[jimbo]

Originally Posted by kirlex

Watch out for les Éléphants, they will be the suprise African team of the World Cup. Toure, Drogba, Eboue and Zokora are all quality players at top clubs.

Since when was Drogba a top player at a top club?

He's like your rich mans Heskey!

[martinj]

Got a place for the summer term at CUHK so I will be there from June 12th for as many games as I can go to.

[Nutta!]

Originally Posted by jimbo

Since when was Drogba a top player at a top club?

He's like your rich mans Heskey!

Agree with Drogba being a top player.

Now, what were you saying about back2back premiership champions not being a top club....???

[Hamton]

Originally Posted by kirlex

The 'Group of Death' match of Netherlands vs Cote d-Ivoire match is what I'm looking forward to in the first round. Watch out for les Éléphants, they will be the suprise African team of the World Cup.

That's not exactly the Group of Death. Holland are ranked 3rd in the world, and Argentina are one of the top seeds. The Ivory Coast have a very slim chance of going through to the knock-outs. It's not impossible, Senegal got to the quarter finals in 2002, but they weren't up against Argentina and Holland (they beat France, but that was the world cup where France lost every match and dropped out instantly).

If any single group is the Group of Death this time, it's Group E - Italy (ranked 14th in the world, but really better), Czech Republic (ranked 2nd in the world) & USA (ranked 4th in the world, for some bizarre reason... but got to the quarter finals in 2002)... and Ghana as the whipping boys.

A lot of the groups are quite unpredictable though - Japan might be upset by Croatia, South Korea might be upset by Switzerland, and England can potentially lose to anyone, so Paraguay might even qualify above them (which is their first match too).

Actually, it's quite exciting, any top team could conceivably mess up and lose it. The 4th round will probably feature Italy Vs Japan and Spain Vs South Korea (repeat of 2002...), which should be really exciting if the new Asian teams cause an upset. Less exciting because Japan's next match would be France, and Korea's Brazil, so they'd just get knocked out in the quarters. Still, as my rubbish team didn't qualify, I'm supporting South Korea (and watching England & Japan too).

[jimbo]

Originally Posted by Nutta!

Agree with Drogba being a top player.

Now, what were you saying about back2back premiership champions not being a top club....???

Now now, Chelsea are the Blackburn Rovers of the 90's!

They both bought there titles and still have no heart and soul.

Hmmm not sure if I should watch these games as I ended up watching the champions league semi's and both were 0-0. I didn't bother watching the Boro game and guess what? Its a goal fest!

I'm cursed I tell you!

[happijoijoi]

I am interested.Please keep this posted.

[texasaxel]

To all of you, who have voted: Please advise if you have any suggestions regarding the venue. I prefer to stick to one or two places for all of the events listed above. The final would be an exception if it is decided to hire an entire bar for that occasion. I would prefer a place in SoHo / LKF over WanChai; however, am not sure if they stay open late enough ... so I am tempted to recommend Skidz instead as it is open 24 hours. Your input is appreciated!

[KnowItAll]

axel : I'll know more about the location availablity for the finals by Monday or Tuesday.

[EasterBunny]

Hi guys,

just got the call from my European located headquarters, that I'll have to be there from the 8th of june til the 02nd of july - which means, that the only chance for me to be "part of the HK-telly-team" will be for the final The only advantage will be that I'll be able to watch the games at "normal" evening hours .... therefore pls forget about me (this time...)

[phooey]

Beer, footy plus a chance to meet the Geoxpat community sounds great to me. Hope everyones coming for the final! I'll be watching the England v. Paraguay match in a bar, still a few weeks to go but is anyone else going to a bar to watch it?