PUTY’S WORLD CUP PREDICTIONS & Official Invite to Barstool’s Pick’Em Challenge
Sam’s Safe Space for Soccer Stoolies
Hi haters™,
One sleep. That’s it. Just one sleep until the first of 64 glorious games kicks off. Sure, Russia versus Saudi Arabia ain’t exactly the cream of the crop. Doesn’t matter. It is going to be real live soccer and godamn it is going to be beautiful. Plus *bonus* we won’t have to wait long to find out if Puty’s next-generation steroids work or not.
Puty’s all about that G-T-L(aurabolin) lyfe
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In the meantime, though, as promised here is a handy dandy recap of the preview posts that have gone up so far:
PUTY’S WORLD CUP PREVIEW (presented by Barstool) – Groups A & B
PUTY’S WORLD CUP PREVIEW (presented by Barstool) – Groups C & D
PUTY’S WORLD CUP PREVIEW (presented by Barstool) – Groups E & F
PUTY’S WORLD CUP PREVIEW (presented by Barstool) – Groups G & H
Those cover all eight groups and all 32 teams, and give my thoughts on who is most likely to get out of each group. I also offered some preliminary clues as to who I think will do some damage in the knockouts without going into much detail.
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TURRIBLE PREDICTION TIME
The fact is nobody with a brain should try predicting what is going to happen in the knockouts before the group stage is done and you know who is moving on. There are too many variables in play with matchups and injuries to do such a thing. You have literally nothing to gain by doing so and instead simply put your neck out there for the haters to come at you later for being a know-nothing numpty. Only a total maroon would do something that dumb. Thankfully nobody ever accused me of being too bright for my britches!
So here is how I have the groups shaking out:
Followed by a way, way, way, WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too early look at how I think the knockout stages are definitely [NOT] going to turn out (followed by some brief explanations):
In case that is too small, I went with a relative darkhorse in Uruguay winning it all by beating Belgium (another second-tier team) in the final. I also took Brazil to beat Spain in the 3rd place game.
Some notable results that a lot of people are going to want to run to the comments and accuse me of “nowing nothin about Soccr” include Peru beating Argentina in the R16. [Note: I also really wanted to pick one or both of Nigeria to beat France and/or Senegal to beat England but in the end got gun-shy.]
THEME #1: DEEP SLEEPER VALUE PLAYS
A general theme that you may have picked up on from my pre-tournament group stage predictions (but probably didn’t because it is pretty subtle) is that it seems like there are some teams in Africa and Asia that are being underestimated coming into the tournament, usually in favor of European teams. So some of the teams I see as value picks to get out of and potentially even win their groups include (in relative order of how much I like them):
• Senegal (Group H)
• Peru (C)
• Nigeria (D)
• Egypt* (A)
• Iran (B)
*Would be higher if Salah was definitely healthy and ready to go
[Note: for a more granular explanation on why I like this or that particular teams, please see group previews]
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THEME #2: DARKHORSE TO WIN
A second theme (for lack of better word) that I think may play out this World Cup is that someone is going to breakthrough from outside the traditional group of four or five favorites – meaning Brazil, Germany, Spain, France and Argentina. This boils down to my theory that the second-level teams like Uruguay and Belgium have benefited a lot from sending players to the best leagues (in Europe) such that they have closed the gap, and the margins are so incredibly thin between them and the favorites, I think it is worth taking a bit of a flyer on someone from just outside the “usual” group of winners.
If someone put a gun to my head and asked who I think has the best chance to win the World Cup, I would pee my pants a little bit and eventually acknowledge that Brazil is my personal favorite coming in. This is not only because they are ridiculously talented and extra motivated from the 2014 ass-whuppings, but the other “Big Boys” like Spain (new coach!) and Germany (race-tinged political upheaval) are in the midst of some internal turmoil. I also am not confident that France will ever get over the hump with Didier Deschamps at the helm and just plain don’t think this Argentina team is good enough from top to bottom – despite employing th.
Reminder: this is coming from the president of a local Messi Stan Club
HOWEVA, while I think Brazil would win the tournament more times than anybody else if it was hypothetically played 100 times in some sort of real world simulation chamber, I am NOT going with them for the reason I touched on just above: the margins are so thin these days that it is worth taking a gamble on someone with MUCH better odds slightly further down the depth chart.
Both Uruguay and Belgium – the teams I have squaring off in the final – have some serious talent. If they have one, Uruguay’s weakness is in midfield while Belgium’s is between their ears (and Kompany’s hammy), but I am willing to go out on a limb and say that in a one-off winner-take-all situation the talent gap is close enough that anything can and just may happen. From a more strategic perspective, I love the combination of Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani up top and the pairing of Diego Godin and Jose Giminez (Atletico teammates) locking down the backline.
Forged in the fires of Simeone
So that is a brief explanation of how and why I think thing may work out the way they almost certainly will NOT… so now you know precisely who to fade heading into the tournament.
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PUTY’S WORLD CUP PICK’EM
Finally, I know it’s last minute, but if instead of whining about how Sam “nos nothin about Soccr” in the comments you would rather flex your predictive muscles and show the world how you know exactly who is going to beat who and when… wellllllll buddy, here’s you chance: Barstool’s 2nd Quadrennial Bracket Challenge!
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Directions:
(1) Follow the link HERE to FIFA’s official challenge website
(2) Register for free
(3) Fill out a bracket
(4) Laugh at how much smarter you are than me in a couple weeks
Quick and painless. Easy peasy. I’ll try to scrounge up some Barstool swag for the winner or perhaps even top finishers if there is enough interest. It’s last minute, so apologies for that, but it took me less than five minutes to fill out. JUST DO IT GOSH DARN IT.
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Reminder: PUTY’S WORLD CUP PODCAST is now live and can be found at the below links:
iTunes (Apple): click here
iHeart (Droid): click here
To those of you who have already downloaded/subscribed/listened/reviewed/etc, I can’t thank you guys (and maybe a girl or two?) enough for your support. Hopefully it will lead to more soccer content down the road, but that’s very much TBD at the moment.
Also, a programming note: A “Guide to picking your (second) favorite team to root for in the 2018 World Cup” will be dropping tomorrow to help more casual fans [many of whom will just be realizing the tournament is upon us and the USA isn’t in it] get into the proceedings.
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That’s all I got for now. I honestly can’t believe the wait is finally over. One more sleep and soccer is here. HALLELUJAH!!
Holler,
Samuel Army