Thoughts on the USA vs. Algeria Game and the USA's Chances in the Knockout Rounds

The USA vs. Algeria match yesterday was probably the most intense soccer game this country has ever partaken in, and I can say I was there to witness it in person. Did I have faith through in through? In all honesty, I did not. I wasn’t sure if the goal we needed to progress was ever going to come. But I assure you, when it did, I cheered as loudly and as passionately as I ever have in my entire life. Never has a sporting event moved me to tears, but yesterday did. It was the best sporting event I will possibly ever go to, and this is somebody who has seen his hometown team play in, and win, the Super Bowl. I will never experience what I went through yesterday.

The day started much earlier than it should have: 5:30 AM. We were told to wake up at this time by the company that we got our tickets through, despite our pickup time being 7:20. It also ended at 5:30 AM the next day when we finally got back to our hotel, with our company putting us on the 2:40 AM flight from Pretoria. A long day that had me truly frustrated with the people who were playing a huge part in my getting to live my dream of seeing the World Cup live. Truly cannot complain though, they got us to Pretoria (capital of South Africa, and is an absolutely gorgeous town) and they gave us great seats: we were in the lower deck, about twenty five rows up, just behind the Algeria bench. We also were pretty close to former president Bill Clinton, and were able to get some fantastic pictures of him looking out over the field from his suite.

The lineup that Bob Bradley fielded had three changes from the one that played against Slovenia: with Herculez Gomez, Maurice Edu and Jonathon Bornstein starting in place of Robbie Findley, Jose Torres and Oguchi Onyewu. The inclusion of Bornstein was a terrifying prospect to me: he is, in my opinion, the least talented player on the USA roster. However, he is the only natural left back that we have, hence why he was included to replace Onyewu, who Bradley must feel has not been up to snuff in South Africa. I have to say that this defense appeared much better than the one that took the field against Slovenia, mostly because of how organized they were. Carlos Bocanegra was very good in central defense, being much more vocal than Onyewu was in the previous matches, meaning that Jay DeMerit could play with a little more confidence knowing where Bocanegra was. Steve Cherundolo was our MVP in the first half, with much of the offense flowing through him on the right flank. He also did a great job of neutralizing Nadir Belhadj, Algeria’s talented left winger. And Bornstein, as much as he terrifies me, played a decent game. He was conservative and consistent, and proved that he can have a role on this team as long as he attempts to play within his skill level and does not try to make surging runs down the left flank that he simply can’t make. The biggest thing for the American defense was that they gave the Algerians the early goal opportunity that the Americans always concede, but the Algerians were unable to take advantage of it, hitting the crossbar instead of finding the back of the net.

The midfield had a quieter game than they did against Slovenia and England. Despite this, I think Edu is the man to start the next match against Ghana; he appears to bring the best out of Michael Bradley, and that is crucial to the USA’s success. Landon Donovan had an inconsistent game, Clint Dempsey missed a sitter (and scored a goal that was incorrectly disallowed), and Bradley played his usual game of controlling the offense going forward and making the occasional surging run into the box. For me, Bradley has been our second most important player this tournament behind Tim Howard. I’m not trying to snub Landon, who without the USA would not be in the Round of 16, but Bradley has been fantastic this whole tournament. He kept the fantastic midfielders of England in check, then played an all around superb game against Slovenia that culminated with him scoring the all-important tying goal and contributed heavily to the USA keeping a shutout for the first time this tournament against Algeria. He’s done this all without any continuity in terms of who he has played with in the center midfield position. Four different players have played alongside him there (Edu, Torres, Ricardo Clark and Benny Feilhaber, who also played well against Algeria coming on as a substitute), and Bradley has done a great job of adjusting to each of their styles of play, continuing to be a productive player along the way. At his young age, he would be a perfect pickup for a big European club after this World Cup. If it actually happens I am not sure of, but has he earned that big money move? Yes

The forwards of this USA team are very tough to rate because the job of the forward is to score, something none of them have done yet. Despite this, the forwards have had a good tournament in my opinion, and had another consistent performance against Algeria. Herculez Gomez was a good substitute in the starter position for Robbie Findley (who was suspended through receiving two yellow cards in the previous games), but wasn’t quite active enough for my liking. He had one great chance, but had a bad angle, and the Algerian keeper parried it away. Jozy Altidore, despite missing a sitter from six yards away, had a very good game. He is the type of player who gets better as the game goes on because his unique combination of size and speed wears down defenders. Are you aware he’s drawn 6 yellow cards this tournament from defenders? That’s a sick number of cards, proving just how difficult Altidore can be. The next step for him is technique though. Too many times his bad first touch ended an American chance to score. He has plenty of time to get better though since he is only 20 years old, making him an exciting prospect for the future.

As the game went on, I began to get less and less confident about our chances. I’d seen this too many times in sports: one team dominates and creates chances to win the game, but are unable to take advantage of them. This appeared to be another one of those games, especially heading into stoppage time. That was until Landon Donovan scored the biggest goal of his career, picking up a loose ball in the box and tucking it home after a Clint Dempsey shot, from a Jozy Altidore pass, was deflected by the Algerian keeper. I didn’t have a great view of the goal as it was on the other side of the stadium, but when I saw the ball go into the net, I, along with the other Yanks in the stands, erupted into cheers of jubilation and relief. I hugged my dad, mom, sister, and any American near me. I even hugged a couple of random South Africans behind me who didn’t care who won the game. I then broke down and shed a few tears: I had dreamt of attending this World Cup for six years and my family had traveled a far way to get to South Africa; one second it was to watch our boys finish third and miss out on advancing, to seeing USA soccer history. That goal, and the win that came with it, took the USA to the top of their World Cup group, the first time we’ve achieved this (we also set a World Cup record for least amount of minutes leading a match by a group winner, with two minutes in the lead). With this in mind, as the final whistle blew, I stepped on a few empty seats in front of me, raised my USA scarf high above my head, and proudly chanted USA along with the rest of the crowd. It was a moment of pure elation, where everything seemed right in the world.

I can only thank the USA players for providing this fantastic personal moment, whose performance truly epitomized their strengths as a team: grit, determination and desire gave that team victory yesterday and advanced them, not skill. It’s something the 2006 edition of this team sorely lacked, but it’s a quality this team appears to be overflowing with. Every player hustled; every player wanted the team to succeed. Not every team has this, just ask the French and Italians (delighted both teams are out by the way) and this quality is our team’s greatest strength.

Looking ahead, the USA appears to have a manageable draw to make it to the semi finals. Their Round of 16 opponents is Ghana, with their potential quarterfinal adversaries being either Uruguay or South Korea. All three teams are beatable; the USA shouldn’t be intimidated by any of them. That said, the Ghana game is scaring me greatly. Ghana will most likely be the only African team left in the competition, and will be motivated to advance to the quarterfinals more than any other team in the field. They will also have the support of the rest of the world; everyone wants Africa to do well this year (myself included). There will be no neutrals in Rustenburg on Saturday; the stadium will be all Ghana, with a few Americans sprinkled in.

That said, I am encouraged by how Ghana has played so far in this tournament. They really have not been that great of a side, scoring only two goals, both from the penalty spot. The Ghanaians were lucky to take all three points from a woeful Serbian side (my bad on that one), tied a lackluster Australia team without their key player, and were dominated by Germany despite only losing 1-0. Ghana is also a team with a weak goalkeeper in Richard Kingson, so there could be chances galore in front of the net for our boys. Considering the USA’s other potential opponent was Germany, the Americans have to be satisfied. The Ghana game is anything but a freebee though, and they will have to bring their A-game to have a chance of winning. That said, if the Americans get past Ghana, making the semifinals is expected from my point of view; when you get that far in the tournament and you either have Uruguay waiting for you, who has yet to play any team of true skill (a Mexican team that was all but guaranteed of advancing doesn’t count) or South Korea who simply aren’t as good as your team, you must no longer hope but expect victory. That is the difference between good teams and great teams: taking the field with the expectation of victory. I anticipate Uruguay to be waiting in the quarterfinals. If we get past Ghana, the chances of the USA making its deepest run at a World Cup in the modern era will never be higher. The question is whether they will take this golden opportunity ahead of them. For their sake I hope they do, as they will truly never have a better draw to get to the semifinals than the one laid out in front of them now.

Thoughts on Upsets Galore and African Disappointment

Today was a day mostly spent shopping for me, so I do not have any major experiences to talk about. I did stand in line with my Dad to try to get tickets to the North Korea-Portugal match, but unfortunately we were unable to. What made the day a slightly sad day was that North Korea got absolutely obliterated by Portugal. So much for the whole Portugal playing down to their opponent theory I had, although the Koreans did play very well in the first half before tiring out.

