World Cup Madness

Day 221

I am not into soccer at all. I don't think I have ever watched a full match in my life. I usually like to watch football (NFL), hockey and basketball in that order but I have never had a desire to watch soccer.

That was until last year when I watched the MLS Championship and the only reason I watched it was because Real Salt Lake was in the finals. And I have to admit that I was more taken by it than I thought I would be. It was much more exciting than I remember soccer being. I told Kristy that we should attend a Real Salt Lake game and that I should watch more soccer games.

And now the World Cup is nearly upon us and what a perfect opportunity to watch some soccer and learn more about the game. In fact I am in my first World Cup Tournament. My friends and I drafted some teams and we are going to have a point system where basically you score one point for every match any of your teams win. You get half a point if they draw (only applicable in the group stage). Person with the most points at the end wins.

 
My friend Tim from the UK gave some analysis of my picks. I honestly didn't know what I was doing and that was obvious from the picks I made. Here is his analysis:

Matt: Portugal, Ivory Coast, Algeria, North Korea

Well, Matt should get something out of the Group of Death at least. Sadly and despite having three of the group’s four teams it’s almost certainly be only one space for the next round – it’s hard to see Brazil getting crowded out. It’s quite possible that the group will come down to who manages to pick on Matt’s other team in that group more and rack up goal difference.

Seriously, this is high-risk high-reward stuff. Although a little unlikely, it’s still possible to see both the Ivory Coast and Portugal outperform Brazil on a given day – they’re good teams – and if they do, well… Matt would then have two good teams in the knockout stage brimming with confidence from having bested the best already.

Algeria, well, nice to have them along. And at least if North Korea do threaten to bomb everyone he has himself covered in that way.

Bottom Line: If the Group stage goes well, be afraid. If not, unlikely to trouble anyone else.

I am looking forward to watching as many games as I can. I hope that there are some major upsets and that it is exciting. I guess more than half the world can't be wrong, it has to be exciting!