2014 FIFA World Cup

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Who do you support? Who do you expect to win? Anything to say about that awful foul, that obvious hand ball, or that miracle goal?

Does anyone but me even care? I debated putting this in the Health, Fitness, Sports section, but that part seems more devoted to actually playing sports. I don't see much discussion of sports broadcasts in this section either, but it seemed more appropriate.

I don't watch other soccer, by the way, but every four years I get the fever. I even woke up in the middle of the night to watch the Japan/Korea broadcasts, back before DVRs.

I support US, Netherlands, Japan, and Mexico, pretty much in that order. I like other teams too, but not with the same level of concern. I don't expect any of them to win, but I hope they all make it out of their groups. I'm about to watch Mexico play Portugal in a friendly, and if Mexico can beat them, so can the US.

As an American, finally understanding the offside rule, I like soccer!

I support the U.S. team. And it might be fun to support a couple of other teams as long as they're in different groups.

PS Sometimes I more enjoy just watching part of the game. As a new fan, watching an entire game can be a bit much.

Depending on your stamina, as an American like me, you probably want to support other teams. Unless you like that feeling where you sort of get your hopes up only to have them brutally dashed, that is.

Portugal has a really excellent goalkeeper in Eduardo. The US will have to put together some serious attacks to get one by him. Mexico came on surprisingly strong, but couldn't manage it. It seems like their team has come together a lot since the last time I saw them play. Just because they couldn't take down Portugal, though, doesn't meant that the US can't do it.

Supporting England, and then, following elimination, Germany.

Altidore's scoring drought is over! Look out world!

The starters played very good defense, but the substitutes almost let it fall apart. That level of defense would probably suffice against Germany, but if the offense continues the great US soccer tradition of giving lots of balls away, then either Germany or Portugal would make better use of the opportunities than that Nigerian side did.

Bradley played an excellent game, but in a competitive match he could have gotten carded twice and sent off.

I like Klinsmann's style of coaching, and I've never seen a US team with that level of stamina. The explosive speed the offense showed all through the game whenever they had a chance to counter should provide us with scoring opportunities against any other team. Whether we can capitalize on them remains to be seen.

I won't be taking this world cup very seriously, the first since Italia 90, when I was too young to care.

I'm not supporting any one team in particular but i hope some of the lesser known teams will shine. Teams like Bosnia and Herzegovina who are in their first World cup. The country has had a troubled past, and recently they had flooding there, so hopefully their team can give the country a bit of a boost. They have some good players in Begovic, Pjanic, and Dzeko. They won't win it but I hope they make it to the quarter finals.

Hopefully one African team will make it to the semis. I would like Ghana to get out of their group but it will be tough. I think Ivory Coast have the best chance to go the furthest.

Other smaller teams like Columbia and Belgium doing well would be nice to see as well. Ultimately a big team like Brazil or Spain will win it, but i hope we have a few upsets along the way.

I feel the same about wanting some less-renowned teams to do well in the tournament, but for me to want Ghana to get out of their group, then I'd have to pin my hopes on both them and the US defeating both Germany and Portugal. As they say, I wouldn't even bet your money on that outcome.

I want Messi to win it all so Pele can shut up and stop verbally attacking Messi for never winning a World Cup.

I understand since you're supporting the US, but it's gonna be tough for the US and Ghana in that group. That's why I think Ivory Coast have the best chance of making it the furthest. That said though, Ghana's main strength is not so much individual players but team chemistry. I don't know much about the US team apart from Bradley and Altidore, but I'm sure they'll be tough to beat



I know Pele was a great player, but well before my time, so I didn't get to see him play, but one of the reasons I still think Zidane is the best ever is because he never has a go at others for not being as good as he was. I doubt Messi will hold the trophy this time, but he's got at least another two world cups after this, providing he's fit. It would be nice to see a genuine nice guy like Messi win it though.

One of my idle musings is whether it's possible for a player to play in six consecutive World Cups; i.e. he plays in his first WC at the age of 18, plays in his last one at the age of 38 and participates in the other four WCs in between.

It's an unlikely scenario but just plausible enough to be possible. Michael Owen played in three WCs by the age of 26 (Messi will most likely do the same) and players like Roger Milla and Peter Shilton played their last WCs in their early 40s. All it takes is one player to do both of those things.

The problem is that the young wonderkids tend to burn out by their mid-twenties and the players that go on into their late 30s/early 40s tend to be late bloomers. If only Ryan Giggs played for a country that qualified for WCs.

I had hoped that Owen would be there in 2018, but now I'm hoping that Messi will do it.

Well, Messi has a chance. I'm not sure how good he'll be in 12 years time but it's certainly possible. Usually goalkeepers tend to have the most longevity. This will be Casillas' 4th WC, so it's possible he could make it 6, but I doubt it.

Giggs is definitely one of the best players the WC has never seen. I wonder if anyone knows of some other players like that...

I don't care too much for sports. My dad does, though. However, I'm going for Mexico, obviously.

It has begun, and Croatia did a lot better than the score would make you think. They didn't take advantage of the opportunities they got, so I have a fair amount of sympathy for their fans. I really like watching Neymar when he's playing to score goals, but not so much when he plays to win Academy Awards.

Croatia were cheated out of the game by that penalty decision. They deserved at least a draw from their overall performance.

It must be said, though, that a World Cup goalie probably should have saved both Neymar goals. He got a solid touch on that penalty kick, and the next goal came from pretty far out and didn't have a lot of speed.

I'd like to figure out how to cut the power precisely when my dad is getting to watch a game. It'd be hilarious if the power precisely goes out just when the game is going to start.