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england and brazil: world cup 2018

4/20/2018

 
England and Brazil: World Cup 2018. Two old teams to watch for.

England hasn't won the World Cup since 1966, their big year. Since then things haven't been great for the Three Lions World Cup experience.
   In fact, within the European Cup, things have been even worse for the English as they've never won. This is interesting as their main European rivals have World Cup and European Cup titles (Germany, Italy, France, Spain).
   Yet in the World Cup, where England has a claim to fame, since 1966 things have been unlucky to outright disappointing. However, they always have the capability to win; they always have a top-notch group of players. It often has to do with chemistry. There is also the English tendency to cross the ball for scoring chances. It's an inherently difficult way to score, similar to a corner kick (see section on corner kicks in The World Cup 2018 Book: Everything You Need to Know About the Soccer World Cup). Should England focus more on improving dribbling, and hence creative scoring chances around the goal their odds of World Cup success should increase. As for World Cup 2018, they have a good team with a strong chance to make history again, some 52 years later. 

Brazil hasn't won the World Cup since 2002. A long time for the Brazilians. They lead all nations with five World Cup titles. Though, in a  way, they've fallen off the horse a bit since 2006. With the recent Olympic gold medal run in 2016, they're pushing their way back to the top, where they feel they belong. This isn't to say they've been absent. (Though, they had a terrible 2016 Copa America result.) They're always "Brazil." They're always a top team, and always prime time. They have the players in place to make a strong run at the title in Russia. Players like Willian and Neymar should set them apart from even the top teams of the world. Should they win, this would be their record-setting sixth title. 
Picture

things to do list

4/13/2018

 
​Tell the truth.
   During the writing of 
The World Cup 2018 Book: Everything You Need to Know About the Soccer World Cup, which was about a year, there were times when I literally had no idea what day it was. Your welcome. 

Germany, a world cup favorite

4/2/2018

 
Germany
A
  Brief Team History

World Cup titles: 4 (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014)
Germany leads all nations with four second-place finishes (1966, 1982, 1986, 2002). And they lead with four third-place finishes, as well (1934, 1970, 2006, 2010). The defending champs have a long legacy of winning, which gives them an advantage heading into World Cup Russia. Not to mention, they won the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. If they win the 2018 World Cup they'll be the first team to win two World Cups in a row since Brazil did it in 1958 and 1962. (The only other team in history to achieve this would be Italy in 1934 and 1938). 



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    KEY
    (NS) refers to "Non-Soccer" related blog entries, stories and essays.

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    Shane Stay, author of The Euro 2020, The World Cup 2018 Book, Why American Soccer Isn't There Yet.

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