This result was bad for two reasons. The first is that it eliminated the North Koreans from advancing. Anyone who has read this blog (the proud and few) know that I have a small crush on the team from this mysterious, militant communist nation, and their involvement has been one of my major headlines of this tournament. Just sad to know we only have one more game, hope they get a point. This comes to my second reason for disliking the Portuguese win today: it effectively has eliminated the Ivory Coast (North Korea’s next opponent) from advancing, making it look like Africa will not advance a single team this year. This is truly depressing; the South African people have been fantastic hosts, and while they appear to support every team here (except France, nobody likes them), they really want the African teams to do well. This is supposed to be Africa’s tournament: if no African teams even manage to make the Round of 16 then this tournament will lose a lot of its flavor. Ghana is in the best position to advance, but they face Germany, who will most likely need a win to advance: you would be foolish to bet against the Germans in this situation. The team with the best chance in my eyes is actually South Africa. The French are imploding (hilariously I might add. I wonder if they now wish the Thierry Henry handball did not happen so they wouldn’t have to go through this embarrassment), meaning they’re ripe to be slaughtered. South Africa will be motivated; I suspect they will win by multiple goals. What they need is Uruguay to beat Mexico by multiple goals too, and they will have a chance. I’m not counting the hosts out yet, I know the odds are against them, but crazier things have happened in this sport (USA advancing at last year’s Confederations Cup). That said, I would be foolish to anticipate this actually happening: Africa will be lucky to get one team this year in the knockout rounds.

It is odd how poorly Africa has done this year, since this year’s tournament has really been that of upsets. Actually it’s hard to call these results upsets because this field is so even, so I suppose a better description would be traditional powers losing to normally lesser teams. It’s hard to pick a favorite as there are so many to choose from, but here are the choices: New Zealand (tying both Slovakia and Italy), Japan (beating Cameroon), Switzerland (beating Spain), Serbia (beating Germany), Algeria (tying England), Mexico (beating France), Paraguay (tying Italy) and Uruguay (tying France) all fit this description. I’d have to pick the New Zealanders as my favorite, especially the tie with Italy, since the Italians were beyond lucky to get out of there with a point. I’m aware they hit the post a few times, but they also blatantly had the referee giving them every decision, and assuming that every time one of their players was on the ground it was the result of a New Zealander fouling them. Truly pathetic Italy, congratulations on needing to dive to get results against New Zealand who is made up of pretty much semi-pro players. I really dislike this edition of the Italians: uncreative, old, cocky and as I’ve alluded to, diving more than trying to play productive soccer.

The Swiss have also been fantastic this year, despite losing to a very good Chile side today. Did you know that the Swiss have only allowed 1 goal in their past 6 World Cup matches? Crazy statistic, this team is truly underrated. Their emergence as a good team could also be bad for Spain (currently up 1-0 on Honduras), who may not advance. The Spanish still have to play Chile, who are sky high in terms of confidence right now and will be tough to beat. That will be a Spanish victory, but it will be close, and goal difference will come into play.. How disappointing would it be if the Spanish do not advance? The tournament favorites not making it out of their group? That would not be good for the tournament either, especially with how so many good teams are on down years.

Speaking of how poor traditional powers have been this year, I realized a fun fact today: the four semifinalists from the 2006 World Cup (Italy, France, Germany and Portugal) have as many wins at this World Cup as the four Asian representatives (South Korea, Japan, North Korea and Australia): 2. Not only that, the two teams who have those wins (Germany and Portugal) both lost in the semi finals, meaning neither of the finalists from the last tournament have a win yet. They currently stand at a collective record of 0 wins, 3 draws, and 1 loss, with their opponents being New Zealand, Paraguay, Uruguay and Mexico. The last time one of these teams made at least the quarterfinals of a World Cup tournament was 1986, when Mexico made it to the final 8 as hosts (New Zealand and Paraguay have never made it that far, and Uruguay hasn’t since 1970). This fact shows just how unconventional this tournament is shaking out to be, and how weak the normally strong teams are. Because of this, I believe it raises the chances of the World crowning brand new champions this year. My pick? The Dutch, who are yet to slip up in South Africa, while talented teams around them, are doing it daily. These types of tournaments are really the best kind. Ones where traditional powers dominate, like 2006, are fun but they aren’t nearly as enthralling: watching nations’ teams break new ground is always more fun then watching teams search for more tournament victories. And I believe it is this type of fun that we, as a collective audience, have to look forward to.

Thoughts on the Cape Town Fan Zone

I just got back from an exciting safari, where I saw most of the fantastic animals that South Africa has to offer (unfortunately no giraffes): hippos, water buffalo, springboxes, zebras, crocodiles, warthogs, ostriches, lions and cheetahs (a huge moment for my older sister Anna, who has wanted to see cheetahs in Africa since doing a report on them in first grade). It is 3 PM now in Cape Town, and the Slovakia vs. Paraguay game is on. I realize that I didn’t even remotely mention what I did on the first day here in Cape Town, which was going to the official fan zone. The fan zone is a giant square in the middle of the city (the one in Cape Town happens to be where Nelson Mandela gave his first speech after being in jail) where there are huge televisions, tons of fans from all over the world, vendors and food. Fantastic atmosphere, simply one for an individual who loves the game. The games I saw were Argentina vs. South Korea and Nigeria vs. Greece.

The first game was the Argentina vs. South Korea game. I found myself rooting for South Korea, despite having Argentina in the finals of my predictions. This was partially because of how much fun it would be to have an Asian team do well at this tournament, but also because there was a huge contingent of South Korean fans there. Mostly college kids, this group of roughly 40 people spent the entire game chanting in Korean, no matter what was happening in the game. It is good they were so positive because their team was promptly played off the park by Argentina. They even smiled when young Italian fans no older than 12, still bitter over getting eliminated by the Koreans in 2002, ran over and flipped them off every time Argentina scored. Still, this did not deter their spirit. The best part of the game was when Lee Chung-Yong pounced on a mistake by Argentine defender Martin Demichellis, and calmly slid the ball into the back of the net right before halftime. After Chung-Yong buried his shot, the Koreans exploded and began running around the square, waving their flag with huge smiles on their face. A couple began high fiving random people around them, which I returned enthusiastically with a big smile on my face, trying to let them know that I was firmly on their side. It wasn’t meant to be though, as a second half brace by Gonzalo Higuain (who had a hat trick on the day) sealed the Koreans fate. After the game though, the disappointed Koreans sang their hearts out, letting the rest of the square know that their World Cup hopes were anything but over.

Now after that game I thought the Koreans were dedicated and crazy, but they paled in comparison to the Nigerians. About ten minutes before the game, my dad and I began to hear loud drums and chanting. It was coming from a distant corner of the square. We headed over to find not one or two, but three large groups of Nigerians, all dressed in vibrant green, making as much noise as possible. Why there were three factions was confusing to us, but we realized that the different groups could easily be individuals with different political beliefs. A country rife will political unrest, this could easily be the answer. It didn’t really matter to us what they believed in though, since all three groups were attempting to make the most noise. There also appeared to be some form of tribal praying as well, as one group huddled around a giant sack-like object that one of their members were wearing and began dancing in unison. Not quite sure what was happening there, but as a spectacle it was great. Eventually, the three groups got together in front of the massive screen where the game was being shown, and all three joined in singing songs and supporting their team. Soccer unites everyone, and I felt I was witnessing something important.

The game was not a great one for the Nigerians though. When they scored, the place erupted, as most people there were rooting for Nigeria over Greece (most African teams are receiving the support of the South Africans since Bafana Bafana appears to be heading out of the competition). But after the red card, it was a depressing affair as it became apparent that Greece were much better than anticipated. The Greeks eventually beat the Nigerians, despite heroics from the Super Eagles’ goalkeeper, 2-1, effectively eliminating Nigeria from the competition. It will take a miracle to see them through, so it was not fun to be around the hundreds of Nigerian fans who had much higher hopes than what had just transpired on the pitch.

The fan zone is one of many fantastic experiences I’ve had since being in South Africa. This place is fantastic, I’m truly in heaven here. Ok well, the New Zealand vs. Italy game is about to come on: come on you All Whites!

Thoughts on the USA vs. Slovenia Match

Sorry to those who expected me to respond immediately after the USA vs. Slovenia game, I simply needed an entire day to pull together all my thoughts after an emotional day that rendered me absolutely exhausted (this is of course assuming there is any demand by people who are interested in what I'm rambling about on here, but I know this is not the case). For most Americans, the game started at 10 AM and ended roughly around noon. For me, it started at 3 AM and ended around 1:30 AM the next day when I went to sleep. A long and exciting day, but one that I will remember for the rest of my life, and one that had a happy ending.

We left for the airport at 7 AM (the game was in Johannesburg, we’re staying in Cape Town), but I awoke at 3 AM simply out of excitement. I felt like a kid before Christmas Day, but multiplied by 1000. When FIFA decided to stage the World Cup in South Africa some six years ago, I’ve wanted to go. The second I heard the World Cup would be in Africa, I knew I had to go to a match. It’s been so far away, far away for a good chunk of my life, so please excuse me for being too excited to be troubled by sleep on the eve of something so major to me. I thought it would be best to lower my heart rate though so I wouldn’t suffer a stroke that would keep me from attending the match. My cure was listening to the calm music of The Middle East, Regina Spektor and The Dodos (all music given to me by my lovely girlfriend Becca, so thank you for assisting in the prevention of my death).

