World Cup Preview

Here are my picks for the World Cup on ESPN.

I picked this about 3 weeks ago but I'm still very happy with it.  So, I have Germany winning it all.  This bracket was chosen before Ballack went out but I will still go with the Germans.  I know that going forward they are a bit suspect.  However, they are still solid along the back line and in midfield.

I like England in the final 4 only because of their lack of competition in the knockout stages.  Argentina are very suspect in the back and their coach is a disaster.  Those reasons are why I chose Greece to win the group.  It's a competitive group that has 3 top-notch countries and Greece is the only one that knows what type of team they are.  They're very defensive and play a lot of 5-3-2 formation.  But, this is the same coach that won with Greece in Euro 2004 and performed well in qualifying (only losing to the Swiss, twice).

Other surprises are Ivory Coast over Portugal.  This one is easy for me.  Portugal barely made the World Cup. In their qualification playoff, Portugal got to play Bosnia and only won 2-0 on aggregate.  The Ivory Coast is better even without Drogba.

My dark horse in this tournament is the Netherlands.  I don't like them having to face Brazil in the final 8 but they dominated in qualification getting max points.  They can score with the best of them.

In the end, I feel Brazil will struggle to score against Germany and their organization in the back.  In my bracket, the first team with a good back line that Brazil will face is Germany in the final.  Brazil may lack creativity but not skill.  However, creativity is what helps a side beat a team like Germany.

My Golden Boot winner:  David Villa, Spain.  Approximately 5 goals.