2010 FIFA World Cup Brackets
Image via WikipediaFirst of the 3 group rounds I went 7-9
Notable was that I was 1-2 going against the favorites. I guessed S Korea would pummel Greece, but the other two times I went against the grain bit me in the ass. The one I remember most was the game Spain played against Switzerland where the Swiss scored a brutal 'rush the net' goal leaving several Spaniards on the ground--set the stage for me to consistently underrate Spain. Thanks Switzerland!
Next group round was even worse 6-10
Thought Germany was overrated and took Serbia--bad move. I did guess the US/Slovenia draw in this round, but then took Nigeria and Ghana who both lost. There were a few upsets so I wasn't the only one that got screwed in this round. Little consolation though
Final group round was much better 10-6 to close out group play at 23-22, which vaulted me into the top 15% of all ESPN bracket participants--I was in like 10,000th place out of apparently 75,000 or so entries. I jumped right at the end because after missing the first 3 in this round (2 were upsets) I hit 7 favorites and 3 draws including Brazil/Portugal and New Zealand/Paraguay--this would be the only time my overrating of Portugal and underrating of Paraguay would help though..
In the sweet 16 games I went 5-3
Lost taking US over Ghana..dammit! This worked out though as I picked the other 5 of first 6 games and outpaced another small chunk of those at the top. I found myself as high as like 4,000th (over 95% percentile) during this round when I was 5-1..then I went underdog
Japan over Paraguay (DOH!!) and Portugal over Spain. I was not happy. Portugal and Paraguay giveth and taketh away.
In the Quarterfinals my lack of soccer knowledge really started to come through. I only picked 1 of the 4.
Although, Argentina should have beaten Germany. That was my favorite game of the tournament--I even watched it in its entirety after finding out Argentina lost 4-1 because I love watching Messi flying around. And Maradonna you can tell just wants to get out of the suit and take a corner kick.
And I stand by the Brazil pick--the Netherlands are tough though and they duked it out. I would go so far as to say those Dutch pricks took some cheap shots and lived on the edge of decency. But hats off for beating Brazil, that was a great game.
Ghana screwed me again..I don't know that I picked them right throughout so glad to see them go..thought maybe since they were the last African team in, and it was in Africa...yeah--didn't happen.
In the semis I took Netherlands correctly, and I thought Germany was a lock. Spain still has not impressed me yet. Yes, they beat Germany 1-0 on a nice header late in the 2nd half, but Germany is older and I think that came through today.
So now we come down to the 3rd place game--Germany is going to be able to whale on Uruguay. That is simple. I think the championship game could go either way so I am torn.
The higher ranked team is winning just about every game in this tournament, but....
I am leaning towards the Dutch because they are rough and big and seem to be good at working to a set piece and then pounding on you when they are taking those shots. I don't know that Spain is going to hold up.
We'll see soon enough. One thing is for sure--this mascot 'Zakumi' answers the question: 'What would happen if the hot cartoon chick from the Thundercats had a baby with one of the Village People?'
Image via Wikipedia
Image via Wikipedia
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