The prediction racket is a sportswriting staple. When the World Cup kicked off three weekends ago this corner boldly blogged the prophecies for The Speccie’s website: that is, the England team would be home for the first week of Wimbledon; the Berlin final on 9 July would finish Argentina 2, Czech Republic 2 (the latter winning on penalties); and the likeliest lottery longshots to reach the semi-finals would be one of Switzerland, United States, Ivory Coast or Australia.

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