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Permalink Reply by Ryan O'Rourke on June 13, 2014 at 5:37am

I'll get it kicked off.

My country of residence is Ireland (BOOOOO!), but my country of birth is the U.S.A.

I think we have a solid squad this time around, but the problem is that we're in what has been dubbed "The Group of Death." In other words, the competition we're facing in Germany, Portugal, and even Ghana is stiff.  So, it'll be difficult to even make it out of the group stages.  Possible, yes, but far from likely.  I'd have to think Germany and Portugal will be the ones to advance, though.

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Permalink Reply by Gerry Regan on June 13, 2014 at 11:59am

I remember in decades ago when the World Cup was hosted in NYC, got very enthused about the US team and the Irish team too, which I recall qualified also. I definitely will be rooting for the underdogs, starting with Team USA.

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Permalink Reply by Jean Sullivan Cardinal on June 14, 2014 at 12:18pm

I'm team USA!  Although our coach doesn't seem to have much hope for us, I think we have a better team than he's giving us credit for.  I think we'll put up a good fight but I think our chances would be better with Donovan in the game.

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Permalink Reply by Kieron Punch on June 16, 2014 at 8:54am

I live in England, but there is more likelihood that Hell will freeze over than of me ever supporting any English national team, whether it be football, rugby, cricket, pub darts, crown green bowling, or tiddlywinks. That may seem rather churlish of me but at least I haven't gone so far as to purchase an A.B.E. T-Shirt (Anyone But England)

So, in the absence of Ireland from the tournament, I will be cheering for Italy and Argentina.

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Permalink Reply by Ryan O'Rourke on June 18, 2014 at 12:12pm

Sitting here right now watching Australia -vs- The Netherlands.  

Check out the Irish surnames in Australia's squad:

Ryan, McGowan, McKay (this one could be Scottish ... not sure), Cahill, Halloran

Statistics indicate that Australia has the highest percentage of Irish blood in the world (other than Ireland, of course) ... even higher than the U.S.  So it's no surprise to see this many Irish surnames on the Australian World Cup roster.

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Permalink Reply by Jean Sullivan Cardinal on June 18, 2014 at 1:04pm

I was thinking the same thing, that Australia sure had a lot of Irish names.  :)

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Permalink Reply by Jim Curley on June 20, 2014 at 5:15am

USA,USA.

Beyond that, I'm rooting for the teams from the Americas, North or South,

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