South Africa 2010

The competition runs from the 11 of June 2010 through the 11 of July 2010 and it is the first time that it is being hosted on the African continent, in the Republic of South Africa. There are 32 teams in total and they are divided into eight groups made up of four teams each,group A through H.

Group A is made up of host country South Africa,Mexico,France and Uruguay.
France is one of my favorite teams.Everybody that follows the game would remember the controversial way in which they got into the final 32 with the infamous hand assist pass by star player Thierry Henry,but they got in anyway after a tough playoff against the Republic of Ireland.France had their break through year in the World cup in 1998 when they won the cup though they have been a good side for a long period of time. They won the European Cup of Nations in grand style in 1984 and twice made it to the semi finals of the World cup in 1982 and 1986.If you are looking for a great soccer video to purchase, head to a soccer store and demand their 1982 classic match with West Germany.The French team is in a transitional period right now in my opinion and I would be surprise if they make a great run deep into the competition. Their most current major trophy was the 2000 European Nations cup,known as the "Euro" which they won away in the Netherlands.

Mexico qualified just behind the USA.If you looking for some attractive soccer, watch the team from Mexico. They have never won the world cup, but they are a fun team to watch with a lot of passionate fans from this Latin American Nation.They usually are a safe bet to make it out of the preliminary rounds.

South Africa first hosted a major competition in 1996 and won it ,but that was the African Cup of nations. As host country they got an automatic bid and the International Football Federation,generally referred to as "Fifa" made them head of Group A. They are not particularly in great form of late, having failed to qualify for the African cup of nations that was played in Angola early this year. But with the home crowd behind them,they could pull out a couple of surprises.

Uruguay were the fifth team from the South American confederation to qualify for the world cup after a playoff win over Costa Rica. They have been World champions at two different occasions,first in 1930 and later on in 1950. Since then they have been a force in the South American continent,but not so strong at the World cup stage. It would be hard press for them to get out of this group.

So my picks to get out of this group are France and Mexico.

Group B has as head of group Argentina,then Nigeria,Greece and South Korea.
Argentina are two times world champions, first when they hosted the competition in 1978 winning it with players like Mario Kempes, Daniel Passarella and then they won the trophy again in 1986 with Diego Maradona carrying the team.So their most recent World cup triumph came when the tournament was hosted in Mexico.Argentina for some unknown reason struggled through qualification in a zone which they normally go through with relative ease. Diego Maradona is their coach and though a legend, a lot of people think that he was part of the problem in the qualification run.The team never had a steady set of players and some veterans who had retired from the national team had to be called in to help in the qualification process. The team has a lot of talent including world 2010 player of the year Lionel Messi.They play very attractive soccer and I am looking for them to pick up the slack of winning this world cup should their South American brother, the "Samba boys" from Brazil fail to do so.

Greece had that magical run in Euro-2004 during which they won it as a very long shot. Though they have not been able to match that magical performance, they are a tough out in any major competition. Their style of play does not attract a lot of fans, but they do get the results with some great defensive effort.

Nigeria is the African nation that I think would be the first to win a World cup if an African nation gets to win one.They have the character and the talent to do it. They have had great success in winning world championships at the under 20 age group, though the success has not translated into the senior team in the World cup stage. They won the soccer Olympic gold medal in Atlanta in 1996 and their best team to ever play in the world cup in my opinion was the Super Eagles that arrived the US in 1994.Two times champions of Africa,this would be their fourth World cup appearance and only once have they fail to make it out of the group stages. That was in 2002 when they were pulled in a very tough group that included Argentina,England and Sweden.The most recent outing of the Super-Eagles was during the African Cup of nations in January and they ended up third in a competition in which they were picked as one of the favorites to win the trophy. The fact that they failed to measure up well against eventual African Cup of nations winner, Egypt means that the super-eagles need to do a lot of work if they are going to make a great run at the first World cup to be hosted in the continent.

South Korea had their best run in the 2002 competition which they co-hosted with the Japanese,making it all the way to the semi-finals. My greatest memory of them is when they had a memorable game in Chicago stadium with the German side in the 1994 World cup competition. Down three goals to nil, they made a great comeback falling just short at 2goals to three.But they showed a lot of fight in that game and left the competition with a lot of respect from the soccer viewing world.

My picks to get out of this evenly matched teams are the Super-Eagles and Argentina.

