It Is Finally Here!!!! Thoughts on World Cup Eve

It is less than a day away, my favorite sporting event of all time on earth is about to begin!!!

The World Cup kicks off tomorrow and while I won't be ducking out of work to watch the inaugural South Africa vs. Mexico game, through the magic of summer hour Fridays I will get to see Uruguay vs. France in its entirety without guilt/anxiety/excuses.

I filled out a bracket and I don't really want to say who I picked because it is who I think will win, not who I want. My final match pits two European teams who have never won against each other. I hope I am wrong.

As far as the Golden Boot goes... I have no idea who will win and am not going to make a serious prediction. But I will say this: If you are looking for a dark horse Lucas Barrios might be your guy. For the last 4 years or so he has scored at an astounding pace in several different countries. His haul in the Bundesliga this past season silenced those who thought his goal scoring record was the product of being a good player in average leagues like Mexico and Chile. He was just naturalized in Paraguay and received his first caps in the friendlies these past few weeks. He has 3 goals in 3 games and seems to be continuing his club form for his adopted country. Aside from goal scoring prowess the reason I think he might make a run for topgun is that Paraguay are in a group with Italy and Slovakia, where Barrios can get maybe a goal or two, but then he has New Zealand where there is a possibility of an offensive explosion. I also see Paraguay in the round of 16 at least. And I don't know what the hierarchy is in the Paraguayan side but Barrios has been a penalty taker for years and could notch a few that way.

Tomorrow's opening game will be interesting. Mexico is clearly a better team but the atmosphere will lift South Africa. I envision a game with many twists and turns, changes of pace and dominance, and an eventual draw. Probably 1-1.

For no real reason other than temperment and a hunch I think Uruguay will pull the first upset of the tournament tomorrow against France. Although a team that only squeaked into the World Cup by the narrowest of margins (and even then probably shouldn't be here) with well publicized internal strife is not the France of 4 years ago.

Enjoy!