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The 2014 World Cup in Brazil starts this Thursday, and the window of professional productivity is shrinking as the tournament draws near. Rather than doing the intelligent thing and fully utilizing every remaining minute of focused thought that I have left for the next month on projects of import, I am instead bringing you my somewhat dual warring predictions for the World Cup.
My problem with predictions is that what I believe will happen (my head) is almost never what I want to have happen (my heart). For example, France is a fine squad with loads of talent that I believe will make the knockout rounds no problem. However, my heart still holds a grudge against the country for being the locale of a particularly acrimonious breakup. That part of me hopes France loses all of its matches 0-3 and goes home shamed and disappointed. On the flipside, I love South Korea, I worked and lived there for a spell and it was some of the best time of my life. My heart wants South Korea to breeze into the Semi-Finals. However, my brain believes, especially after Korea’s 0-4 defeat to Ghana, that they haven’t a prayer of escaping the group stage.
So, without further ado, here are my Head predictions for the World Cup.
Head Bracket:
Group A: Brazil, Mexico, Croatia, Cameroon
Group B: Spain, Chile, Netherlands, Australia
Group C: Colombia, Ivory Coast, Japan, Greece
Group D: Uruguay, Italy, England, Costa Rica
Group E: France, Ecuador, Switzerland, Honduras
Group F: Argentina, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Nigeria, Iran
Group G: Germany, Portugal, Ghana, USA
Group H: Belgium, Russia, South Korea, Algeria
Semi-Finals: Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Spain
Finals: Argentina, Brazil
Champion: Argentina
Golden Ball Winner: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Top Goal Scorer: Hulk (Brazil)
Golden Gloves: Iker Casillas (Spain)
Bonus Ball: In the United States, there will be more time spent talking about how Landon Donavan would have been the difference between advancing to the knockout rounds and the US team’s early exit from the World Cup than time spent talking about the actual matches in the knockout rounds.
So, what does everyone think? Is my head relatively sane and objective in its predicting? Leave a comment and let me know, and stay tuned for tomorrows somewhat less predictable Heart Bracket.