The World Cup is right around the corner and things are starting to pick up. The official World Cup 2014 Brazil ball was released by Adidas today: The draw for the Groups will take place on Friday. Here are the 4 pots for the draws: Brazil will be the drawn into Group A to host the first match. One of the teams in "Pot 4" will essentially move into "Pot 2" to fill that remaining spot. That should be the first thing they do on the group selection on Friday. Shaping up to possibly be a tough draw for the United States. The European team that moves into Pot 2 could also create a possible Group of Death. Important Dates coming up:
Here's most of the World Cup jerseys that have been released. Argentina Spoiler Brazil Spoiler Cameroon Spoiler Chile Spoiler Colombia Spoiler Germany Spoiler France Spoiler Ghana Spoiler Italy Spoiler Ivory Coast Spoiler Japan Spoiler Mexico Spoiler Netherlands Spoiler Russia Spoiler Spain Spoiler Switzerland Spoiler Uruguay Spoiler
Honestly I don't like many of the kits this time around, especially the Adidas one. And I agree, the ended up back to back in alphabetical order and it really stands out how similar they are. I'm more of a fan of the Nike ones like France, Netherlands and Brazil. United States is also Nike so expect a similar design with more of the throwback/retro simplicity you see from the Nike jerseys above.
Can not wait, our CEO is getting a house down there for the whole tournament, we are going to have an opportunity to go if we can get tickets. DD
Great job by Platini screwing over the whole Pot 4, just so his beloved France would get an easy way through the group stage. (France was supposed to be in Pot 2, and draw two tough opponents) Every company makes a brand new kit specifically for a few major countries, then reuses the template for other, less important ones. Of course, all for the same price.
Pool 3 has the weakest teams in it, since Pool 3 will not draw other Pool 3 teams, it is possible/likely that teams in Pool 3 get stuck with a tough draw. Worst case scenario the U.S. could essentially be drawn with: Brazil, Netherlands and Portugal Best case would probably be: Switzerland, Algeria and Bosnia-Herzregovina
Crazy that would be a tough group, but would be exciting.. Mexico will also have those same scenarios.. , i go for Mexico but i would definately love it if they get to play Brazil Netherlands and Portugal. even if they get destroyed.. that would be fun
i like the pot x rule. it minimizes the fifa rankings which is a good thing and adds randomization which is an even better thing. the less we use the fifa rankings the better. fyi..., france could still end up in pot 2. this is a lie. the pots and draw rules were just released yesterday. france being in pot 2 was always speculation (based on 2010 rules) and never 100% confirmed as you state. since the 2014 rules were never set, they were never changed as you are suggesting.
I am liking the Germany jersey. Will get one especially if it comes in long sleeves. France looks like nice too. The rest are yuck. Very disappointed in Holland one. Holland used to have some of the best designed jerseys.
I actually like the Dutch ones a lot because of their simplicity. The Orange one will probably go with white shorts and orange socks while the blue one will go with orange shorts and white socks, in my best guess.
I'm just glad that we do not use black as a second jersey. historically our tournament are terrible if we use black.
I like the Brazuca ball. Hopefully it's got some "action" to it like the Jabulani did. Amazing shots. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PImQsVsXCrI <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/PImQsVsXCrI?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> DaDakota, I will meet you there if you go. heat???
The World Cup organizers spent $11 million just on the 90 minute for the World Cup draw tomorrow, so enjoy. Found a nice little article breaking down the Pots with some analysis, this is written from a US perspective but most of it will apply to all: http://www.sportingnews.com/soccer/story/2013-12-04/world-cup-draw-group-of-death-usa-mexico-news
ESPN will provide comprehensive coverage of the Final Draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup across its multimedia platforms highlighted by FIFA World Cup Draw, a two-hour live program on ESPN2 and WatchESPN beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET. Bob Ley will host, joined by analysts Michael Ballack, Alexi Lalas, Steve McManaman and Santiago Solari in ESPN's Bristol, Conn., studio, and Taylor Twellman from Kansas City, site of the 2013 MLS Cup.
Y'all are giving too much thought into "group of death" and draw crap, and it's causing you all a bunch of stress, when there's really not much you can do to help it, nor is it better or worse to play any ONE team over the other. "There can be no more than two European teams in any one group and only one from South America."(http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/25153780) Pots are just made so that similar countries from the same regions don't play each other or that one team doesn't play a bunch of teams from one region. Those are the only reasons. Rank and previous qualifier games and "strength" of previous World Cup finishes go out the window. Here are your "Groups of Death" which I think is just pure propaganda and baloney... from which countries have still won the Cup... three hosts (England in '66, Brazil in '70, Argentina in '78) and Brazil in Sweden '58 and Italy in Spain '82: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0912/soccer.world.cup.groups.of.death/ But you don't have to agree with me about the stress. Complain and moan all you want. Enjoy your stressful day on Friday.
