The battle for the surprise semi final spot

So who are you favourites to take the 'surprise' semi final spot?

Ghana have never got past the last 16.

USA have never got past the quarters

South Korea got to the semis but on their own turf

Uruguay have of course won it twice but haven't done much in the last 50 years.

Well at least with Ghana you'd have thought maybe an African team could get to the semis on their own continent. Uruguay have good players even if they haven't done much lately. Probably between S. Korea and US. I went with Korea because I didn't think they would get out of their group even.

Korea? I personally think they're the least likely.

I think the USA could surprise a few people.

The favourite in terms of odds is probably Uruguay.

Tweesus wrote:So who are you favourites to take the 'surprise' semi final spot?

Ghana have never got past the last 16.

USA have never got past the quarters

South Korea got to the semis but on their own turf

Uruguay have of course won it twice but haven't done much in the last 50 years.

they reached the semis in 1970.

I'd go for Uruguay or USA.

Ooooooooooooh!

I thought it was who would be the most surprising to get there.



Anyway my vote then is for Uruguay. Followed by Ghana.

Voted for USA
Ghana can't score and Uruguay is the new Serbia aka the dark fail horse.

Still ALL have a decent shot at the semis.

Uruguay are the best bet.

Ghana are the best African team, and this is the first WC in Africa. South Africans will fully support them, so it's a de-facto home advantage. They are compact, skillful and physically strong, but too wasteful. Could cost them in the latter stages. They are very young, too, and experience always is a factor.

The US are fighters. Not the most skillful bunch, not exactly great in possession, but great mentality. In addition to that, they now have the confidence that they can prevail against the best, by beating Spain at the Confed Cup last year and giving Brazil a hard time in the final. They also won their group against England.

South Korea are skillful and never seem to tire, but IMHO, they'll have a tough time against physical teams. They are not exactly a stereotypical midget Asian side, don't get me wrong, but they are very vulnerable at set pieces.

So for me, Uruguay is the most likely semi final candidate, then Ghana and the USA, and South Korea being least likely.

USA : the new Germany

We have never been shit in possession.*

I really admire their spirit though. If I had the choice, I'd have prefered England to them in the second round anyway. The mental aspect of the game is very underrated, and many teams have paid dearly for it.


*Ok, only during the dark ages (2000-2004)

blutgraetsche wrote:Uruguay are the best bet.

Ghana are the best African team, and this is the first WC in Africa. South Africans will fully support them, so it's a de-facto home advantage. They are compact, skillful and physically strong, but too wasteful. Could cost them in the latter stages. They are very young, too, and experience always is a factor.

The US are fighters. Not the most skillful bunch, not exactly great in possession, but great mentality. In addition to that, they now have the confidence that they can prevail against the best, by beating Spain at the Confed Cup last year and giving Brazil a hard time in the final. They also won their group against England.

South Korea are skillful and never seem to tire, but IMHO, they'll have a tough time against physical teams. They are not exactly a stereotypical midget Asian side, don't get me wrong, but they are very vulnerable at set pieces.

So for me, Uruguay is the most likely semi final candidate, then Ghana and the USA, and South Korea being least likely.

Based on what? Their centre backs are 6 ft.

USA.

This was rather obvious in the Argentina match. Height isn't everything, their coordination was all over the place.

We did finish 3rd once

blutgraetsche wrote:

I really admire their spirit though.

That's why I called them the new Germany : USA is a *team*, the total is more than the sum of the parts....and they never give up

I vote USA for their NGUNS attitude.

What surprise? I picked Uruguay, USA to win their groups, and Ghana to advance. The only miss prediction was Yakubu missing from one yard FFS! I did not see that one coming.

blutgraetsche wrote:South Korea are skillful and never seem to tire, but IMHO, they'll have a tough time against physical teams. They are not exactly a stereotypical midget Asian side, don't get me wrong, but they are very vulnerable at set pieces.

South Koreans aren't in any way midgets, the average height over there is 1.73 metres (men) compared with 1.75 in the UK, and for women it is virtually identical.


There's a lot of racist crap talked about the yellow Asians. Tweeds is obsessed with the idea that his dick is bigger than every Asian on the planet.

USA wins this with two fingers in the nose.

Axe, I'd rather say USA are the new Turkey