Czech Republic Wins World Cup!
...at least according to FIFA.
Published: June 5, 2006
EA has long louded their sports titles' ability to simulate the events of real-life sporting events using all the data they've compiled into the game -- hell all sports games at least try to make the claim (some even manage to do it for an astonishingly long time). Still, it's always fun to see what the game's simulations actually come up with -- and this year's FIFA offering is a doozy.
According to the mighty divination powers of 2006 FIFA World Cup, the winner of soccer's (or, if you prefer, football's/futball's) biggest honor will go to... the Czech Republic? Yep, apparently they beat out Brazil for the trophy in a 2-1 squeaker game. Czech forward Pavel Nedved clinched it 77 minutes into the final, overcoming the 1-1 tie set by Brazil's Ronaldo and an earlier Czech goal by Tomas Rosicky.
The biggest predictions by the game were as follows:
World Champion: Czech Republic
World Cup Final: Czech Republic 2 | Brazil 1
1st team to be eliminated: Ecuador
Golden Shoe winner: Milan Baros, Czech Republic (7 goals)
Golden Ball winner: Pavel Nedved, Czech Republic
We normally hate when there's a massive cut/paste in a news story (it's not a news story, is it, then? It's just a press release), there's so much here in the form of footy factoids that we honestly don't know where to start. Please, forgive us for our laziness, but at least we'll admit this is the handiwork of some very talented EA scribes:
"The Final itself was an epic battle where the Czech Republic’s resilient defense was pitted against Brazilian flair, with the Czech Republic ultimately winning 2-1 to capture its first World Cup. Goals from Ronaldo and Tomas Rosicky kept the game tied 1-1 going into the second half. The difference between the teams was Czech forward Pavel Nedved, who unlocked a weaker Brazilian backline in the 77th minute for Milan Baros to score his sixth goal of the tournament, and secure the trophy for the Czechs.
In the EA SPORTS™ simulation, old rivalries were reignited. England was beaten by Germany in the Round of Sixteen. The host country then went on to meet eventual champion Czech Republic in one semifinal. The Czech team, inspired by Nedved in his final tournament as an international player, halted the German advance with a 2-1 victory, with Nedved getting on to the scoresheet.
The only penalty shoot-out of the tournament was at the end of a classic clash between Brazil and Argentina in the other semifinal. With result locked at 2-2 at the end of extra time, the freshly substituted Robinho was the man of the moment to hammer home the winning goal after Juan Riquelme shot wide for Argentina’s final penalty.
The biggest tournament upsets were Italy and Portugal being knocked out in the group stages.
The surprise team of the tournament was Costa Rica who recorded their greatest finish in FIFA World Cup history by reaching the quarterfinals. One-time English Premiership player Paolo Wanchope established himself as a favorite for supporters from every nation with his creative passing and a handful of stunning goals securing wins against Poland and Ecuador along the way.
Team USA managed wins over Italy (3-2) and Ghana (2-0) and tied the Czech Republic in the difficult Group E before its luck ran out against the powerful Brazilian side in the Round of 16. USA opened the tournament with a 2-2 tie against eventual champion Czech Republic when DeMarcus Beasley scored the game-tying goal in the 84th minute against the run of play. USA trailed 2-1 early in the second half after Nedved put the Czechs out in front. Brian McBride scored the other goal for USA. Beasley’s game-tying goal created momentum for the U.S. against the Italian side. USA led 2-1 at the half on goals by Eddie Lewis and Eddie Johnson but Italy’s Alessandro Del Piero notched his second goal to tie the game in the 60th minute. USA pressed forward and counted the winner off of the foot of Landon Donovan in the 72nd minute. Donovan and Beasley both counted goals for USA and Kasey Keller earned the shutout in the 2-0 win over Ghana that sent the American side onto to play Brazil."
