Page 27 of 29

France, Switzerland, South Korea, Togo

This group is almost a carbon copy of Group F, with one top class team in with three vastly overmatched others that barely belong. The difference here is that the top team is the seemingly constantly underperforming French. This group is their chance to finally get it together. They are too good to keep pulling this nonsense in every tournament. Whichever minnow happens to swipe second in this group, is again of no importance.

By most accounts, France should have been the dominant team, at least in Europe, from the time they won the World Cup in 1998 and Euro 2000, until now. On paper, they’re excellent. Still. On the pitch they’ve been one long disappointment. Zidane is past his prime now, but they still have the incredible Thierry Henry. David Trezeguet will be there beside him if he ever happens to miss. They have the perfect thug in midfield in Patrick Viera. Their only real weakness is keeping the clown Fabian Barthez in goal–but he’s always good for a gaff–or a laugh, if you’re a neutral–to keep things light. They have enough firepower to win in spite of him. Surely, even they cannot manage to blow it this time. It would be difficult to imagine an easier draw. They probably don’t quite have the talent to win the Cup anymore, but they should advance fairly deep in this tournament.

You can flip a coin to try to pick who will capture second here. Switzerland gets my slight nod. A one-time powerhouse, it’s been a long while since they’ve been able to compete on the world stage. They now have a young and unproven team, but what I like most about them is their un-Swissness. These crazy kids actually brawled with Turkey in qualifying. They might be good enough for second here, no one really knows much about them, but you have to admire their spunk.

Like Japan, South Korea loses the advantage of playing the World Cup on their home soil this go round. Again like Japan they are an up and coming team that shows much promise for the future. But the future is still a ways off for now. If they win a match here, they should be fairly happy.

Togo might be the longest shot in the World Cup. They rely almost totally on Arsenal’s Emmanuel Adebayor, and he spends much of his time on the national team arguing with the coach or sulking. This doesn’t bode well for a team that would be bound to struggle mightily even if he was on his game.

This group was a gift to France whether they deserved one or not. Coming off a whole string of international disappointments, you have to think they’ll rouse themselves enough to walk through this first round as expected, for a change. Switzerland is an unknown entity, but seem to have enough to hold onto second. Even with Dick Advocaat at the helm of South Korea, they just aren’t ready for this kind of competition yet. Just a win anywhere by Togo would be a huge surprise. Give it to France in a walk. Second place, will win the honor to play one more game, then they‘re straight home as well.

Brazil, Croatia, Australia, Japan

Well, obviously, this group is all about 2nd place. Everyone has already given 1st to the best team in the world. Other than a quick look in to watch Brazil tune-up for their Championship run, there’s little of interest from this group. Even the weak sister that manages to stumble into the next round will surely make their exit there.

Nothing else really needs to be said about Brazil. They have one of the best players in the world at every position. Even their goal, the usual lone weakness, is ably defended by Dida now. The list of superstars is endless led by the best player in the world Ronaldinho. The original Ronaldo is still there, Kaka, Cafu, Roberto Carlos… You get the sense they’re “C” team would rank among the top in the world. They’re just dazzling. The only problem could be just that. They’re the best. They know it. They know everyone else knows it. Sometimes they don’t feel the need to prove it.

Croatia is the most likely to win the second spot. They’re very strong defensively, and can shut down just about anyone. If they can just get a handful of goals from Dado Prso, and Darijo Srna, they’ll live to play on for one more round.

Australia may be on their last soccer legs. This could be the tournament that gets that country focused back on the Aussie rules football, and rugby once and for all. With a gaggle of players that perform decently, but don’t seem to be anything special in the English Premier League–the likes of Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka, Tim Cahill–they’ll struggle for second even in this weak group.

Since this World Cup is not being played in their country, Japan hasn’t much of a chance this time, either. They’re still relatively new to the soccer scene and are definitely moving up, but there’s a long way to go. Their big draw is actually more of an amusement for the little girls, who seem to treat the flashy keeper Kawaguchi like a rock star.

So it’s Brazil here, and then everyone else in a ragged heap. Croatia actually has 3 players from Australia while Australia has 3 Croats. The Japanese coach is the Brazilian, Zico. So everything about this group has a mish-mash feel to it. Anyone of the other three could slip into second. Croatia has a slight edge, but if they can’t manage to get it into the net, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise. Australia has one of the best coaches in the world in Gus Hiddink, so he may squeeze just enough out of his bog standard charges to get them through. Japan would need the most good fortune, but it wouldn’t be the biggest shock ever. Matters little, Brazil is headed for the final, everyone else in this group is fodder.

