Guide to FIFA World Cup 2014 - GERMANY CHAMPIONS

I can't wait for the World Cup. It's basically my most favourite sporting event and yet Soccer isn't even my favourite sport. It's a testament to just how big and entertaining the Fifa World Cup is!

Too bad Australia is in the Group of Death!

Good setup you got going there Scope! As Lum said it's a shame to see Australia in such an intimidating group.
Who do we think will take the cup home then?

Well as Lumi said, Brazil have entered the World Cup as favorites because they have the home-field advantage this year. They did also smash current World Champions and World Number 1 Spain 3-0 in the Confederations Cup last year, so they are in with their best chance since 2002!

If not Brazil or Spain, I would definitely say Germany, who have a very strong squad this season, and have easily one of the best coaches of all time. Uruguay are in with a chance given the form of their main strikers Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, as well as Portugal and Argentina due to the form of Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) and Messi (Argentina). Belgium to me also have a brilliant chance, and would be seen as the underdogs once they reach the Round of 16.

Australia are definitely in the toughest group considering they are the lowest ranked team in the World Cup, but I think that it will be a great experience if Postecoglou decides to take a young team to Brazil, rather than an ageing one like 2010 and may actually turn out better than we think (2006 was a big surprise, considering they made the Round of 16 and nearly beat Italy). I can see the team losing by a big scoreline (5 or 6 goals) against Spain, but when we play the Netherlands we might be able to get an ok result (if we hold back Robben and Van Persie), and easily our best chance to get a result will be against Chile, who although have a strong squad would easily be the weakest of the three opponents we have to play.

Speaking of Australia, here's a fun fact: Two time Balon D'or winner (2008, 2013) Cristiano Ronaldo, who currently plays for Portugal and Real Madrid, was actually eligible to play for the Australian National Team, as he has family who currently live in Perth! What a difference that could have made for the Socceroos!

Damn it Luminal I was getting my hopes up until I saw "Springvale" HAHA

Nah I joke it sounds like a pretty awesome place, but I'm not into FIFA that much this year... FIFA 14 is very average and I'm hoping that FIFA 15 will be a proper Next-Gen title (although I doubt it I mean they still develop FIFA on the PS2 which is quite sad)

It would have been a cool idea if he had allowed people to watch the WC games on a large screen, could have brought in a lot of business... maybe serve food but BYO alcohol haha

Darn it, I would have preferred the Aussies going in last seeded just so we can remind what underdogs we are and to make any win a success when I watch their games. It would be nice to eventually get back into the Top 20 or so like we were a few years back!

UPDATE!

With around 10 days left, the FIFA Rankings have been updated once again (I am a bit late as this was done a while ago and I missed a couple of updates, but it probably won't change until after the World Cup), and it is generally bad news for Australia who are the lowest ranked team going into the World Cup.

*note that the rises and drops are from MY last update, there has been several FIFA updates that I have missed

Largest Rise: Honduras +10
Largest Drop: Bosnia and Herzegovina -8

3. Portugal +1
4. Brazil +5
6. Uruguay +1
7. Argentina -4
8. Switzerland -2
9. Italy -1
10. Greece +2
11. England +4
12. Belgium -1
13. Chile +1
14. USA -1
15. Netherlands -5
16. France +2
18. Russia +4
19. Mexico +2
20. Croatia -4
21. Ivory Coast +2
25. Bosnia (equal) -8
25. Algeria (equal) +1
28. Ecuador -4
30. Honduras +10
34. Costa Rica +1
37. Iran +1
38. Ghana -1
44. Nigeria +3
47. Japan (equal) +3
50. Cameroon -4
55. Korea Republic +6
59. Australia (equal) -6


Unchanged:
1. Spain
2. Germany
5. Colombia

Day 2 of the FIFA World Cup has now concluded, with three matches being played with some surprising results.

