Loading ...World Cup Preview
Group A: Mexico, Uruguay
Although this group includes traditional powerhouse France, their incompetent coach Raymond Domenech will keep this superbly talented squad from advancing. Thierry Henry’s play simply is not national team quality, yet he was selected over Karim Benzema to play forward. Henry is in the winter of his career, and I sincerely doubt his ability to put together a full 90 minutes. In a lesser group France could advance, but both Mexico and Uruguay are underrated. Rafael Marquez anchors an impressive Mexican defense while young but talented Giovanni Dos Santos is the architect of a wing oriented offensive attack. Uruguay’s forwards go toe to toe with any in the world, with Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan starting and Sebastian Abreu coming off the bench. They’ll be able to outscore everyone in Group A. South Africa will undoubtedly put forth a spirited effort on their home turf, and history is on their side, as no host country has ever failed to advance to the round of 16. However, no host country has ever been lacking in the talent department like South Africa. They just don’t have the players to move on.
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria
Obvously the story here in Group B is Argentina, their enigmatic manager and suberb forward. Diego Maradona led Argentina to a World Cup in 1986, but has had a less than glamorous post playing career, riddled with drug problems. However, he’s put together a squad that could paint his name in a respectable light once again, and could potentially add a World Cup championship to his managerial resume. Argentina’s hopes will rest on the shoulders of the world’s best player, Lionel Messi, the leader of an impressive group of attackers that features six guys capable of starting. Messi has never been as successful playing for his country as he is playing for Barcelona, but that cold snap is expected to end. Argentina’s primary challenger will be Nigeria, but Greece and South Korea can’t be taken lightly either. Although Nigeria doesn’t have a big name star like other African powers, they have a solid defender in John Yobo and a talented striker with Obafemi Martins. Greece, the Euro 2004 champs, don’t have the same talent as they did back when they shocked the world six years ago, but with crafty coach Otto Rehhagel, don’t put it past the Greeks to advance. South Korea is no stranger to shockers either, after advancing to the semifinals of the World Cup in 2002 on their home turf. There are very few holdovers from that team, though. It helps that one of them is talented midfielder Park Ji-Sung. The Korean hero may be playing in his final World Cup, don’t expect him to go out easily.
Group C: England, United States
After the murderous grouping the US got in World Cup 2006, it’s refreshing to see a friendlier trio waiting for them this time around. However, underestimating Slovenia could prove disastrous. The miniscule European nation outlasted more conventional European powers, namely the Czech Republic and Poland, en route to a World Cup berth. The most impressive stat? In ten games of qualifying, the Slovenians allowed a piddly four goals. That’s unheard of. England is obviously the favorite here, and much credit can be given to the revamped game of striker Wayne Rooney. No longer a lower the head, kick the soccer ball at the net type player, Rooney has added a lethal header to his arsenal. He’ll be able to test his skills against the rock solid Slovenian defense and a very underrated goalkeeper and, in my opinion, the US’s best player in Tim Howard. The fourth team in this group, one that will struggle to advance, is Algeria. Probably the weakest African nation to qualify, they won’t be a pushover, but probably won’t move on.
Group D: Germany, Serbia
What may be one of the most hotly contested groups is largely overlooked. The injury to German star Michael Ballack opens things up a little, and it has to have the underrated Serbians excited at their prospects of potentially snagging the top spot in Group D. They were wonderful in qualifying, and are anchored by Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic. I still think the Germans are the favorites even without Ballack. They simply never underperform at the World Cup, ever. Phillip Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Miroslav Klose are just a few of the names on Germany’s star studded roster. Without their captain and best player, everything’s harder, but this isn’t inconsistent France or old Italy. The injury to Ballack is huge, but it may not be the most important injury in Group D. Michael Essien, the skilled midfielder for Ghana, has also succumbed to the injury bug. That severely hampers Ghana’s chances of advancing. Australia was absolutely screwed at World Cup 2006, after Italy was granted a penalty kick on a phantom foul in the box. Soccer fans without any allegiance to a Group D squad should be cheering for the Aussies to advance, but it will be harder this time around, as the team has a vastly different look.
Group E: Netherlands, Denmark
The fifth group in South Africa appears to be Netherlands and friends. After being a part of the notorious Group of Death in Germany four years ago, the Dutch deserve to not have any major challengers here. Cameroon is erratic at best, but with strikers Samuel Eto’o and Pierre Webo, goals can start to fly if they get going. However, they lack the consistency to really provide a challenge for the red-hot Oranje. Denmark won a tough qualifying group that featured both Portugal and Sweden, and they’re probably the best bet to tie or knock off the Netherlands. Japan looked dominant at times in Asian qualifying, at others, quite pedestrian. They failed to beat Australia, lost to Bahrain and tied games they should have won. Four years ago, they would probably have been the pick to join Holland in the knockout round, but no longer. However, watch out for Shunsuke Nakamura on free kicks. He’s still one of the best.
