World Cup 2010 - Group G...pseudo group of Death

Ah yes, every major football tournament needs one, so might as well call Group G the group of Death!

Team v • d • e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Brazil	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Korea DPR	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Côte d'Ivoire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Portugal	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Is this really a group of death? Were it not for North Korea, say South Korea or Mexico or the United States or even Australia been pulled from Pot 3, then you would have a serious group of death. However as it stands now you assume the 2 teams will come from 3 options. Clearly the samba boys of Brazil will be favorites to go through to the knock out stage. Dunga has clearly created the team along his lineage - strong defense built around tough tackling midfielders. Today's Brazil is not the Samba boys of old offense coming from all parts of the field, while it remains a free flowing footie the team is built from the back. With Lucio anchoring the back line which is shielded by the two holding midfielders - Gilberto and Melo, and they even have a decent keeper now in Cesar! The lateral defenders are really wingers - Maicon and Alves - always a threat to push high up the park and are threats to score at any moment. With Kaka pulling the strings in the midfield, the creativity of Robinho and Fabiano scoring goals up front, Brazil is a frightening side. Throw into the mix the ability to pull the likes of Elano and Pato off your bench, you have a very frightening side to face.



What about the European Brazil - Portugal? Much like France they struggled in qualifiers, at one point they were not even in a position to make the play offs. They still have a wealth of talent starting with Ronaldo. The recent loss of Pepe will be difficult for the Portugese to navigate. The other major question will be where will the goals come from? This will be a big test for Ronaldo, can he carry the squad? There is other talent - Deco, Nani, Simao, et al. - but they will only go as far as Ronaldo can carry them. I think he will need to provide the goals for the Portugese to threaten. Much has been hyped around the Elephants of Cote D'Ivoire. With the likes of Drogba and Kalou leading the attack and the Toure brothers holding the defensive duties - many have hyped this side as the best chance for the African continent to have its first World Cup winner...um hold on. This is only their second world cup. They have some individual talent, no doubt, but I am not sure they have the depth and experience to go far. As talented as Drogba is as a striker, he does not have a wing man of the likes of Anelka or the midfielders such as Deco, Ballack, Lampard, JCole, Essein to feed him the ball. Last World Cup they were also touted as a nation that will go far - granted were in a group of death with Serbia, Argentina and Holland. So why will things change this tournament? Ivory Coast have the unfortunate draw of opening against Portugal and then having to play Brazil, rather then grab an early 3 points against North Korea, they might play them when their World Cup is already over. All hinges on the first match, if they can draw of defeat the Portugese then the Brazil match will be navigable, if they go into the match against the Samba boys with no points...might be short lived World Cup. Finally we have the poor North Koreans, they did a wonderful job qualifying. Much will be brought up about their only other time in the World Cup in 1966 and the fact they defeated Italy and almost took out the Portugese of Eusebio.



I fear that if they can pull of a similar feat this World Cup, that will be the biggest upset ever. With few players in leagues outside of North Korea, they will be hard pressed to get a point in this group.

Predictions: Brazil, Portugal, Cote D'Ivoire, North Korea - the way the game schedule is laid out will be difficult for Ivory Coast, I think the Portugese and Brazilians will be too strong for the African hope to get through.
Player to Watch: Ronaldo, he is one of the world's top 3 players, much will be on his shoulders this tournament for Portugal. If he shows the class he demonstrated a few seasons ago with Manchester United he will carry this team far. Portugal does have other talented players...but none as influential as the Real Madrid player.

World Cup 2010 - Group F

Ah the Italian group, some have said this group is easy....I would actually say it might be a little more challenging that it would appear:

