ponsaelius

Afirca is getting screwed over here. Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria have all lost their most important players.

That's my picks like. 3 changes from yours. I'm excited by the prospect of Chile, but I'm not convinced how their tactics are gonna go down with their group. Their lack of a plan B/C could bite them in the arse, and while Bielsa should be commended for his commitment to 'good' football, I reckon Hitzfeld will grind the Swiss through that group. France will pull it together in the end imo, atleast through the group stages. All the groups seem really intriguing tbh, I can't wait for it to start.

Betting on Netherlands at a major tournament = giving money away.

Poor keeping. After the EPIC 'pennyfloater' style swerve beforehand. That kind of think happens once a year, and not by some no mark Chinese player.

If anybody wants to see how bad this new ball actually is, go over to a popular video site and get a hold of China's goal against France. Ridiculous.

The injuries only seem to be happening to good players I know that's probably bull becaus they're the only ones being reported but still.

China

China

Vidic, Messi, Ribery on the bench. Hot damn. Starting to think I should have just stacked my first XI.

Cronaldo benched, love it.

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u242/supersewelly/FantasyWorldCup.jpg May aswell post my team. Pretty pleased with it, I tried to pick players that will do well in their respective groups Hence why I have Barrois and Gilardino waiting in the wings for when they come up against New Zealand A bit of bias in there towards some favourites aswell. Some of the subs in their are very meh though, the likes of Koren and Torres (although I was impressed with him recently). I'll probably drop Barnetta/Stankovic for another striker aswell.

I don't care how out of form Rio has been, this is a huge blow.

There was a game in the Bundesliga earlier this season, and I'm sure I remember him scoring one of the most comical OGs I've ever seen

I'm happy to have then both playing a part next season, but if they're our first choice next season we are royally fucked.

All these injuries to star players is wank like.

One thing you has to know though is that Mourinho didn't have the last sayings in transfer dealings even, it might not have been the obvious but Branca and Orali are the one who does the stuff behind the scenes. Benitez would not be allowed to do WHATEVER he wanted, just as Mourinho, but he would get a whole lot to say. The Sneijder deal was Mourinhos, the Lucio one was Brancas, truth is that Mou wanted Carvalho but Branca stepped in and said Lucio would be a better choice. I think it's a give and take collab between the coaches and Branca/Orali. Aye, hopefully if Benitez does get the job he's very much on a leash in terms of transfers. Branca and Orali are usually sound in terms of bringing the right players in. Mourinho on the other hand was actually quite poor, I'm sure he was responsible for the likes of Quaresma, Mancini and Muntari.

Good man, he's fighting on so he can win me this sweepstake.

Yeah, 1 start and 2 off the bench. And didn't they sign him as an 18 year old anyway, so he's hardly a product of their youth system. I don't really like Balotelli, I know he's a decent player but he just doesn't seem to have his head screwed on the right way round. I stand by my point though, Inter are hardly doing anything to help the production of the next generation of Italian players, and if they get Benitez it will only get worse. Very good point. To say Bonucci was an Inter product is mis-leading, he was not signed at a young age like an Arsenal product. He was 18 and joined from a lower league side. As for Inter's production line and their contribution to the youth of Italy I have to say that 'International' Milan live up to their name, people forget they were started as an offset to AC to allow for foreign players to play football. Balotelli and Santon are hard to argue with they were signed at very young ages Balotelli was 15 I think and Santon was even younger. So you can say yes these are Inter products because they trained them during their most important years imo (15-18). However Balotelli has yet to produce for Italy and has been erratic for Inter, Santon I like a lot and I was upset he did not make the squad. It would be nice to see Inter bring through more of their own talent, in some ways they seem like a Chelsea or a Man Utd preferring to buy talent with potential instead of developing what they have. Juve on the other hand. Exactly, historically Inter have always been built on foreign players. However they've still contributed more to the national team than Milan have in history: Milan: PLAYERS: 82 GAMES: 1170 SCORERS: 30 GOALS: 107 CAPTAINS: 11 CAPTAINED GAMES: 138 Inter: PLAYERS: 96 GAMES: 1343 SCORERS: 39 GOALS: 201 CAPTAINS: 18 CAPTAINED GAMES: 183

Aye I posted it a couple of pages back. Cracking goof from the Koreans.

Two most promising Italian players of the new generation are on Inter's books. Lippi wouldn't give either of them so much as a thought because his bias is unparralled. (Not I think he's wrong for giving Balotelli the boot like ) Btw, the goalscorer tonight also came through Inter's system.

The kid is toxic & has never looked that good for Italy as far as I can remember. He's a class above the players that are getting in there ahead of him. The likes of Iaquinta, Quagilarella, Simone Pepe have got absolutely nothing on him. If anybody else was in charge of the national team he'd be there because to be fair last few seasons he's knuckled down and played some of the best football of his career, but at the end of the day Lippi has his favourites and just really doesn't like him.

Has Miccoli been that good recently? He used to flatter to deceive at times. I always liked him as a player though. 19 goals and 8 assists in the league this season. He's been superb, and almost carried Palermo into the Champions League.

He never got a sniff even before his injury though. Lippi is just stubborn.

Rossi SHOULD be there. But then so should Cassano, Miccoli...

Boom, there you go. I'll be shocked if this Italy team does anything at the World Cup. Stubborn old Lippi thinks his boys from '06 can repeat the trick he's got another thing coming.