OGS World Cup Experts Make Their Final Picks

Spain A Heavy Favorite;
Will France, Italy Choke?

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

You've read all the OGS World Cup group previews, and now it's time to get the final picks from our panel of experts. Here you go:

Jeremy Brown
Winner: Brazil
Golden Ball: Luis Fabiano, Brazil
Surprise quarterfinalist: Slovakia
Surprise group fail: Italy
One guarantee: ESPN telecasts will pan away to Brazil's fans more than any other
Favorite uniform: Serbia's home kit

Mike Dick
Winner: Argentina
Golden Ball: Carlito Tevez, Argentina
Surprise quarterfinalist: Greece
Surprise group fail: Germany
One guarantee: The refereeing will be shambolic
(Also possible: Maradona will hoover up all the food, drink and coke in South Africa with a great big vuvuzela)
Favorite uniform: Spain's home kit

Ben Jackey
Winner: Netherlands
Golden Ball: Kaka, Brazil
Surprise quarterfinalist: Serbia
Surprise group fail: Germany
One guarantee: The Sunday following the USA-England matchup is going to be painful for me win or lose
Favorite uniforms: Algeria's away kit

Mike Marshall
Winner: Spain
Golden Ball: David Villa, Spain
Surprise quarterfinalist: Chile
Surprise group fail: Italy
One guarantee: Maradona will make an inexplicable coaching decision
Favorite uniform: Netherlands' home kit

Mike Mudd
Winner: Spain
Golden Ball: Andres Iniesta, Spain
Surprise quarterfinalist: South Africa
Surprise group fail: Portugal
One guarantee: At least one coach will be fired immediately after group play for sucking in the round-robin stage
Favorite uniforms: New Zealand

Wade Murray
Winner: Spain
Golden Ball: Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal
Surprise quarterfinalist: USA
Surprise Group Fail: Italy
One guarantee: France will disappoint
Favorite uniform: Ivory Coast

Bruce Sholl
Winner: Germany
Golden Ball: David Villa, Spain
Surprise quarterfinalist: Uruguay
Surprise group fail: Argentina
One guarantee: Excessive talk about the orange Dutch jerseys
Favorite uniform: England's away kit

Steve Susi
Winner: Brazil
Golden Ball: Wesley Sneijder, Holland
Surprise quarterfinalist: Nigeria
Surprise group fail: France
One guarantee: Clint Dempsey will be carded for fighting
Favorite uniform: Holland

Jake Yadrich
Winner: Spain
Golden Ball: Iker Casillas, Spain
Surprise quarterfinalist: Ghana
Surprise group fail: England
One guarantee: There will be at least three instances of a player or coach blaming a loss on a vuvuzelas
Favorite uniforms: Slovenia