Eventually, my parents knocked on the door, I showered and we departed for the airport. Everything went smoothly until we got to David, our driver to the game. David, working his first day on the job, was able to get us to Ellis Park easily, but not find the parking lot we were supposed to be in. This resulted in us being driven all over the terrible area surrounding the stadium for an hour and a half, during which I saw my family’s emotions range from worry, to annoyance to rage. Eventually, David found our lot (right next to the stadium) and we got out. The atmosphere of the event wasn’t comparable to anything I’ve been to, and this is coming from someone who has seen his hometown team in the Super Bowl. Everywhere you went there were crazy costumes, vuvuzelas blaring (overrated, not in any way annoying and should be allowed) and drunk Slovenians screaming at the top of their lungs. We Yanks outnumbered them and were quite feisty, but there was something special about the Slovenians; their country is not well known (often confused for Slovakia), especially for its sports, so they were clearly excited and proud to be in the world’s spotlight for once.

We took out seats, which were fantastic despite being in the upper deck and got prepared to watch the game. Our section ended up being pretty heavily Slovenian, so we couldn’t scream “USA!” too loudly for fear of being attacked. Then the starting lineups marched on and the national anthems started playing. Not going to lie, I got emotional once the players stepped on the field. I suddenly realized the magnitude of this moment, how much time I had spent imagining it and how there was no more waiting, that I was experiencing it. I sang our anthem like I never had before (emphasizing the “O!” like any proud Orioles fan), and then the match began.

The first half was a nightmare. The first Slovenian goal resulted in our row getting drenched in beer that was chucked into the air by the jubilated Slovenians in front of us. They yelled and taunted at us, but then apologized profusely for the beer spilling. It’s kind of hard to hate a country that has only existed twenty years and has a population the size of Brooklyn. Anyway, after the goal went in I immediately began to feel an intense pain in my right side. I honestly thought I needed to go to the hospital, I hadn’t felt pain like this in my life. I knew it was a result of my fear of what may happen during the match, but for a few minutes I thought I needed medical assistance. The USA rallied though, with some fantastic chances being created that really should’ve been put away before the half was out (I should state that my wild card for the USA, Jose Torres, got the start I was clamoring for, but was absolutely awful. My bad, but still think he has a role to play for us in the future if not at this World Cup). After a particularly close one where a Slovenian defender stepped right in before Landon Donovan could pounce on it on the goal line, I had this sudden feeling that Slovenia were going to score again. Sure enough, a long pass, a misstep by Jay DeMerit and it was 2-0 to Slovenia.

Absolute shock and horror were my emotions at halftime. And a little bit of anger: I’d waited for this moment for years, and this was what I was going to see? I kind of wanted to go in to the locker room and yell at the players myself, but even if I could have this arranged, I wasn’t physically able to because my right side hurt so bad I could barely stand. But after the second half started, I sensed a new sense of urgency in the team: this was it, their backs were pretty much against the wall, they had to do something. The way this started was Landon Donovan’s goal, but Donovan did so much more after it. He was fantastic, and provided that go to player the USA has for so long desired in big games. That was the difference between this game and the Ghana game 4 years ago: we had a player who took the game and put it on his shoulders, pretty much saying “I’m going to carry you guys to a result”. We controlled the match, causing our row to get much more vocal and the Slovenians to go dead silent, after being raucous the entire first half. The goal was coming and finally it came with Michael Bradley finding the net. His celebration was great; the look on his face was of pure joy, relief and excitement, just fantastic to watch. He’s a potential captain for our team, that moment proved it. It was also great in the stands as the Slovenians were dead silent and shocked, ripe to have USA flags thrust in the faces and suffer “USA!” chants. Although I’ve stated I don’t have anything against their country, in that moment, I wanted nothing more for them to know that my team, my country, had just overcome theirs against all the odds. In their face. Also, thankfully, my intense pain all of a sudden left. Amazing what a goal can do to one’s health.

Then came the Maurice Edu incident, which is what every USA fan is talking about. Should the goal have been allowed? Yes, I’ve seen numerous replays and it should’ve been allowed, especially with the amount of shoving the Slovenians were doing. Edu is innocent, there is no doubt his goal was fine. I personally do not care. The USA gave up two goals and was lucky to come back against a very defensive and organized team, one that doesn’t blow leads often. That is the story for me: the USA was almost all but out of the competition and clawed their way back in. Their play in the first half has made them lucky to still be alive, so they shouldn’t complain too much. Now, if they still don’t advance then I will definitely feel a little bit robbed because we did the work to win that game. That said, if we do not advance it’s because we choked against Algeria, an inferior team we should beat, so even then I really won’t be able to complain. At this point I’m thankful we’re still alive (and actually would prefer to finish second so as to avoid the Germans and get the Serbs, who are all of a sudden not pathetic anymore).

After the game, the USA fans were ecstatic while the Slovenian fans were distraught. I consoled a few of the ones who spilled the beer in front of me; I would feel awful in their shoes, as would most sports fans. My spirits couldn’t have been higher though, as I proudly held my newly bought USA scarf above my head and chanted my country’s initials. My actions caused me to get spotted by an ABC reporter who interviewed me on camera for about 3 minutes which was fun. I didn’t end up on the news, but my Dad took tons of photos of me being interviewed, so I have proof this actually happened. Then we got back to the airport safely (no miscues by David), and got ready to leave. At this moment I immediately felt exhausted. I’ve never been that tired, not even when I got dehydrated at the Obama inauguration. I suppose this is what happens when one cares far too much about their team; I’d say this is a symptom of World Cup Fever. I literally passed out the second I got in my seat on the airplane, and pretty much don’t remember anything until the next morning when we awoke to go to Robben Island (which was a great time, very moving as well).

Overall, I would say the experience exceeded all expectations I had, which is saying something. The come from behind aspect of it was great, although a win would’ve been great. Really cannot complain though, especially after that first half. In terms of the USA advancing, Algeria still being alive does us no good. Algeria have a history of bagging it when they do not have a mathematical chance of advancing, resulting in them getting blown out, which would’ve been nice for us considering the magnitude of this game. It’s a tricky game, but I still like us to win and advance. The key is an early goal; if the Algerians start to see no hope early, they could still bag it and we could win big. It is not a necessity, but a goal in the first fifteen minutes and I would almost guarantee a USA victory.

Who goes with us is tough though. England has been dreadful, and Slovenia really does deserve to advance. Unfortunately for Slovenia though, I don’t see it. We Americans call our game a comeback; they call theirs a massive choke. That is a tough one for them to recover from, especially when their opponent is a talented team like England. I pick the English to win, meaning the USA could get first on goal differential. Either way I really do not care: bring on the Serbs, Germans or Ghanaians (sorry Aussies, don’t see it happening), the spirit of this team really could take us to the quarterfinals. The Serbs have been known to choke, the Ghanaians are inconsistent and this isn’t Germany’s year (Lukas Podolski’s failed penalty shot was their first at the World Cup since 1982. If that doesn’t spell out it isn’t their year, I don’t know what does.) The Americans are a good team, not a good collection of individual talent, but a good team, something many teams are not at this final (England, France, Cameroon etc.). But I’m getting ahead of myself: let’s just hope for a win against Algeria, that’s all Americans, can ask for right now. Thankfully for us though, I think our boys will deliver, and I will be lucky enough to witness it live.

Well I’m off to sleep. It’s 11:40 here and I’ve got to wake up at 5 AM and go on a safari. Hopefully won’t get stamped on by an elephant. Enjoy the soccer everyone and leave your thoughts and opinions!

Thoughts on the Last Matches of the First Round of the World Cup

Since the last time I posted, so much has happened, much of which I have not seen, that is making this tournament look more and more like a tournament for the underdog, just like the 2002 edition of the World Cup. The biggest upset was the Switzerland over Spain match. This has really put a dent into the Spanish quest for their first World Cup because if Switzerland win out and take first place, that means the Spanish would have to settle for second and a round of 16 match with (most likely) Brazil. I’m not shocked the Spanish got beaten, since I believe their backline is average at best, but how early in the tournament it was and who the opponent was. This is one of the worst losses in Spanish football history: no way should a team with the talent of the Spanish lose to Switzerland. This result has put all the big boys on guard I expect; any team can beat any other on any given day here, and if you get caught napping like the Spanish did today, it could mean your chances of winning go down the toilet. I’m not saying the Spanish are done, but they did themselves no service today with that loss. They must now rely on Switzerland slipping up somewhere, but if that squad was able to beat Spain, they should be able to take Chile and Honduras.

