Ole, Ole Ole Ole!
The madness has begun! The world's best sporting event kicked off today, with home team Germany beating CONCACAF's Costa Rica 4-2, followed by Ecuador shocking Poland! What a start!
I'm going to catch as many games as possible, but the teams I'll be following most closely in the coming month:
1. Korea - Can Korea prove that their 2002 semifinal run was more than just home cooking? They got a lot of breaks from the refs that year, which is common for the home team, and they lost their coach, Guus Hiddink, a proven World Cup winner who left for Australia (more on them later).
Korea celebrates their 2002 semifinal bid after defeating Spain
This year their group isn't too tough. Switzerland is one of the more favorable European teams to draw, and France is as vulnerable as they've ever been. I think they'll pull it off, but they'll need Park Ji Sung, the Man U mighty mite, to come up big. He's frequently been their lone goal scorer in the qualifiers.
First Match: June 13, 6am, ESPN2, vs. Togo (an absolute must-win)
2. US - Can the US follow up its international breakthrough from 2002, when it reached the quarterfinals and got screwed out of the semis by a blind ref? The outlook is bleak. They are in the group of death, with world power Italy and #2 FIFA World Ranked Czech Republic. If they do get out of the group and onto Round 2, it'll be perhaps the greatest achievement in US Soccer history, and a huge step towards international legitimacy. But most experts are counting them out.
They must do segregated runs. I swear the team has black players!
The names you probably already know are Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley (a former teammate of Park's at PSV Eindhoven), and stalwart Claudio Reyna, who is making his fourth and final World Cup appearance, a US record. Some big-time up-and-comers are Oguchi Onyewu and Bobby Convey, both of whom are looking to land at bigger European clubs next year. And don't forget about Brian Ching, the first Hawaiian native to ever play for the national team (and the guy who dominated me, Ayeh, and Hpan on FIFA '05)!
For goal scoring, it's all about Brian McBride, by far the team's best finisher, who scored the critical game winner vs. Portugal last time around:
McBride scoring the decider in 2002 vs. Portugal
These guys are legit, and they'll be fun to watch. A couple of ties and a big win over Ghana could be their ticket to Round 2. An upset over Italy or the Czechs can seal the deal.
First Match: June 12, 9am, ESPN2, Czech Republic (must get at least a tie)
3. Brazil - Is this year's Brazilian squad the greatest ever? It may have the greatest player ever in Ronaldinho, who fans know from numerous online videos. Click to be amazed. If you aren't a soccer fan after half an hour, you're hopeless.
#1 in the world Ronaldinho, with former #1 Ronaldo in the background
The Brazilians are the overwhelming favorites to win it all, even though the event is in Germany, which would seem to favor the Euros. Assuming they don't run into Korea or the US, I'll be rooting for them, just because they're so damn fun to watch. Even if they lost Ronaldinho, they'd still be the overwhelming favorites. That's how deep they are, that they can lose the world #1 and dominate.
First Match: June 13, 2pm, ESPN2, Croatia (probably their toughest opening round match, but that's not saying much)
4. Australia - Why the men down under? Because of Tim Cahill, of Everton! Go Tim!
The pride of Everton
They're unlikely to get past the first round, but I gotta root for my Chang boys.
First Match: June 12, 6am, ESPN2, Japan
For the first time ever, every single game will be televised in the US on national TV (ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2), so be sure to tune in! Futbol Mania has hit the states! Don't miss the passion, the creativity! (that was for you, Jer)
I'm going to catch as many games as possible, but the teams I'll be following most closely in the coming month:
1. Korea - Can Korea prove that their 2002 semifinal run was more than just home cooking? They got a lot of breaks from the refs that year, which is common for the home team, and they lost their coach, Guus Hiddink, a proven World Cup winner who left for Australia (more on them later).
Korea celebrates their 2002 semifinal bid after defeating Spain
This year their group isn't too tough. Switzerland is one of the more favorable European teams to draw, and France is as vulnerable as they've ever been. I think they'll pull it off, but they'll need Park Ji Sung, the Man U mighty mite, to come up big. He's frequently been their lone goal scorer in the qualifiers.
First Match: June 13, 6am, ESPN2, vs. Togo (an absolute must-win)
2. US - Can the US follow up its international breakthrough from 2002, when it reached the quarterfinals and got screwed out of the semis by a blind ref? The outlook is bleak. They are in the group of death, with world power Italy and #2 FIFA World Ranked Czech Republic. If they do get out of the group and onto Round 2, it'll be perhaps the greatest achievement in US Soccer history, and a huge step towards international legitimacy. But most experts are counting them out.
They must do segregated runs. I swear the team has black players!
The names you probably already know are Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley (a former teammate of Park's at PSV Eindhoven), and stalwart Claudio Reyna, who is making his fourth and final World Cup appearance, a US record. Some big-time up-and-comers are Oguchi Onyewu and Bobby Convey, both of whom are looking to land at bigger European clubs next year. And don't forget about Brian Ching, the first Hawaiian native to ever play for the national team (and the guy who dominated me, Ayeh, and Hpan on FIFA '05)!
For goal scoring, it's all about Brian McBride, by far the team's best finisher, who scored the critical game winner vs. Portugal last time around:
McBride scoring the decider in 2002 vs. Portugal
These guys are legit, and they'll be fun to watch. A couple of ties and a big win over Ghana could be their ticket to Round 2. An upset over Italy or the Czechs can seal the deal.
First Match: June 12, 9am, ESPN2, Czech Republic (must get at least a tie)
3. Brazil - Is this year's Brazilian squad the greatest ever? It may have the greatest player ever in Ronaldinho, who fans know from numerous online videos. Click to be amazed. If you aren't a soccer fan after half an hour, you're hopeless.
#1 in the world Ronaldinho, with former #1 Ronaldo in the background
The Brazilians are the overwhelming favorites to win it all, even though the event is in Germany, which would seem to favor the Euros. Assuming they don't run into Korea or the US, I'll be rooting for them, just because they're so damn fun to watch. Even if they lost Ronaldinho, they'd still be the overwhelming favorites. That's how deep they are, that they can lose the world #1 and dominate.
First Match: June 13, 2pm, ESPN2, Croatia (probably their toughest opening round match, but that's not saying much)
4. Australia - Why the men down under? Because of Tim Cahill, of Everton! Go Tim!
The pride of Everton
They're unlikely to get past the first round, but I gotta root for my Chang boys.
First Match: June 12, 6am, ESPN2, Japan
For the first time ever, every single game will be televised in the US on national TV (ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2), so be sure to tune in! Futbol Mania has hit the states! Don't miss the passion, the creativity! (that was for you, Jer)
posted by Chang Kim at Friday, June 09, 2006
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