#WORLDCUP Twitter's first World Cup

I must say initially I was skeptical of the power of twitter, but the World Cup has made me a believer. You can follow players, managers and governing bodies like FIFA, as well as soccer fanatics across the world. I watched most games while on twitter viewing tweets from those I'm following and watching people battle it out for the country they're following. You get updates as fast as if you were watching the game itself, which is just brilliant. On a superficial level, you could even input little flags into your tweets and when you tweet #worldcup a soccer ball showed up. Very clever. Since the beginning of the World Cup, twitter trending topics have consistently included World Cup related items like players names and the elusive Vuvuzela. It even had my dad asking me what was Dave Fleet saying about the England team. Today, one day after the final, #worldcup is still a worldwide trending topic, where all things World Cup related have been monopolizing space. The greatest thing about twitter and soccer is that even though the World Cup is now over, twitter lives on and I fully intend to make use of it when the Premier League starts up again in August. I can't wait! Stay tuned for my thoughts on the best goal of the tournament.

We're half way there!

So, I have been neglecting my blogging duty in part because I spend so much time following the World Cup, I have no time to write about it. But with the knock-out stages about to begin, I figured I'd wrap up my thoughts on the group stages. For the most part I wasn't surprised. The South Americans are dominating. They are attacking teams, which I am all for, because lets face it, defensive teams give soccer its reputation for being boring. So far, these defensive teams have been punished, Italy in particular. We all knew when their team was picked, that they had no creativity up top, simply not the players they used to have, and they suffered because of this. I did expect them to make it through, but they didn't and I haven't seen an Italian flag since. The refs started off well, but have made some horrific mistakes, punishing the US probably the most and Chile certainly didn't deserve to have a player sent off against Spain. There have been good, games and bad, amazing goals and ones that I still can't believe went in.

Anyways, I think that is all I have time for now; Uruguay and S. Korea are about to start. For today's games, I think it will be 2-1 Uruguay and 1-0 US.

It's almost time!

So the World Cup opening concert is tomorrow and I am far too excited. Every day I see more flags about and can’t wait for a month full of soccer and celebrations across the city. I will do my best to watch as many games live, but will have to result to watching some on the DVR.

It is time to share my predictions for this upcoming tournament. I will admit now that I have never been good at predicting the outcomes of any sporting event, because I am unable to separate my heart from my head and tend to choose teams I want to win instead of those who will probably win.

In the past, for the most part, South American teams have won in South America and European teams win in Europe, does that mean this year an African team will win? My guess would be no, but the weather in South Africa at this time of year might help some teams. Since it is winter in South Africa and I’ve heard some of the stadiums are in areas that are quite rainy, could this benefit European teams? Maybe even England? I guess only time will tell…

That being said lets take a run through the groups (current rankings are in brackets):

Group A – South Africa (83), Uruguay (16), Mexico (17), France (9)

I think this is one of the groups I am most torn about with who will advance to the next round. I’m drawn to Mexico and hope that South Africa will advance because the tournament atmosphere, I believe, will suffer if they get knocked out right away. It is hard to believe that France won’t make it through, given their team is stacked with incredible players, but their poor coaching leaves me thinking it won’t happen for them this year.

Player to watch – Steven Pienaar, South Africa and Everton’s golden boy, creative in midfield and can change direction so easily, it’s a pleasure to watch. I just wish he would shoot more often.

Group B - Argentina (7), South Korea (47), Nigeria (21), Greece (13)

Every time I watch Argentina play, I think they are unstoppable. They have so many good players and play a game that is incredibly entertaining. They have a coach, who is a little unpredictable to say the least, I wouldn’t even be surprised if he were to bench Messi. But when all is said and done, I think Argentina will blow the rest of these teams away and safely cement themselves as the winners of Group B. For runners up, I’m not sure, I’m leaning towards South Korea, because I tend to think Nigeria will go far and they almost always let me down. South Korea is a definite underdog, but they’re hard working and I think they will squeak through.