Team v • d • e Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Italy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Paraguay 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 New Zealand 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Slovakia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Clearly the defending champions Italy will be heavily favorite to go through to the knock out stages. It is hard to imagine the Italians not going through, even if they lose their first match against Paraguay, which could prove trickier than many would expect. Much is expected from the 4 time World Cup winner, especially after their world champion manager - Lippi - was brought back from a second stint as manger. However 4 years have passed since the World Cup in Germany, and surprisingly the faces for the Italians remain much the same - Grosso, Buffon, Cannavaro, Pirlo, Camoranesi, Toni and Gattuso...and guess what these players all have in common...they are the wrong side of 30. The team looked old during the last Confed Cup, barely defeating the United States and being thoroughly outclassed by the Brazilians. What has really changed since then? Not much...and now there is a rumor that Milan's Nesta and AS Roma's Totti will be asked to come back to the national side. Granted, on experience alone this side should get through. Paraguay will feel they have a legitimate chance to top the group and should definitely get through to the next stage. They finished tied for second in the South American group, just one point behind Brazil. They have the dangerous striker Santa Cruz to score the goals and will not be intimidated by the defending champions after having to face Argentina and Brazil in their qualification campaign. Poor New Zealand, well actually the Kiwis are fortunate. With Australia leaving the Oceania region it leaves the All Whites as the clear favorite to represent the region. Unfortunately that means they then become the sacrificial lambs in the group stages. Well at least they did not get the same draw as the North Koreans! The squad is made up mostly of domestic players having only a few players in the English or Scottish leagues. Their stay in South Africa should be short lived...well if this were a rugby group they might defeat all the teams by triple digits. Finally we have Slovakia who is an intriguing side having finished top of their difficult group - Czech republic, Poland, Slovenia...were this still the Czechoslovakian side then they would be considered one of the better European sides, but alas the fall of communism split this side. However Slovakia could surprise with players through out Europe - Skrtel, Hamsik, Vittek to name a few - there is some quality and experience on this side. They are also fortunate to start off against the All Whites - so you would expect the full 3 points. The second match against Paraguay will be crucial if they can get a point or the full 3 then the last game against the Italians will be little more than a friendly.

Predictions: Italy, Slovakia, Paraguay, New Zealand.
Player to watch: The old guard for the Italians. Repeating as World Cup champions is incredibly difficult, let alone with many of the same players. How will the old guard for Italy hold up?

World Cup 2010 - Group E

Group E is another group with teams that could all reasonably expect to go through:

Team v • d • e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Netherlands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Denmark	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Japan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cameroon	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

The top seed is deservedly the Dutch. the Oranje once again enter a tournament with tremendous talent and expectations. With the likes of Sneijder, Van Persie (assuming his 100%), Robben, Huntelaar, van der Vaart, etc they will have plenty of horses to challenge any other national team. The question becomes, will they play as a team? That has always haunted them in the past. They walked through their qualifiers winning all 8 of their matches, scoring 17 and only conceding 2 goals in the process...impressive to say the least. So which dutch team will show up? The one that walked through qualifiers or the last one we saw at the Euro 2008, the one that was being thoroughly outclassed by a Russian team and one Arshavin. The status of Van Persie will also weigh on how far the Dutch will go in South Africa, but on paper they have more than enough talent to get to the knock out stage. So who will join Oranje in the knock out stages? Denmark is the little engine that could. The Danes always seem to show well for themselves at major tournaments, sometimes even winning them after not even qualifying! Quick question - name me 3 Danish footballers....ok Bendtner and um uh...yeah a team of relatively obscure players who play in the Danish league. However they clearly know how to be a team - having won a difficult qualifying group, ahead of Sweden and Portugal - even defeating the Portuguese 3-2 in the first leg. The Danes are not to be taken lightly, and if history is any indication will do well in the groups and fizzle out in the knock out stages. What about the former co-hosts - Japan? Japan has always sought to be the Asian power that South Korea is, unfortunately they have never been able to assume that mantle. Granted they are getting closer. With a competitive and growing domestic league - the J League - they are becoming more than a baseball and sumo nation! They do have some players in Europe, mainly midfielders - surprisingly 2 in Ligue 1 - Inamoto and Matsui. They have had some recent strong run in friendlies...but those are very different that the bright lights of the World Cup. And they will not have home field advantage. They are getting there, but are still chasing South Korea and Australia for dominance in Asia...so far from world beaters in the World Cup. Finally we have Cameroon, and with the Lions one Samuel Eto'o. Much is being placed on the Inter forward's shoulders, I think too much. Granted the Lions have a solid squad with the likes of Makoun, the Songs (uncle and nephew), and a long in the tooth Geremi. They are also managed by an experienced European manager - Le Guen. This would be a threat...were the World Cup 4 years ago. The stars of Cameroon are a bit long in tooth and not sure they will be able to go far. However Eto'o remains a threat up front they do have some good youngsters in the Song from Arsenal and Bassong from Tottenham (he was a French U21 player). They will challenge for a spot in the knock outs.

Predictions: Holland, Denmark, Cameroon, Japan - I think the Danes are too well organized and will just beat out the Lions by a hair. Japan will show well for itself but in the end out matched in this group.
Player to watch: Eto'o - while he is not going to be playing with the caliber of players he had at Barcelona or even at Inter, if he steps it up, he will be a threat in every game the Lions play. While no where near the advanced age Milla was, he could mimic that performance in 1990.

