The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: As It Enters the Knockout Stage, Jordan & Paolo Assess a World Cup Worth Sinking Your Teeth Into

Prior to the start of the 2014 World Cup, I posted a preview that predominantly included the insights of my soccer-loving friends Jordan and Paolo.

Now that the Group Stage has concluded and 16 teams--including the U.S.--have made it to the Knockout Stage (played in a one-and-done tournament format), I thought I'd get their assessments and perhaps revised predictions, while sharing some of mine.

Of the 48 games played in the Group Stage, I watched 16 of them, and followed most of the results, but Jordan has seen them all except one, and Paolo has seen most of the major ones.

I've largely been impressed, though--as seeps into some of my conversational-type questions here--I have been troubled by certain aspects, and not just Luis Suarez' biting incident, which I imagine has united the entire world in condemnation.

So rather than pontificate any further myself, I'll simply provide below the e-mail-based trialogue.

1. What are your thoughts on the World Cup so far? Mine, likely not uncommon, are that it's largely been great--good games throughout, several superb goals, surprises among teams that have been really good, good but not advancing and pretty bad, etc.--but marred significantly by the Suarez biting incident and some poor refereeing.  

Jordan: This World Cup has been fantastic. There have only been a handful of sub-par games. I've watched every game live except Spain-Australia.

Paolo: The play of CONCACAF and CONMEBOL has shown that the Americas have loads of talent, and a lot of it is playing in Europe but also in the Mexican league and even in MLS.

The new disappearing chalk that is being used to demarcate where the wall should stand and where the
ball should be on free kicks. Brilliant idea and not sure why it hasn't been used before. Also worthy to note that the ball has NOT been a distraction like it was in South Africa in 2010 and also that the vuvuzela has not really been replaced (although the Brazilians have something similar).

  
2. Weird things often seem to happen in the World Cup--e.g. the Zidane headbutt in 2006, handballs affecting games, etc.--but the cream of the crop (in terms of teams) frequently rise to the top nonetheless. Yet, for me--and I was no great fan of them coming in--what happened to Italy (knocked out by Uruguay after losing a player to a red card, the at-the-time non-penalized Suarez bite, a goal by Uruguay's Godin who arguably should have been red-carded against England and therefore not playing, the WC end for stars like Buffon and Pirlo) casts a bit of a pall over the rest of the Cup. How do you feel?

Jordan: Nah. No pall. Yeah, Italy got pretty screwed by a very debatable red card, Godin not getting a second yellow against England in the previous game, and the referee not seeing Suarez try to take a chunk out of Chiellini's shoulder, but as you note in your first question there were several bad decisions made by the referees throughout the group stage. Maybe Italy got it worse than others and maybe I would feel a little differently if I thought Italy was playing well but aside from being okay against England I didn't think they offered very much.

Paolo: The World Cup is a global celebration of the world's most popular game and also indirectly of our cultures. I find it fascinating to see how fans dress and cheer on their teams. So no pall.

But the Suarez incident, and some poor refereeing have impacted a few games. The Italians got screwed. 

3. Luis Suarez has now been banned by FIFA for the rest of the World Cup and beyond, for a total of 4 months (and 9 international games). Is this just? Should it have been worse?

Jordan: I don't know exactly what the scope of FIFA's authority is and I think I have heard some talk that they may be overreaching by suspending him from Premier League games for Liverpool. We'll have to wait and see about that.

I don't know if it's enough of a punishment. How many times can he be allowed to bite people? If he continues biting people at this rate he will next bite someone on January 18th, 2015 and by August 3rd, 2015 he will be biting a person every day. (Credit for those calculations goes to these tweets from Bootiful Game: 1, 2)

He needs to stop biting people but I've seen no evidence that he is going to. (Here is Suarez' lame defense of the incident, which was a particular shame given how well he showed against England, scoring 2 goals just a month removed from knee surgery.)

Paolo: I applaud FIFA for handing down a stiff sanction. Suarez has issues. I'm worried because Barcelona has been looking to add him. 

4. Let's talk about the U.S.A., who have advanced to the knockout stage. I didn't see the Ghana match, but heard the U.S. was outplayed despite winning; they were better than Portugal, but gave up a stunning goal to settle for a draw. They lost to powerhouse Germany--in the rain after playing in stifling Manaus--but surprisingly made it through the "Group of Death." Assess their play, success, chances and any revised world stature.

