And The Winner Is...

Okay, less than 24 hour before the Greatest Show On Earth (screw you, Ringling Brothers!) begins. From 24 hours of straight pre-Cup coverage on ESPN2, to the fact that every game will be shown live, to the surprise that bars and restaurants actually advertising that they’re showing the games, and every major media source in the U.S. sending multiple reporters, I believe soccer has truly arrived in the country. Sure, we catch World Cup fever every 4 years, but with the expected ratings to be at an all-time high in this country, our domestic leagues drawing bigger crowds and bigger name players (just wait to see who comes over when the Cup ends in July), and the aforementioned media coverage of the sport on multiple networks, I think this could very well be the watershed moment for the sport here. Am I going a tad overboard? Perhaps. But the buildup to this thing in the U.S. is unprecedented, so even if the USA falls flat in the group stage, hopefully the country won’t turn off their televisions and go outside in the summer sun for a few more weeks.

So now it’s time for our final group of predictions. I’ll start, Walsh will chime in, and then we’ll let the REAL experts weigh in on the whole thing. Strap yourselves in, folks, this is gonna be pretty long-winded.

5 1st Round Games You Gotta Watch:
England vs. United States
France vs. Mexico
Brazil vs. Ivory Coast
Netherlands vs. Cameroon
Honduras vs. Chile

5 Players You Don’t Know Yet (But You Will)
Carlos Vela (Mexico)
Angel Di Maria (Argentina)
Milos Krasic (Serbia)
Alberto Gilardino (Italy)
Marek Hamsik (Slovakia)

5 Players Most Important To Their Team’s Success
Mesut Ozil (Germany) – Can he play without Michael Ballack?
Diego Forlan (Uruguay) – Can he score enough to get them out of a balanced group?
Oscar Cardozo (Paraguay) – Can he score goals in place of Salvador Cabanas?
Tim Howard (United States) – Can he bail out an unstable defense?
Christian Eriksen (Denmark) – Can he justify the comparisons to Michael Laudrup?

5 Things You’ve Gotta Do Over The Next 30 Days
Watch a game at a restaurant with other people
Watch a game at home with just your loved one, even if they don’t watch soccer (my wife, for example)
Find a lesser-known blogger or journalist actually IN South Africa and follow their work (try Steve Davis at dailysoccerfix.com)
Find a website at work that streams the games live (just beware of the boss)
Ignore the inevitable soccer-bashers. Let them take pride in their xenophobic racism.

So, you’ve pretty much heard enough from us about this over the past 2 weeks, so we thought we’d reach out to some friends of the blog (who just happen to have WAY more credibility than we do) and get their thoughts on the tournament and what they expect:

Dave Johnson (DC United tv announcer) - Spain...I think...I never get this right, but I worked out a Brazil/Spain final.

Mike Ammann (former MLS goalkeeper) – No guarantees in soccer but I really like Spain. As a dual citizen of the U.S. and Switzerland I hope they both do well.

Christian Miles (Fox Soccer Channel) – Brazil. This is a harder, more organized team. They might not have the attacking pedigree of the Seleccaos, but they are more resilient.

Tim Holt (President of USL) – I’m not exactly going out on a limb, but I’m picking Brazil (note: Tim was one of only 2 people who correctly picked Italy in 2006).

Tony Sanneh (Former MLS player) – BRAZIL!!!!

Ronnie Pascale (Richmond Kickers) – I like Netherlands (so do Walsh and I, Ronnie!). They’ve been rolling through everybody and are in great form.

Marc Connolly (Journalist) – Spain. Argentina might have the most talent, but Maradona won’t be able to make it all work.

Leigh Cowlishaw (Head Coach – Richmond Kickers) – Italy. They have experience, discipline, and sophistication. The climate won’t hurt them either.

Dustin Swineheart (voted to USL’s All-Time “Best XI” Team) - Brazil. They are the New York Yankees of soccer. They have a history, and a taste, of winning. Germany and Italy are solid but don’t have all the pieces, and Spain and England are very good but haven’t proven themselves in the Cup in quite a bit.

Phil Schoen (Gol tv) – No surprise here, but I have Brazil beating Spain in the Final. I wouldn’t be surprised if they lost to Netherlands in the [probable] quarterfinals, though.

Kamiar Momeni (Head Coach – Southern Polytechnic State) – Gotta go with Brazil. Argentina is great but Maradona is too unstable. My darkhorse team is Cameroon.

Craig Stouffer (Examiner) – Netherlands over Spain in the final… Like most of the country, I got burned by Kansas in the NCAA tournament, so at the risk of looking stupid when Spain runs away with the whole damn thing, or Brazil prevails with anti-jogo bonito, the World Cup is going Oranje.

Jimmy Conrad, Kansas City Wizards defender: Because it's been 8 long years since they won the World Cup and they have a coach with a flat top, I'm going to select Brazil as my champions of the World!

Steve Taylor, MLS Assistant Referee: I feel pretty good about Brazil's chances. I mean, a team that can leave Ronaldinho off the roster is an amazingly strong side. That said, every MLS referee I spoke with is pulling for Argentina, since we hear that Madonna will run through the streets of Buenos Aires naked, and let's face it, she may be getting up there, but she's still smokin' hot. And her connection to Argentina is obvious, remember that song she did, "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina?"

And finally, Walsh and I pick:

Bushman – I know this looks bad, but I really do have Netherlands over Spain in the Final…PROVIDED Robben is fit. If not, Spain wins their first World Title.

Walsh - I hate picking chalk like this, but Brazil would be the team I'd have money on if everyone had the same odds. They've avoided the injury bug thus far aside from a minor knock to Julio Cesar and it appears their only problem is they aren't playing beautiful enough for the fans. Sounds like a winning scenario to me. My final four will be England losing to Brazil and Spain beating Serbia setting up a dream match up for ABC (outside of the U.S. making the finals that is!).

So there you have it; our picks, things to watch, and things to do. not much more I can add. We've had a great time over the past 2 weeks picking games and writing almost every day, and now it's time to sit back and enjoy the next 30 days.

We'll be back often throughout the Cup, but to say we'll do something every day is a bit of a stretch since, and I'm being honest here, we'll be knocking back more than a few during the games. So we'll wait until our heads get a little clearer before pontificating on what all the teams are doing wrong.

Again, we can't thank you enough for reading and following us! Enjoy the tournament!

Bushman and Walsh