Pelé Predicts Germany Will Not Win World Cup

Perhaps we wont win but I can imagine us being in the final, more so than England or Argentina. England for some reason cant cope with pressure and Argentina… you shut down Messi and you have just eliminated their first and most dangerous offensive threat. Their second offensive threat isnt that hard to deal with. Has pele been watching Argentina at all? Maybe hes seeing something Im not.

I think if we can get our act together before facing serious opposition like Spain or Brazil then we can win the cup. I think our chances hinge on the coaching, because we do have the players to do it. Also, Marin just has to play.

Agreed. Im just a bit confused at some of Jogi’s call ups not so much in offense as defense. I am really curious as to who will be our No1 GK… as much as Neuer is rising it seems that Alder is falling and Jogi sometimes has too much of a loyalty issue that can blind him. But you are right, all in all we have to talent but we just need to get our mental situation corrected and then it wouldnt surprise me to see us lift the cup at the end!

“Has pele been watching Argentina at all?”

To be fair, if he was watching, he would have watched Argentina beat Germany 1-0, in Germany. Argentina looks to be stabilizing in the months before the World Cup, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them “get their act together” by the time the opposition gets real serious.

Also, I would never listen to Pele, lol… I would put Italy, Germany and Argentina’s chances on par with England’s (that is, very good), and Brazil and Spain’s above them.

Brazil will obviously be good, but Argentina and England? Please. Us, Spain, Italy, and Nigeria (my dark horse) are the main competition for Brazil. Pele’s been reading too many English newspapers.

I’m surprised to not see Spain included on this list. I think the group is very favorable for Spain, and they usually do well in that stage. One very serious concern, though, is the knockout stage for Spain. If either Brazil or Spain finishes second in its group (and only one of the two), there will be a Brazil-Spain matchup in the round of 16. It would be much better to be, say, the group C winner like England (maybe the USA if lucky).

Uh, sorry but I’m going to have to disagree Brad. Spain might have won the Euro 2 years ago, but they have this thing where they cant get past the quarter finals in the World Cup. Along with the fact that a rather mediocre team like the US were able to eliminate Spain from the Confed Cup seems to suggest that any team that plays well enough will be able to knock out Spain. I think the most pressure is going to be on Spain in this World Cup and I wouldn’t be surprised if they choke once again in the quarter-finals.

And I’m also going to have to disagree with tomas on Argentina. Messi has pretty much been a non-factor for Argentina, so you can’t say “shut down Messi, and Argentina are done” because if you have that mentality, then a certain Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero are going to make you regret you thought of such a thing. Like i said, Messi hasn’t really done much for Argentina compared to Barcelona, but once he “wakes up”, every team Argentina plays against is in for a world of hurt.

With that being said, I think England has the best chance of taking the whole thing, with Germany and Argentina following close behind. What does Pele know? I understand the man is probably one of the best, if not best, football player to have lived, but his predictions have no more weight than ours. Especially when he has a horrible track record when it comes to predictions.

If you enjoy watching a build up of ~100 snail-paced passes before they remember to attack, then you will enjoy watching England. Snooorrreeee.

@coconut… where did I say “shut down Messi, and Argentina are done”?

I have a feeling that defence will be more important than offence. Any Rooney, Messi, Ronaldo (it happened to him in WC 06 and Euro 08) can be neutralized by very good defence.
And as for defence, I think things do not look so good for Germany at the moment.

Germany and Italy would be an awesome final. It was the best match of the entire tournament back in 2006, and always provides great matches. Plus, theyre my 2 favorite teams. Im italian but i actually want Germany to win it and i think they will. They have more young talent than any other country, and overall definitely have the talent all over the pitch to be the best team in the world. Plus i think theyre just sick and tired of being the runners up.

Do us favor orgasmogoal and go away, worthless troll.

Unless Germany and England both win their groups it will be England v Germany in the last 16.

And I see you guys have found another striker called Muller (at Bayern). Leave him at home will ya.