Group C (Ned/Ivo/S&M/Arg)

[Mr Ade]

Definitely Argentina and Ivory Coast.

[Sven]

no question Argentina. ivory coast and netherlands to fight for 2nd, though serb could be the dark horse

[skeeta]

Holland should have won more than they have, but have tend to get to the semis (or at least quarters) in nearly every interntational tournament, only to go out on penalties. And there is nearly always some sort of interpersonal drama plaguing the squad. One of Van Basten's talents seems to be at dampening this tendency. This year's team is by no means the most talented in recent memory, but they do seem to have fewer "issues" than their predecessors.

[hanuma]

I really rate this Argie team, but the more I look at Serbia and the closer I see what they did in qualifying I really think they could be the "surprise team" if there is one.

[russe||]

The idea of Argentina going out in the group stage is very appealing. However Holland would be the team to suffer IMO if Serbia do well.

[hanuma]

Agreed. Holland are a little bit weak down the middle....basically I can see them needing to be great up front to do anything at this WC.

[russe||]

Originally Posted by hanuma

Agreed. Holland are a little bit weak down the middle....basically I can see them needing to be great up front to do anything at this WC.

and they have van Nistelrooy leading the line.

[skeeta]

Cruz has been Inter's most effective striker this year by a mile. Of course, the fact that Recoba could well finish second in that contest indicates that the competition from the likes of Adriano and Martins was not particularly fierce.

And Samuel has been more than decent. Burdisso, on the other hand, has only played ten full games in Serie A this year and seems to be getting progressively worse.

I think people may be pleasantly surprised by Cambiasso. He has learned to tackle and it was indeed his skill in that area that allowed Mancini to ignore Davids last year. On his best days, he can even remind one of Redondo, which is very high praise in my book. Unfortunately, he doesn't do it consistently, and if he doesn't show up, Argentina will be in trouble.

The best I can say about Coloccini is that maybe Pekerman is trying to summon the ghost of Tarantini. Though Coloccini is closer to Sideshow Bob, or a Gorgon.

[hanuma]

'Sideshow Bob or a Gorgon'.

I fully expect Cambiasso to be one of the star performers here.

Argentina's chances took a hit imo without Samuel and Zanetti.

[skeeta]

Zanetti's exclusion is the strange thing. He struggled a bit early in the year, but for the second half of the season has been one of their most effective players.

There must be a personality issue with Pekerman. Zanetti is a genuinely good person. He has gotten a number of Serie A players to support a foundation, and convinced the Morattis to make it one of Inter's "official" charities. He is also the force behind what they do with the Zapatistas and the Latin American cultural nights.

Perhaps it was always so, but there seems to be an increasing trend towards coaches putting personal relationships with players ahead of the goal of getting the best 23 on the bus. It is definitely true of Domenech, seems to be true of Perkerman and (to a lesser extent) of Lippi and Van Basten.

I have a feeling that Serbia and Cote d'Ivoire are feeling better about their chances of advancing after seeing the Argentine and Dutch squads.

[sinoy1]

i really wanted to see vucinic play heard he might miss the world cup cause he's playing in the under 21's world cup.

[hanuma]

No...he had to leave the Under 21 squad because of injury.

[sinoy1]

LOL thats what i meant..forgot a few words there. also is it allowed to play for the under 21 and senior squads? at the same time i mean and same tourny

[skeeta]

Let's see how the Oranje do when the time comes, my only complaint with Van Basten so far is that he is too experimental and appears to have yet to decide on anything like a set squad.

[sinoy1]

CUFRE!!! when sorin gets his 2 ( or was it 3 yellows? ) in the tourny cufre will make a huge impact!