I would also like to state that my favorite teams so far have been the real Asian teams (why Australia is in the Asian confederation still puzzles me. Also, totally called the Aussie flop that is about to take place). As I stated earlier, South Korea were a true joy to watch, Japan totally deserved their victory over Cameroon (who I had in the semifinals? That looks like a great call right now) and North Korea looks very difficult. I’m developing a soft spot for North Korea, with their team spirit and lack of physical size making them the ultimate underdog at this tournament. But their tactics play to their strength: they generally have seven guys on defense not counting the goalie. Not only that, they’re brave defenders and are totally for the team (while I don’t think communism is a good way to run a country, it isn’t the worst way to run a soccer team). It really is a shame this bunch come from an anti democratic, militaristic state because if they weren’t I would’ve totally jumped on the bandwagon already. I’ve already got one foot in; the whole communist thing is a turn off for me though. They deserved to get something from the Brazil match, and they may actually get one off of Portugal and Ivory Coast. By the way, that game looked dreadfully boring from what I’ve seen, with the exception of Cristiano Ronaldo, who livens up a game simply by stepping on the pitch and being the douche that he is. But back to North Korea: all I’m saying is that Brazil were LUCKY to get all three points from that fixture, and since Portugal and Ivory Coast aren’t nearly as good as Brazil, one has to think the Koreans have a legitimate chance at getting a result before heading home. Also, no player seems to care more about how his team does than Jong Tae-Se, who would literally start to cry if he did something that wasn’t productive for his team. I realize that I’m going against my duties as an American, but I don’t care: GO NORTH KOREA!

The New Zealand tie was also truly a great one. On this blog, I didn’t even think the All Whites were worth my putting in the effort to research them, but they proved me wrong. Their goal may end up being the best celebrated one of the whole tournament, as I’m pretty sure nobody within the New Zealand camp actually thought they would get a point in South Africa, let alone score a goal. Slovakia has to be kicking themselves right now: they let the whipping boys of the group take two points from them. That’s going to come back to bite them, especially with Italy in their group. I do not favor the Italians, and really thought my prediction of a 1-0 Paraguay victory would come true, but the Slovakians have pretty much handed the Italians advancement on a silver platter with this dud of a game. Frustrating from the perspective of someone who finds the Italians a great bore to watch, but they could still get the Dutch in the Round of 16, which would mean curtains for the Azurri. Also, the team I’m angriest at is Serbia. My dark horses looked like absolute jokes against Ghana, and now look like they have no chance of advancing, needing the beat electric Germany to have a shot. And to think I almost changed my pick to have the Serbs finish first: thank god I’m not that incompetent or I would shut down this blog so I would stop humiliating myself. It’s tough knowing two of your semifinal picks are on the brink of elimination, and have only played one match. It’s also comforting when your winners are known for being the best choke artists in the world, and that the last semifinal team is coached by an absolute lunatic. What was I thinking with these picks? Oh well, got to stick by them now. Mostly, I’m not going to let them ruin my watching of this tournament, because if my happiness was based off of my predictions, I would become thoroughly depressed.

I’m not sure when I will post again as I am in Africa experiencing this World Cup first hand, but I will at the latest try to post after the USA vs. Slovenia game and let people know what it was like to go to the game (and if the vuvuzelas are as bad as advertised). Until then, have fun watching the games and look for me on the TV screen during Friday’s game!

Thoughts on the Trip to Cape Town

Well, where do I begin? I suppose I should start with my location: I am sitting at the desk in my hotel room in Cape Town, South Africa. After six years of dreaming about going to this fantastic spectacle, and roughly 42 hours of traveling (including a layover in Dubai) I am finally attending the World Cup.

The trip was long, but surprisingly not that stressful. Much of that has to do with Emirates Airlines. If anyone reading this ever has a chance to fly with that airline, I would suggest taking it: it will change your standards for airlines. The main thing that is fantastic about modern Emirates planes is the ICE system, which stands for Information Communication and Entertainment. The seat in front of you has a tv on the back of it, and you are given a remote. With this remote, you can choose from roughly 200 movies to watch, a whole host of television shows, games to play but most importantly, World Cup matches to watch. Granted, they were the days’ previous matches, but since our hotel in Dubai didn’t have the Brazil vs. North Korea game, I was very happy ICE was playing it. Oh and speaking of Dubai, I can tell the two days I spend there after South Africa are going to be wild. It’s like a much crazier Las Vegas in a much stricter society, making for an interesting combo. Also, when we landed there at roughly 11 PM, it was 111 degrees. Well at least I’m allowed to wear shorts there. In the United Arab Emirates, women are supposed to be completely covered except for their faces while in public, meaning my mom and sister are going to have to wear khaki pants and light sweaters while there. They’re trying to get me to suffer along with them by forcing me to wear pants, as opposed to my preferred shorts: we’ll see how that goes for them.

After sleeping (sort of) in Dubai, we boarded the 9 AM flight for Cape Town, arriving in the rainbow nation around 5 PM. We were off the ground for literally five minutes when the first vuvuzela horn was heard. We hadn’t even gotten out of the airport yet (and as I type this at 10:30 PM, at a fairly isolated hotel, plugged into my IPod, and South Africa having just lost to Uruguay, I still can hear the dull horns. I’d like to state up front that before going to the tournament, I was very pro-vuvuzela. We shall see if that remains the case. The hotel we are at is fantastic. It’s tucked away in a nice neighborhood and has a gorgeous view of the whole city. I was a little worried when we got off the plane, since the first thing you see once you depart the Cape Town airport is the many miles of townships, giving me all of a sudden this horrible vision of our hotel being a tiny shack with mud floors. The townships seem endless, it makes one wonder just how many people reside in them. They’re also much worse in person than they are in movies or any other media: I wouldn’t wish for anyone to have to live in those awful conditions. Really reminds a tourist that this beautiful nation was under the rule of apartheid no less than fifteen years ago.

Upon my family's arrival at the hotel, we relaxed and then watched the South Africa vs. Uruguay game at the bar in the lobby. The game was a depressing affair, as Uruguay dominated the game, led by Diego Forlan, winning it 3-0. To make matters worse, South Africa’s number one goalkeeper was shown a red card for fouling Luis Suazo in the penalty area, meaning he will not be available for the now must win match against France. Although the outlook is bleak, I’m not counting out South Africa yet. Either a win by France, or a tie means that South Africa could advance with a win against the French. I know their backs are against the wall, but being the hosts comes with the added perk of the enormous stadium’s crowd backing you. It also doesn’t hurt when France could’ve easily imploded by then, so their rocky situation may help Bafana Bafana sneak through. Anyway, tomorrow’s plan is to go to the fan zone. Been looking forward to this for years, since many people seem to think the massive centers full of people cheering for the games on the massive television screens is a better experience then actually attending the matches. We shall see, but I expect a full crowd to be there for at least the Mexico vs. France match. Then Friday is the big day: USAvs. Slovenia in Johannesburg. I will be in attendance and cannot wait! That pretty much describes this entire trip: I’m mostly thankful to just be here and be a part of the atmosphere. It is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity, especially since this edition of the tournament is in Africa.

Thoughts on the USA vs. England Game and the First Two Days of the World Cup

Never has a soccer match showed me the significance of the goalkeeper position than the USA vs. England game. The two players who occupied that position, Tim Howard for the States and Robert Green for England, not only changed the course of the game, but just how qualifying may go in Group C. The door has now been opened for either Slovenia or Algeria to have a decent chance at progressing, especially if one of them wins tomorrow at the other’s expense, and much of this is because of the play of the goalies in the first game.

In the lead up to this monumental clash, the only position the English were willing to concede they had lesser players at was the goalkeeper spot, with the trio of Green, David James and Joe Hart not inspiring much confidence amongst English supporters. Tim Howard is a fantastic keeper, particularly good at one on one situations with strikers and doing a great job of organizing the defense in front of him. Whichever keeper was going to stand between the pipes for England, they would not provide the calming presence from the back that Howard does for the USA: the defenders of the USA know they have a great shot stopper behind them, while the English do not. I firmly believe the most important position on the field is goalkeeper because a fantastic goalkeeper having a great game can stop an opponent from scoring, no matter how dominant the opponent is. This was put on display tonight. Howard was phenomenal, making great saves against Shaun Wright-Phillips, Emile Heskey and Frank Lampard, as well as slide in to collect a ball that resulted in him taking cleats in the chest from a sliding Heskey. He kept the Americans in the game, while Robert Green cost his team the win. I’m aware that a team with the talent the English have should be capable of putting more than one goal into the net against the United States, but based upon what actually happened in the game, the ten outfield players for England played well enough to win 1-0. It was their goalie Green who cost them the win, by pulling a Bill Buckner on Clint Dempsey’s weak shot from 35 yards away, and allowing the ball to dribble into the net after being unable to scoop it off the ground. I could’ve stopped that ball at the age of five, not sure how Green wasn’t able to, but people will blame the ball. To Green’s credit, he hasn’t said anything along these lines because I believe he is aware that that isn’t the case. The ball wasn’t flying at him, it wasn’t dipping and ducking, it was rolling to him at about the speed of a ten year old bowling a bowling ball: not speedy at all, and one that a professional should stop 100 times out of 100. Granted, the score could’ve been 2-1 had Green not made a good quick reaction save on Jozy Altidore’s shot, after the striker was able to power past Jamie Carragher to get a rare open shot on net for the Americans. Nobody, especially the English, will remember that because Green’s absolute howler will overshadow his otherwise good game. And I know it’s cruel, but he deserves all the heat he is about to get because that one play may affect England’s attempts at finishing first place in the group and avoiding the tough winner from Group D. Once again, the English, I stress to you that soccer is a game that has two smaller competitions within it: one between the outfield players and one between the goalies. Both are important, but today showed just how vital the competition between the goalies is, with one keeper potentially ruining his team’s World Cup chances, and another providing the lifeline necessary to keep his team’s chances breathing.