First up was the Group A match Mexico vs. Cameroon, which was one of the closer matches of the day. Mexico had most of the chances, although Cameroon had their fair share as well, and it seemed that Mexico had gone ahead, only for Giovani dos Santos to be flagged offside. He would have another goal disallowed not long after with his header being deemed wrongly offside. Cameroon applied pressure to the Mexicans but struggled to break through their defence.Their main striker Eto'o struggled to find the target, and Cameroon were made to pay by Oribe Peralta after some good build up play in the middle and a great through-ball to dos Santos whose shot was saved, but the rebound was met by Peralta. The game would end 1-0 in Mexico's favour, although it should have been more.

Second was the first Group B match Spain vs. Netherlands, which delivered the biggest shock of the tournament in only the second day of the World Cup. It was Spain who started off the brighter of the two, and after 25 minutes striker Diego Costa was controversially brought down after a soft tackle in the box, and the penalty was cooly converted by Xabi Alonso. Although Spain would dominate much of the possession, the Netherlands were find ways to match the tiki-taka play style that Spain had adopted, and a brilliant ball from Daley Blind at halfway made its way to the edge of the penalty area, meeting the diving head of Robin van Persie who managed to chip the stranded Iker Casillas and tie the game at 1-1 just before half time. The Netherlands would then take the lead early in the second half, when Wesley Sneijder's long ball was cooly controlled by Arjen Robben, who skipped past both Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos, and easily put the ball into the back of the net. The third Dutch goal would come in the 65th minute, when a brilliant free kick by Wesley Sneijder was bundled into the net by de Vrij at the far post, although the Spanish could claim that Iker Casillas was fouled by Robin van Persie and was therefore unable to catch the ball. Iker Casillas' nightmare would continue, after he lost control of the back-pass by Sergio Ramos, handing Robin van Persie his second of the match. The final goal would come in the 80th minute, after Arjen Robben latched onto a hopeful through-ball and abused his pace to outrun Sergio Ramos, leap past Iker Casillas and eventually scoring his second beating both Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique. The match ended 5-1 to the Netherlands.

The final match of the day was Group B match Chile vs. Australia in what was deemed to be an easy game for the Chileans. The Australians under Ange Postecoglou had only played around 5 matches together, with many of the players never actually competing in a World Cup. They were made to pay for their nerves and lack of discipline at the back in the 12th minute, with some miscommunication and ball-watching allowing Charles Aranguiz to snatch the ball from between Jason Davidson and Matthew Spiranovic, and the cross was met by Mile Jedinak who was unable to guide the ball out of the box, leaving Alexis Sanchez to slot the ball into the bottom corner, leaving Mathew Ryan no chance. Chile would then score two minutes later after another defensive error, when Alexis Sanchez was allowed to turn by Mile Jedinak, and when right-back Ivan Franjic and centre-back Alex Wilkinson both tracked the run through the middle from Eduardo Vargas, Sanchez was able to give the ball to a wide-open Jorge Valdivia, who brilliantly finished on the edge of the box. 2-0 down, it seemed that this match could follow a similar scoreline to the previous Group B match, but the defence began to tighten up, and after 35 minutes Ivan Franjic made a crucial tackle on Eduardo Vargas in the Australian attacking half, which was then taken by Mathew Leckie, given back to Ivan Franjic who then delivered a brilliant cross over the defence, reaching veteran Tim Cahill who leaped over defender Gary Medel, and put the ball into the back of the net. At this point, the momentum of the game shifted into Australia's favour, who continued to press for the equaliser throughout the match and created many chances while keeping the Chileans at bay. The Australians were made to pay for this high attacking press in the 2nd minute of stoppage time, when Chile finally got through the Australian defence through substitute Mauricio Pinilla, whose shot was saved by Mat Ryan, but the rebound was met by fellow substitute Jean Beausejour, who was able to hit the bottom right corner with Mat Ryan unable to recover in time to get across fully. The match ended 3-1 in Chile's favour, although the Australians showed their intent to make it through the group stages with a gutsy performance against a side ranked almost 50 places higher.