Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Football Predictions for the Next Decade: 2010-2020

OK, so the last time I had premonitions and make prognostications, you only had to wait a few days to see how I did. After today's post, we'll have to check in 10 years! Bummer man!

Any way, I've tried to avoid the temptation to do any end-of-the-decade lists, but to no avail, I'm going to look ahead instead. Here's 10 things I expect to happen before 2020 (and no, I'm not going to far out on a limb).

  1. Gambling and match-fixing scandals worsen and by decade's end topple a major European club, sending them tumbling worse than Juventus.
  2. Steroids invade football in a big way. Lesser known players at first, but eventually, big names will tumble and we'll be dumbfounded how we never saw it coming.
  3. Video replay will be instituted soon in all football matches, and it will decide a major championship (i.e., a Champions League final)
  4. Scottish football's top division will dissolve and be integrated into the Premiership.
  5. To that end, the Premier League will adopt U.S.-style playoffs and crown a champion in a Super Bowl-type of final.
  6. An African team will not win a World Cup
  7. An Asian team will.
  8. The United States will not advance beyond the quarterfinals of either the 2014 or 2018 World Cup.
  9. Just prior to the 2018 World Cup, which will be held in the U.S, MLS will abandon its current single-entity ownership system and open its purse strings to attract major European and South American players.
  10. Jose Mourinho will coach Portugal to the 2018 World Cup title in the U.S., winning the championship in New Jersey at the new Giants Stadium in front of a partizan "home" crowd of Ports from NJ and Massachusetts.

Happy Holidays boys and girls. This is probably it for me for the year. Be safe.

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