1.Germany, Brazil
2.Italy, Belgium
3.Argentina

Belgium need a RB... Verma can play LB. The Hazard(Eden, Thorgan, Kylian) brothers will rule in 2018

Argentina has if not the best counter attacking force so if anyone could get a lucky win against Spain it'd be them.

Not with our defense loll. Did you see how much damage the U23 Brazilian team did to it? They were basically walking past it. We would get destroyed by Spain in a competitive match they take seriously. And the only match they took seriously this eurocup was the final.

This Spanish side is not invincible like some people here are making it out to be.I am of the opinion that in these last three tournaments there simply wasnt a worthy contender to challenge them..

2008-That German side was certainly not the best one i've seen.People pipped them to win that tournament cuz some had the feeling that Spain would likely choke again,otherwise it was by far a far superior squad to Germany..And add to that an old and ageing Italian squad without Cannavaro and who had Gattuso and Pirlo missing against Spain but still managed to play a 120 mins scoreless draw..Apart from these two no one really looked like worthy contenders for the tournament.

2010-Well Ballack getting injured was a blessing in disguise of sorts for Germany..It was a very young German side and no one really expected them to win the tournament..And that Brazil squad with Melo and Ramires in midfield looked nowhere near intimidating to the ones we've seen before..Argentina sent out an imbalanced squad to the WC and there is not much to say about Italy.

2012-This is where people thought ,this would be Germany's tournament cuz quite clearly the talent was there to beat Spain,and everybody thought there is finally a worthy contender to Spain but as we saw Germany choked big time and now this is raising doubts in people's mind whether they have actually have what it takes to win the WC in Brazil cuz its generally in the past we've witnessed mentally tough German sides..

Its going to arguably harder for Spain to match the feat in Brazil..Its likely that we'll have more worthy contenders come 2014.
-Brazil in their home country are always tough and intimidating..With the home support and with kind of team they've got already they're more than likely to match Spain.
-Germany -there's no excuse for them come 2014..They simply have to deliver otherwise they could well end up being another Spain pre-2008.

These two teams in my opinion that i'm banking on to break the Spanish stronghold.I mean when you're talking about the "most likely" candidates to topple Spain more so in Brazil's case with the home crowd and i really believe they have the squad to match Spain..Its just a question of the right tactics to deploy against them.

And one wonders how Spain themselves would lineup come 2014..Two players which the team is running through atm,the "system" so as we call it,Xavi and Iniesta would've gotten older.Xavi would be 34 and Iniesta will be 30 and one wonders if they would've have the same kind of impact as they've had in previous tournaments..Although some people argue that Spain have already lined up worthy replacements for them,in my opinion these two players are once in a lifetime players and cannot be replaced.

With that being said i'm looking forward to a competitive tournament come 2014.
My prediction-Brazil to host it and win it.!

deadrave wrote:uruguay

This!!!

I'm surprised none has mentioned Portugal. They have already shown they can go head to head with Spain and possibly win. Last time Spain won it by a luck - Bruno Alves penelty hit the bar and went out, meanwhile Cex penelty hit the post and went in. Spain won it by a inch of luck.

Brazil, Argentina, Germany and a team that isn't top tier, which could shock Spain,

NERMAN2014

Teams like France and Argentina are struggling cuz they lack a genuine playmaker..

Most top NT's at present have atleast one recognized playmaker..

Messi and Benzema are forwards..You cant expect them to do everything on their own..If only Riquelme was 5-6 years younger,this team would've challenged for top honors.

Which makes me to ask the question how is Pastore doing for Argentina NT Is he even being called up ?

The team with Oscar....Socrates reincarnate seeking vengance for 1982

Meh, Germany isn't challenging anything as long as Löw keeps chickening out. Playing a narrow field v Italy just because he was afraid of Pirlo was suicide, we could've taken him out with Khedira + one helper anyway, but with the width we could've had we would have stretched the field nice and easy, and had some space.

Until we get a manager with balls, we'll always need luck to beat any opponent Löw fears. Killed our own game v Spain in 2010, killed our own game v Italy in 2012, and arguably against Portugal too. We should've just tried to play our own game as we always do, no matter the opponent: attacking as balls, and with lots of width.

Not a big fan of the Portugal team, but look at there last 3 results against Spain

WC 2010 - Spain 1- Portugal 0 ( offside Villa goal)
Friendly- Spain 0- Portugal 4
Euro- Spain 0 - Portugal 0 ( wins in shootout)

Portugal has actually done very well compared to other teams when they Spain.

BTW, one more thing about Germany - I think we really should start training set-pieces again. Löw always neglected that even though Flick wasn't happy about it. If you think about how bad we looked with coarners and FKs - if we get that in shape, Germany will be quite some more dangerous right away (and less vulnerable at the back).

Körbl wrote:Not a big fan of the Portugal team, but look at there last 3 results against Spain

WC 2010 - Spain 1- Portugal 0 ( offside Villa goal)
Friendly- Spain 0- Portugal 4
Euro- Spain 0 - Portugal 0 ( wins in shootout)

Portugal has actually done very well compared to other teams when they Spain.

If you put it like this, England and Switzerland weren't so bad against Spain either

rwo power wrote:

Körbl wrote:Not a big fan of the Portugal team, but look at there last 3 results against Spain

WC 2010 - Spain 1- Portugal 0 ( offside Villa goal)
Friendly- Spain 0- Portugal 4
Euro- Spain 0 - Portugal 0 ( wins in shootout)

Portugal has actually done very well compared to other teams when they Spain.

If you put it like this, England and Switzerland weren't so bad against Spain either

In Portugal's case this was done repeatedly not just a one match incident. Think of it this way,from world cup 2010 In 270 mins of normal play + 20 mins extra time Spain has failed to score a legit goal against Portugal. adding a next 90 mins if you go back to euro 04.

France.
Why?
The new Beckenbauer (if he was there for the Euros, they would've won...)

Varane.

Varane > Ramos > T. Silva > Chiellini >everyone else

I can understand teams like Uruguay for example who are defensively so well organized and overall they are a great unit ..

But the likes of Belgium to stop Spain ? ..Let them qualify for the WC first.

And Varane wont make a world of difference to France tbh..Whats missing mainly in them is a dictator general in midfield..Long gone are the days of Zidane.

Maybe Varane will decide to play in the midfield for France... Who knows?

In fact.... If I were the new French coach, I wouldn't bother with selecting a 25 man squad for the world cup.
I'd just name Varane as the sole player of my squad...
He could beat Spain (and the rest of world football) by himself... and that's right now. Imagine him in 2014...
I like my odds.

NERMAN2014

What would be the likely lineups of Brazil,Spain,Germany and Argentina come 2014

Would be interesting just for a comparison's sake.

Depends on who's coaching TBH, Germany could look vastly different if Löw quits.

I dont know why people think Oezil and Goetze cant coexist in the same team..

How about playing Oezil as a CM in a three-man midfield