World Cup

With the games a few days away I should say a few things.

First the excitement is tremendous with my Oranje in Group C and the Socceroos (led by Hiddink) in and 5 new African nations, this is getting pretty crazy.

Top 5 Surprise teams
These teams are the most likely to come out of nowhere in no particular order (as far as the casual fan thinks)
1 - Ivory Coast (Some are picking them to come out instead of Argentina)
2 - Australia (Hiddink led Korea 4 years ago)
3 - Paraguay (I didn't realize they were a surprise team until I saw their odds of winning the group at 9-1)
4 - Ghana (These guys are fast and Essien is a stud)
5 - Switzerland (They have an easy group and are under the radar)

Top 5 picks for the Golden Boot
These guys can fill the net and should make a run at the title
1 - Robben - Holland
2 - Pauletta - Spain
3 - Ronaldo - Portugal
4 - Owen - England (unless Rooney is back, then his name belongs on the list)
5 - Ronaldinho - Brazil

Now these are not necessarily the traditional picks - Van Nistelrooij (Holland), Ronaldo or Adriano (Brazil), Henry (France), Crespo (Argentina) or Toni (Italy) have better odds than some of these, but I like my list.

Top 5 Sleepers for the Boot
These guys are not household names (Robben and Ronaldo might qualify for this list too)
1 - Kuyt - Holland
2 - Baros - Czech
3 - Kaka - Brazil
4 - Crouch - England
5 - Karimi - Iran (Iran is ranked 23rd in the world)

Top 5 teams with question marks
These teams are solid but could have something going against them to prevent serious contention
1 - Czech Republic (Injuries to Smicer and others are keeping them from cracking my top 5)
2 - England (They have a very difficult road, but assuming Rooney is healthy they can make a run at it)
3 - Portugal (The golden generation is too old, but the young Ronaldo is quite the star)
4 - Italy (They are a counter-attack type team but I can't see them making a serious run when I can't see them coming out of the real group of death with the Czechs, Americans and Ghana there as well)
5 - France (They have an easy group so should advance, but they are very old)

Top 5 Favorites to win it all
these teams are the ones that have the best chance to play for the trophy. (Again in no order)
1 - Hup Holland (The Oranje are still the best nation to never have won it, but Van Basten has gone with youth and energy - Kuyt was the captain vs Mexico)
2 - Brazil (They are the reigning kings, have an unusual easy road and Ronaldinho is ridiculous. I hate Brazil but those Joga Bonito ads are fun)
3 - Spain (They are classic underachievers but this could be there year with Pauletta)
4 - Croatia (They breezed through qualifying and are the closest to a silent killer)
5 - Germany (They have a difficult road after the first round, but they are home and have won it at home before - painful memories)