World Cup 2010 - Group D

Okay I realize the draw was over a week ago and I have only given my predictions for 3 groups...so here is Group D:

Group D:

Team v • d • e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Germany	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Australia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Serbia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ghana	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

This is the "thug" group, no quarter asked and none given in this group! Clearly the favorite to emerge is Germany, how could you not see the Germans getting out of the group stage. I have actually seen one pundit saying they will crash out in the groups...as much as I would love to see that, it is highly unlikely. This team might be one of the favorites and not just because it is Germany, but the bulk of their roster is the "perfect" age - early to mid 20s - if you have read the book Soccernomics it points out that players best years are exactly in that range...something most soccer fans have realized for themselves. With the likes of Podolski, Schweinsteiger, Gomez, Lahm et al in that range one could expect great things from the squad. Also they gained great experience in the last World Cup finishing 3rd as well as the Euros where they made it to the finals...granted they were badly outclassed by Spain but still good experience. However it will be the 30+ players that will determine how far this team will go - Klose and Ballack. The Chelsea man in particular, with this being, most likely, his last World Cup he will be fighting to get his name on a trophy. Unlike other German greats - Muller, Beckenbauer, and Matthaus - Ballack has never been able to receive a winners medal. He will clearly be looking to correct that in South Africa. I think the second place will be fought out by the other 3 sides, each with a legitimate hope of securing the spot. Australia will be looking to build on a good World Cup in Germany where many would argue, they were robbed of a place in the 1/4 finals by a Grosso dive at the end of the match against Italy...something I would agree with!



Australia have slowly developed their national soccer side and moving into the Asian region has been good by forcing them to play a more competitive qualifying campaign. I think that the problem is that the Australian stars are getting older - Cahill and Kewill - I think they had their run in the last World Cup. They will not be a walk over but might be between generations to expect to improve upon Germany 2006. Serbia are the surprise nation, finishing first of their qualifying group - ahead of Les Bleus. They will be a solid squad that I think could surprise. Their back line will be anchored by the Manchester United man - Vidic and could showcase the Serbian/American Subotic (wonder if Bradley would eat his hat to have been able to line him up for the US?) the midfield will be run by the Inter man Stankovic. The main fear I have is the keeper...depending on who they play I have little confidence that the keeper can carry this team far. Just look at what Stojkovic did in the game against France...he was very shaky, even when his team were up 1 player! Finally there are the Black Stars of Ghana and we all know where their strength lies - midfield. With Essein, Muntari and Appiah they have arguably one of the best midfields, I would put them below Spain's but in the same ballpark. As they demonstrated last World Cup, they can ride this strength to the knock out stages and if they can avoid going head to head with a Brazil who knows how much further they can go. The question becomes how will they defend? There is little quality in the goal or on defense. Offensively they do not have a star striker which might limit how far they will go...maybe they would do better had Freddy Adu chosen to represent his native land....joking.

Clearly there will be some physical battles in this group. But in the end I think things will work out as follows:
Germany, Serbia, Ghana, Australia - however the order after Germany could be any combination, I think that Australia is the least likely to finish 2nd.
Player to watch - Ballack, the German captain will want to get off to a good start and make sure he can get his World Cup final - some would argue that had he not been suspended in 2002 that Germany would have won against Brazil.

Olympique Lyonnais...set the #1 seed as a goal

With the last day of Champions League upon us, Lyon will be looking to securing a #1 seed for the knock out stages of the Champions League. Lyon has had a strong run so far in the Champions League, it was a difficult lose against Fiorentina, however they still have some of their destiny in their own hands. Heading into the final match, the French team is 2 points behind Fiorentina. The Italians play in England versus a disappointing Liverpool, while Lyon is in Hungary. As it current stands, Lyon would go top if they win and Fiorentina do not get the full three points, Lyon would have the goal difference advantage. Why is this important?

Being top seed would avoid being drawn against the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona (which could also end up 3rd of their group) and Arsenal. With Bordeaux already secured as a #1 seed, having two teams in that spot would give Ligue 1 a great chance of having at least one team in the 1/4 finals. Such success might push Ligue 1 ahead of Germany in terms of ratings, which could get France 3 clubs in directly into the Champions League....one can always dream!

US v England World Cup 2010 match up....the headlines begin

Oh my...the press on the other side of the pond are already starting to hype up the first round World Cup match between England and the US. The game is 6 months away!! This will only get worse. There is no doubt this group match will command plenty of interest from the footballing world. There are many story lines - LA Galaxy team mates Donovan v Beckham which will be even more interesting since there were some unsavory things said about Golden Balls by his Galaxy teammate, the 1950 World Cup match will be brought up, the American Revolutionary war and all the American players that ply their trade in the Premiership. America will be bolstered from their performance at the Confed Cup while England will be riding a high of being rated as the 3rd favorite to win the title in July.

