World Cup Preview

Home

World Cup Preview

Group Stage Capsules

By Paul Sulzer

Assistant Sports Editor

|

Published: Thursday, May 6, 2010

Updated: Thursday, May 6, 2010

Group A Breakdown: This might be the most balanced group in the World Cup. None of the teams are dominant, but all are capable of stringing together three solid performances to advance. Mexico is undefeated in its past 15 games. Ever since Javier Aguirre replaced Sven-Goran Eriksson as manager, El Tri has been the most consistent team in North America. Uruguay quietly qualified for the World Cup by winning a playoff with Costa Rica. Los Charruas have one of the most underrated attacking duos in Forlan and Luis Suarez. Although France is historically one of the leading countries in soccer, don’t expect much out of Les Bleus in this World Cup. Their weak central defense could be exposed against both Mexico and Uruguay. And South Africa might become the first host country to fail to advance. Very few South African players play in top flight European leagues. Still, don’t underestimate the importance of playing on home soil.

Group B Breakdown: Argentina spearheads one of the weakest groups in the World Cup. The Albiceleste have arguably the most talented team in the world, but former star-turned-manager Diego Maradona hasn’t found the right mix of players to maximize that talent. Nigeria has a history of showing up for big tournaments, advancing out of the group stage twice in its three appearances and finishing in third place at the African Cup of Nations earlier this year. John Mikel Obi leads a young, dynamic team that could shock more well-known opponents. The Greeks have never won a game in an international tournament, except for 2004, when they won the European Championship. Their thin midfield could be worn out by Argentina and Nigeria. South Korea has a veteran team that finished in fourth place in the 2002 World Cup. The Koreans lack firepower beyond Manchester United star Park Ji-Sung, so they will have difficulty scoring enough to advance.

Group C Breakdown: England fans think every year is their year, but this might be the year that they’re actually right. The Three Lions have the best striker in the world in Wayne Rooney and a midfield that can compete with anyone. They could be undone, though, by question marks at keeper and on defense, where John Terry is still trying to regain the trust of his teammates after cheating with the wife of fellow national teamer Wayne Bridge. The United States has cooled down after its shocking trip to the Confederations Cup final last summer. Without Charlie Davies, the team lacks the speed to wear out opposing defenses. Look for head coach Bob Bradley to slot winger Clint Dempsey at forward in Davies’ place, since the Fulham man has a nose for the goal. Slovenia will try to slow the other teams down with stingy defense and a methodical attack. Algeria is playing in its first World Cup in 24 years and will be happy with a single win or tie.

Group D Breakdown: This group is the most difficult to predict, since each team looked so good in qualifying. Serbia has the best defense, anchored by Nemanja Vidic and former American youth international Neven Subotic. Ghana’s midfield can control the tempo of the game, so long as Chelsea star Michael Essien is healthy. Even if Essien misses the World Cup due to his injured knee, Ghana can still turn to Sulley Muntari and Stephen Appiah for composure in the middle third of the pitch. Germany, which has a string of seven straight quarterfinal appearances, consistently does well in the tournament. Strikers Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose, though, have been in terrible form lately, so Germany could struggle to crack a difficult defense like Serbia’s. Australia dominated regional qualifying and was impressive in the last World Cup, but the team lacks depth beyond midfielder Tim Cahill and goaltender Mark Schwarzer. Although this is not the strongest group in terms of offense, the weak Australian defense could be exposed.

Group E Breakdown: Holland qualified in style, outscoring its opponents 17-2 in eight games. The Dutch play a beautiful brand of soccer usually only seen from Latin teams like Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. Their defense leaves a lot to be desired, but if other teams can’t get possession of the ball, what difference does it make? Denmark has qualified for the Cup three times before and survived the group stage each time. Nicklas Bendtner, the 22-year-old Arsenal phenom, will have to do most of the scoring on an otherwise grizzly frontline. Cameroon became the first African team to reach the quarterfinals in 1990, but success has been fleeting since then. The Indomitable Lions have failed to survive the group stage in any of their other four tournament appearances. Unless another scorer besides Samuel Eto’o emerges to keep defenses honest, opponents will key on the Inter striker and it will be another early exit for Cameroon. Japan has been wholly unimpressive in 2010, struggling to draws with Venezuela and China and losing convincingly to South Korea and Serbia.

Group F Breakdown: For better or worse, the Italian team has changed very little since winning the World Cup in 2006. The cast of characters is largely the same – just four years older. Head coach Marcello Lippi will have to rest the bigger names in the group stage to keep them fresh for the knockout rounds, so an opportunistic team like Slovakia could capitalize. Paraguay is flying under the radar, despite an impressive qualifying campaign in which La Albirroja was just a point behind Brazil for the group lead. Manchester City’s Roque Santa Cruz is the go-to man for goals, although his playing time has been limited on a deep team this year. Slovakia is an inconsistent team capable of pulling off an upset or two but unlikely to make a run. They went 4-1-1 in their final six qualifiers, but just 1-5-1 in their last seven friendlies. New Zealand is happy to be here. In their last World Cup appearance, the All Whites were pummeled 12-2 and lost all three games.

Group G Breakdown: Here it is: the group of death. Brazil and Portugal are slotted first and third, respectively, in the latest FIFA rankings. The Elephants of the Ivory Coast are no slouches, either. This is the second straight time they’ve been placed in the most difficult group (they played Argentina, the Netherlands, and Serbia and Montenegro last time), so they definitely have something to prove on their home continent. Poor North Korea will be lucky to manage a goal against three of the best teams in the world. The Samba Kings of Brazil have an embarrassment of riches, as always, so expect them to outperform last tournament’s quarterfinal disappointment. Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani will effectively spread out the defense for some easy scoring. Brazil and Portugal are the picks because of the Ivory Coast’s sketchy form lately, which includes a quarterfinal exit in the African Cup of Nations and a bizarre 2-0 loss to South Korea in March.

Group H Breakdown: Spain has staked a pretty strong claim to the title of best team in the world with its play over the past two years, so it’s safe to say that the other three teams are competing for one spot to advance out of the group. Chile comes into the tournament hot, owning an 8-1-2 record over the past 11 games with four wins over World Cup teams. La Roja loves experimenting with different formations, so expect them to field lineups with just three defenders on occasion to catch the opposition off guard. The Swiss team suffers from a dearth of scoring with striker Alexander Frei hurt, so look for them to play a more defensive style in an effort to advance. Honduras is the wildcard in this group. Since they’re only here because Jonathan Bornstein scored a fluke goal with seconds remaining to tie Costa Rica in the final regional qualifying match, Los Catrachos are playing with house money.

For more coverage of the World Cup, including bracket predictions and the biggest storylines, pick up the May 6 edition of The Heights or open the PDF version on the Web site.