World Cup Predictions

France and Senegal kick start the World Cup in a little less than 10 hours from now. I don't plan on writing much while the tournament is going on, but thought I'd relay my picks before things get started:

To advance past the Group Stage:
Group A - France, Denmark
Group B - Spain, Slovenia
Group C - Brazil, Turkey
Group D - Portugal, United States
Group E - Germany, Cameroon
Group F - Argentina, England
Group G - Croatia, Italy
Group H - Russia, Japan

Second Round:
Germany over Slovenia
France over England
Argentina over Denmark
Spain over Cameroon
Croatia over United States
Brazil over Japan
Turkey over Russia
Italy over Portugal

Quarterfinals:
France over Germany
Argentina over Spain
Brazil over Croatia
Italy over Turkey

Semifinals:
France over Argentina
Italy over Brazil

Final:
France over Italy

yeah, yeah...I'm not going out on a limb with these predictions, but I'm not alone in exercising caution. Things have changed a bit since I last wrote: Ireland will be without Keane, which will severely diminish their chances of going through the group stage and Zidane is out for probably 2 games, although I don't think that will be too costly for France.

If you can't tell, I've somewhat changed my tone on Italy (they will have problems, though) and Germany (injuries to Deisler, Nowotny, etc. are too much to overcome for a team that has been performing below expectations for some time now).

Check out the TV schedule; you can keep up with news from both Soccernet and the official World Cup site. CNNSI has a brief preview of the teams and groups here. Here's a list of players to watch, too, for all you greenhorns out there.