So get ready for lots and lots of hyperbole for the next 6 months. However as with many of these hyped up group games - remember England v Argentina in 2002 - I fear that the set up can never live up to the actual match. Regardless of the outcome, both nations will fancy their chances to move to the knock out stages. Maybe Nike should have the US wear 1950 style kits....

World Cup 2010 - groups and predictions - Groups B and C.

So I have given my thoughts on Group A...obviously that is where France finds themselves. But there are 7 other groups!!! Okay Okay, here are my thoughts and predictions for the rest of the groups.

First here are all the groups:

Group A

• South Africa
• Mexico
• Uruguay
• France

Group B

• Argentina
• Nigeria
• South Korea
• Greece

Group C

• England
• United States
• Algeria
• Slovenia

Group D

• Germany
• Australia
• Serbia
• Ghana

Group E

• Netherlands
• Denmark
• Japan
• Cameroon

Group F

• Italy
• Paraguay
• New Zealand
• Slovakia

Group G

• Brazil
• North Korea
• Ivory Coast
• Portugal

Group H

• Spain
• Switzerland
• Honduras
• Chile

I have already discussed Group A in a prior post. So let us look at the other groups. We will tackle Group B & C in this post:

Group B - Clearly the favorites are Argentina to emerge from this group. Even with the Ablicelestes struggling to qualify out of South America they have too much talent, depth and Messi not to get out of the groups. Maradona has 6 months to figure out how he wants to approach the tournament, while he is under tremendous pressure from his home nation, much like Domenech, unlike his French counterpart I think he has the support of his players. He is also stubborn like Domenech in who he calls up...Higuain? Zanetti? If Maradona finds his senses I think he will look to put Heinze and Zanetti as his defensive cornerstones in the back with Gago and Mascherano as the midfield holders and figure out how to get the most out of Messi, maybe go with a three pronged attack of Messi, Aguero and Higuain. That would be frightening. Again too much raw talent and depth for this squad not get through.



The battle will be for second place in the group. Greece had to play the Ukraine to get through. They will once again look to their manager "King Otto" to manage this club through to the knock out stages. While they are still seen as a strong defensive side, well organized and also boring...they did have the top scorer in the European qualifiers - Theofanis Gekas - with 10 goals to his count. They will be pushed by Nigeria who is getting the least amount of press of the African nations in the tournament. The Super Eagles are usually the team seen as Africa's best chance to see a team reach the semi finals or further, this title has passed to the likes of Ivory Coast and Ghana...but no one should overlook this talented side. With the likes of Martins and Mikel they have some talented players that grace the pitches in Europe on weekends. While many would argue they have underachieved during qualifiers, I would see them as a sleeper in this tournament. Finally South Korea finds themselves in this challenging group. Not playing the Cup on home soil has brought this nation back to where they belong, a nice team that has some good players but 3rd tier power at best. Without the genius of Hiddink, which coupled with home cooking carried the South Korean's to an improbable 4 place in the 2002 World Cup, I am not sure that they have enough to cause too many problems to the other 3 nations in this group. Park Ji-Sung will be asked to shoulder the load, unfortunately he does not have the Rooneys, Giggs, Vidics, Van de Saars he can rely on with his club!
Prediction - Argentina, Nigeria, Greece, South Korea finish
Player to watch - Higuain the Argentine striker is overshadowed by Messi, but the Real Madrid man scores goals and I think he will demonstrate this goal scoring in South Africa.

Group C - This group will get a lot of hype between now and the tournament...especially due to the first match between the US and England. The book makers have already placed England as the second favorite behind Spain...wow...talk about irrational exuberance! Speaking of England they should go through to the knock out stage. However I think the hype that will surround the Three Lions will grow exponetially before the tournament...yet I am not sure that they have solved the problems that plagued them in the last World Cup - a shaky defense. Do you really have faith in Calamity James in goal? Cashley Cole is a good left back, but not as good as he is hyped up to be. Terry and Ferdinand, a strong pairing but have been injury prone as of late. The real issue - who is the holding midfielder? Barry? Gerrard? We all know Lampard will not track back unless it is to celebrate his own goal. Much will be expected of Rooney, especially considering how he exited the last tournament...



