RealGM

Schedule:

16/06 06:30 Nelspruit Honduras vs Chile
16/06 09:00 Durban Spain vs Switzerland
21/06 09:00 Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth Chile vs Switzerland
21/06 13:30 Johannesburg - JEP Spain vs Honduras
25/06 13:30 Tshwane/Pretoria Chile vs Spain
25/06 13:30 Mangaung / Bloemfontein Switzerland vs Honduras

**All times CST

Spain will take this easily. The 2nd place is really a toss up... I'll go with Chile?

Spain easily and I'm only picking Chile because the other teams are so bad. Chile might play with a 3 man back line which should be interesting.

Spain is the easy pick here.

I'd give the edge to Chile for the other spot. Good, young squad.

Honduras has a more veteran squad, with some being around with the NT for the last decade (Valladares, Guevara, Suazo, Pavon, De Leon to name some).

Haven't seen much Swiss but they seem to be struggling at the moment.

Spain thrashed Poland yesterday. They look like Barcelona on steroids.

Ya I saw the scoreline. They're always good in games that don't have high stakes though.

Spain will be rolling through this group. I have Switzerland joining them but 2nd place is up for grabs.

Who do the Swiss even have?

A good coach and an experienced team. They failed in 2006 because they were to dumb to convert on penalties and injuries hit them bad in 2008. 2010 could be their year... well, that means advancing and then getting murdered by Brazil.

The right to get murdered by Brazil is a coveted honor. I guess Chile and the Swiss will fight for that right.

and1GS wrote:Who do the Swiss even have?

It's already a miracle that Ottmar Hitzfeld made it to the World Cup with that team IMO.
Their strikers are decent but nothing to be really proud of and the rest of the team is not much more than average as well. They have some guys who can play on good teams in Europe but nobody really strikes out as a player who can be a leader and world class player.

I'll go with Spain and Chile here.

I read yesterday that their best striker, Frei, is hurt.

They are always organized in defense, and I am very familiar with their starting outside backs Lichtsteiner(Lazio) and Ziegler(Sampdoria)...both are starters and can defend well and attack up the wings. Senderos may have sucked for his club teams but he has always been a rock for the Swiss.

Inler is a regular for Udinese in center mid, and probably is Switzerland's best player. He's drawn interest from big clubs all over Europe in the past couple years, including Arsenal and Inter. Behrami and Barnetta are pretty good in midfield too.

Their forwards are nothing special. Frei is their all time leading scorer so hopefully his injury is not serious. Hakan Yakin, who is more of an attacking midfielder scored all 3 of their goals in euro08. Nkufo just signed with the Seattle Sounders.... that is all I really know about the swiss.

Derdiyok is a pretty good striker. He had a solid season here in Germany and is only 21. Has shown he can score and plays well.
Bunjaku is also doing well here unlike the strikers of other nations. Joshua Kennedy from Australia for example was like the worst striker the Bundesliga has seen for the past decade.

Don't know whether Frei is hurt or not but he's good as well.

Yakin is wtf and not even a striker.

I can't wait to see Chile play. They are probably the most attack-minded team in the WC. Here's a great article on their tactics http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/06/08/ ... 0-tactics/

Isn't Senderos like the star defender on the Swiss team? Good luck with Villa and Torres then.

Clearly the least interesting group this tournament.
Not even on 2nd page.

edit: now it is

They are the last to play their games...

kromoszoma wrote:They are the last to play their games...

Other threads had much more than 14 posts before the group's first game

lol I think it's cause Spain should have no trouble with the group, and the other three teams are average at best

I'm debating if I should even wake up to watch the group H matches tomorrow. Might just wait for the South Africa game.