WORLD CUP PREDICTIONS FOR WEEK 2
World Cup Predictions & Correct Scores for Week 2
by Doug Martin
World Cup Preview: Week 2 Part 1:
World Cup Preview: Week 2 Part 2:
World Cup Fixtures: June 16th (Wednesday) to June 21st (Monday):
Hello everyone. Well so far my world cup predictions have been mixed but I have managed a few correct results, they are as follows,. Argentina beating Nigeria, Slovenia beating Algeria, Germany beating Australia & Holland beating Denmark. This preview was written before Tuesday’s games so Hopefully their will have been some more correct results by the time you read this. No correct scorelines yet but I came close on a few most notably Germany to beat Australia 3-0 but they won 4-0. I also came close on the South Africa game as I predicted them to win 2-1 but it ended 1-1 as you all know. We are now into the second round of games & hopefully my result predictions will improve as we have more of an idea as to how sides are playing. One final note on my prediction of England to beat the USA 2-1. I thought long & hard about predicting England to draw 1-1 but eventually bottled out because of patriotic pride. A mistake which proves that when predicting your own team you should try & take out emotional support. Not that that is easy. Good luck & see you at the beginning of next week
Match 17: Group "A" - South Africa - Uruguay: (Wednesday June 16th 7.30pm GMT):
South Africa were held to a 1-1 draw by Mexico in the opening game on Friday. They were 1-0 up & heading towards the victory I had predicted when Mexico scored 12 minutes from time. To be honest Mexico deserved a share of the spoils as they played well & were the better side for much of the game. South Africa could prove to be the weakest side to ever host a world cup if they don’t qualify out of their group. The weakest so far in history was The USA in 1994 who managed to get out of their group to only lose 1-0 to Brazil in the first knock out round. The south African’s are in danger of doing worse than the states. Uruguay held France 0-0 in their opening group game on Friday night in probably the worst game of the tournament so far out of the games I have seen. Uruguay went out with the intention of holding France & that is what they did as France were just not good enough to break them down. France seem a side in decline & they will do well to reach the quarter finals or beyond. I think that South Africa will win this game just as Uruguay don’t appear to have much going for them up front & will probably try & force another draw but will get caught out. I also don’t think this will be a good game. Get the can’s in as you might fall need some distraction, in fact just go down the pub & chat up that cute barmaid you know with your wonderful knowledge of how crap Uruguay are at football.
Result Prediction: South Africa to win
Score Prediction: South Africa 1 Uruguay 0
Match 18: Group "B" - Argentina - South Korea: (Thursday June 17th 12.30pm GMT):
Argentina won 1-0 against Nigeria on Saturday, a result I predicted. Argentina have looked the best side I have seen so far & they should with the players they have. I think that the media have made too much of their manager’s oddness as I think the players will want to play for Maradona as well as their country. Argentina could go all the way but we will see. South Korea had a very good 2-0 win against Greece on Saturday & they deserved the victory as I thought Greece were very poor. Greece didn’t seem to know what to do when they went 1-0 down early in the game. They were lucky that they were not playing a better side then South Korea. I really can’t see beyond an Argentina victory in this game as they seem to be playing well. South Korea have improved over the years but they are simply just not in Argentina’s class & this will show in this game. An Argentina victory & one foot into the next round for them. I hope Argentina do well as they play good football, in fact they have always attempted to do so. Could be a few goals in this game as well which will be good as the highest scoring game I have seen so far has only had 2 goals which is not want FIFA will want.
Result Prediction: Argentina to win
Score Prediction: Argentina 2 South Korea 0
Match 19: Group "B" - Nigeria - Greece: (Thursday June 17th 3pm GMT):
Greece I’m afraid to say will almost certainly come bottom of the group & do will really well to score a goal let alone win a point or a game. These two teams played each other in the 1994 World cup when Nigeria won very easily. A similar result in this game methinks. Nigeria are one of Africa’s hopes for a good world cup & I think they will do well but I can’t see them getting beyond the quarter finals mainly due to their naivety. Greece are not looking good so after losing to Argentina this is a good time for Nigeria to be playing them. Greece have never won a world cup game & this I feel is a record they are unlikely to beat in this world cup, which is a shame for the country. I terms of predicting this game the only problem I have is how many goals the Nigerian’s will score in their victory. Because this world cup has so far been low scoring I am going to go for a 2-0 victory to Nigeria. Maybe the Greeks will be better off concentrating on their financial problems than the World cup?