Group F: Paraguay, Italy
Any casual soccer fan would look at Group F and pick out the defending champions as the easy favorite to win. Not so fast. The Italians were old in Germany, they’re older now. The injury to Andrea Pirlo is devastating, at 31, he was nearly a young gun for the Azzurri. They haven’t played particularly well in friendlies, and really struggled against the uptempo pace of Mexico, a style of play that Paraguay brings to the table. With more wins than Brazil or Argentina in qualifying, Paraguay firmly announced that it was to be taken seriously at the World Cup. Roque Santa Cruz is the big name, but he’s struggled. Nelson Valdez and Lucas Barrios have picked up the scoring slack. The “others” in this group are Slovakia and New Zealand. Slovakia is in a similar position to Slovenia in Group C. They advanced through the same qualifying group as the Slovenians, and are a popular pick to advance to the knockout round. I am just a big fan of Paraguay and don’t think Italy’s old enough for Slovakia to pass them up. New Zealand coasted through an easy Oceania qualifying group without Australia, and they shouldn’t provide much resistance to the other three members of Group F.
Group G: Brazil, Ivory Coast
Group G contains one of the favorites to win it all in Brazil. The nation perhaps most associated with soccer is moving away from the “Joga Bonito” styles of the teams dominated by Pele, Zico and Ronaldo, but coach Dunga has made this current roster work. It’s a more defensive oriented style, which is odd for Brazil, known for their fluid yet vicious offensive attacks. However, give Dunga credit for maximizing the potential of Brazil’s best players. The decision to leave Ronaldinho off the national team in favor of the inconsistent Robinho is one that I believe was a mistake, but it won’t matter in group play. The other members of the so-called Group of Death are Portugal, Ivory Coast and North Korea. Although Portugal is the easy favorite for second, their offensive woes as of late won’t make it easy. The Ivorians have to deal with the heartbreaking injury to striker Didier Drogba, a true class act off the field as well as Africa’s best player. However, he may be back, and the squad should rally around their fallen leader. North Korea plays with a lot of energy, but they just don’t belong in the Group of Death.
Group H: Spain, Chile
Spain is blessed with one of the easier groups in the tournament, and Chile appears to be the clear number two over Switzerland. For Honduras, just making it to the World Cup is a huge success. Spain enters as the favorite, and that’s because they’ve been playing at a ridiculously high level since winning Euro 2008. Injury questions swirl around the midfielders who make things tick, Xavi and Andres Iniesta, but for now they can be dismissed. Oft-injured striker Fernando Torres never seems to be healthy, but when potential injuries are your squad’s biggest weakness, that’s a good sign. Defenders Puyol and Sergio Ramos are fun to watch, Puyol is one of the most aggressive defenders in the world, and Ramos is probably the best scoring defender. The contrast in styles meshes beautifully. Switzerland advanced to the knockout round in 2006, mostly because they were in an easy group. I really like how Chile is playing, and that doesn’t bode well for a Swiss squad that is dealing with an injury to striker Alexander Frei.
Knockout Round:
Nigeria over Mexico
Argentina over Uruguay
England over Serbia
Germany over United Status
Netherlands over Italy
Paraguay over Denmark
Brazil over Chile
Spain over Ivory Coast
Final Eight
Argentina over Nigeria
England over Germany
Netherlands over Paraguay
Brazil over Spain
Semifinals
Argentina over England
Brazil over Netherlands
Finals
Netherlands over England
Brazil over Argentina
Reader Feedback
One Response to “World Cup Preview”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Great Preview Blake. I have Brazil over Argentina as well in my final, but with Maradona’s proposition that he made if Argentina wins the Cup, a lot of people do not want to see them win it all lol. I do think the USA is going to feed off the Confed Cup momentum and will upset a German team that despite all the talent, Germany lacks in goal against as you mentioned one of the top keepers in Tim Howard, so I think USA pulls the upset here. With Mandela there, I hope South Africa beats Mexico, but I still think France and Mexico advance in Group A. I think Drogba’s injury hurts the Ivory Coast due to the lack of effectiveness, so I like Portugal in 2nd in Group G. I like Cameroon over Denmark to come in 2nd in Group E. I think Paraguay as you said rallies around Cabanas, who had the shot to the head in a Club earlier in the year and could make a run in this tournament.
Something to keep in mind soccer fans, there has never been a time where a European team has won a World Cup outside of Europe and if Brazil wins, they would have won a Cup on all 6 continents where you can physically play soccer.
Should be a good World Cup !!!