Personally, I don’t consider Germany exceptional. Portugal has talent but they don’t play as a team enough.

Right now, only Holland look solid and I would say Spain but they always look good in round robin. We’ll wait and see with them.

Italy and France will have to do battle to see who goes through - that is, if Romania doesn’t beat Holland. Italy now has SIX perfectly legit goals turned back against them since 2002 - including one against France in 2006. Weird. France is coached by a boob. How do you leave Trezeguet home? Seriously.

I’m going to take a chance and say Croatia will make the finals.

Spain always blasts out of the gates. We’ll see this time if they really have the horses.

Hiddink was plump naive period. This notion of wanting to play “attractive” soccer for its own sense is nonsense. That’s the sense I get from him. He was better off doing Russia a favour and hammering in a point by playing practival soccer. Not run and gun with Spain. The result was a foregone conclusion.

Though I’m not sure Serie A plays catenaccio in its classic form anymore. It went from dead-bolt defense to, as you rightly pointed out, stifling defense. As I mentioned in past comments, Serie A’s action and goal scoring is high now.

Yes, it is a ridiculous spot kick but alas, crying over split milk, as what John Terry (Captain Bravado) has done is futile.

I share your sentiments on Baggio. He brought Italy to the brink of the World Cup title but he failed to deliver when the nation needs him most. Definitely, there is a tinge of regret but he remains a hero and idol to many fans worldwide for his sublime skills and wonderful goals scored.

A penalty shootouts is cruel and tilts the scale in favor of the underdog. Legends are not made in a shootout, you can have a team of mediocre players well-drilled in the technique to succeed against a team of superstars. But like war, the end justifies the means.

As for Ronaldo moving to Italy, I will advise against it. He will be stifled, if not crippled before long. The catenacio system does not look on kindly at players who dribble and embarrass defenders. Kaka won the Champions League last year and having played a significant part, the award was well-deserved. But I will be surprised if Ronaldo come in second best this season.

I deem the best player as the one who performs at the highest level on a consistent basis. Neither has convinced me they are worthy of this honor yet.

That being said, we should never pit blame on players in shoot out whether they be Terry or Ronaldo. I still feel it to be an injustice when all they show of the great Baggio is that miss in ‘94.

I would like to see CR in Italy. To see what he could do with the 18 different tactics and formations that change from week to week.

I noticed that people are engaging in senseless revisionism about these awards. Specifically about how apparently Kaka didn’t deserve it last year. Of course, this is absolute rubbish. Kaka’s form was superiour to Ronaldo’s last year. It wasn’t even close.

This year it was a reverse of fortunes. That’s all.

I’m not a fan of tagging a player “the best in the world.” What’s the criteria anyway?