Italy, Czech Republic, United States, Ghana

Many people in the US actually consider this the Group of Death. Well, it will be for the Americans. If you just look at the ludicrous world rankings, you could delude yourself into thinking that this is a tough group. With the US a ridiculously lofty 5th, the Italians undervalued at 12, and the Czech Republic in a probably deserved 2nd, on paper it looks like a spectacular group. I’m afraid it won’t look that way on the pitch.

Italy has always played a defensive minded game, trying to eke out victories even though they were loaded with enough talent that would have decimated most competition. That playing not to lose mentality has caused one disappointing tournament after another for them. Hopefully coach Lippi just turns loose Alberto Gilardino, and Luca Toni this time. If they do that, they could outscore everyone, and look spectacular doing it. The crazy man, Francisco Totti, is still around, and hopefully at least 4 years more mature this time around. If he manages to keep his head, they should do very well. In fact, that’s Italy. Stay calm, relax, and play to their enormous capabilities and they‘ll go a long way.

The Czech Republic has made the move from being merely very good to great. They’re arguably the best team in Europe right now. They probably should have won Euro 2004. Pavel Nedved is still the name everyone knows and he’s still playing solidly in what will be his last World Cup, but the man who is going to carry this team on his huge shoulders is the mountain, Jan Koller. Big and sublimely talented, he can just dominate a match.

Other than perhaps England, the US has to be the most overrated team in the tournament. They still don’t get much respect from the rest of the world, mainly because they never play anyone. They beat the riff-raff and easily qualify for the World Cup. That said, they are better than they’ve ever been. Kasey Keller is as good as most in goal, and with Beasley and Donovan setting up Brian McBride, the offense is usually adequate. The defense is shaky, though, and they’re in a group that can exploit that. If anyone actually harbors the silly notion that the US team is anywhere close to 5th in the world, this Cup is going to be a very rude awakening.

While making their first World Cup appearance, Ghana has been one of the better African teams for quite awhile. Led by yet another Chelsea player, Michael Essien, they could be another of those debut Africans that can end up surprising a few people.

This group isn’t really that tough. It’ll be a big two-way battle to win the group, since whoever finishes second will be doomed to drawing Brazil in the next round. No one is going to look past the US team, which means they won’t manage to slip by this time. Ghana is probably about as talented as the US, but much less heralded, so if anyone sneaks through after another Italian implosion, it’ll probably be them. The Czechs will advance, and if they finish top of the group, could well win the Cup. I already can’t wait for that Brazil/Italy match in the second round.

Portugal, Mexico, Angola, Iran

This is a group that’ll probably generate more stories on politics than what happens out on the pitch. It looks like a fairly easy group to call, and every bookie will tell you it is just that. Both Angola and Iran are given short shrift. I can’t understand how Mexico garners so much respect, though. And Portugal, while filling up the pitch with stars, has usually been average at best.

I guess it’s their mediocre play that keeps people from talking much about Portugal winning this World Cup. They shouldn’t be fooled by that. Scolari cleverly has had them generally play like rubbish to keep expectations low. This is the team that made the finals of Euro 2004, after all. He is a great coach, England has just unsuccessfully tried to lure him to replace Ericksson. Portugal is also a great team. Figo is in his last Cup, but is still useful. Pauleta is verging on greatness. The very annoying Christiano Ronaldo, is a bit too cute at times, but there’s loads of talent underneath all that silliness–as much as I hate to admit it. They are, by far, the class of this group and should win it in a walk.

That doesn’t mean this is an uninteresting group. Mexico is given far too much credit. They have racked up a couple impressive victories lately over both Argentina and Brazil, no less, but I’m still not sold. They pin their ears back and attack from the opening whistle on. They will score a lot with strikers Jaime Lozano, Francisco Fonseca, and Jared Borgetti. But I still think they’re closer to the other two teams in the group than they are to a Portugal. Any team the US regularly handles with ease can’t be considered too frightening, but they’ll likely just get through.

Iran is certainly frightening enough, but not because of their soccer talent. They’ve only ever won one match in the World Cup (a 2-1 victory over the US), and if they win any this time around none of their women will witness it. As a country, they don’t play against very strong competition, but they have a decent young team. An intangible is the fact that 4 of their players play their club football in Germany, including their star Ali Karimi, so that‘s probably more like playing in the comforts of home than playing in Iran would be.

Angola plays their former colonizers, Portugal, in the first match. Needless to say Angola hates them, and matches between the two tend to be brutal–though Portugal always ends up trouncing them. Their best player, Pedro Mantorras, plays for Benfica in Portugal. They’re a nice story, their war ravaged country making its first World Cup appearance, but they aren’t quite World Class.

As long as Portugal shake out of their doldrums and play as they’re capable, they’ll win this group very easily, and with a little luck could go the distance. Mexico is the other likely choice to go through, but look for them to struggle more than they should once again. Any win by either of the other teams will be considered a huge accomplishment, but either could steal one from Mexico and another from the other.