While England do have the better talent, and I think they were the better outfield players today, the grittiness of the USA players, especially the defenders, balanced out the equation and made it possible for the Americans to gain a draw (a result I predicted by the way, 1-1). The central defenders, who I’ve been critical of, played their socks off, particularly Jay DeMerit, who silenced Wayne Rooney for much of the match. World class striker Rooney was not nearly as effective as he should’ve been in this game, and much of that had to do with DeMerit’s tenacious play, and how he refused to allow Rooney any space to work with. I thought Michael Bradley did a great job in the center of midfield. He was combating the middle of the park with superstars Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, and more than held his own against them (maybe would’ve done better had Maurice Edu or Jose Torres been in the game instead of Ricardo Clark). Hopefully he receives the necessary help in the center of the park in the next game versus Slovenia, allowing him to take control of the game the way he has in the past for the USA. Up front, the USA did not look great though. Other than the one chance Altidore created, I never really saw any venom from the strike partnership of Altidore and Robbie Findley, no spark that told me they were going to score at any point in the match. I wonder if maybe the solution to this is to bench Jozy Altidore (a tough statement for me to make since I just got my USA jersey with his name on the back). I think the speed of Findley is a weapon that if unlocked could be key for the USA’s chances of progressing, and that maybe Edson Buddle may be the player to do that. I know it was a friendly against a weaker team, but Buddle and Findley looked better together than Altidore and Findley, maybe that partnership should be given a shot against Slovenia. Just a thought.

I have not only watched the USA vs. England game, but all five matches that have been played. The first day was a little disappointing to me. The South Africa vs. Mexico game didn’t really take off until the second half, and while Tshabalala’s goal was very good, the lame goal Rafael Marquez scored made for somewhat of a dud first game. It looked great compared to the next game though. Shame on Uruguay for putting an unexpected five players on their backline, but even more blame sits with the French who were unable to break them down. France, as I predicted, look set to implode. None of the players played with the passion and the fire expected of a team at the World Cup, and this terrible dynamic with Domenech may cause this talented team to not progress to the knockout rounds. I still like my pick of Mexico winning the group, with South Africa finishing second. Day two was much better though.

My favorite team performance so far has been South Korea’s, who ran a very slow Greece team off the park with its effective passing and work rate. The Koreans look like a well oiled machine, and even though I picked the Nigerians to advance, I would love to see South Korea take the second spot behind Argentina. Ji Sung Park is a fantastic talent, as his goal today proved, and I would love to see him make the knockout stages in what he has said is his last World Cup final. Argentina looked dangerous, but was surprisingly unable to finish. This is OK against a Nigerian team that didn’t look dangerous except for one shot in the second half that required a good save from the Argentine goalkeeper, but this will not work in the latter stages of the tournament. Overall, I believe the first matchday of the tournament will get better as we go along. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s three matches, all I expect to be exciting, as well as high quality in terms of the performances of the teams on the pitches. They should be interesting to observe, and make it worthwhile to wake up at 8 AM, when I would much rather be sleeping.

Thoughts on What Will Happen in the Semifinals and the Final of the World Cup

The semifinals and the finals of the World Cup: three of the most intense sporting events professional athletes can ever take part in. One could argue that it’s one of the cruelest of fates to lose in the semifinals of a major international tournament, since the team gets so close to the final and falls just short of it. But it’s nothing like losing in the final, for there is all the hope and expectations the fans have dashed. The same goes for the players: winning the World Cup is every player’s dream, but losing it is almost an unbearable thought. Anyway, here are my matchups for the semifinals, and my predictions:

Serbia 1 vs. Netherlands 1
This game will go against pretty much everything I’ve written previously about both teams. The Dutch offense will finally run into a team that can stop them in the Serbs. However, the defense will not carry them through this round like it had in the previous two because they will have an off game going forward. This is going to be a sluggish game that will produce a red card. The Serbians will take the lead but the Dutch will catch them. A penalty shootout will occur, and the Dutch will outdo the Serbs, converting 4 to Serbia’s 2. The Serbs will be left wondering what could’ve been as their defense will accomplish the difficult task of shutting down the electric Dutch attack, but not provide enough goals to secure what should’ve been a victory. The Dutch go to the finals where they will face…

Argentina 2 vs. Cameroon 0
The Cameroonian dream will end because of one man: Lionel Messi. This will be the game that defines his tournament, as he will score both goals here to secure the victory over the Indomitable Lions. I don’t know why, but I see a quiet tournament for Messi, at least by the absurd standards everyone has for him. He will not have an elite tournament until this round, where he will answer his critics by scoring twice. The Cameroonians will be unable to control the ball for very long, and they will chase the Argentines the entire game. In the end, I don’t see two miracles for Cameroon, only one, which was the previous round against Spain.
That leaves two teams: Netherlands and Argentina. This is a rematch of the 1978 final which Argentina won 3-1. This is also a match that will feature numerous players who were in the Champions League final this year: Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder, Martin Demichellis, Mark Van Bommel, Walter Samuel and Diego Milito. It will be a fantastic final, with many elite players on the pitch for both teams. In the end, the final score will be…

Netherlands 3 vs. Argentina 1
The Dutch are my pick to win the trophy this year. I firmly believe that neither a favorite, nor a repeat winner will take the title this year. The Dutch fit these qualifications. Even if they were heavily favored or had won a championship, I would probably still pick them because they are the best team at this World Cup for me. I also really like Wesley Sneijder, who will be the MVP of the tournament. I recognize the Dutch do not have a great defense or goalie, but much like Spain they make up for it with their dynamic play in the midfield and Sneijder leads that area of the pitch. The backline for Argentina is also susceptible, with Maradona favoring four natural center backs as his defenders. This will not work against great wingers like Robben and Elijero Elia, who will run at, around, between and behind the likes of Demichellis all game. Robin Van Persie will open the scoring just before halftime to give Holland a 1-0 lead. Sneijder will then score a second, making Argentina needing to attack even more than usual. They will score next through Juan Sebastian Veron, and a late Argentina comeback will look possible. However, Dirk Kuyt will put the Argentine dreams of World Cup glory to bed with a nice breakaway goal as Argentina has to push up most of their players to try to score. This will leave Kuyt the room to run, and he will score, guaranteeing World Cup glory to the Dutch for the first time.

Well that’s how I see the World Cup going. I’m already ½ on predictions, getting the opener correct completely, but not getting the second one. In all honesty, I have no faith in my predictions. Much like my NCAA March Madness brackets, I expect to get much wrong. Once again, I have no expertise or true insight: I am just a massive fan of this fantastic sport, and will be having the time of my life for the next month.

Thoughts on What Will Happen in the Round of 16 and Quarterfinals of the World Cup

I am officially done with my group predictions for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Now it is time to move onto the Round of 16 and Quarterfinals preview. If any readers would like to know how certain teams made the knockout phase of the competition on my bracket, they can read in the posts below as I’ve already gone through each group extensively. I will have a small 3-7 sentence write up for each knockout game until the semifinals and final, which clearly deserve a little more explanation. I feel like I should state that I am simply a fan, with no sort of expertise at all, so do not take what I am predicting as likely at all; I just love the World Cup and want people to know what I think. Now for the predictions:

Mexico 0 vs. Nigeria 2
I love the Nigeria team, and I’m really not sure why. This is a team that is considered underachievers historically, but I think this is the year they exceed expectations by making the Quarterfinals. Love their match up with the Mexicans, also underachievers who I don’t favor quite as much, particularly since this game will be played on African soil. It’s also good when one of their better players, John Obi Mikel, gets ruled out for the entire cup but they don’t appear phased or worried about their chances. I expect a brace from Obafemi Martins, who is known for being inconsistent but will have a great game here, as the Nigerians march on.

England 1 vs. Serbia 3
Poor England, I do root for them since it would be hilarious and fantastic if they finally lift the major international trophy they’ve craved for so long, but I don’t see it happening this year. The team’s backline concerns me, and when you compare it to Serbia’s, there really is no question which team is better suited to win this game. I predict big things for Milan Jovanovic, a midfielder and their lead goal scorer during qualification, and think he will be one of the standouts at this tournament that will secure him a big money move to a bigger club than Standard Liege, his current team. Jovanovic scores twice and sets up another, as Serbia flies by England. Wayne Rooney will score for England though.

Netherlands 2 vs. Italy 0
The Italians will get mercifully dumped out of the tournament here by mighty Holland. These two met during Euro 2008, and the Dutch won with ease and I expect the same here. Wesley Sneijder will control the midfield easily over a barely fit Andrea Pirlo, and both Robin van Persie and Dirk Kuyt will score. The Italians will go down fighting as they always do though, and will play their heart out, battling to a 0-0 draw at halftime, despite creating zero chances on the offensive end, before Sneijder takes over. Expect a few fantastic Gianluigi Buffon saves to keep the Italians in it.