and what about the wingers? Will Walcott be healthy? Will the "greatest footballer ever" Beckham showcase on the wing? I think this team remains too similar to the one that failed to get to the Euros, while the presence of Capello is encouraging, the weight of irrational expectations will be too much for the 3 Lions, they will go far but not far enough. Much the same will saddle their former colony, The United States. I am already seeing the press and the statements of an easy draw and "we are through to the next round." When the talking heads like Alexi Lalas start saying this is an easy group and the US will go through, you need to take a step back and take a deep breath. I think the US will go as far as Altidore can shoulder offensively and without Charlie Davies this will become more difficult the young American striker. Much will also be asked of Deuce - Clint Dempsey. I think his time spent at Fulham has helped him grow as a player and leader. And of course we have Landycakes, the question will be - will he finally show up in a major tournament? Or will he revert back to Landycakes and disappear. What the US do have is a strong and experienced keeper in Howard and have some confidence from the last Confederation Cup, but that tournament is very different from the World Cup! I think the neither nation should overlook Slovenia. They came out of a tough group with Slovakia, Czech Rep and Poland - then they had to defeat the Russians to get through. Least we forget this team from a land of 2million residences is not afraid to punch well above its weight class. Surprising many at the Euro 2000 and qualifying for 2 World Cups. They play a counterattacking style which may frustrate the favorites in the group. Finally everyone is writing off the Algerians something I am not sure is wise. The North Africans are making only their third appearance in the biggest sporting event on the planet, they did more than hold their own the first time! With players such as Ziani and having gone through a difficult qualifying campaign Les Fennecs will be looking to play spoiler in this group. I do not think they have enough to go through, but cannot nor should not be overlooked.
Prediction: England, USA, Slovenia, Algeria
Player to Watch: Rooney will have a lot of expectations on his shoulders, he will need to have his goal scoring boots on and he must keep his cool on the global stage. The other player to watch is Altidore for the US, he too will be expected to be the offensive threat for the US.

Stay tuned for Groups D&E...

Gourcuff set deeper...could this be an option for Les Bleus

Interesting statements coming form Domenech and Blanc about the French playmaker Gourcuff. The young French playmaker has at times evolved deeper in the Bordeaux line up, while he lined up in his traditional spot behind the striker, he regularly dropped deeper switching with the goal scorer Plasil. Domenech seemed to stated he was aware of this and might think about it for Les Bleus...hmmm....here is to hoping he does!

I think for it to work with Les Bleus, assuming Domenech insists on sticking with his 4-2-3-1 formation, can Gourcuff be one of the 2 holding midfielders? I think so, but that would place increased pressure on whoever is his partner as the true holding midfielder. Why this worked for Bordeaux is while Plasil can swap with Gourcuff and push higher leaving the #8 to sit deeper, but will also track back to alleviate some of the defensive responsibilities. Also, for Bordeaux this works since they have two true wingers in Sertic and Gouffran. Why is that important? Having two players that understand the need to give the field width forces the opposing team to defend wider and therefore makes the center less congested, meaning that the 2 holding players are under less defensive pressure coming through the center of the park. With Les Bleus you do not, at least recently, have natural wide players. With the likes of Henry and Anelka, you have players who have a natural tendency to drift back to the center, this adds greater emphasis to the center of the park. While I think that you can still manage with one holding midfielder, not sure that Gourcuff playing deeper would work for Les Bleus, unless there were some other changes.

If you were to go to a 4-2-2-2 with Gourcuff/Lass or Toulalan as the pairing sitting in front of the back 4, with the 2 wide players such as Malouda on the left and Ribery on the right and play 2 natural strikers - Henry and Anelka high that might work. It would place more defensive pressure on whoever is shouldering Gourcuff, but it would also allow the French play maker to push high when the opportunity allows and then drift back deeper to see more of the game in front of him - playing the the role of the deep lying midfielder Pirlo plays with Italy and Milan. It would almost become a 4-1-3-2 with the 3 midfielders forming a V. Might be an interesting formation, and with the likes of Diaby, Nasri, Remy who could be the wide players of the 3 there would be depth in the formation as well. This would also allow a Toulalan the freedom to do what he is suited for - run around and destroy any offensive threats from the opposition, do not concern yourself with the counter - destroy the offense and give the ball to Gourcuff to start the attack. It would also permit Ribery more room to operate in the offensive 1/3, providing the linkage between Gourcuff and the strikers - similar to what Totti did with Italy (sorry for all the Italian references!) Unfortunately I think Domenech is so in love with his 4-2-3-1 that all this is just conjecture and may only see the light of day in practice...alas....maybe we need Blanc to manage France sooner!