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The worlds most anticipated sporting event is upon us. Cheap Air Max 2017 . Brazil will open the 2014 World Cup at home Thursday against Croatia. You can listen to the game live on TSN Radio 1050, 690, 1260 and TEAM 1410 starting at 4pm et/1pm pt. Thirty-two nations will compete to achieve world-wide soccer supremacy over the next month with plenty of intrigue and drama to be had in the process. The question is, who is your pick to hoist the Jules Rimet Trophy as World Cup champion on July 13? One of the obvious choices is the host team. Anything but a first place finish for captain Thiago Silva and the Brazilians would be a massive disappointment for the soccer-crazed nation. The club is stacked with young superstars like Neymar up front with experienced veterans on defence like Dante and Dani Alves. Brazil has what it takes to win it all, but will have to handle the pressure of playing on home soil. To be the champ you have to beat the champ and that is Spain. The defending World Cup champions and two-time defending European champions will be vying for a fourth straight major title in Brazil. They definitely have the horses to get it done with Xavi Hernandez, Sergio Ramos, Andres Iniesta and Juan Mata leading the way. Forward Diego Costa is also 100 per cent healthy after suffering from a nagging hamstring, adding to Spains lethal scoring weapons up front. Then there is the team who has arguably the best footballer in the world. Lionel Messi and Argentina will look to capture their first World Cup title since 1986 in Mexico. They looked to be on that path back in 2010 in South Africa until Germany trounced them in the quarterfinals. Messi was unable to score at that World Cup and will be looking for retribution. Germany always seems to be in the mix and theres no reason 2014 should be any different. Germanys strength is their midfield which could be the best in the whole tournament. Even with the absence of Marco Rues and the questionable health of Sami Khedira, the German midfield is still one to be reckoned with. Germany is one of the most well-rounded squads in the tournament and will be a tough challenge for any opponent. Uruguay is a strong entry too, but with the uncertainty of elite striker Luis Suarez due to recent knee surgery, the South American team might be in a tough position. Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portuguese club along with Belgium, Netherlands and Croatia are all teams that could surprise some people too. Its a tough call, but its yours to make. Who will win the World Cup? As always, its Your! Call. Air Max 90 Clearance .The result meant Juventus will spend the winter break three points clear of Roma after the league leader beat Cagliari 3-1 on Thursday.Milan remained seventh ahead of the rest of the weekends fixtures, but was provisionally two points behind third-place Napoli in their duel for the final Champions League spot. Nike Air Max 95 Clearance . Particularly when speaking in the stadium of Tuesdays opponent: Manchester City. "Maybe they dont fear us as before," Pique said on Monday, "because in the last two years we didnt win the Champions League. http://www.airmaxclearance.us/ . Arsene Wenger reportedly wants to convert the player into an attacking force, much like he did with Robin Van Persie.DENVER – The story of Jonathan Cheechoo is one that offers caution to the 23-year-old centre plugging the Maple Leafs third line. Now playing for Moscow Dynamo, Cheechoo led the NHL with an astounding 56 goals as a 25-year-old with the Sharks and was gone from the league entirely less than five years later. Its a funny game that way, says Peter Holland, far from making it himself just yet. They say one of the hardest things to do is to get to the NHL, but its even harder to stay here. If there is that opportunity where I can say Ive made it, who knows maybe Ill be 38 years old. Eight picks after Toronto plucked Nazem Kadri with the seventh overall selection in 2009 did Anaheim spring for the Caledon, Ontario-born Holland, who rung up 67 points in 68 games that year with Guelph. Five years down the line and now 80 games into his NHL career, Holland is in the earliest stages of securing his place in a league that will chews up those that cant stick quickly and banishes them elsewhere. He was an up-and-down type for the Leafs last year – his first in Toronto – bouncing between the NHL and AHL with varying degrees of success (he had a dominant playoff with the Marlies), but its now, with opportunity at hand, that he needs to show why he belongs in the league. Holland has moved up in the lineup and is drawing bigger minutes with Joffrey Lupul sidelined – including a season-high of more than 16 minutes over the weekend. Hes also added power-play duty in Lupuls absence and is killing penalties for the first time since those junior days with the Storm. Simply put, his opportunity has never been better to show how and why he belongs. We know what Peter can do, said Leafs assistant and former Marlies coach Steve Spott. Obviously I saw it firsthand in the American Hockey League last year. I thought he was the best player in the American League last year. And now hes starting to find that here. Hes playing on the power-play now with [Kadri], hes killing penalties and his minutes are going up. Hes also slowly earning the sometimes difficult faith of head coach Randy Carlyle. That wasnt the case often a year ago – Hollands minutes were often overtaken by the veteran hand of Jay McClement. Thats a real big word for coaches is trust and I think Petes now got that from Randy, Spott said. Now hes got to keep it. In doing so, Spott says, Holland needs to be responsible with the puck and without it. And for young players that can be a challenge. It was Hollands ill-timed drop pass to Jake Gardiner behind the Toronto goal Tuesday night that precipitated Gardiners error and the Coyotes first goal. With trrust from the coach, however, Holland admits to feeling more confident, more willing to hang onto the puck and try to make a play from time to time. Wholesale Air Max Shoes. He knows he needs to become more difficult for opponents to play against, more refined and aware away from the biscuit, more disruptive on the forecheck, and far better in the faceoff circle. My game is having the puck, making plays with the puck, said Holland. I dont make too many mistakes when I do have the puck, but its a matter of putting myself in position to have it more. Holland has just three points in 12 games this fall – including the game-winning goal over Chicago on Saturday – and poor possession numbers, but some of that has to be attributed to the sparse minutes he drew early on Torontos fourth line. Since moving into the third unit centre gig – alongside Leo Komarov and Mike Santorelli – those possession stats have improved and hes become a much more noticeable presence on the ice, using the size, speed and skill that made him a first round pick. And that has to become the norm for him to succeed. Though he boasts a new two-year deal and cant go down to the Marlies again without waivers – thereby keeping him in the NHL barring some unforeseen drop-off – Holland still must determine what kind of player he can be for the Leafs, establish himself as a piece of their future. He looks enviously at Bruins all-around ace David Krejci and sees a model to follow. I look at a guy like that and think thats something I want to strive towards, Holland said. He sees a player in Krejci that Claude Julien and the Bruins count on across the board, someone who rose up the ranks of a depth chart to become the leading scorer of a Stanley Cup champ. I want to be a guy that can be counted on in all situations, he says, whether were down a goal in the last couple minutes [and] I need to be put there to get one for us. Or if were up a goal, be trusted to shut the other team down. Its something that you just need to keep building towards. Holland was one of those players in the desert on Tuesday. He was there on the Gila River Arena ice in the final minute of the third period with the Leafs pushing for one more goal – they wouldnt get it, falling 3-2 to Arizona. Thats what he wants, but its also what he has to earn. And thats a process hes only just beginning. I dont know if you can ever really take your foot off the gas pedal, Holland said. Its a funny game in the sense that if you go on a bit of a slide, next thing you know they bring in the next better kid. Theres always kids up and coming trying to take your spot. ' ' '