Brazil 5 vs. Chile 2
The Chileans run and gun style will simply not work against the physical Brazilians, who will score with ease against the poor Chilean backline. Expect Maicon to be unstoppable on the right flank, and a brace from Luis Fabiano. Alexis Sanchez will have an awesome game though, scoring one for Chile and setting up the other, but Chile simply won’t have enough to beat Brazil. Expect it to be a fun sight though, as the game will be wide open with tons of attacking play and obviously, lots of goals.

Argentina 1 vs. South Africa 0
The South Africans will play beyond expectations against Argentina, but they will not have enough fire power up front. Expect an electric atmosphere though, with thousands of vuvuzelas blaring in support of Bafana Bafana. Argentina will struggle, but will squeak by on a Diego Milito goal as South Africa’s campaign will end. But they will have nothing to be ashamed of as they will have exceeded any reasonable expectations people had for them.

Germany 2 VS. USA 1
I see the nightmare repeat of when these two teams met in the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup. I recognize I am bias as I am American, but I would take this American squad in terms of talent against the Germans any day. But there’s that X factor that all German sides have of simply winning when they shouldn’t. The Americans will outplay the Germans and will take a 1-0 lead through Landon Donovan before halftime. Expect both Clint Dempsey and Edson Buddle to miss open chances. The Germans will battle though, as they always do. Oguchi Onyewu will be called for a penalty in the box on Thomas Muller, which will not have been a good call, which Bastian Schweinsteiger will convert. A late Miroslav Klose header, coming off the bench, will end a heartbreaking game for the Americans. This campaign though, will be enough for Bob Bradley to be offered the Team USA job again, which he will turn down, to coach in Europe.

Paraguay 1 vs. Cameroon 1
This will be a nervy and boring game, which will not create many chances. Pierre Webo will put Cameroon in front early, but Oscar Cardozo will answer for Paraguay. The game will go to penalties, and I see the Cameroonians having a little more steel than Paraguay, winning it 4-2. Tough for Paraguay, who would’ve been expected to play better based on their performances in the group. They will be left wondering what could’ve been, as Cameroon will continue onwards.

Spain 2 vs. Ivory Coast 1
This is a game I flip-flopped on because I really felt initially that Ivory Coast were the team to stop Spain. They are big fast and physical, as well as possessing that big striker who I felt could take Carles Puyol to school in Didier Drogba. But the injury to Drogba and the appointment of Sven Goren Erickssen as head coach has turned me off to the idea of an upset here. Even if Drogba plays he will not be 100%, and Erickssen is not the right coach to take this team to the promise land. Spain also, simply, has too much quality to not win this game. Both David Villa and David Silva will score, to beat a Solomon Kalou strike for Ivory Coast, who will bow out of the competition with mixed reviews. They’re will be positive ones since they will have gotten out of a very tough group, but will be frustrated that they received such a hard draw that really had no let up except for North Korea.

Based upon my results from the Round of 16, here are my quarterfinal matchups: Nigeria vs. Serbia, Netherlands vs. Brazil, Argentina vs. Germany, and Cameroon vs. Spain. Fantastic matchups, I see this being the best round of the tournament.

Nigeria 0 vs. Serbia 1
Tough game for me to call here as it is two teams I favor very much. I love the Serbian defense, potentially the best one at the tournament as well as their midfield. I think they will be able to handle the Nigerian attack and that will be enough. Milan Jovanovic will once again be huge for the Serbs and score, assisted by giant striker Nikola Zigic, just enough to push Serbia into the semifinals while the Nigerians go home.

Netherlands 3 vs. Brazil 1
The Dutch will beat Brazil because of their midfield. Wesley Sneijder is going to prove to the world he is world class and why he should be nominated for FIFA Player of the Year. Sneijder will control everything, while Kaká and Brazil will chase the game, something they are not used to. Robin Van Persie will find the back of the net for the Netherlands, as well as Arjen Robben and Mark Van Bommel as the Dutch will surprisingly cruise through to the semifinals. The Brazilians will be left wondering what the hell just happened, just like when they were knocked out by the French in 2006. Robinho will score for Brazil, but it will be Sneijder’s and the Dutch’s night.

Argentina 2 vs. Germany 1
These two met in the same round at the past World Cup, and the Germans won on penalties. The story will be a little different this time though, as Argentina just squeaks by, winning 2-1. The quality up top will be the difference in the game; Argentina is superb while Germany is very average. The scoring will open from the fantastic feet of Lionel Messi. The score will double from a fantastic, typical bullish run by Carlos Tevez. The Germans will score late through a Cacau header, but they will be unable to catch Diego Maradona’s side. Argentina into the semifinals, while an average German side goes home, exceeding the actual expectations for the talent they have, but not the expectations of a German side.

Cameroon 2 vs. Spain 2
This is my shock of the tournament. It will take a talented, motivated team led by a dominant striker to beat Spain, and I think Cameroon is that team. I realize that Spain is easily the better team, but at this point in the competition, Cameroon will know they are the last African team in the tournament, with Nigeria being eliminated the day before. Everyone would love to see an African side make the semifinals, and the entire stadium will be behind Cameroon to win. It also doesn’t hurt when Samuel Eto’o will be playing many former teammates and will want to knock Spain out more than any other team. Fernando Torres will open the scoring before Eto’o brings one back. 1-1 at halftime. David Villa then scores, but Eto’o responds again, a late goal, to tie it up. After a boring overtime, Cameroon beats Spain 4-3 on penalties, with Torres and Cesc Fabregas seeing their spot kicks saved by Carlos Kameni to get Spain dumped out again. Sorry, but the World Cup is rarely won by the favorites (Italy wasn’t, Brazil wasn’t favored going into 2002, and France wasn’t in 1998), and I think the trend continues here, with both Spain and Brazil out before the semifinals.

This makes my semifinal matchups Serbia vs. Netherlands and Argentina vs. Cameroon.

Thoughts on What Will Happen in Group H

Group H possesses the team that most people are picking and rooting for to win the World Cup in Spain. Spain is a team that has a great history of producing talented individual players and even teams, but notoriously chokes on the biggest of stages. Never has a Spanish team been this highly regarded though, with the success of winning Euro 2008 and the fantastic play of Barcelona last year making them favorites. They do have a manageable, but deceptively tricky group to navigate though. The attack minded Chileans reside here, along with the consistent Swiss side and plucky Honduras. Spain should progress through this group, but who goes with them is really up in the air, which is where this group will become interesting.

Spain is riding into this World Cup with lots of momentum. They’re brand of soccer, which involves a huge amount of possession and a high number of shots on target, appears to be unstoppable. The player who makes everything work is Xavi Hernandez, the same role he has at Barcelona which he does to perfection. Xavi will spray passes around the field and complete a high percentage of them, preferring to set teammates up as opposed to attempting to score. He will be partnered in the center of the midfield by either Andres Iniesta or Cesc Fabregas. It really is a tossup between the two as both are world class players, but I would say the edge is to Fabregas who has not been as injury prone in the past year as Iniesta has been. The other dynamic players projected to start in this midfield are David Silva and Xabi Alonso, with Silva brining a lot of flair on the wing and Alonso being the rock protecting the defense. The back four, for me, is easily the weakest part of Spain’s team. They have one of the top center backs in the world in Barcelona’ Gerard Pique, but after that the quality goes down. Carles Puyol is a warrior, and nobody can question his heart, but he’s starting to slow as he gets older. He is by no means a bad center back, but I would rate him as average, who definitely looks better because of how little work he has to do with both Barcelona and Spain. If Puyol has lots of work to do against a big and physical striker, he could easily get exposed. Spain’s fullbacks are also very vulnerable defensively. Right back Sergio Ramos of Real Madrid, is very good going forward in attack but his defense is average at best. When I watch Ramos play, he almost looks like a frustrated midfielder, who would much rather be spending his time in the opponent’s side of the pitch, and looks much less comfortable defending. On the left, Joan Capdevilla is also average at best, but probably a little bit better of a defender than Ramos. People who say Spain is flawless, look at their defense and the holes start to become more apparent. The goalkeeping position has no holes though. Iker Casillas is first-rate who is considered by many, despite having a down year with Real Madrid, the best in the world. The backups are top class as well: Pepe Reina had a great year at Liverpool and Victor Valdes had a solid one with Barcelona. Up front, Spain have numerous forwards for defense’s to worry about. Fernando Torres, when healthy like he is now, is considered to be a top five forward in the world. Someone who may be rated higher than him though is his partner in attack, David Villa. Recently signing for Barcelona from Valencia, Villa is considered by many to be the favorite to win the Golden Boot for most goals scored at this year’s tournament. In the midfield and attack, Spain are the best in the world. They also possess numerous class act goalkeepers. But the defense is susceptible, especially at the wings, and if any team is able to break down the Spanish midfield, they will have a few good chances to score goals. The key is taking those chances. Spain is so good that when you catch them on an off day, they can still beat you, so in order for Spain to be beaten in my eyes, it will take both a bad day from them and a fantastic day from their opponents. Do I see it happening in the group stage? Not a chance.