Jordan: You heard right about the Ghana game but part of the reason that game may have unfolded the way it did was due to Dempsey's goal in the first minute. The U.S. wasn't very good and Michael Bradley had the worst game I think I've ever seen him have. They were better against Portugal but Portugal was well below full strength and also not in good form. Germany didn't look great against them but they still seemed very dangerous and on a different level. Maybe Germany just felt like they didn't need to do too much more than they did.

I'm not trying to take away any credit (even though as I read what I just wrote it may seem that way). The U.S. fully deserved to advance. As for their chance against Belgium, they certainly have a chance. Belgium won all three of their games but did not look great in their first two. (In their third game they rested about half of their first team so I'm not really counting that one.) I do remember the U.S. playing Belgium in a friendly in May of 2013 in Cleveland and Belgium really smoked the U.S. 4-2 (you can read about that game here). The lineups will not be exactly the same when they play on July 1st, and Belgium is missing their star striker Chistian Benteke while the U.S. is missing Jozy Altidore. You can read about that game here:

If Belgium plays well I don't think the U.S. can beat them. I give the U.S. about a 30% chance of winning.

Paolo: The U.S. should be proud of advancing out of the Group of Death and making the knockout round for the second straight cup. They lost by a goal to the number 2 team in the world (Germany), and tied the number 4 team (Portugal). They said they had to beat Ghana and they did. They still haven't played a complete game, and I predict they will against Belgium. On paper Belgium wins, but who doesn't love an underdog better than Americans?

I say they shock everyone, beat Belgium and meet Argentina in the Quarters. There, however, the dream ends... but (Coach Jürgen) Klinsmann chose a young squad thinking about the next World Cup. I think the U.S. continues to make huge strides and wouldn't be surprised with a quarterfinal appearance in 2018. 

5. To paraphrase My Fair Lady, why has the reign of Spain gone mainly down the drain?

Jordan: Spain just finished an era of unprecedented dominance but their core players have gotten older. Their central defense especially was lacking. They also played two of the best teams in the world in their first two games. They have a lot of very good young players and there is no reason why they shouldn't be among the best teams again very soon.

Paolo: Spain's dominance over 8 years is unmatched in European football. Two Euro Championships sandwiched around the World Cup make them team for the ages and the tiki-taca football they invented is now used by many. But they got old, seemingly overnight. Casillas was a mistake in goal and the defense just plain didn't show up. But new blood is on the way and Spain will remain a world power. 

6. Which teams have impressed you, not just in advancing, but in the way they played. Jordan, I know you liked how Australia showed, even though they wound up with 0 points in the group stage.

Jordan: I was expecting Australia to get crushed but they were great in their first two games against Chile and the Netherlands (the same teams that Spain played). They easily could have drawn both of those. France was mostly awesome. Colombia was great and very entertaining, scoring some of the best goals so far. Costa Rica surprised me (and pretty much everyone) and was really solid.

Paolo: No one has looked AWESOME for all three games, but the Brazilians, Argentines, Germans, and Dutch look to be the most complete teams.

Chile, Colombia and Costa Rica have also impressed. And the Greeks and US and the Aussies showed some grit. Kudos to all of them. 

7. To my untrained eyes, no team has looked completely dominant. Obviously the Netherlands impressed against Spain, but not against Australia. Argentina went 3-0, but largely thanks to Messi and their defense seems suspect. Germany was strong but drew vs. Ghana. Brazil has been solid, but not awesome, and were fortunate to survive Croatia thanks to a terrible call. Costa Rica and Columbia were impressive, but probably far from favorites to win it all. How do you view the group stage play & results, and how it may foretell what happens in the knockout stage.

Jordan: Aside  from Spain getting knocked out the biggest surprises were probably Costa Rica, Greece, and Algeria advancing. France looked like a very, very good team.

Paolo: Agree. 

Follow match results at FIFA.com

8. 16 teams are now left in the tournament-style "knockout" stage. Who are your picks to advance to the semis, finals and win it all? I'll guess Brazil v Germany and Netherlands v Argentina. It can really go any way from there, but given the locale, would love to see Brazil play Argentina, with Neymar vs. Messi. I'd root for Argentina, but wouldn't be shocked if Netherlands or even Belgium were to beat them, let alone Brazil.

