Cup, 6 of them being used. As of February, 4 of them aren't ready and neither are a couple of the ones that are being renovated. I'm not much of an expert on the economics of what goes into hosting a World Cup, but the process, and financial loss Brazil has gone through is lets just say rough.
2. Will Brazil win?
The obvious favorites in Vegas' opinion are Brazil, and I'm not so sure they're wrong after the performance they put on in the Confederations Cup last June. Lead by a fresh group of talent featuring the likes of Neymar, Oscar, and Marcelo, mixed in with an experienced back line, the Brazilians look to be able to feed off the home crowd and lift the trophy for the fifth time this summer.
3. Can Spain repeat?
If the question is can Spain repeat- the answer is of course. If the question is Will Spain repeat- answers may vary. There is no doubting the talent in Spain's roster, but will it click? So much of a World Cup is about the ability to blend. The World Cup isn't won by the team with the best players, it is won by the best team. We have already seen star Athletico striker Diego Costa struggle with La Roja in a friendly against Italy despite showing terrific form at the club level as of late. The matter of the fact is the international game is different than the club game. That combined with the harsh draw Spain received, there could be a little bit of trouble for La Roja this summer in Brazil.
4. Who's the dark horse?
Every one has said Belgium. We get it Kompany, Hazard, Mignolet, Lukaku, Vertonghen, etc. Yes, the Belgians are talented, but are they really a true dark horse. With talent like that you are a pure favorite, and should do well. For me, I have three dark horses who could surprise: 1) Greece, the Euro 2004 winners had to defeat Romania in a playoff to get to Brazil, but lucked out in their draw, and should be poised to escape the group and be a sleeper team in the elimination phase. 2) USA: talk about a team who gets hardly any respect. The soccer stereotype in the US shouldn't even exist any longer. The US dominated the Hex, and has improved immensely since South Africa. Let's get one thing straight: the US is what makes it the group of death. With Portugal, Germany, and Ghana, it's a tough group, with the US it's a group of death. 3) Russia: I could see Russia's World Cup going one of two ways. They could either bow out at the hands of another sleeper team in South Korea, or they could upset Belgium, and win the group. Let's remember, this team dominated a group in qualifying that had a very strong Portugal team.
5. How will England do?
The experts aren't expecting too much from the Lions this summer, but I have a differing opinion. I personally think that England has a shot to make a deep run in Brazil. Despite getting drawn into a difficult group, England's path through the elimination phase should be an easy one in the early going. Despite Gerrard growing older, there still is some fresh young talent in this squad. Ross Barkley, Adam Lallana, Raheem Sterling, maybe Luke Shaw, etc. Without question, 2018 looks bright, and I feel that with this squad, England has a chance to make 2014 pretty good to. Look, Italy is a great team. But Uruguay has struggled to qualify and outside of their brilliant strikers, there are some major question marks for them.
1. Will Brazil be ready?
I don't even want to have to answer this because it's just so boring, but when thinking of 50 questions, this is the most important. You would think that for a country who has won the most World Cup's and who has a large part of their culture related to football, Brazil would have all the resources needed for a World Cup. But the answer to that misconception is- no country is ready for a World Cup. Brazil will use 12 venues for the World Cup, 6 of them being used. As of February, 4 of them aren't ready and neither are a couple of the ones that are being renovated. I'm not much of an expert on the economics of what goes into hosting a World Cup, but the process, and financial loss Brazil has gone through is lets just say rough.
2. Will Brazil win?
The obvious favorites in Vegas' opinion are Brazil, and I'm not so sure they're wrong after the performance they put on in the Confederations Cup last June. Lead by a fresh group of talent featuring the likes of Neymar, Oscar, and Marcelo, mixed in with an experienced back line, the Brazilians look to be able to feed off the home crowd and lift the trophy for the fifth time this summer.
3. Can Spain repeat?
If the question is can Spain repeat- the answer is of course. If the question is Will Spain repeat- answers may vary. There is no doubting the talent in Spain's roster, but will it click? So much of a World Cup is about the ability to blend. The World Cup isn't won by the team with the best players, it is won by the best team. We have already seen star Athletico striker Diego Costa struggle with La Roja in a friendly against Italy despite showing terrific form at the club level as of late. The matter of the fact is the international game is different than the club game. That combined with the harsh draw Spain received, there could be a little bit of trouble for La Roja this summer in Brazil.
4. Who's the dark horse?
Every one has said Belgium. We get it Kompany, Hazard, Mignolet, Lukaku, Vertonghen, etc. Yes, the Belgians are talented, but are they really a true dark horse. With talent like that you are a pure favorite, and should do well. For me, I have three dark horses who could surprise: 1) Greece, the Euro 2004 winners had to defeat Romania in a playoff to get to Brazil, but lucked out in their draw, and should be poised to escape the group and be a sleeper team in the elimination phase. 2) USA: talk about a team who gets hardly any respect. The soccer stereotype in the US shouldn't even exist any longer. The US dominated the Hex, and has improved immensely since South Africa. Let's get one thing straight: the US is what makes it the group of death. With Portugal, Germany, and Ghana, it's a tough group, with the US it's a group of death. 3) Russia: I could see Russia's World Cup going one of two ways. They could either bow out at the hands of another sleeper team in South Korea, or they could upset Belgium, and win the group. Let's remember, this team dominated a group in qualifying that had a very strong Portugal team.
5. How will England do?
The experts aren't expecting too much from the Lions this summer, but I have a differing opinion. I personally think that England has a shot to make a deep run in Brazil. Despite getting drawn into a difficult group, England's path through the elimination phase should be an easy one in the early going. Despite Gerrard growing older, there still is some fresh young talent in this squad. Ross Barkley, Adam Lallana, Raheem Sterling, maybe Luke Shaw, etc. Without question, 2018 looks bright, and I feel that with this squad, England has a chance to make 2014 pretty good to. Look, Italy is a great team. But Uruguay has struggled to qualify and outside of their brilliant strikers, there are some major question marks for them.
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