Switzerland is the second team in this group. A model of consistency for the past few years, they lack true world class talent at every position, but make up for it with having decent players all over the pitch. A huge blow to their chances though is the potential loss of striker and captain Alexander Frei, their only striker of any note. Frei looks unlikely to play against Spain, which could mean curtains for Switzerland in that game simply because they rely heavily on him to score. They’re number two striker is Seattle Sounders’ forward Blaise Nkufo, who is thirty five years old. Simply put, no Frei means Switzerland will most likely not make the second round. One thing they do boast though is a good defense. At the 2006 World Cup, they became the first team to be eliminated without allowing a goal, going out on penalties in the Round of 16 to Ukraine. Philippe Sendeross, who struggled mightily for game time at Arsenal and Everton this year, is at the center of the defense, partnered Stephane Grichting, a solid performer who plays in France for Auxerre. One thing the Swiss do have going for them is their consistency, which always seems to find them at the top of tables during competitions against many people’s expectations. They won their group in 2006, which possessed France and South Korea, and also topped their group in qualifying. It wasn’t an easy group either, beating out Greece, Latvia and Israel, once again relying on the defense which allowed eight goals in ten games. An impressive fact is that in the last six games of qualifying, the Swiss recorded five shutouts, with only Latvia able to penetrate the mouth of their goal. Another major plus for the Swiss is their fantastic coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, one of three coaches to lead two different teams to Champions League glory (Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund). They will have the coaching edge against every team in their group. Switzerland’s defense will be what carries them, but lack of Alexander Frei would be huge because they also need to score goals.

Honduras, the only Central American team at the finals, also resides in this group. They’re qualifying for the tournament is already considered a miracle and success in their tiny nation, needing a last gasp header from the USA to tie Costa Rica on the last day of qualifying, thus pole vaulting Honduras into the tournament over the unlucky Costa Ricans. Honduras have one true world class player and that is Wilson Palacios, Tottenham’s central midfielder. A lot will rest on his shoulders, needing to play not only the usual defensive role he already does for Spurs in the Premier League, but create going forward. He is their best player and will need to be great in order for Honduras to do something big in South Africa. The rest of the midfield is solid, with Julio Cesar de Leon and Edgar Alvarez both playing professionally in Italy. Up front, they will be missing Carlo Costly, who scored six goals for them in qualification but has been ruled out for South Africa through injury. A strong and quick forward, Costly was huge for them in qualification and will be sorely missed. His absence means David Suazo and Carlos Pavon will be relied on to score goals. The only standout in defense is Maynor Figueroa, who plays for Wigan in the Premier League, and will probably start in the center of defense. The rest of the defense, including the goalkeeper, is very susceptible and will have trouble not conceding goals. There is not much hope for Honduras to advance, but they’re being there should be victory enough for their country.

Chile is the last team in the group but also the most interesting. This team will be a fan favorite in South Africa, as they play with a 3-4-3 formation, with six attacking players on the field who blatantly don’t pay attention to defensive assignments. It is understandable though as they do have some fantastic young talent in the offensive sector of the field. Alexis Sanchez, only 21 years old, is coming off a monster year in Italy’s premier league, Serie A, for Udinese and is expected by some to win the Best Young Player Award this year. Nicknamed the Wonder Kid, and playing in the national team set up for four years (debuting at the age of 17), expect some creative flair going forward from Sanchez. He is expected to play up top with Mark Gonzalez and Humberto Suazo. An experienced player, Gonzalez had a good year with CSKA Moscow and is expected to score plenty of goals in South Africa. Suazo is the center forward and Chile’s target man, who will benefit heavily from the creative players around him as he is not extremely creative. His strength though is finding the back of the net, which he does to good effect, making him a dangerous, yet underrated player, going to South Africa. The three projected defenders, who need to be extremely disciplined in order for this formation to succeed, are Gary Medel, Gonzalo Jara and Waldo Ponce. Chile will allow goals because of their formation, but they have to be the band aids and attempt to stop the bleeding. If this trio have a bad World Cup, Chile may score a bucket load of goals, but they will allow lots, especially against Spain. That is essentially the key to Chile’s hopes: if they stop goals they will win, because it is a good bet they will score them.

Conclusion:
Spain will breeze through this group, scoring more goals than any other team in the group stage. Second place is tough to read, as I’ve flip-flopped on either Chile or Switzerland. In the end, I’m going to pick Chile’s attacking brand of soccer over Switzerland’s consistency. I see Spain winning all their games, and Chile winning their other two. The key match will be a Chilean 2-1 victory over Switzerland, who will end up disappointing and only manage a measly draw against Honduras. The match of the group will be Spain vs. Chile, both teams having already qualified for the next round, which will be an absolute goalfest, with Spain winning 6-3. Here is the table, schedule and how I see the group playing out:

Game 1: Spain 4 vs. 0 Switzerland
Game 2: Honduras 1 vs. 3 Chile
Game 3: Chile 2 vs. 1 Switzerland
Game 4: Spain 3 vs. 1 Honduras
Game 5: Chile 3 vs. 6 Spain
Game 6: Switzerland 1 vs. 1 Honduras

Standings:
Spain 9 pts
Chile 6 pts
Honduras 1 pt
Switzerland 1 pt

Thoughts on What Will Happen in Group G

Group G, considered by many to be the Group of Death in South Africa, and features three teams that could easily make the final round of the tournament. The lineup is Brazil, historically the most successful national team ever and the number one ranked team in the World at this current time, Ivory Coast who possesses the most star-studded African roster in the field, and Portugal who made the semi-finals in the last tournament and has one of the top three players in the world on their team in Cristiano Ronaldo. These are three teams who all pundits had advancing out of their group before the draw came out, but now that the three of them have been paired together the harsh reality has set in that one of these heavyweights will go home after the group stage. Oh yeah, and the fourth team: North Korea, the team shrouded in the most mystery as they come from a militaristic communist nation who does not allow many foreigners within their borders, or many of their own citizens to leave. Even though I do not believe this is the Group of Death, I do think Group G will be by far the most interesting group in South Africa to observe.

Brazil enters this World Cup as heavy favorites, along with Spain, to win the entire tournament and it’s hard to blame people for thinking this way. Even if this team did not come from the country whose national team has won the most World Cups ever, this team would still be on many people’s radars to win it all. They have world class talent at every position. Many of Brazil’s past teams were known for their flair and style, while this one may be known for its size and strength so in that regard this will be a different Brazil team than the world is used to. A giant plus the Brazilians have this time that they normally do not is a very talented goalkeeper. Julio Cesar, coming off winning the treble of championships with his club team Inter Milan, is in the upper echelon of goalkeepers in the world. He is capable of making those eye popping saves that only few can, as well as do a great job of saving penalties. He made a couple of crucial saves against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final that were absolutely clutch, so he’s proven that he steps up his game for the big occasion. They even have a good backup in Gomes, the talented Tottenham Hotspur keeper who could start for many of the biggest teams in South Africa. They have two of the best fullbacks in the world in Maicon and Dani Alves. The only problem here is both are right backs, so only one can be at his natural position, while the other will have to either sit or play a different position. Maicon gets my vote, and appears to be winning in the mind of coach Dunga, so expect to see his powerful, surging runs on that right flank in South Africa. But what to do with the world class talent that is Daniel Alves? I would put him on the left flank and see if he can play left back. He is one of the best athletes in the world, I think he will be able to be a more than competent left back. In the center of defense stands the experienced captain Lucio and the above average Juan. The two are a more than competent center back duo. The midfield features Kaká, one of the top players in the world. He is the creator of Brazil’s attacks going forward, and his play will be vital to their success. They also feature the very defensive Gilberto Silva, an all-around all-star in Felipe Melo and the crafty Elano, who is world class at set pieces. The options at the forward position vary, but the stud is Luis Fabiano, who will be the go-to guy when they need a goal, just like Ronaldo was for years. Other forwards who could play are Grafite, a sneaky player who has been on great form the past two years in the Bundesliga for his club Wolfsburg, Nilmar who seems to score goals at will, and the nimble Robinho, whose speed and athleticism makes him dangerous on the counterattack. Probably Robinho starts up front with Fabiano, but it really doesn’t matter: Brazil will have a world class frontline that they won’t need to rely on heavily because everyone on the field for them can score.

North Korea is the second team to be drawn in this group, and is easily the weakest. However, there is an argument that the North Koreans are the most important team in this group in that if they nab a result from any of the other three teams in the group that will end their hopes of advancing. No way North Korea gets at least a draw from two games, but one is not farfetched. On top of that, all three teams will want to batter the North Koreans, in case goal difference becomes the difference between advancing and elimination. They are the most mysterious team in the entire field, with nobody knowing a whole lot about their players. They are an extremely defensive team who puts five defenders on the backline and pretty much sit behind the ball. North Korea is a very disciplined and united group, who makes up for their lack of flair with team chemistry. Up front, they have Jong Tae-se “The People’s Rooney”, who appears to be their only true threat going forward. I’ve watched highlights of Tae-se, and he actually looks like a quality player up front who is able to run at defenders with blistering speed and a surprising amount of power, as well as be capable of scoring eye-popping goals. It’s unfortunate that North Korea got drawn into a big and physical group because otherwise I think Tae-se could actually have an impressive tournament. Unfortunately for him and the rest of the North Koreans, even if they aren’t aware of it, they are facing three of the most fancied sides in South Africa and will be lucky to get one draw from their three games.