Jordan: I mostly agree. Even though Brazil have not been that good I can't pick against them. I wouldn't be that surprised though if they lost to Chile in the round of 16 or in their next game which I am guessing would be against Colombia. I think the Netherlands has the easiest route, playing Mexico (who I don't rate even though other people seem to like them) then, if they win that, would face the winner of Costa Rica-Greece. (I have heard the Netherlands have injury concerns with a bunch of their best players, including Robben, so that could affect things)

France looks so good (and don't look like they are going to implode) so maybe I would pick them to beat Germany and face Brazil in one semifinal, Argentina-Netherlands in the other. If I had to pick a winner I still think Brazil is the most likely. If I was going to pick a winner on how the teams look I'd take France. They have great depth as well.

Paolo: Seth, I think you have the 4 finalists. France looks better, but no way they beat Germany. 

9. Who have been the best players so far, and of those still in play, who should have the most impact? Besides strong play from Neymar (Brazil) and big goals by Messi (Argentina), I've been impressed by Robyn van Persie and Arjen Robben of the Netherlands, and Mexican goalie Guillermo Ochoa. But they've been pretty obvious, so feel free to go a good bit deeper.

Jordan: James Rodriguez from Colombia has been brilliant. Also on Colombia, Cuadrado and Jackson Martinez. And 38-year-old Mario Yepes on defense has been great. Mueller of Germany and Shaqiri of Switzerland each have a hat trick so they are kind of obvious. Benzema (France) has been excellent and is unlucky to not have more than three goals. Slimani, Halliche, and Feghouli on Algeria. Blind on Netherlands. Aranguiz and Diaz on Chile.

Paolo: Agree. 

10. Especially given the success of the U.S., and that of countries with large U.S. populations--Mexico, Germany, Greece, Dutch and others, it certainly seems like the World Cup is bigger in the United States now than throughout our lifetimes. Two questions related to this:

a) I've read about Americans complaining about games ending in ties, players flopping and/or faking injury and bad calls affecting outcomes. Will or should any of this impact future "football" fandom in the U.S.

Jordan: I don't know. If that's what people focus on not much can be done. I don't get what's wrong with a tie. They should have them in baseball. Sometimes the most representative result of a game is a tie. (And it's okay, you don't have to call it "football". The game is called soccer here (among other places)). 

Paolo: I think that the pendulum has swung in favor of soccer. Look at the crowds cheering the team on and it is obviously younger demographic. The old stuffy reporters who for decades have spoken about how much they hate the game, are being put out to pasture. Younger reporters who grew up around the sport understand its significance. 

Story at ChicagoTribune.com

b) It seems the media is speculating about the popularity of the World Cup spurring an increase in MLS popularity (there's a story on the front page of Thursday's Chicago Tribune but registration may be required to see it online). There seems to be plausibility in this, but the logic is a bit askew, as from what you've both previously imparted, MLS lags well behind the top leagues in England, Spain, Italy, Germany and likely elsewhere in terms of fielding the world's truly elite players at the peak of their careers. This sense of "second-tier" play also differentiates MLS from MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL. Please discuss.

Jordan: I hardly watch the MLS. The quality isn't great and I don't have any space left in my brain to follow it. There is just too much other (and better) soccer available to watch. That being said I wish I was able to see more of the league below the Premier League (called the Championship).

Paolo: Most of the U.S. squad and about another 15 or so members from other squads play in the MLS. While it is still not a European league, it is increasingly becoming a destination for players from Latin America. MLS will continue to grow as a result.  I'd also point out that teams playing well (France, Holland, Greece, Costa Rica, Mexico) have 2nd tier leagues as opposed to La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, and the Premier League. While some of that talent does play in those leagues, a lot of it doesn't. They play in other leagues. 

11. Anything else you'd like to mention about what you've observed in World Cup 2014 so far, what you expect, what you've liked and hated, etc.?

Jordan: I expect the Brazil-Chile game to be a barn burner. In their last game against the Netherlands the Chile players did not cover themselves in glory with the way they conducted themselves. Brazil also has some players inclined to histrionics and I expect it to be a very difficult game to referee. England's Howard Webb will be the ref. Good luck.

It wouldn't be a World Cup without a team imploding and this year we have Ghana to thank. (Cameroon gets special mention as well) Ghana players threatened to strike unless they got their bonus payments in cash so Ghana's president flew $3,000,000 over to Brazil. Then, for whatever reason, Sulley Muntari physically attacked a Ghana official and was kicked off the team, as was Kevin Prince-Boateng for some type of verbal altercation.

Honduras was just trying to hurt people. Glad they're gone.