Player to watch – Lionel Messi, his low centre of gravity makes him incredibly difficult to play against, but as we saw in the champions league, he can be played out of a game fairly easily. Can’t wait to see who is featured as Argentina’s strikers, they simply have too many to choose from.

Group C – England (8), Algeria (30), U.S. (14), Slovenia (25)

Initially I thought that this might be England’s year, but after seeing the final team selection, and with Gerard newly appointed as Captain, I think that they’ll make it through, but probably not as far as the final. I’m going to say they will be Group C’s runner up and I think the U.S. are going to take this group.

Players to watch – Landon Donovan and Wayne Rooney.

Group D – Germany (6), Serbia (15), Australia (20), Ghana (32)

Don’t know what to say for this group, not really interested. Germany will be a tough team to beat, as they are always defensively strong, so they’ll take this group. I think Australia will make it through in second.

Player to watch – Tim Cahill, he always plays fantastic for Australia and will probably be their top scorer.

Group E – Netherlands (4), Japan (45), Denmark (36), Cameroon (19)

The Netherlands is another team that I usually believe will go far. They have a solid squad with great players in every position. They will take this group fairly convincingly with Cameroon probably as runners up.

Players to watch – Wesley Sneijder and if fit, John Heitinga; he is a versatile player who is great defensively and going forward.

Group F – Italy (5), New Zealand (78), Paraguay (31), Slovakia (34)

Of all the teams in the top 10, Italy managed to get by far the easiest group. They are a team that I don’t think have a chance at repeating the win. They are nowhere as good of a team as they used to be and I still don’t think they deserved to win last time, but they will win this group, with Paraguay probably taking second. Paraguay is a well-organized team.

Players to watch – Oscar Cardozo of Paraguay, after scoring three goals in two games against Everton last season, I’d like to think he’ll have a good tournament.

Group G – Brazil (1), Ivory Coast (27), North Korea (105), Portugal (3)

Brazil will win this group, no question. I’m going to pick an underdog for runner-up in the Ivory Coast. I really hope Drogba recovers in time to play some role for the Ivory Coast, because I think their chances of squeezing past Portugal are much smaller without him. They need Drogba’s leadership in order to be successful as well and his eye for goal will obviously help as well. Their coach Sven, will also make it harder for them to win, I honestly don’t know how he is employed, has he ever one anything? Portugal simply leave me underwhelmed, Ronaldo is never his best, but if he were to play like he does domestically, they could do well. Either way, this group will have some games that shouldn’t be missed.

Players to watch – Julio Cesar, Kaka and Maicon.

Group H- Spain (2), Honduras (38), Switzerland (24), Chile (18)

Spain will take this group with Chile in second. Spain seems to be ready for this competition. After a disappointing loss to the US put them out of the Confederations’ Cup, they only have one thing on their mind. Hopefully they can stay injury-free to make things really interesting. At their best, they are currently the most entertaining team to watch. Their passing is out-of-this world as they continuously thread the needle successfully. Chile is a team that might surprise you. I was impressed after seeing their team play in the Under 20 World Cup in Toronto in 2007, where they came third.

Players to watch – David Villa and Xavi for Spain, Humberto Suazo for Chile.

Nowhere but here...

Toronto really is a fantastic place to be during the World Cup. Aside from the host nation itself, I would argue it is the best place for atmosphere, antics and variety in the world. Every day travelling about the city, you can't go five minutes without seeing a flag either flying outside of a house or attached to someone's car. If that wasn't enough, every team in the cup has a community to support it, in this multi-cultural city of ours, where you can watch a game with people from England, Italy, Algeria and Greece, just to name a few. If watching the game with fans who are going for a team that means the world to them isn't enough, then immerse yourself in the culture, food and beer during the game. This World Cup, I encourage you to visit various places across the city and be part of one of these communities for a couple of hours. You'll have the opportunity to go on a mini vacation every day and enjoy some quality soccer at the same time. And who knows, if you are like me and still don't know what team you are going to support, one of these communities might just adopt you for a month. Thanks Toronto, this is going to be a good one!