See? How could we have summed that up properly? We don't know anything about football (well, except for Matt, but right now he's too busy meditating and trying to project his soul out onto the astral plane so he can watch the game from afar, so he's no help to us right now. For those curious, here's the full suite of predictions:
Final Score -- Goal Scorer
Brazil 1 -- Ronaldo
Czech Rep. 2 -- Baros, Rosicky
3rd Place Game
Argentina 3 -- Tevez, Messi, Galetti
Germany 1 -- Schweinsteiger
Semi Finals
Argentina 1 -- Tevez
Brazil 2 -- Adriano (2)
Germany 0
Czech Rep. 2 -- Baros, Nedved
Quarter Finals
Costa Rica 1 -- Wanchope
Argentina 3 -- Messi, Tevez, Riquelme
Brazil 1 -- Ronaldo
France 0
Germany 2 -- Podolski, Ballack
Mexico 0
Czech Rep. 3 -- Baros 2, Koller
Switzerland 0
Group of 16
Costa Rica 2 -- Wanchope (2)
Paraguay 0
Argentina 1 -- Crespo
Iran 0
USA 2 -- Donovan, McBride
Brazil 3 -- Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Robinho
France 2 -- Zidane (2)
Spain 1 -- Torres
Germany 1 -- Podolski
England 0
Holland 2 -- Robben, Van Nistlerooy
Mexico 4 -- Bravo, Borgetti (2), Pardo
Czech Rep. 3 -- Koller (2), Galasek
Australia 1 -- Viduka
Switzerland 2 -- Frei, Vogel
Ukraine 1 -- Shevchenko
:Group Play:
Group A
Germany 1 | Costa Rica 1
Poland 2 | Ecuador 1
Germany 2 | Poland 1
Ecuador 1 | Costa Rica 3
Ecuador 0 | Germany 1
Costa Rica 2 | Poland 1
Group B
England 3 | Paraguay 0
Trinidad & Tobago 1 | Sweden 0
England 2 | Trinidad & Tobago 0
Sweden 1 | Paraguay 2
Sweden 2 | England 2
Paraguay 2 | Trinidad & Tobago 1
Group C
Argentina 3 | Ivory Coast 1
Serbia & Montenegro 0 | Holland 1
Argentina 2 | Serbia & Montenegro 0
Holland 2 | Ivory Coast 1
Holland 1 | Agrentina 1
Ivory Coast 2 | Serbia & Montenegro 3
Group D
Mexico 1 | Iran 1
Angola 0 | Portugal 3
Mexico 2 | Angola 0
Portugal 1 | Iran 2
Portugal 2 | Mexico 3
Iran 0 | Angola 0
Group E
Italy 2 | Ghana 2
USA 2 | Czech 2
Italy 2 | USA 3
Czech 2 | Ghana 0
Czech 2 | Italy 1
Ghana 0 | USA 2
Group F
Brazil 3 | Croatia 2
Australia 2 | Japan 1
Brazil 1 | Australia 1
Japan 1 | Croatia 1
Japan 0 | Brazil 2
Croatia 2 | Australia 4
Group G
France 2 | Switzerland 2
Korea 1 | Togo 1
France 3 | Korea 0
Togo 0 | Switzerland 2
Togo 0 | France 2
Switzerland 2 | Korea 1
Group H
Spain 1 | Ukraine 1
Tunisia 1 | Saudia 1
Spain 2 | Tunisia 1
Saudia 1 | Ukraine 3
Saudia 0 | Spain 2
Ukraine 2 | Tunisia 1
And now you know. The great FIFA has spoken!
According to the mighty divination powers of 2006 FIFA World Cup, the winner of soccer's (or, if you prefer, football's/futball's) biggest honor will go to... the Czech Republic? Yep, apparently they beat out Brazil for the trophy in a 2-1 squeaker game. Czech forward Pavel Nedved clinched it 77 minutes into the final, overcoming the 1-1 tie set by Brazil's Ronaldo and an earlier Czech goal by Tomas Rosicky.
The biggest predictions by the game were as follows:
World Champion: Czech Republic
World Cup Final: Czech Republic 2 | Brazil 1
1st team to be eliminated: Ecuador
Golden Shoe winner: Milan Baros, Czech Republic (7 goals)
Golden Ball winner: Pavel Nedved, Czech Republic
We normally hate when there's a massive cut/paste in a news story (it's not a news story, is it, then? It's just a press release), there's so much here in the form of footy factoids that we honestly don't know where to start. Please, forgive us for our laziness, but at least we'll admit this is the handiwork of some very talented EA scribes:
"The Final itself was an epic battle where the Czech Republic’s resilient defense was pitted against Brazilian flair, with the Czech Republic ultimately winning 2-1 to capture its first World Cup. Goals from Ronaldo and Tomas Rosicky kept the game tied 1-1 going into the second half. The difference between the teams was Czech forward Pavel Nedved, who unlocked a weaker Brazilian backline in the 77th minute for Milan Baros to score his sixth goal of the tournament, and secure the trophy for the Czechs.
In the EA SPORTS™ simulation, old rivalries were reignited. England was beaten by Germany in the Round of Sixteen. The host country then went on to meet eventual champion Czech Republic in one semifinal. The Czech team, inspired by Nedved in his final tournament as an international player, halted the German advance with a 2-1 victory, with Nedved getting on to the scoresheet.
The only penalty shoot-out of the tournament was at the end of a classic clash between Brazil and Argentina in the other semifinal. With result locked at 2-2 at the end of extra time, the freshly substituted Robinho was the man of the moment to hammer home the winning goal after Juan Riquelme shot wide for Argentina’s final penalty.
The biggest tournament upsets were Italy and Portugal being knocked out in the group stages.