Outside of Spain, England, Ivory Coast, and Japan were very disappointing. Croatia and Bosnia generally did well but were unfortunate.

This has nothing to do with anything but two players have been kicked in the face. Dempsey got his nose broken and I don't believe a foul was even called. Von Bergen on Switzerland had his cheekbone/orbital bone broken (and is out of the World Cup) by a Giroud kick. In neither case was a card given when at a minimum a yellow was deserved and I don't know that a red would have been out of order.

One last note about the refereeing. I can complain about referees with the best of them but I think it should be remembered that it is a very difficult job. Many of the players, for lack of a better word, cheat. Ultimately they are the ones more to blame. It is one thing to exaggerate contact to draw attention to being fouled. It goes to a different level when players are trying to get an opponent carded. Then there is also the subject of pretending to be injured in order to waste time, which is also unsavory.

I'm not sure what the solution would be to cut down on that stuff. Diving is a whole other subject and in cases of diving I'm in favor of retrospective punishment. I know it is not always easy to conclusively prove a dive but sometimes they can (I'm looking at you, Fred), and when they can I think players should be suspended. I think that if the players knew that a suspension was a possibility it would at least somewhat curtail the diving.

Paolo: Hate the diving and shows of poor sportsmanship. Love the shows of solidarity and the time held tradition of trading jerseys with the team you just played.

Jordan brings up a good point about how blood can be drawn and no card be awarded? I also think that the goal line cam has been used well.

Well, there you have it. Thanks to Jordan and Paolo for all their great insights, provided quite expeditiously. Enjoy the rest of the World Cup even if your team doesn't "go to Rio."

Are You Ready For Some Futebol? Jordan and Paolo Preview the World Cup (Providing Help for Neophytes Like Me)

On Thursday, June 12, the 2014 World Cup kicks off with a match between host country Brazil and Croatia.

I am not certain I will watch the game, but if I can, I will.

Not because I love soccer, or outside U.S. shores, football. (And in the Brazilian tongue of Portuguese, futebol.)

I'm really not an aficionado, not in the sense of avidly following a 90+ minute game that may well not even include a single goal.

With apologies to the billions who fervently love soccer--including, as featured below, two of my best friends--the game itself kind of bores me.

That said, I love the culture of soccer and how it--and the World Cup--unifies the world likely more than anything else.

So while I will not be watching every minute of every World Cup game, I will closely follow the tournament and relish what I do see.

This is in large part due to two of my closest friends, who are huge soccer fans.

Jordan, my best friend since kindergarten, is still a big baseball fan as we were growing up, but now watches much more soccer. Pretty much everything I know about what's happening in "football," whether in the English Premier League, Europe's Champions League or elsewhere, is because of his enlightening me.

Paolo, who I met at work in 2008, has not only lived in a good number of participating World Cup countries, he played soccer at Harvard. And as he did with the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he will be traveling to Brazil for all of the final matches--at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro--and perhaps a few others.

From www.fifa.com/worldcup/

So rather than trying to bluster my way through a half-fast World Cup preview cobbled from other sources of information, I just asked them for their help.

With hopes, in part, to enlighten rather casual fans like myself, what follows are their answers to my questions, with almost no editing on my part.

I'll simply add that I want Argentina to win because of superstar Lionel Messi, and not knowing any better, will even pick them to win. But Jordan and Paolo's predictions are undoubtedly much better than mine.

1. Best guess, who wins?

Jordan: Brazil. It's awful tough to discount the home field advantage. Assuming Brazil make it out of their group they do face possibly the toughest first round of 16 game. They will have to play one of Spain, Netherlands, or Chile. Yikes.

Paolo: Tough one. Spain COULD repeat, Brazil is home and formidable, but I'm worried about the Germans.

2. Three other teams that could win it all:

Jordan: Argentina, Spain, and Germany.

Paolo: Just the three I named, anything else would be considered a major upset. Super outside shot? Belgium and Argentina.

3. Who do you want to win?

Jordan: Argentina. Mostly because of Messi. Spain would be my second choice. They are already reigning two-time Euro champions and reigning World Cup champions. Three consecutive major titles is unprecedented but a fourth would be another order of magnitude of incredible.

