Archive: Poland
Grading the Predictions: Group A
Back on April 14, I did a Group A predictions thread. Figured it would be fun to look back. Here's what I wrote: My picks, in order: 1. Germany. They're not that good, but it's a weak group. 2. Ecuador. I'll pick a slight upset here. Good enough to beat Costa Rica and at least tie Poland. They'd win the group if matches were played at 10,000 feet. 3. Poland. I guess this is who most people will tab as the group runner-up. 4. Costa Rica. I was just reminded that Costa Rica barely made it out of a two-legged prelim vs. Cuba (away-goal tie-breaker needed) in the first stage of CONCACAF qualifying. Of course, Steve Sampson was coaching the Ticos then....
By Jon DeNunzio | June 20, 2006; 12:50 PM ET | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Morning Kick-About
I like stats (good stats, not junk like this), and FIFAWorldCup.com has a good stat-driven piece up today. They crunched the numbers on the average age of World Cup players thru history, and discovered that no winning side in the last 40 years has had an average age of 28 or more. In Chile 1962 [Brazil] weighed in at an average of 30 years and 1 month, a staggering 17 months older on average than the next oldest squad. Since then the average age of the winning squads has been: England (27/01); Brazil (25/02); Germany (27/03); Argentina (26/03); Italy (27/04); Argentina (26/10); Germany (27/09); Brazil (27/11); France (27/04) and Brazil (26/09). ... The average age of every player taking part in the Germany showpiece is 27/05. Remarkably that figure has scarcely changed over recent competitions. Four years ago it was 27/06 as it was in 1998. In 1994 it had...
By Jon DeNunzio | June 6, 2006; 09:20 AM ET | Comments (22) | TrackBack (0)
Zidane Makes It Official
Here's rambling post for those of you not glued to ESPN2 at the moment. - Zizou makes it official. This quote seems remarkably frank for a pro athlete, by American standards at least: 'In the last two years the results have eluded us [Real Madrid]. When you don't reach your goals you ask yourself questions. I know I can't do better than what I have already done and at my age, it's getting more and more difficult. I didn't want to experience another year like the ones I've been through.' If he were American, he would be saying "I want to spend more time with my family." - England Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, is, how you say, cautiously optimistic? - Will soccer get kicked out of the Olympics? This doping/WADA/FIFA stuff started coming out in stories like this yesterday. Today, Sepp Blatter reacts. - Some Netherlands news you may have seen...
By Jon DeNunzio | April 25, 2006; 03:45 PM ET | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Who Do You Like in Group A?
As I said, kind of a slow news day ... so, let's start the predictions. What order do you see the teams in Group A finishing? Some study guides: - Group A analysis from The Post's Steve Goff (written the day of the draw) - Capsule previews of the teams by the BBC: Costa Rica Ecuador Germany Poland All four by The Post. My picks, in order: 1. Germany. They're not that good, but it's a weak group. 2. Ecuador. I'll pick a slight upset here. Good enough to beat Costa Rica and at least tie Poland. They'd win the group if matches were played at 10,000 feet. 3. Poland. I guess this is who most people will tab as the group runner-up. 4. Costa Rica. I was just reminded that Costa Rica barely made it out of a two-legged prelim vs. Cuba (away-goal tie-breaker needed) in the first stage...
By Jon DeNunzio | April 14, 2006; 12:50 PM ET | Comments (28) | TrackBack (0)
