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):
Match: 25 Group “D” Ghana - Australia: (Saturday June 19th 3pm):
Australia got well & truly thumped 4-0 by Germany on Sunday which was very funny for me as Australians everywhere will have been pissed off. Now, to make my year they have to lose the Ashes to England this winter. Australia are obviously not the side of 2006 where they were very unlucky to lose to Italy 1-0 to a very dubious penalty in the knockout stages. I must point out that the sending off of one of their best players Tim Cahill in the 4-0 defeat to Germany was a dreadful decision & I fear that that they will suffer for his absence in their remaining games. FIFA should review that decision but of course they won’t. Ghana have been the best African side so far & in fact the only one to win. They got a late goal to beat Serbia 1-0 which puts them in with a great chance of qualifying with Germany out of the group. This would be a great achievement for them. I think that Ghana will win this game but it won’t be such a heavy defeat for Australia as the Germany game. Could be closer but still an Australian defeat. Bad luck lads, oh well at least you still have a hold on the Ashes, oh dear you don’t have them do you? Ha.
Result Prediction: Ghana to win
Score Prediction: Ghana 2 Australia 0
Match: 26 Group “E” Denmark - Cameroon: (Saturday June 19th 7.30pm):
Denmark lost to Holland 2-0 in their opening group game as you all know. All is not lost for the Danes however as they should win their last two games to Qualify. They were a little bit unlucky against the Dutch as they scored an own goal just after Half time to give Holland the lead after they had been the better side in my point of view in the first half. If they play like they did against the Dutch they should beat Cameroon. Cameroon were very poor against Japan & you do have to play bad to lose against Japan to lose by & large. My memories of Cameroon will always go back to 1990 when they reached the quarter finals & were only beat by a bad defensive display to lose to England 3-2 in extra time after leading 2-1. They are obviously a pale shadow of that side which is a shame as they were the first African side to get out of the group stages at a World cup & did much to advance peoples opinions of African football. They appear to have been overtaken by other African sides since then & this will be proved by defeat in this game to Denmark. Denmark also remind me of past deeds, mainly in 1986 when they played some brilliant football in their group, most notably a 6-1 thrashing of Uruguay. Again Denmark are not the side of past deeds but they should still win this game.
Result Prediction: Denmark to win
Score Prediction: Denmark 2 Cameroon 0
Match 27: Group “F” Slovakia - Paraguay: (Sunday June 20th 12.30pm):
Paraguay got a well deserved point in their 1-1 draw with Italy on Monday night. They played well in the first half & took the lead with a set piece goal. After the break Italy reverted back to a 4-4-2 formation & were the better side but Italy’s goal was only scored because of another goal keeping mistake when the keeper missed a corner. Slovkia really should have won their opening game against New Zealand as they were 1-0 up until injury time when New Zealand got a very late goal, which was new Zealand’s first ever World cup goal. This bothered me as I had predicted a Slovakia victory. Oh well. Paraguay should win this game but then Spain should have beaten Switzerland on Wednesday. As I have said earlier in my reports this is Slovakia’s first world cup & they will be gutted not to have started with a win. A lot of people are moaning & rightly so about the standard of football at this world cup so far. This game should give them more ammunition to moan. Ironic that I heard a radio journalist say there had been too much hype about this world cup when it was the media who have hyped it. Never them remember. A Paraguay win.
Result Prediction: Paraguay to win
Score Prediction: Paraguay 1 Slovakia 0
Match 28: Group “F” - Italy - New Zealand: (Sunday June 20th 3pm):
If Italy don’t win this game then I am going to wear a T-Shirt saying “I Love Bankers”…Seriously, they should win, Shouldn’t they? Italy as you all know drew 1-1 with Paraguay in their first game which will have been a disappointment to them. At least they played better in the second half & scored a deserved goal to draw. New Zealand must be credited with scoring so late against Slovakia to draw 1-1 when nobody, including myself gave them a chance of drawing let alone scoring a goal. Italy should be far too good for them but they might do a Switzerland. I am going to be arrogant & say that Italy will win & it is just a matter of how many goals they win by. This will be a shame for New Zealand as they are good sportsman & it always a pleasure to speak sport with them as apposed to the Australians who are so arrogant you end up just walking away as they give you brain ache. Good luck Chaps but I think the Italians will win. A Italian win to get their World cup back on track.
