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In 2004, the Czechs beat both Germany and the Netherlands during EURO 2004, and tied Italy in a friendly that year. In 2005, they went 9-3 in WC Qualifying, losing only to the Netherlands (twice) and Romania. They finished second in a fairly tough group. They are ranked second in the world for a pretty good reason.

Since 2004, the best US results have been splitting a pair of games with Mexico and a draw with Poland. The US went 7-2-1 in WC Qualifying, finishing at the top of a group that is not considered to be one of the strongest confederations in FIFA.

All teams will have their players rested and ready to go. FIFA is prohibiting all players from participating in club games for a few weeks prior to the World Cup.

Believe me, I hope you're right that the US will make it out of the group stage. But don't underestimate any of the teams in the group.

ukraine=not enough stars?
true, but stars do not make a team. from what i have seen, ukraine have been playing excellent team ball. going 7-4-1, they scored 18 goals with only 6 from shevchenko. this is just my prediction, we'll have to wait and see.

for the czech thing, lurker thanks for clearing that up, czech is a great team, ranked what like 4th in the world, i don't think the US deserves to be in the Top 10, not putting them down as a bad team, i just don't think that a top 10 spot should go to them, they are ranked on top of ENGLAND,let me type that again, ENGLAND, real madrid beat the MLS all stars (pretty much the US national) 5-0 !!!!!! 5-0 !!!!!! sorry but the US will NOT qualify to the next round this year, that is a statement i will stand by.

for ukraine - yes they do have a chance, but i'm pretty sure one african team will make it to the next round, for that i pick tunisia (otherwise togo) because people underestimate them when they have not been seen playing their soccer (i'm from africa, i know what teams are good )major shocker that cameroon, nigeria, and s. africa didn't make it !!!!


to Liverpool - the first post on this page - croatia over japan, dude come on !!! Croatia has a solid team, strikers, defense, midfield, THEY GOT IT i mean if i remember right they went to the semi's in 98 ? that was a while back i understand, but they are a good team

To be honest, I don't know all too much about either Japan or Croatia. I made my decision based on the Fifa World Rankings(Japan-15, Croatia-20) and Japan's dominance in qualifying. Croatia was inconsistent in qualifying, they beat Sweden, then tied Malta, and lost to Bulgaria. It depends on what Croatia team shows up.

YNWA

yeah i guess so, but i still stand with Croatia, i went according to the 98 cup, idk too much about japan, but i think s. korea is better

Poland actually does have a quite solid soccer team. They have an obvious lack of any Cup or competition hardware but I think in Germany this summer you will see a better and more hopeful team. Perhaps they still need about 2 years to bolster up, but they do indeed have a solid team that had a good qualifying run for the World Cup.

Zurawski, the famed striker, is doing great at Celtic (some concussions have prevented his playing but he has notched some goals and playing time). Fellow strikers Frankowski (Elche FC, but may transfer to Wolverhampton) and Gregorz Rasiak (Premiership striker) and Smolarek (in Germany) also Kosowski, Saganowski, and Brozek (Wisla Krakow) are lighting it up in Poland. The striker position will be well taken care of especially if Olisadebe plays (there has been alot of debate about this with him and the coach but he might.) It will be very difficult to pick a duo from this talented bunch to fit the 4-4-2.

Midfield looks very strong with Kryznowek (Bayer Leverkusen star) and Szymkowiak (playing in Turkey.) Defense has always been a strength with Klos (Wisla Krakow) and Baszczyński playing well in the Ekstraklasa.

Goalkeepers Dudek (European Champion 2005-Liverpool FC) and Boruc (has started this season for Celtic and has let in very few goals) will be well taken care of.

Most of these players are young guns and are playing abroad in great leagues like the Premiership and in Germany. Obviously they have quite a long way to go before they become a European or World power. They played close qualifying games with England and the Polish Ekstraklasa I think is headed up and getting more competitive. As a Polish national I am excited with the direction Polish soccer is headed and think it is a stretch to say they do not have a solid team. I would say that in a year or two they will emerge as a very competitive team, and they are beginning to be now. I favor them to pass from their group with Germany and hope for a good World Cup run.

aleksandrus - good rebuttle but ur picks dude come on. you are counting out Italy. Italy is a better pick than czech in my opinion. I seriously doubt the US offense will have a chance against one of the top goalies in the world and the best ranked defense in the world. if u lose to costa rica cuz a few player are missing. u will not be able to beat italy

you have england going through and england lost to northern ireland! just because somebody lost to someone of a lower standard, it doesnt mean they wont be able to put out a good showing!

England lost 1-0 and that is not even the subject we are discussing! If you want to discuss that here is my rebuttle. Look at the players on the team please

Michael Owen
Wayne Rooney
David Beckham
Steven Gerrard
Frank Lampard
Sol Campbell
John Terry
Leo Ferdinand
Jamie Carragher

is that enough ? if not here is more

look at the teams in England's group

Paraguay (not bad, but not good enough)
Sweden (only real threat in my opinion)
Trinidad and Tobago (hopeless)

and then you want to tell me that England won't go through
Go look at every previous post on this topic and i bet you my house that every single person has England going through to the next round.

The US will do good, but they WILL NOT beat Czech and Italy, i bet u Ghana will even beat the US

look here and u tell me how many significant wins u can find

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/team/results?id=660&cc=5901

i only saw 1 and that was when they beat mexico, everything else is just useless