ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: Belgium
Belgium, everyone’s favourite dark horses for years now, might be actually in a position to win the damn thing this time round. Spain and Portugal finally got to throw off the tag of nearly men, can Belgium do it this time? I think they have a real chance of doing so.
In a group featuring the mighty England and the not so mighty Tunisia and first timers Panama, they should easily get into round two. It doesn’t really matter too much if it is first or second, as that more or less means you get to play probably Senegal/Poland/Colombia, all three teams beatable but in the quarters you will have either Germany or Brazil no matter what side of the draw you are in. Can they get past the quarters? That is the question. In one sense playing Brazil or Germany could be their final as you’d expect that if they won that game then they would be hot favourites to lift the trophy. But we thought that before, remember the Euros and the crash to the Welsh!! Have they learned from that?
Roberto Martínez is a manager who has done well with small teams, especially in cup competitions, so I am sure he has the team well grounded. The midfield maestro of Manchester City, Kevin De Bruyne, started the season on fire, and it looked to me at least that he quietened down a little after it looked that City would win the EPL. Was he trying to preserve himself for the World Cup? If so, then Belgium are a serious threat as De Bruyne when he is on form is easily the best player in the world. Belgium really need him to click, as they have the big oaf Romelu Lukaku up front who needs the ball to be put on a plate before he can score a goal.
As for the rest of the squad, they have Eden hazard who can be hot or cold, Marouane Fellaini mostly cold, and an ever slower Vincent Kompany in defence, but when they click they can play some good football and easily brush aside teams. I have to say I am a little surprised that Martínez decided not to bring Radja Nainggolan to Russia. But I guess he knows his squad inside and out at this late stage so you would have to trust the manager. For now!
So overall I wouldn’t be surprised if Belgium got to the final and even won the cup. But the question for me is can they beat Germany or Brazil? Its a tough question, lets see in a months time.
Ok the squad have lost Bastian Schweinsteiger, Philipp Lahm and Miroslav Klose and Manuel Neuer might be a bit out of form with a slow recovery from injury, but its still a squad with some serious amount of talent. Mats Hummels is still the rock in defence, Toni Kroos has stepped forward to run the show in midfield, and Thomas Müller is sure to score up front (and dive like the bitch he is!). Added to that is the fact that big things are expected of Timo Werner who has scored aplenty in the Bundesliga, and PFA Young Player of the Year Leroy Sané, who likes to bomb it up the wings. But really the thing with the German squad is that they slot into positions so easily, they have plenty of talent in all areas of the field, and can afford to take the hit of an injury to the team. Its hard to pick any weaknesses in this team.
They should hoover up Mexico, South Korea and Sweden in their group, and be well capable of beating Costa Rica/Switzerland/Serbia in the second round. There first real test could be a meeting with either England/Belgium in the last eight, which might be close but I’d expect them to come through, Spain or Argentina could lie in wait for the semis, and if they get through all that it is set up for an epic final with Brazil. That’s the plan anyway. Must be noted that the Germans have reached all semi’s since 2002, and all quarter finals since 1982! 
I’d expect them to canter in their group. Switzerland and Serbia are muck and Brazil will play some samba football putting them to the sword. Costa Rica might give them some game, but also wont have a chance of an upset. Nine points and lots of goals should see them ease into the second round where they might get to probably play Mexico. Belgium or even England in the last eight might be interesting but you would imagine that Brazil would edge them to make the semis. Might get France/Portugal/Spain in the semis to set up a possible final with Germany and a chance to really set the record straight. Now wouldn’t that be some final?
All eyes will be on Neymar, coming into the World Cup at 26 and in peak physical fitness, this really can his World Cup. I am also looking forward to seeing Liverpool ace, Roberto Firmino, and also Gabriel Jesus of Man City. Both players having great seasons in the EPL. Both the whole squad looks decent and although my heart skipped a beat when I saw the name Fred, rest assured it is a new younger Fred who plays in Ukraine with Shakhtar Donetsk, phew!
Messi they wouldn’t have even made it out of their group. Getting hammered 6-1 recently by Spain and only just about getting qualification (once again thanks to Messi in the last game) doesn’t bode well for this years games. They already lost to group rivals Nigeria recently as well. 
But you can never discount Messi. The 5 time World Player of the year will surely once again drag his team kicking and screaming over the line. I expect them to get out of the group, just about. With a tough second round game against either Denmark or France that might cause issues to them, and if they get trough that they have Spain or Portugal in the last eight. It wont be easy and it seems every game is a challenge. I don’t think they can do it as Sergio Aguero is carrying a niggly injury and Gonzalo Higuain is a crock of shit.
A pretty good Denmark team could seriously cause them problems in the group stage, but otherwise they should dispatch of a poor Australian team and a Peru team who are probably still in shock of actual qualifying. The Denmark game is last of the three, and it really could go either way. To early to call for me. The difference in winning is avoiding a possible Argentinian team in the second round. Or play Iceland/Nigeria/Croatia? A possible semi’s with Germany or Brazil lie in the long grass depending on results. 
Didier Deschamps has surprised me in how well he has done with the French national team, he has got them far considering the mess he had taken over from Blanc and Domenech before him. They play generally good football under him and we dont tend to see any strife that has rocked previous French teams. But it is France and they are hard to predict. Could get to the last eight, but I dont think they have just enough to get past Germany or Brazil.
I expect the first game will decide the outcome of the group, as I dont expect Morocco and Iran to cause Portugal or Spain too much trouble. In the next round I feel Portugal could get past Russia/Uruguay with few issues. But if all goes to plan we could have a Messi V Ronaldo match up in the last eight and what a game that would be with both players probably playing in their last World Cups???
I think Portugal should get to the last eight at least, after that it all depends on how much the team works around Ronnie. Nani and Quaresma need to step up again, Pepe in defence, and I wonder if Renato Sanches might find the World Cup a welcome distraction to his awful club form of the last two years, it would be nice to see him play some good football on the world stage again. Added to all this is a wily old manager, Fernando Santos, who has finally got Portugal heading in the right direction after years of initial promise but with little to show for it. 
Of course Russia have had their own injury woes with long time striker and Zenit hit man Alexander Kokorin out with a cruciate, otherwise they dont really have much firepower up front. As for the rest of the team, I wouldn’t know a whole lot about any of them as most, if not all, play in the Russian league.
Prediction wise, at this early stage I think they might just sneak out of the group and then get to play either Spain or Portugal in the second round, and that will be the end of that. Pity as I sincerely would like them to do well, but they lack creativity and that extra bit of passion to progress. I fear this World Cup will be a failure for Russia both on the field and off it, but heh lets see. 
Nice talk with Seth Burkett, an ex professional footballer in Brazil and author of the well received book “The Boy in Brazil”
