Point is, Heskey is made of suck. Wright Phillips is not a real good idea, but I can get wanting his versatility. But what does Heskey give the Three Lions, other than the gift of an injured Ferdinand?

An alternative. Somebody to hit the ball to who will just be there and annoy the opposition.
I honestly don't think Capello wanted to take him after this seasons form, but Carlton Cole (who should have been the obvious replacement) played just as badly and doesn't have experience. That said, CC knows the difference between the net and the corner flag.
We will miss Adam Johnson far more than Rio Ferdinand.

with this talk of playing each other head to head on a real pitch, i say we set up an 11 v 11 full scale match between webdip players exclusively. we'll play it at wembley. you could set that up, right figles?

To Americans:

I am a soccer noob. But I would love to watch the World Cup.

Is it going to be carried on American network TV at all? If so, when and which channels?

Thanks.

ESPN ESPN2 and ABC. games at 7:30, !0:30, and 2:30. rest assured my alarm clock will be set to get up for the earliest of games.

@figlesquidge : You are an Arsenal fan, so do you think Nasri should have been chosen in French team?

Hmm, dunno. I certainly don't think RD has picked the best France team he could/should have - that is quite clear from the results. However, just picking on a player-by-player basis leaves you with the same problems Brazil had in '06.
Thinking about it a bit further probably not, since I would suggest he'd be in competition with Ribery, and the pedo is a better footballer.

less than a week! i'm so excited. i'm like a little kid a christmas

I'm English so obviously will be supporting England, and as ever I have high hopes and expect them to be dashed as always. I quite rate Capello, I think his omission of Walcott was spot on, (i expect Lennon to be a stand-out performed). I agree with others that Adam Jonhson would have been a better pick than SWP, but that is a close call.

The selection I have difficulty with is Heskey rather than Bent. (And I speak as a Villa fan), what is Capello thinking about, can you imagine the groans when we are 1 nil down with 20mins to go and Capello brings on Heskey to grab turn the match!

I realise that other players like playing with Heskey, but I have this theory that that is only because he makes everyone else look good.

"I realise that other players like playing with Heskey"
Not to be stupid, but I don't know of any of them having said this?
Rooney has shown all season he can lead the line anyway. Given the squad he's got, I would hope (but definitely not expect) to see him pick
Rooney
Gerrard
Milner Barry Lampard Lennon
Cole Terry Dawson Johnson
Hart

Grrm why do I keep forgetting spaces are removed!?

@figle- wow our predictions are similar! on the other hand, I think Ronaldo will lead Portugal over the Ivory Coast.
@peregrin- I'm not counting Italy out, but I think Spain's midfield has far more young talent, and Italy has not impressed me recently. That said, Italy can of course cause a surprise.
@whoever said France won't even make the quarterfinals- you're probably right. Domenech will probably screw everything up in the group stage.

i think ivory coast would of beaten portugal but now that drogba is out idk. but idt drogba is really going to sit out. i think its just him being a drama queen.

@DJE - I'd like to defend him there. When he came to the prem, he became the 2nd best 18yard Diver in England (to Ronaldo of course) but he's grown up. Playing for his country means a lot to him, and the chance to spearhead the attack against Portugal&Brazil is not one he would try and avoid.
It is my belief he is genuinely injured, but will do his best to play anyway, even at the expense of his long-term fitness.

i suppose the world cup to any player would be different than being dramatic at club level.

So I know almost nothing about soccer, and I made a bracket for my brother's soccer group.

Group A:
1. France
2. Mexico

Group B:
1. Argentina
2. Greece

Group C:
1. England
2. U.S.

Group D:
1. Germany
2. Australia

Group E:
1. Netherlands
2. Denmark

Group F:
1. Italy
2. New Zealand

Group G:
1. Brazil
2. Portugal

Group H:
1. Spain
2. Chile

Second Round:
France v. Greece: France
Argentina v. Mexico: Argentina
England v. Austrailia: England
Germany v. U.S.: U.S.
Netherlands v. New Zealand: Netherlands
Italy v. Denmark: Italy
Brazil v. Chile: Brazil
Spain v. Portugal: Spain

Quarterfinals:
France v. England: England
Argentina v. U.S.: Argentina
Netherlands v. Brazil: Brazil
Italy v. Spain: Spain

Semifinals:
England v. Brazil: Brazil
Argentina v. Spain: Argentina

Final:
Argentina v. Brazil: Argentina

are u from u.s. rlumley?

Yes, I am. Hence why I was so generous.

checkmate----I was a RCM for our team. If you are a goalkeeper, however, you will probably win. I was better at finding assists than scoring.

I totally agree with you rlumley with 3 exceptions
1. USA win Germany? Yeah, right. Maybe in a parallel universe...
2. Australia and New Zealand suck so bad they won't even manage to score a goal. So advancing to the next round is impossible to them.

May I ask why you think Argentina can beat Spain?
I disagree with a few of your other selections, but in each case it would be very close so I wouldn't want to call it (eg Germany-US: Germany have a history of playing really well as a national side, but the side is starting to age)

ok that was 2 exceptions...

Australia is not as bad, but I think Srbia has better chances

@hellalt - new zealand, very bad, they might not score a goal, but australia made it out of their group in 06, so not necessarily impossible. though thats the great thing about the game. anything (and everything) can happen.

oher 2 exceptions would be the same I told diplomat

Yeh, I'd probably take Ghana & Paraguay over Aus & NZ

Ooops, didn't see Serbia there - they looked very dangerous in qualifying.

@figles - my team selection v USA would be

-----------Crouch
-----------------Rooney
Milner--Gerrard--Lampard--Lennon
--Cole--Terry---King---Johnson
---------------Green

Interesting - and much more likely than mine. To be honest I'd be happy with that as a medium, but I don't think it'll happen. I expect to see:
..........Heskey Rooney
Gerrard Barry Lampard Lennon
.....Cole Terry . . King . Johnson
James