Group C has England,USA,Algeria and Slovenia.
England is the nation that invented the game.I take that back,I believe it is Scots that invented the game. The English team last won a major trophy in 1966 which is a very long time ago. They made it to the world cup semi-finals in 1990 and recently it has been the quarterfinals at World cup competitions and home they go. Their most recent team that I like was the one in 1998 that lost to Argentina in penalty shootouts. That team I believe was unlucky and very talented. The recent team is very good in my opinion and they are going to be very dangerous in this world cup. Their Italian coach Fabio Capello brings in a lot of winning tradition from a European brother.The depth of this team is what I believe would take them a long way in this championship. They eased through qualifications and only lost to Croatia when they had their place in South Africa already booked.A lot of opinion both within the English community and outside of England belief that the current generation of players in this team have a chance of achieving what their counterparts in 1966 did and that if they fail to do so in this World cup final, it would be a very long time before they get such a great opportunity. This is how talented the current squad is.

Algeria would be making an appearance for the first time since 1982 in which they had that memorable victory over super favorite West Germany. They did not make it to the next round but they were only one of two African nations at the time that qualify for the world cup. The country went through a period of internal unrest and it is good to see them back on the international football scene. The internal unrest is behind them now and it seems as if they are getting their talent pool back together.We recently saw the Algerian team in the African cup of nations that took place in January in Angola and though they got a passing grade in the competition, finishing in fourth place, they have a lot of work to do. They are a disciplined side in the way they play, except when they are playing the Egyptian side against whom they completely unravel during that competition. The team needs some strike force up front in my opinion and would have to play very hard to get out of the preliminary stages of the world cup.

In the USA, soccer is not the primary sporting event but they have learn very well how to play the game. They qualified easily from the "Concacaf" zone in which Mexico seem to be their only real challenge.Their recent great run in a world cup final came in 2002 when they beat a talented Portuguese side on their way to making it out of the preliminary rounds.They play great when they have their backs to the wall. Look at their performance during the 2009 Confederations cup, when they came from losing their first two games to making it all the way to the semi-finals of that competition.

Slovenia got in after winning a tough home and away playoff with the Russians in which they were two goals down in the first leg and manage an away goal. All they needed to do then was to secure a one nil victory at home to qualify and that is exactly what they did.

From this group I would say that the USA and England would be making it out of the preliminary rounds.

Group D has Germany,Australia,Ghana and Serbia.
Germany are three times world champions in 1954,1974 and 1990.They also have been champions of Europe at three different occasion,1972,1980 and most recently in Euro-1996.That is six major competition triumph. You throw in their world cup runners-up in 1982,1986 and 2002 and "voila", you get quite an impressive resume. They come into most major competitions as one of the favorites to win it all and this one is no different. They have continuity in their coaching staff and the right blend of players to lift the trophy. Their main problem could be in the defensive area.

Australia made it out of the preliminary round in the last world cup competition, so they are not a light weight by any standard.They qualify from the Oceanic Zone.

Ghana made it out of the preliminary round in their World cup debut in 2006 and they are four times African Champions. I look for them to make it out of the preliminary rounds this time around also. They could even make a lot of noise if their key players can stay healthy going into the competition.They are current under twenty world champions and they have won at the under 17 level also, so it is a matter of transferring that talent to the senior level. Their current side is made up of quite a few players from the under 20 side that lifted the trophy that they hosted.In their most recent outing in a major competition, in January this year, they made it all the way to the finals with the youngest team in the competition. They fall just short of lifting the African Cup of nations for the fifth time in the history of that competition and their run in that competition would help them in this world cup final competition.


Serbia qualified in a group that had France in it,as head of the group.So unlike the French they did not have to go through a two game playoff to make it into the competition.

I like the Ghana team and the Germans to get out of this group.

Group E has the Netherlands, Denmark,the Republic of Cameroon and Japan.Apart from Holland, the group looks pretty balanced.
Holland are the best soccer playing nation in my opinion in the world never to have won the world cup. They came close in 1974 and 1978 as runners-up to the Republic of Germany and Argentina respectively. They also get to about the semi finals or quarterfinals before being knocked out in the years that they are in form. Look for them to be there around the semi finals nations.They have won a major trophy though, in 1988 with Van Basten, Raud Gaulit and co,that was hosted by the Germans.They are an attractive side to watch and have a lot of talented players. Their main problem going into major competitions has been infighting.When that is absent, the team is scary good. They breezed through qualifications without dropping a single point. Only the Spanish team matched that record in qualification.

