We Heart Argentina

Argentina will win the World Cup. There it is, that's my prediction.

After watching them annihilate a decent side yesterday, South Korea, they have to be one of the favourites and will probably top their group with a 100% record. South Korea are still likely to qualify for the second round which makes Argentina's demolition of them in the second half of their match all the more impressive. Messi was wicked, as expected, but the Argentinean forward line in general is hard to match, even by the Spanish. But the best thing about Argentina is their manager, Maradona.

MARADONA.IS.THE.MAN. Voted the best player in world ever by the public, he's now getting stuck into international management after going through an absolute nightmare trying to get Argentina into the World Cup. It's because of that nightmare qualifying campaign that many people doubt his abilities as a manager and wrote off Argentina as potential winners of the 2010 World Cup. Well he's proving them wrong now. I want Argentina to win this World Cup for his sake more than anyone else's since he was robbed at USA '94. However, should Argentina take the cup, it'll also prove to everyone that there is no doubt that Lionel Messi is the world's greatest footballing talent at this moment. Some people say you have to win a World Cup to be considered truly great (yes I'm talking about you Amir bhai) and I suppose they've got a point. Pele, Maradona, and Zidane have all got World Cups to their credit and I feel Messi should be placed in the same category as those players based on his career so far. Bad luck Rooney. You may be good, but you're not THAT good. Maybe England will win the World Cup with Rooney one day but that won't be this year. This year's all about Argentina.

Today's predictions:

England v. Algeria: I can't see this going any other way apart from an England win, and hopefully a comfortable win at that. Expect Gerrard to score again b/c he's wicked, and possibly Rooney as well (who also isn't bad ;).

Verdict: The English will think the World Cup is theirs for the taking with a 3-0 win.

USA v. Slovenia: The US is expected to win this one but right now Slovenia is topping the group after their win against Algeria. I don't think this'll be as easy as the US expect it to be and there could even be an upset in the cards with either a draw or a win for the Slovaks. I doubt Slovenia will win though since a loss would mean the US would be out of the World Cup and they will fight hard against that.

Verdict: Despite what I just wrote, the US should pick things up and squeeze through with a 1-0 win.

PS
Sumeera picked Argentina for the World Cup before the tournament even started. Credit where credit is due, she beat me to it! We're gonna look really dumb now if Argentina flop.