Paolo: Spain

4. Which teams may do surprisingly well?

Jordan: Hmm. I guess South Korea and Japan. If either gets out of their group that would be a surprise possibility. Also I guess if Switzerland can win their group they would have a good chance to make it to the quarterfinals. It may sound weird but Italy could surprise. They never seem to be mentioned with the favorites but they have a chance to go very far. Unfortunately they lost Riccardo Montolivo to a broken leg in the friendly against Ireland. That could hurt them.

Paolo: Belgium, Croatia, and I really think the U.S.

5. Which teams may do surprisingly bad?

Jordan: The team that is pretty popular to call overrated is Belgium. I might overrate them as well. They have a bit of a "Golden Generation" happening right now but I think the reason I (and others) may overrate them is that they have a ton of very good to great players playing in the Premier League (Fellaini, Vermaelen, Vertonghen, Mirallas, Kompany, Lukaku, Hazard, Chadli, Mignolet (even though he's a back-up), and Dembele, They also have possibly the best goalkeeper in the world in Courtois) so a lot of people are very familiar with them.

Belgium are in the easiest group but they don't have a ton of international experience. If they come in second in their group they will probably face Germany in the round of 16 and that would likely end their tournament. If they win their group they could well face Portugal which isn't a walk in the park either.

Paolo: Mexico and England.

6. Assess the U.S. chances. Do you agree with the exclusion of Landon Donovan?

Click here to enlarge
Click here for a PDF

Jordan: I could well be wrong but I expect the U.S. to be defeated heavily. Their defense looks like a shambles to me and I could see especially Germany and possibly Portugal putting a big score on them.

I probably don't know enough about the U.S. team to say if leaving Donovan out was the right move or not. Klinsmann (the U.S. head coach) knows better than I do though, that's for sure.

Paolo: If the U.S. loses respectfully vs. Germany (enabling goal differential to apply as a possible tie breaker), they need to draw with Portugal and beat Ghana. That possibly gets them into the second round. Once there they can upset anyone to get to the quarters.

Regarding Donovan, he was out of shape and I think he didn't set a good example. He's probably the greatest American player of all time, but he lost out to a youth movement.

7. Which teams should casual fans pay most attention to?
 
Jordan: That's a tough one. It sort of depends why someone is watching. If you can pick a team to root for that can help. Casual fans can't really tell much about the quality of play, and the quality of play is not always great, partly due to the players not playing together very much and partly because a lot of teams in the World Cup play a tight and cagey game. It's a huge deal and no one wants to make a mistake so a lot of the play can end up being pretty cautious.

France has some fantastic players and they can be exciting. Sometimes they implode but they can't implode any worse than they did in 2010 because that would be impossible. They left Samir Nasri off the team because he is a wanker, which made me laugh because I don't care for him. Nasri's girlfriend, upon finding out he had been left off the team, went on twitter and insulted the French team's manager, for which he is suing her. Ha ha.

As for style of play Chile might be the best team to watch. They're crazy. They go after people. It's very unfortunate that they are grouped with both Spain and the Netherlands which really limits their chances of advancing, but anything is possible. They are very, very good and I could see them taking second in their group behind Spain.

Argentina has superb attacking talent (including Messi of course) and a suspect defense which is an entertaining combination.

Brazil is always a must-watch but they do not play with the kind of flair that they have long been famous for. They are a little more workmanlike but they are still pretty awesome.

Paolo: Spain, Germany, Italy, Belgium

8. What will be the toughest group(s)?

Jordan: Group B is insanely brutal. Groups D and G after that. Groups C and H seem to be the most wide open as to who will advance.

Paolo: The U.S. are in the group of death (Group G, with Germany, Portugal and Ghana)

9. Please remind/enlighten us casual observers how World Cup play is formatted, in terms of the group stage and advancement from there.

Jordan: There are 8 groups--labeled A through H--of 4 teams each. A team plays one game against each of the three other teams in their group. 3 points are awarded for a win, 1 point for a draw. After the 3 games, if teams are tied on points the first tiebreaker is goal difference. The second tiebreaker is goals scored. The top two teams in each group advance to the round of 16. Teams that come in first place in their group are matched up against a team from another group that came in second. Once it gets to the round of 16, it is just a straight bracketed knock-out tournament.

10. Which games in the group stage are you most excited to watch?

Jordan: The order in which the games are played has an effect on this. Ghana v U.S. play their first game against each other on June 16th. That one is huge. If the U.S. can win that game they actually have a chance because their third game is against Germany. If Germany already have the group wrapped up by then that could benefit the U.S.