Denmark won "Euro" 1992 when they did not even qualify for the competition.They came in as a replacement for then Yugoslavia that was going through sanctions from the international body.In the years that the Danes are in the World cup finals they seem to do pretty well. One of their most exciting teams showed up in Mexico in 1986 and dazzled a lot of fans before being knock out in the quarterfinals by Spain.

Cameroon is making their African record sixth appearance in the world cup stage and their best performance came in 1990 when they had that great run into the quarterfinals stage of the competition and they were responsible for Fifa increasing the number of teams from the continent to five teams from the start of the 1994 world cup competition. Their star man is current Inter forward Samuel Eto'o Fils.Though the team has made the most appearance from the African continent into the World cup finals, they have only once made it out of the group stages.The problems lie in different areas ranging from arguments over the payment of bonuses to not having the organization skill to match their talent on the playing field. Their current outing was in Angola during the African cup of nations this past January and they get out in the quarterfinals. A lot of fans back home were disappointed and the team seems to me to be still in transition right now. They have quite a few veteran players that the public had been screaming for the coaches to replace. The public got its wish in their recent outing with mixed results.They team show some improvement in the energy
department but some of the errors that the veteran players were committing, were duplicated by the younger replacements, whom the African Cup of nations showed needed some games under their belt to be able to fill in well for the veteran players. The coach, Paul Le Guen did some explanations after the African Cup of nations, and his ambition is to take this current set of lions to at least the quarterfinals of the competition. The indomitable lions are in a tough group and though they have some talented players in their team, it is going to be a tough world cup outing come June.

Japan was one of the first teams that qualified for the current world cup finals and they did well in 2002 when they co-hosted the World cup finals with South Korea. They have the ability to stay around with most teams and that is what makes them a very difficult opponent to deal with.

From this evenly matched group I like Holland and the Lions(with all their problems)to get out of the preliminary stage of the competition.

Group F has Italy,New-Zealand,Paraguay and Slovakia.
Italy are the defending world champions and they are four times winners of the World cup trophy.Their first three triumphs came in 1934,1938 and 1982 respectively.Though they won it the last time around, I think their most memorable side has to be the one in 1982.They came in as outsiders to super-favorites Brazil and Germany and won the trophy in grand style,getting better as the competition moved from one stage to the other.That has been the tradition of the Italian side. Get out of the preliminary rounds with a bit of a struggle and then turn into one of the tougher outs of the event. If you are looking for a classic video tape from their 1982 triumphant, there are two that you can get, the first one would be their final victory game over Germany. The second one though, their victory over Brazil that got them into the semi finals of the competition, is the real classic soccer video of the competition. One of the best of all times. This current Italian side,in my opinion is in transition.Their break though could come in the fact they got a very good draw from Fifa and though they might lack some attacking punch up front, their defense is good to see them through deep into the competition.

Slovakia would be making their first appearance in a major soccer tournament.They did qualify from a tough European qualification group.

Paraguay does not have any problem qualifying for the world cup competition. Their problem has been once they get into the World stage, they just do not perform as well as their other South American counterparts.This time around though they qualified well from their South American group and they have a very good chance in group F.

New Zealand are making a comeback into world cup play since their last appearance in the year 1982.I remember that team because they had quite an exciting head coach.

My picks to get out of this group would be Italy and Paraguay.

Group G is the group of death and it is made up of Brazil,Portugal,Ivory Coast and North Korea.
Brazil are five times world champions and for the moment I think this year they would make it their six world cup victory.This is my logic as to why they would be the winners this time around. The world cup is coming to Africa for the first time and each time that the competition has moved to a completely new venue this South American nation has won it. They did that in 1994 when the competition was played in the US for the fist time and they did it again in 2002 when the competition moved to South Korea and Japan. Also since 1966 the winner of this trophy has rotated between a South American team and a European team. England in 1966,Brazil in 1970,West Germany in 1974,Argentina in 1978,Italy in 1982,Argentina in 1986,Germany in 1990,Brazil in 1994,France in 1998,Brazil in 2002 and Italy in 2006.So look for a South American team this time around. Uruguay is the third South American team that has won the competition but they did it way back in 1930 and 1950. Recently it has been Brazil and Argentina doing it for the South Americans.I would say go with Brazil first and if they fail Argentina would pick up the slack.The Brazilian team won the 2009 Confederations cup in South Africa and though one might have a few complains about the talent pull not being as deep as some of their great teams in the pass,I think they have enough players and the right mental strength to get it done. They did not breeze through qualifications as say Spain or the Netherlands, but they got the
job done and that is the kind of the them that this current set of Samba boys is. Their coach is Dunga and he won the competition as team captain in 1994 and I think there is enough talent and fight in this side to see them all the way through. They also have a lot of fans in the African continent. Their fan base in the continent eclipse even that of the popular English and Spanish sides with leagues that are watch weekly through out the continent.

