Time to kick off World Cup qualifying, and what better what to do so than with a preview!!!! I'll be previewing half of the week's games (at least one per group), along with scoreline predictions for all 12 matches... GERMANY vs. CZECH REPUBLIC Frenchie1916 BigSmooth33Between league and cup play this season, Frenchie has been two different people. His Stuttgart club currently sits in last in Serie B with 2 point through 5 games, yet he cruised to a second-place finish in his Coppa group. Which Frenchie will show up for this game? As for BigSmooth, after a bit of a hiatus, he's back and is loving his goals- both goals scored and goals allowed. With Hannover, Smooth is tied for the 2nd-most goals scored and the 2nd-most allowed. But even though Smooth may have a slight edge in terms of recent performance, you can't ignore the skill differential between Germany and Czech Republic for this match. The Czechs have just two players rated higher than 77 overall (GK Cech at 85 and CAM Rosicky at 80), while Germany can boast some of the best players in the world at every single position. Both managers also have strong ties to their nations (despite not being heritage team-worthy), so expect plenty of passion in this one as each manager will look to get things off on the right foot. For me though, I think Frenchie has shown just enough recently to where you can't consider him to be in a slump, and with a powerhouse German squad, I think Smooth's Czech Republic will simply be outmatched. Additionally, I don't think not playing during the first friendly window will hurt Frenchie's familiarity with his team, and Smooth certainly has some work to do after being listed last in Zikry's first international power rankings. Prediction: Germany 2-0 TURKEY vs. ITALY BESHIKTAS shifteeA matchup between two heritage-claimed teams will surely make for an exciting match. While shiftee is his usual dominating self in TFS this season, BESHIKTAS has quietly worked his way up in Serie A and currently sits in 3rd place with 11 points through 7 games. However, Italy is the clear favorite this World Cup cycle, and it'd likely take more than just one loss for that to change. Turkey will need every point it can get though, as matches against Italy and France to start the qualification cycle could easily see Turkey battling for its World Cup spot on the final matchday. Don't expect Turkey to go down easy here, but there's simply no way someone could pick against Italy right now. If Turkey can just earn a draw though, that would likely be one more point than anybody else in Euro Group B can take from Italy. Prediction: Italy 3-0 PORTUGAL vs. FRANCE dooz MiaFLSurfWith this Portugal-France game, its obvious just how tough Group B in the Euro region will be. All 6 teams in the region are of high quality, making every match important. It also doesn't help that 5 of the 6 managers in the group are in Serie A as well. The biggest thing I'm looking for in this match though is which MiaFLSurf shows up. Surf played great all throughout Season 11 and has proved his worth in the past. But this season, Surf clearly has hit a slump. With Aston Villa in Serie A, Surf currently sits in last place and is just one of two managers averaging under a point a game. Nothing seems to be going right for him, and that's not how you want to be playing when your opponent puts Cristiano Ronaldo out on the pitch. Surf did rank second in Zikry's power rankings after the most recent friendlies week, and is certainly capable of beating anyone in the World Cup- but that form may be hibernation right now. dooz will need to take advantage of Surf's recent poor form and get Portugal 3 vital points early in the qualification process, yet matches against England and Belgium next may give Portugal some breathing room for this matchup. I expect both sides to find the back of the net and wouldn't be surprised to see one to commit a late game-altering blunder, but I think both wouldn't mind a draw as well. Prediction: Draw 1-1 BRAZIL vs. ARGENTINA Go Devils YNWA96Definitely the biggest rivalry of this matchweek, as Brazil and Argentina square off in the Americas group. Go Devils has found some recent success in TFS, earning strong results in league, cup, and international play. With Marseille, Go Devils currently sits in 5th place in Serie B and appears destined for the Coppa Tradizione knockout stage with 4 points in 3 Group F games. With Brazil, Go Devils ranked 4th in Zikry's recent power rankings, which was backed by a stunning 1-1 draw with World Cup favorites Italy. We'll have to see how confident Devils is with his starting XI for this match as he isn't afraid to shake things up often, but no matter who he puts out there, odds are his players are still better than yours. Rivals Argentina won't go down easy though- YNWA sits in 3rd place in Serie B with Norwich and nearly earned promtion to Serie A a season ago. Argentina isn't short on talent either, and will certainly be able to hang with Brazil in this match. I don't think either manager will deserve to walk away empty-handed with 0 points after this match, but I'm also thinking Devils' recent play may just be enough to grab the full 3. Prediction: Brazil 1-0 JAPAN vs. IVORY COAST gutnedawg RedAL925By the end of the qualification cycle, I think whoever loses this match may look back at it and think this is what cost them a World Cup spot. I had Japan ranked 5th in my Africa/Asia qualification preview, and Ivory Coast up at 2nd. However, with underachieving results with PSV in cup play and not exactly a strong start in Serie A either, RedAL's chance at 2nd place are beginning to look slimmer as his slump continues to drag on. One thing that will help out RedAL is his plethora of attacking options with Ivory Coast, and who knows, maybe that'll be just what the doctor ordered to get him jumpstarted again. Japan seems to be a bit inferior compared to the other nations in this group though, meaning gutnedawg could greatly use at least a point from this match. If he were in top-notch form, I'd likely give the edge to Japan here. However, gutnedawg sits mid-table in Serie B and hasn't quite exploded onto the scene yet this season. It's tough to imagine RedAL not getting out of his offensive slump with Ivory Coast's talented forwards, and I think he'll find the back of the net multiple times by the end of the match. Prediction: Ivory Coast 2-0 CAMEROON vs. SENEGAL Cimmy24 FrizAnother interesting Africa/Asia game is the matchup between two Serie B managers- Cimmy and Friz. Friz has quickly regained the form that once won him a Serie A title, winning 6 of his 7 Serie B games to date. Meanwhile Cimmy looked to start Season 12 with a roar after finishing Season 11 strong, yet he hasn't quite been able to find the same level of success with Monchengladbach this season as he did with Sevilla last season. Going back to Friz- it's worth noting that Senegal was ranked 13th out of 14 in Zikry's power rankings, as Senegal got shutout in friendlies against France and Turkey a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, Cimmy's Cameroon managed a draw with France, and Cameroon does have the better players head-to-head in this matchup. Had this game been played 3-4 weeks ago, I'd have to say Cimmy would've been the clear favorite. But now? I think Cimmy may have lost the hot hand he had and Friz has quickly turned around with nothing but positive play since the last international window. Prediction: Senegal 3-1 That's it for breakdowns of matches for this week. But for the rest of you, here are some predictions for the other six matches: Broncos218 Poland 2-0 Netherlands danwin Geneseo98 Spain 2-2 Sweden Selvy9 pitt4life21 England 1-2 Belgium redwings8831 bbrech0610 Mexico 0-1 Colombia juanchoCT14 UcanHateMeNow United States 1-1 Uruguay vipermansa Zikry Ghana 3-0 Australia krtgolfing GL to all!
Really NOT looking forward to the attackers in my match-up against YNWA96. Just ridiculous... Messi, Aguero, Higuain, Lavezzi, Di Maria, Palacio, Lamela! My team doesn't suck... but I am scared to play counter-attacking football against the likes of this firepower. Good write-up as always Bronc.
