How do we not have a World Cup thread yet? Russia beckons people ... well, not the US, but what can ya do?
The tourney kicks off with Russia playing Saudi Arabia on June 14th in Moscow. Venues range from Luzhniki Stadium (Russia's national stadium) and Strtak Stadium in Moscow, to that dumb stadium Putin had built for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. They had to completely rebuild the seating areas for the Confed Cup last summer to get the building approved by the safety and health folks ... which no one bothered with ahead of the Olympics. Welcome to Russia ... bring a hard hat and maybe a safety harness, just is case. Another note of interest is that FIFA is battening down the hatches to prepare for what most security experts think might be a ton of violent fan behavior. Elements of the Russian right wing criminal communities agitated hard in the streets during the last two Euro Championships, causing all sorts of headaches. The English, Poles and of course any poor Ukrainians who get in the way are particular targets ... not that the English don't bring their issues with them. The Serbs and Croatians can be fun too. It bears watching. The Brazilian and Polish teams took the Russians up on the offer to set up their bases in Sochi, far from the bigger population bases. Im sure the Poles are looking for peace while the Brazilians are just looking to not be mobbed when they go out for a team jog.
Here's the Groups ... which are refreshingly balanced. No groups of death to be found. Note that this is a down cycle for Africa, as really only Egypt looks remotely dangerous. Asia looks to have more balance than in Cups past but nobody really stands out from their group. Mexico should have the best shot of the CONCACAF contingent, but you know how they do in these things ... great or horrific. Sometimes in the same match. The European favorites are your usual suspects and the betting lines seem to like Germany and Spain of that bunch. I mean, fair enough. England, the second choice of a lot of US fans, actually look to have a cohesive team and a cohesive strategic setup this time around. Iceland looks to reprise their Cinderella act from the last Euros, but we all know that Cindy rarely shows up in the same dress two balls in a row. We'll see how all that goes, starting less than 2 weeks.
Group A
Russia
Uruguay
Egypt
Saudi Arabia
Group B
Portugal
Spain
Morocco
Iran
Group C
France
Peru
Australia
Denmark
Group D
Argentina
Iceland
Coatia
Nigeria
Group E
Brazil
Switzerland
Costa Rica
Serbia
Group F
Germany
Mexico
Sweden
So Korea
Group G
Belgium
England
Panama
Tunisia
Group H
Poland
Columbia
Senegal
Japan
The tourney kicks off with Russia playing Saudi Arabia on June 14th in Moscow. Venues range from Luzhniki Stadium (Russia's national stadium) and Strtak Stadium in Moscow, to that dumb stadium Putin had built for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. They had to completely rebuild the seating areas for the Confed Cup last summer to get the building approved by the safety and health folks ... which no one bothered with ahead of the Olympics. Welcome to Russia ... bring a hard hat and maybe a safety harness, just is case. Another note of interest is that FIFA is battening down the hatches to prepare for what most security experts think might be a ton of violent fan behavior. Elements of the Russian right wing criminal communities agitated hard in the streets during the last two Euro Championships, causing all sorts of headaches. The English, Poles and of course any poor Ukrainians who get in the way are particular targets ... not that the English don't bring their issues with them. The Serbs and Croatians can be fun too. It bears watching. The Brazilian and Polish teams took the Russians up on the offer to set up their bases in Sochi, far from the bigger population bases. Im sure the Poles are looking for peace while the Brazilians are just looking to not be mobbed when they go out for a team jog.
Here's the Groups ... which are refreshingly balanced. No groups of death to be found. Note that this is a down cycle for Africa, as really only Egypt looks remotely dangerous. Asia looks to have more balance than in Cups past but nobody really stands out from their group. Mexico should have the best shot of the CONCACAF contingent, but you know how they do in these things ... great or horrific. Sometimes in the same match. The European favorites are your usual suspects and the betting lines seem to like Germany and Spain of that bunch. I mean, fair enough. England, the second choice of a lot of US fans, actually look to have a cohesive team and a cohesive strategic setup this time around. Iceland looks to reprise their Cinderella act from the last Euros, but we all know that Cindy rarely shows up in the same dress two balls in a row. We'll see how all that goes, starting less than 2 weeks.
Group A
Russia
Uruguay
Egypt
Saudi Arabia
Group B
Portugal
Spain
Morocco
Iran
Group C
France
Peru
Australia
Denmark
Group D
Argentina
Iceland
Coatia
Nigeria
Group E
Brazil
Switzerland
Costa Rica
Serbia
Group F
Germany
Mexico
Sweden
So Korea
Group G
Belgium
England
Panama
Tunisia
Group H
Poland
Columbia
Senegal
Japan