For me, Group B was the most difficult group to make predictions for. I have done numerous different “drafts” of my predictions, and at one point or another I have had all four teams advance at different stages of the process. Why? I see each team as being extremely high quality for varying reasons, as well as being extremely flawed in certain areas. This is a group that I do not see being settled until the last day, being potentially the most competitive group in the entire competition.
Argentina is the seeded team heading into the competition, and therefore have to be favorites to advance into the knockout rounds. They are among the top of my list of most interesting teams to watch at the World Cup, possessing an unfair amount of talent up front and in the midfield, along with potentially the craziest manager to ever manage at a Finals event. Manic manager Diego Maradona, already a legend in Argentina for his exploits as a player, will have a plethora of players to choose from up top. All six of his forwards could start for at least ¾ of the rest of the teams at the tournament. They are his son-in-law Sergio Aguero, Diego Milito, Martin Palermo, Carlos Tevez, Gonzalo Higuain and the reigning player of the year Lionel Messi. It really will be interesting to see what tactics Maradona will use in South Africa. The two weaker forwards are Aguero and Palermo, who will almost definitely not see the pitch, but the other four are truly world class. Messi will obviously start, but who will partner with him? The bullish Carlos Tevez, who is coming off a major year with Manchester City, the star striker from one of the biggest clubs in the world (Real Madrid) Gonzalo Higuain, or the player who just netted twice in the Champions League Final for Inter Milan, Diego Milito. It truly is not fair how many options he has. My guess is that Maradona will use a 4-2-1-3 formation, with Juan Sebastion Veron being the creater behind the forwards. Messi will start on his favored right side, Carlos Tevez will take the left and either Higuain or Milito will take the center forward spot. Although I think Maradona favors Higuain, I would start Milito who has been in great form the past few months. In defense, Maradona favors starting four center backs across the backline for size, while midfielders Angel di Maria and Javier Mascherano will stand in front of them. Despite all this talent, Argentina is anything but a stable team. Maradona is very inexperienced as a coach, and the team struggled during the qualifying campaign. In Maradona’s defense he was not manager the entire campaign, but the club is still not the most consistent in the field, despite possibly being the most talented. Argentina is a dangerous team, but one that should be able to navigate this group.
Nigeria also resides in this group. They are a stereotypical African team, extremely athletic with fantastic options up front in Obifemi Martins and Yakubu, as well as aged legend Nwankwo Kanu coming off the bench. Martins’ speed, pace and control couples well with Yakubu’s power and size, leaving the Nigerians with possibly the best duo up front. They will have to provide goals if the Nigerians have any hope of getting through this group. In defense is where the Africans could have trouble though, since they do not have a single, well-tested goalie on their roster and few talented defenders. One bright spot will be Joseph Yobo, a talented and experienced center back who will be expected to lead the defense. He is a physically imposing character, and will be given the tough assignment of stopping other teams’ best forwards. His play will be crucial to the Africans advancing, as well as the play of John Obi Mikel. The Chelsea defensive midfielder has won the race to become healthy in time for the finals, and should be able to start against Argentina on the 12th of June. He will most likely be partnered with Dickson Etuhu in the center of the midfield, and it will be their job to break up play going forward for their opponents. Etuhu and Mikel are also physically imposing, as well as quick, so expect big things from the center of the park for Nigeria. All in all, Nigeria are one of the better all around teams from Africa, and will be tough to beat.
The third team in the group is South Korea. A well organized team, led by Manchester United midfielder Ji-Sung Park, Korea will be very difficult to beat. They are extremely quick and hard working. The main problem that I see with South Korea is where the goals are going to come from, especially with striker Lee Dong-Gook, who started all through qualification, injured for at least the opener in South Africa. But even with Gook on the field, I still see problems for the Koreans in that they do not have a proven goal scorer who is not past his prime. They do have the heroic striker from the 2002 World Cup, Ahn Jung-Hwan, but he is far past his prime and many in South Korea think his inclusion smacks of desperation for inspiration up top by coach Huh Jung-Moo. That said, the midfield should be difficult with Park running the show and promising talent Lee Chung Yong playing on the right wing. They also have an experienced goalkeeper in Lee Woon Jae, who will be called upon to make big saves in order for success in South Africa. On defense, the Koreans feature many unknown players who apply their trade in Asia, but the apparent drawback to them is their lack of size in the middle, making them susceptible to giving up goals on headers from set pieces. At the end of the day, I believe Korea’s success will come down to if their talented midfield can control the pace of the game and provide goals, along with Jae having another big World Cup.
The last team in Group B is Greece. Many are favoring the Greeks because of their extremely defensive style of play; the Greeks only allowed 10 goals in 12 games, including an impressive shut out at Ukraine in the second leg of their playoff series that resulted in Greece gaining a berth. They also have a reputation for being very physical, not being afraid of injuring an opponent in order to stifle them. Up front, they will rely on Theofanis Gekas, who led Europe in 10 goals scored during qualification. A major asterisk that one can put next to Gekas’ impressive record though, is that six of those came against Latvia, who were strong in a very weak qualification group. I do not question Greece’s defense as it is well known as being extremely physical and tough to break down, a trait that most teams managed by Otto Rehhagel possess, but they don’t have any real leaders in the middle of the park or in attack. The Greeks won’t concede many goals, but they won’t score many either, making them a tough team beat but an easy team to at least gain a tie from. People will say this team is similar to the side that won Euro 2004 in Portugal who played a similar style, but one could also look at the team in Euro 2008 and the incompetency they showed in the offensive side of the field. That incompetency will eventually lead to the Greeks downfall.
Conclusion
My teams to advance through are Argentina and Nigeria. Although I have many doubts about Maradona’s competency as a manager, I believe Argentina have far too much talent to not advance. I see them having a pretty easy time of it too, easily beating Nigeria and South Korea, before a draw against Greece on the last day. I have Nigeria advancing too, with their speed and power up front being too much for the Koreans in the biggest game in the group. Expect Yakubu to score on a header from a set piece in this tie, as the Nigerians prove too athletic for the disciplined Koreans. It’s tough for me to not put South Korea through because I do like them as a team, but I don’t see enough fire power up front for them to advance. I do think they will beat the Greeks on Matchday 1 from a Ji Sung Park penalty late in the game, but that will be their only win as Argentina’s fire power up front will be too much for their defense and Nigeria’s athleticism will overpower them. Greece will confirm how tough their defense is by allowing only two goals, but the problem will be that they score one, I’m predicting against Nigeria. Here is how I see the group playing out:
Game 1: Argentina 3 vs. 1 Nigeria
Game 2: Korea Republic 1 vs. 0 Greece
Game 3: Greece 1 vs. 1 Nigeria
Game 4: Argentina 2 vs. 0 Korea Republic
Game 5: Nigeria 3 vs. 1 Korea Republic
Game 6: Greece 0 vs. 0 Argentina
Final Standings:
Argentina 7 pts
Nigeria 4 pts
South Korea 3 pts
Greece 2 pts
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