Result Prediction: Nigeria to win
Score Prediction: Nigeria 2 Greece 0
Match 20 Group "A" - France - Mexico: (Thursday June 17th 7.30pm GMT):
To say I have seen better world cup games than the France 0-0 draw with Uruguay is an understatement. It was a poor game. I can’t really blame France for that as they tried to attack but didn’t really have the chances against a very defensive minded Uruguay side. Mexico have looked the best side in this group so far with their 1-1 draw against the hosts South Africa. This should be a good game as opposed to the previous game that France played. I think that Mexico will just sneak it as they seem to be playing better than France at present. France seem to be an aging side which is sad as the young players don’t seem to be coming through to replace the old guard. I think that France are in danger of not qualifying from their group & Irish fans will be hoping that they don’t as It will compensate them in some way for the handball incident that knocked them out in Paris. Maybe there is a football god after all? It must be pointed out that Mexico played well against England in their 3-1 defeat at Wembley in the pre world cup game a few weeks ago which doesn’t bode well for France either. Mexico to win then.
Result Prediction: Mexico to win
Score Prediction: France 1 Mexico 2
Match 21: Group "D" - Germany - Serbia: (Friday June 18th 12.30pm GMT):
Germany had the best result of the World Cup so far by beating poor Australia 4-0. I shed no tears for Australia as I have met to many arrogant Australians in my life. The way Germany are playing nobody will want to play them in the knockout stages & the way things are going it could be England. O hell not going out to Germany again you all say. Germany now play Serbia who rather surprisingly lost 1-0 to Ghana & must be dreading playing the Germans just as they did in 1941, ha. I don’t know how Germany manage to consistently do well in World Cups but I wish England could just have 10% of their luck as we would win the World cup every time, well almost. To be honest it was nice to see Germany score four goals as the tournament needed a high scoring game. Pity it was the Germans though. Can’t say I can see Serbia getting anything out of this game as Germany should win easily but probably not by the same high scoreline as they beat Australia. An easy win for Germany & qualification into the second round. Let’s just hope that England don’t play them as it will be goodnight from the lads.
Result Prediction: Germany to win
Score Prediction: Germany 2 Serbia 0
Match 22: Group "C" - Slovenia - USA: (Friday June 18th 3pm GMT):
The USA will be really pleased with their point in their 1-1 draw with England on Saturday night. The fact that they didn’t deserve it or that they played badly won’t have bothered them at all. England gave them the point with a dreadful goalkeeping error from Robert Green & some bad finishing when they were the better side in the second half. Such is football. The USA now face Slovenia who beat a very poor Algerian side 1-0, this time with another goalkeeping error gifting the points. What are the chances of another goalkeeping error deciding this game? There is a good chance of the USA reaching the next round & they should beat Slovenia in this game to move towards that target. As I have said before this is Slovenia’s first world cup & they have done well to win their first game. Hopefully for England the 1-1 draw with the USA will be proved to have not been a bad result by the time the tournament comes to an end. I think the USA will win this game as they are a better side than Slovenia as well as having more experience than them. Could take them a while to break them down though.
Result Prediction: USA to win
Score Prediction: USA 2 Slovenia 0
Match 23: Group "C" - England - Algeria: (Friday June 18th 7.30pm GMT):
The English press reacted very predictably after the USA game by giving Robert Green the goalkeeper a very hard time for his mistake that gave USA a goal in a 1-1 draw. Their reaction will have not helped the situation for the keeper one bit. The mistake was just one of those things that happen in football now and again. Sods law. England did not play well but they did play better than the USA & deserved to win but that is the story so often of the English football team. The simple truth is that we are not good enough to win the world cup & are not a particularly good side. The only thing we have going in our favour is that we are difficult to beat & only seem to get beat on penalties. The way results are going at present we are heading towards a second round meeting with Germany which we will lose, simple as. I have always noticed that the minute we play a good side we lose & so I will be proved right. If only the bloody English media could recognise that fact. England should beat Algeria who are very poor & seem to have a goalkeeper who is crap. An England victory which will be really painful as England will make hard work of the win.
Result Prediction: England to win
Score Prediction: England 2 Algeria 0
Match: 24 Group "E" - Holland - Japan: (Saturday June 19th 12.30pm GMT):
Holland beat Denmark 2-0 on Monday as I predicted & look favourites to qualify from the group. Holland looked pretty good in their win They now face a Japan side who managed a surprise victory over Cameron in their opening game, well it was at least for me as I predicted Cameron to win. Cameron are looking doomed in terms of qualifying from this group now. I would have thought that it will be Holland & Denmark who will qualify from this group which is what a lot of people were saying before hand, i.e., me & my mates down the pub. Japan of course hosted the World cup in 2002 & didn’t do that well which is why their win over Cameron surprised me. Holland really should win this game & win it easily. Victory in this game will more or less give Holland passage through to the last 16. I don’t think Holland will win the World cup but it would be nice as they deserved to win it in 1974 & 1978 but due to bad luck managed to come runners up both times to the host countries. A Dutch win but I don’t think anyone in Amsterdam will notice as they will be too bloody stoned.
Result Prediction: Holland to win
Score Prediction: Holland 3 Japan 0