Result Prediction: Italy to win
Score Prediction: Italy 2 New Zealand 0
Match 29: Group “G” - Brazil - Ivory Coast: (Sunday June 20th 7.30pm):
I thought that Brazil did will to beat North Korea as North Korea played really well to hold them to a 2-1 scoreline. North Korea were a breath of fresh air in this World cup. Their players played properly by refusing to play any gamesmanship tactics. They also scored a good goal which was a surprise but they deserved it. Brazil took a while to break them down but that seems to be the pattern for this world cup. I think that Brazil’s first goal was a fluke but it still looked good. Can’t really see Brazil losing this game. They should win this game easily but the difference between this game & the North Korea one is that Ivory coast won’t be as well organised, hence Brazil should & will score more goals. This should be good for the tournament. Last night Uruguay beat hosts South Africa 3-0 with a good attacking display which was in complete contrast to their first display against France where they defended very deep to hold France 0-0. They, like a lot of other teams were determined to not lose their first game in the competition but it seemed once they had got the first game out of the way they felt they could express themselves. A Brazil victory then & a few goals to boot (Hopefully).
Result Prediction: Brazil to win
Score Prediction: Brazil 3 Ivory Coast 0
Match 30: Group “G” - Portugal - North Korea: (Monday June 21st 12.30pm):
Portugal drew their first game 0-0 with Ivory Coast in a game that was so bad that watching “X” factor would have seemed like a good idea. Yes, That bad but the comparison with untalented people who think they are something they are not was to hard for me to resist & I was only talking about the judge’s. Ha. The only highlight of the previous Portugal game was Ronaldo hitting the post, otherwise it was crap. This game should hopefully be better but don’t bet on it. North Korea put in a really great performance when they only lost 2-1 to Brazil. The fact that they scored will be of great pride to them not to mention their performance. Portugal are not a Brazil so it will be interesting to see how this game pans out. Portugal should have enough to beat North Korea who are as you will know in their first World Cup since 1966 when they amazingly beat Italy 1-0 to qualify from the group stages where they met Portugal. In that 1966 game played at Everton’s Goodison Park they led 3-0 & 3-1 at half time but eventually went down 5-3. Nobody forgot them after that. Will they gain revenge for that 1966 defeat? I don’t think so but it would be nice.
Result Prediction: Portugal to win (Just)
Score Prediction: Portugal 2 North Korea 1
Match 31: Group “H” - Chile - Switzerland: (Monday June 21st 3pm):
Chile beat Honduras 1-0 on Wednesday in a game by all reports they deserved to win. I was pleased as I had predicted them to win. This being my 6th correct result prediction. Chile now face Switzerland who caused the shock result so far of this world cup by somehow beating Spain 1-0. This was a result I didn’t see coming or did anyone else including I suspect the Swiss. I feel it was a bas result for the World cup & football in general as Spain played well & were caught out on the break by a Swiss side that came to the game determined to defend for their lives which is what they did. There was only one side trying to win the game & that was Spain. Hopefully Spain will pick themselves up & win their last two games & qualify because I really can’t stand the thought of Brazil or Germany winning the World cup again. Thanks a lot Switzerland. Chile should win this game & it will be interesting to see how the Swiss play because I can’t see them getting away with another defensive performance again. Here’s hoping.
Result Prediction: Chile to win
Score Prediction: Chile 2 Switzerland 0
Match 32: Group “H” - Spain - Honduras: (Monday June 21st 7.30pm):
Spain somehow as I have mentioned earlier lost to Switzerland 1-0 on Wednesday. A travesty of a result as I thought Spain played some wonderful football & I could see for my self why they are European Champions. This defeat for them was only the second time they have lost in 35 games. A great record by any standards as they had won 33 of those games. They should recover against a very poor Honduras side who lost 1-0 against Chile in their opening game. Spain faced Honduras in the 1982 World cup & drew 1-1. I really can’t see a repeat of that Scoreline in this game As I fear that Honduras will feel the full weight of Spain’s anger at their defeat to Switzerland. Spain I am going to predict will win well in this game. I recommend that you watch this game if you can because Spain are worth watching & they should score plenty of goals in this game. A Spanish victory then.
Result Prediction: Spain to win
Score Prediction: Spain 3 Honduras 0