North Korea qualified from the oceanic zone and it is remarkable that they did considering all the problems that the country in going through both internally and with the international community. I think that they are the weaker team is this otherwise all around top to bottom tough group. I am not looking for them to get out of this group.

Ivory Coast is making their second straight world cup appearance and it is too bad that they had to be drawn into such a tough group.This happened to them in their last world cup appearance in 2006 in Germany in which they were grouped with Holland and Argentina and they failed to make it out of the group stages.The team with the most talent of the six African teams in the competition, their problem has been the right mental strength during major competitions. Champions of Africa in 1992,they have just come of age during this decade and they would have a lot of fight in their hands to get out of this group.In their most recent outing in a major competition, this January, they failed to live up to expectation, falling short of their second African cup of nations triumph in a 3-2 defeat to under-dog side Algeria. They have the talent on paper but would the current disappointments and being drawn in a tough world cup group,it could be a tough June 2010 for the team from Ivory Coast. If they needed motivation, they have it going into this competition, because they are not going in as favorites to win it and also because their disappointing outing at the African cup of nations outing this past January should be enough motivation for them.

Portugal started their world cup qualifying campaign really slow and had to go through a playoff to make the final 32.They are a very talented team with 2008 Fifa player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo in the squad.They would be battling in out
with Ivory Coast in my opinion for that second qualification spot behind Brazil.

When it is all played out, I would say that Portugal and Brazil would be getting out of this group of death.


Group H has Spain,Honduras, Switzerland and Chile.
Spain are the defending European champions and the team that they used to lift the European trophy in 2008 is pretty much intact. Look for them to make a pretty big run into the competition. I would not say they are going to lift the trophy just because they have not done so in the past. But they have to be one of the favorites. They would get support from the African continent where they have a lot of people tracking their star players.They breezed through qualification, picking up all the available points and they happen to be in the bottom half of the pairing with the other super-favorite of this competition, Brazil. Currently placed second on the Fifa world ranking, they are the most creative of all the teams present in this competition. That creativity is in their mid-fielders. The Spanish team is loaded with forward moving mid-fielders and those are the type of players that you need to win big competitions. The only problem that I have with the side is that if they get behind like they did in the Confederations cup against the US, a game they ended up losing, they tend to get down on themselves. They said, anything short of a semi-finals place would be a major disappointment for this talented side.

Switzerland are a crafty team, their last outing was in Euro 2008 when they co-hosted and failed to get out of the preliminary rounds, but this is the world cup,so look for some positive results from them.

Chile can play some attractive soccer. They qualified third out of the tough South American qualifying zone.

Honduras qualified third in the North American group behind the USA and Mexico.They have been in the world cup before though they did not make it out of the preliminary rounds.

My teams to get out of this group would be defending European Champions Spain and Chile.

Conclusion
The competition is a little bit loaded with more talented teams in the bottom half of the draw which is from group E through group H in my opinion.The reason I say that is because in this pairing you have top rank powerhouse Holland,defending world champions Italy,five times world champions Brazil and defending European champions Spain.You throw in Ivory Coast,Cameroon,Denmark and Portugal and you get a collection of teams from which this world cup winner would be coming from.The competition is being played in the African continent for the first time and people would be wondering how far an African team can progress into this world cup.Cameroon and Ivory are pretty good teams but they happen to be in the tougher part of the draw,so a quarterfinals place would be the extend of their run. Teams Nigeria,Ghana,South African and Algeria might not be the the top ranking teams from the continent,but they pulled a good break on the draw. So I would be looking for one of these teams to break through the quarterfinals stage of the competition. I am not so sure whether one of these teams would take the trophy, but a semi-finals or a finals place in the competition is possible.

So from the tough bottom part of the draw, when it is all played out, I would be looking at Spain and Brazil battling it out for a spot in the finals on July 11 2010.

In the top half of the draw, England and the Germany should be the teams standing
when it is all played out. If England wanted to make a great run into a world cup competition, this would be the one.The draw is favorable, the team is talented, they have a great coach and they have a great fan base in the African continent, where all eyes are glued each weekend on the television sets to watch the English premier league competition.

My winner though when it is all played out would be the Samba Boys from Brazil who would be crowned as World Champions for the Sixth time.