In just eighteen days the most followed sports event worldwide will commence. Thirty-two teams will battle for one month to see what nation will reign supreme in the World Cup beginning on June eleventh. Due to the fact that regardless of being a soccer fan or not you will end up watching the world cup, we have decided to prepare a preview with analysis and opinion on all 32 squads competing this summer. We will start with the first group and work our way down.
Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
South Africa: The host nation is not well known for it’s soccer, the Springboks automatically qualified and because of this not many have seen them in action outside of the confederations cup last summer. The performance at the Confederations Cup, also known as the World Cup’s dress rehearsal, seemed fairly solid, they made it to the semi-finals and lost to eventual champions Brazil at the end of regulation on an unbelievable free kick from Dani Alves. Their style of play seemed to be very free-flowing, much like the former Brazilian samba-style, the only problem being that they are not as talented as the Brazilians. Even though with a home crowd cheering you on the whole time anything could happen and that is why I am not underestimating the Springboks.
Key Player: Steven Pienaar (Everton, 28); The attacking mid fielder is by far the most excelled and talented player on this roster and his ability to get past men using his speed on the wing can help in setting up many goals.
Mexico: A much different Mexican side than from the last edition of the tournament, also what seems to be a much weaker team but regardless a team that as usual with the Mexican squads has a lot of character, passion and grit. That self-belief may serve as enough for this team due simply to the fact that there are no “superstars”, and non of the players are truly world-class phenoms to come. The team varies in age, from Chautemoc Blanco to the two most promising players; Giovani dos Santos and Carlos Vela, both who play in England but do not see a good amount of playing time. What seems to be the only concrete part on el tri’s roster is their 24-year-old Guillermo Ochoa in front of the posts. Then one never knows what could happen with a young nucleus of players in the mid-field. The captain Rafael Marquez who is thought of by Mexico’s fans to be one of their best ever, almost never starts for FC Barcelona. Mexico’s run this summer does not seem very promising with no real “great” players.
Uruguay: After having missed out on the party in 2006, Uruguay is back and though many of us may not know most of the names on this roster, it seems pretty solid and a safe bet to get out of the group stage. Uruguay has what seems at the moment to be a great mix of young players and experienced veterans, the forwards being the biggest threat. Uruguay’s front line has an incredible depth and many heavy goal-scorers from around the globe. Starting with Diego Forlan who has just come off a UEFA Cup victory with his club side of Atletico Madrid, in which he scored both goals. Forlan has been around, he has played from Manchester United most notably and has always scored for the Uruguayan national team that he should be captaining this June. Another very much experienced striker is Abreu who leads the team in goals and mixing in with the veterans could be the 23-year-olds Edinson Cavani from Palermo or Luis Suarez (leading goal-scorer in the Dutch league) from Ajax. A very young midfield could prove to be anything in this tournament and that seems to be the only question mark for this squad. The goalkeepers are not very experienced, in fact their total number of caps between the three of them is just 17 games and if Lazio’s Fernando Muslera starts it could prove to be a nightmare for the Uruguayan fans, however the defense of the team seems to be fairly compact and experienced, so hopefully Fernando Muslera will not be seeing too much of the ball. It all depends on Uruguay’s midfield and if they show up to play I would not be surprised to see Uruguay get out of the group in first place.
France: France, France, France. Oh all the things we can say about France, one of them being that they should not be in the tournament to begin with and I have to say that I agree with this considering that they completely cheated an Irish side in front of a hostile crowd in Ireland. One thing is for sure and that is that regardless of how France plays they will be playing with the label of cheaters and other than Les Bleus faithful not many will be cheering for them (not as if they usually did anyway). This world cup starts a new era for the French team, a world cup without Zinedine Zidane and oddly enough without their most promising striker Karim Benzema from Real Madrid. As those of us following the global game of soccer have gotten used to France’s coach Raymond Domenech’s antics, so will you at this world cup. The man once again pulled another one of his stunts and left out Karim Benzema from the team for no apparent reason, even though he is one of the best young forwards in the game at the moment. Sometimes I think what could possibly go through this man’s head on these occasions but then I remember that this is the same coach who bases how he forms his teams on horoscopes, until recently Raymond or as he calls himself “the philosopher” would not put Scorpio’s (late October-November) on his squads for fear that they would bring bad luck. However this is not about Raymond, a true piece of work, but it is about Les Bleus chances this June and to me they do not seem too bright. Nicolas Anelka should be able to take a strong load up front, however you never know what you are going to get out of an aging Thierry Henry and a very young rest of the squad. Franck Ribery is probably going to be carrying this team and will have to play a huge part in the attack because it does not seem as if there is a trustworthy defense at the back for Les Bleus. In the end what I believe it will come down to is No Benzema, No Party. I do not see France getting past the round of sixteen simply because they are no where near the same team they were in 2006.
1. 1. 1.Uruguay
2. 2. 2.Mexico
3. 3.3. France
4. 4. 4.South Africa
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