In theory England v Italy in the first game could be one to watch but it could end up being the type of game where neither team wants to take any chances and a 0-0 draw is a likely result. Also, it is being played in the jungle in Manaus and the heat will probably be a big factor.

Spain v Netherlands is massive. Two of the biggest teams. Argentina v Bosnia-Herzegovina could be a goal-fest. Serious attacking forces and not the best defenses could mean a chance of a lot of goals. Chile v Australia could be a big time beatdown (with Chile doing the beating down).

Otherwise we just need to wait until the third game of each group when we will know all the possible permutations.

Paolo: U.S. vs Portugal

11. Cite a good handful of players that fans should note besides Lionel Messi (Argentina) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal).

Jordan: Kerzhakov (Russia), Rakatic (Croatia), Pogba (France), Matuidi (France), Shaqiri (Switzerland), Sanchez (Chile), Di Maria (Argentina), Hazard (Belgium), Lukaku (Belgium), Pjanic (Bosnia-Herzegovina), Neymar (Brazil), Oscar (Brazil), Paulinho (Brazil), Gotze (Germany), Reus (Germany), Muller (Germany), Sterling (England), Sturridge (England), Barkley (England), YaYa Toure (Ivory Coast), Wilfried Bony (Ivory Coast), Joao Moutinho (Portugal), Guarin (Colombia)

Some players that would qualify but for serious injury concerns: Falcao (Colombia), Suarez (Uruguay), Diego Costa (Spain)

Not a comprehensive list by any means but here are some major players that come to mind who are out with injury: Montolivo (Italy), Benteke (Belgium), Montes (Mexico), Edwin Valencia (Colombia)

Paolo: So many. Look for the young U.S. striker Aron Jóhannsson, also don't sleep on Iniesta (Spain)

12. What are some compelling storylines, whether about country rivalries, FIFA, coaches in trouble, etc.?

Jordan: The most compelling storyline has to be a combination of the upcoming (and continuing) civil unrest in Brazil and the despicable corruption of FIFA. I'll admit I don't even know close to all of the details and won't try to list the things I am aware of here. Perhaps Paolo has a more informed perspective. What I do know is that FIFA is utterly corrupt and I believe its president, Sepp Blatter, should be in prison.

Especially where events like the Olympics or the World Cup are involved there is always a massive amount of corruption and human rights violations involved.

This is an article about the kind of corruption to which I'm referring, and I will be reading this book as
soon as I can get my hands on it.

On the sporting side, the second game of the group stage between  Uruguay and England and the possibility of Suarez facing many of his Premier League opponents and also many of his teammates at Liverpool is fascinating.

Also, Coach Jurgen Klinsmann taking the U.S. to face Germany.

Paolo: Brazil will be considered a disaster if they don't get to the at least the semi-finals, same for Spain and Germany.

13. Please cite any helpful resources for following the World Cup; television outlets, websites, apps, media coverage, etc.

Jordan: Every game will either be on ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC. All games will also be available streaming on ESPN3.

This link shows all games and the American broadcast outlet on a daily basis.

I tend to stick to the U.K. for most of my information, mostly the Guardian and the BBC.

I listen to a quantifiable butt load of podcasts. Some of them are:

The Guardian, Football Weekly

The Football Ramble

World Soccer Talk (they are also doing a series with individual episodes devoted to previewing each team)

Second Captains - This is an Irish podcast and I'm not sure what the extent of their coverage will be and it may be interspersed with Gaelic football and hurling.

Men In Blazers - For me, this is the most entertaining podcast of all, though it may not be everyone's cup of tea as it has a lot of inside jokes and therefor may not seem to be the most informative, but I think it is the funniest.

Also, the FotMob app has real-time soccer scores from around the world, so should be a good resource for those who just want the scores. There is also FotMob.com.

Paolo: FIFA.com; FIFA.com/worldcup

(Seth: This Grantland.com article provides more in-depth tips for following the action, but could be helpful for non-full-time football aficionados.)  
 

Maracana Stadium, Rio de Janeiro

14. Paolo, what games will you likely be attending?

Paolo: Have tickets to semifinal, the third place and final games Secured. May scalp a quarter final if possible.

15. Anything else not covered above.

Jordan: I'm sure I could go on but I decided to keep it brief.

And there you have it. Enjoy the action and all the communal aspects of the World Cup.

Many thanks to Jordan and Paolo for providing great insight. And if Argentina doesn't win, well, don't cry for me. I won't be betting on it.