The surprise team of the tournament was Costa Rica who recorded their greatest finish in FIFA World Cup history by reaching the quarterfinals. One-time English Premiership player Paolo Wanchope established himself as a favorite for supporters from every nation with his creative passing and a handful of stunning goals securing wins against Poland and Ecuador along the way.
Team USA managed wins over Italy (3-2) and Ghana (2-0) and tied the Czech Republic in the difficult Group E before its luck ran out against the powerful Brazilian side in the Round of 16. USA opened the tournament with a 2-2 tie against eventual champion Czech Republic when DeMarcus Beasley scored the game-tying goal in the 84th minute against the run of play. USA trailed 2-1 early in the second half after Nedved put the Czechs out in front. Brian McBride scored the other goal for USA. Beasley’s game-tying goal created momentum for the U.S. against the Italian side. USA led 2-1 at the half on goals by Eddie Lewis and Eddie Johnson but Italy’s Alessandro Del Piero notched his second goal to tie the game in the 60th minute. USA pressed forward and counted the winner off of the foot of Landon Donovan in the 72nd minute. Donovan and Beasley both counted goals for USA and Kasey Keller earned the shutout in the 2-0 win over Ghana that sent the American side onto to play Brazil."
See? How could we have summed that up properly? We don't know anything about football (well, except for Matt, but right now he's too busy meditating and trying to project his soul out onto the astral plane so he can watch the game from afar, so he's no help to us right now. For those curious, here's the full suite of predictions:
Final Score -- Goal Scorer
Brazil 1 -- Ronaldo
Czech Rep. 2 -- Baros, Rosicky
3rd Place Game
Argentina 3 -- Tevez, Messi, Galetti
Germany 1 -- Schweinsteiger
Semi Finals
Argentina 1 -- Tevez
Brazil 2 -- Adriano (2)
Germany 0
Czech Rep. 2 -- Baros, Nedved
Quarter Finals
Costa Rica 1 -- Wanchope
Argentina 3 -- Messi, Tevez, Riquelme
Brazil 1 -- Ronaldo
France 0
Germany 2 -- Podolski, Ballack
Mexico 0
Czech Rep. 3 -- Baros 2, Koller
Switzerland 0
Group of 16
Costa Rica 2 -- Wanchope (2)
Paraguay 0
Argentina 1 -- Crespo
Iran 0
USA 2 -- Donovan, McBride
Brazil 3 -- Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Robinho
France 2 -- Zidane (2)
Spain 1 -- Torres
Germany 1 -- Podolski
England 0
Holland 2 -- Robben, Van Nistlerooy
Mexico 4 -- Bravo, Borgetti (2), Pardo
Czech Rep. 3 -- Koller (2), Galasek
Australia 1 -- Viduka
Switzerland 2 -- Frei, Vogel
Ukraine 1 -- Shevchenko
:Group Play:
Group A
Germany 1 | Costa Rica 1
Poland 2 | Ecuador 1
Germany 2 | Poland 1
Ecuador 1 | Costa Rica 3
Ecuador 0 | Germany 1
Costa Rica 2 | Poland 1
Group B
England 3 | Paraguay 0
Trinidad & Tobago 1 | Sweden 0
England 2 | Trinidad & Tobago 0
Sweden 1 | Paraguay 2
Sweden 2 | England 2
Paraguay 2 | Trinidad & Tobago 1
Group C
Argentina 3 | Ivory Coast 1
Serbia & Montenegro 0 | Holland 1
Argentina 2 | Serbia & Montenegro 0
Holland 2 | Ivory Coast 1
Holland 1 | Agrentina 1
Ivory Coast 2 | Serbia & Montenegro 3
Group D
Mexico 1 | Iran 1
Angola 0 | Portugal 3
Mexico 2 | Angola 0
Portugal 1 | Iran 2
Portugal 2 | Mexico 3
Iran 0 | Angola 0
Group E
Italy 2 | Ghana 2
USA 2 | Czech 2
Italy 2 | USA 3
Czech 2 | Ghana 0
Czech 2 | Italy 1
Ghana 0 | USA 2
Group F
Brazil 3 | Croatia 2
Australia 2 | Japan 1
Brazil 1 | Australia 1
Japan 1 | Croatia 1
Japan 0 | Brazil 2
Croatia 2 | Australia 4
Group G
France 2 | Switzerland 2
Korea 1 | Togo 1
France 3 | Korea 0
Togo 0 | Switzerland 2
Togo 0 | France 2
Switzerland 2 | Korea 1
Group H
Spain 1 | Ukraine 1
Tunisia 1 | Saudia 1
Spain 2 | Tunisia 1
Saudia 1 | Ukraine 3
Saudia 0 | Spain 2
Ukraine 2 | Tunisia 1
And now you know. The great FIFA has spoken!