The Ivory Coast is the third team in this group. For many heading into this World Cup, just like the last one, they were everyone’s picks to be the African team to finally make the semifinals. When you have star players like the Toure brothers, Emmanuel Eboue, Aruna Dindane, Solomon Kalou and Gervinho, it’s tough for people not to favor you. Oh yeah, and the massive force up front in the form of Didier Drogba, who can be considered amongst the ranks of the world’s best strikers. However, a broken arm and swirling reports of doubt over his chances of playing in South Africa makes it seem that even if Drogba will be able to play, he will not be on his A game. Granted, his B and C game is pretty good too, so if he’s on the field I expect him to be effective. They also have Dindane, Kalou and Gervinho, so although Drogba is a big loss, they do have depth at that position and should still be able to score goals. I would honestly be more worried for Ivory Coast’s sake if it was Yaya Toure, the midfielder who will control everything for the Elephants who is truly irreplaceable. Toure will be a key feature for the team, as well as Didier Zokora, who will be the defensive midfielder in the unit. The defense is what worries me for Ivory Coast. Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue, who played together while Toure was still at Arsenal, are athletic but always strike me as players who buckle under pressure. They aren’t the world class defensive stalwarts like Lucio or Nemajna Vidic are for Brazil and Serbia respectively. Basically, I believe these players are good in the role of supporting cast in a backline of stars, but when they have to be the go-to guys, they aren’t up to snuff. They are the leaders of an otherwise fairly inexperienced backline, in front of a goalie who has not had a great club year. I believe the Elephants will go as far as their midfielders and attackers take them, because their defense is not going to win them many games in South Africa.

Portugal is extremely similar to the French team this year in that if the World Cup was played on paper, they would make the quarterfinals and semifinals of many people’s brackets. However, the game is played on paper though, and things like who coaches is very important, hence why Portugal is not as good as they should be. Coach Carlos Quiroz barely got this team qualified, having to go through a playoff with a tricky Bosnia and Herzegovnia team. The Portuguese’s strength is in their wingers, with Cristiano Ronaldo being the jewel of that set up. Ronaldo is probably everyone’s consensus for second best player in the world behind Lionel Messi, but when Ronaldo is on his A game it’s hard to imagine anyone better. The problem is that his A game rarely happens when he wears the blood red jerseys of the Portuguese national team, something that he has been ripped for in the media for years. A dynamic winger who can change the game seemingly at will, Ronaldo will try his best to be firing on all cylinders in South Africa in an attempt to unseat Messi as the world’s best. The other winger is Nani, a player similar to Ronaldo who is dynamic and theatric. Nani is coming off his best year at Manchester United, and will want to have a great world cup to put him in the category of elite wingers in the world. Raul Meireles, Pepe and Deco occupy the center of the midfield. Deco and Meireles will be expected to do much creating going forward, while Pepe, who is a natural central defender, will be on defensive midfield duties. He will be protecting a solid backline, whose center backs, Bruno Alves and Ricardo Carvalho, are among the more experienced and talented central defenders in the field. The fullbacks are weak though, as Duda and Ferreira are very susceptible to both mental and physical errors. The goalkeeper is the consistent Eduardo, while Liedson, born in Portugal, will try to put the ball in the back of the net. It will not be easy for him operating alone up front, but what will be nice is that Ronaldo and Nani will attract most of the defense’s attention on the wings, leaving more room for him to operate in the center of the park. A talented roster, my main issue with it is the inconsistency they showed in qualifying (and a recent friendly where they tied minnows Cape Verde at home) and the lack of trust they have in coach Quiroz. This I believe will lessen the chances of this talented squad living up to their potential.

Conclusion:
I see this as being the craziest and most complicated group in the entire tournament. Many people have Brazil advancing on full points, with the winner of the opening match between Portugal and Ivory Coast advancing as well. I do not see it going that way. I see Portugal beating Ivory Coast (looks like Drogba is doubtful for this game), Ivory Coast beating Brazil (a rejuvenated side with Drogba in it, they will have to play for their lives) and Brazil beating Portugal (too much talent for Brazil not to beat a team that is prone to bouts of inconsistency). All three will beat the poor North Koreans, but the North Koreans will become the central team in the group as goal difference will come into play. I have the Brazilians finishing first with a +7 goal difference. Head to head will then decide who gets second, and that means Ivory Coast advances. Portugal is the odd team out. They also have a tough game against North Korea where they only win 2-1, with Jong Tae-se nabbing the goal for the Koreans. Here is the table, schedule and how I see the group playing out:

Game 1: Brazil 6 vs. 0 Korea DPR
Game 2: Ivory Coast 0 vs. 1 Portugal
Game 3: Brazil 1 vs. 2 Ivory Coast
Game 4: Portugal 2 vs. 1 Korea DPR
Game 5: Portugal 1 vs. 3 Brazil
Game 6: Korea DPR 1 vs. 4 Ivory Coast
Standings:
Brazil 6 pts
Ivory Coast 6 pts
Portugal 6 pts
North Korea 0 pts

Thoughts on What Will Happen in Group F

Group F receives the award for weakest group in South Africa. It features four teams who I do not see making the quarterfinals barring a total miracle. This is shocking considering the defending champions Italy reside in the group. I really do not favor the Italians though and would not be shocked if they do not win the group. Paraguay and Slovakia are tricky teams, but I do not see anything other than round of 16 for either of them, and New Zealand will be lucky to get a single point from the group. None of these teams stick out to me, hence why this will probably be a shorter post than usual.

Italy was considered too old of a team in 2006 when they went on a fantastic run to win the World Cup and that was four years ago. There are far too many players who are expected to play at this year’s tournament who have gotten on in age. I don’t think that all of these players should be expected to get significant playing time, but the lack of youth infusion in this squad is a little startling: Fabio Cannavaro (the captain, 37), Gianluigi Buffon (32), Gianluca Zambrotta (33), Andrea Pirlo (31), Antonio di Natale (32), Gennaro Gattuso (32), Vincenzo Iaquinta (30), Morgan De Sanctis (33) and Mauro Cameronesi (33). Those are all the players the Italians are taking over the age of 30 (nine in total), and other than Buffon who I still think is one of the top three goalkeepers in the world, all those players are past their prime. Italy has one of the top three domestic leagues in the world, are you telling me they have not produced better players than the ones who are on that list? I think they do have better players, but coach Marcello Lippi is opting to take the players who have done it already for him (Lippi coached them to the title in 2006). There are roles for players who are past their prime and have experience, but there is no need to take eight players, roughly 35% of his squad, who are past their prime. How players like Gattuso and Cameronesi make it when Sebastian Giovinco, whose speed is unrivaled on this squad, not make it? I recognize that Giovinco has had almost no playing time this year, but Gattuso and Cameronesi are not good players anymore. I’m happy to see players like Giampaolo Pazzini, Giorgio Chiellini, Domenico Criscito and Danielle de Rossi make the team, two players who I think can have productive tournaments, but when the anchor of your defense is a 37 year old who is no longer wanted by his boyhood club, you’ve got problems. The stereotypical stingy defense will be in full effect, but there is a huge chink in the armor in Cannavaro. Also, Andrea Pirlo was one of the best players of the past decade, but he really did not impress me this past season with AC Milan; I do not see a good cup from him, which is bad for Italy considering they expect him to provide much of the creativity going forward. Italy are the weakest seeded team in the field besides hosts South Africa, and will have their work cut out for them to win this group like they are supposed to.

Paraguay is a very difficult side, and one that has to be respected by anyone who comes across them. It is not easy to qualify for four straight World Cups in South America, especially when you don’t really have any star power, but that is what Paraguay has done. They made the round of 16 in 1998 and 2002 before being eliminated in the group stage in 2006. There is a lot of expectation and motivation for the players this year. Key striker Salvador Cabanas was shot in the head in a Mexican during January, and while he survived it, he will be unable to be present in South Africa. This is added motivation for a team that was already determined to make the round of 16 this year. They have a good goalkeeper in Justo Villar, the team captain, who should be a calming presence at the back, and dynamic forwards on good form in Lucas Barrios, Nelson Haedo Valdez and Oscar Cardozo. The only question mark up front in Roque Santa Cruz, who had a terrible season at Manchester City, where he barely played, but his presence may not be necessary on the pitch. Barrios, Valdez and Cardozo are all fantastic options, and while Santa Cruz has been one of the biggest names in recent Paraguayan soccer, it may not be a must that he is on the field. Players like Edgar Barreto and Nestor Ortigoza should do a good job of marshalling the midfield, while Paulo Da Silva and Julio Caceres should be solid at the center of defense. All in all, if Paraguay play the way they can, it will be tough not seeing them advance from this group.

New Zealand simply has no hope of advancing. It is a total victory that they have gotten here, and I’m not trying to take anything away from their accomplishments, but the stiffest competition they faced was Bahrain, who they barely beat at home 1-0, to secure their spot. Not only that, they didn’t fare well at last year’s Confederations Cup, where they left with one point and no goals scored. Players like Shane Smeltz, Aaron Clapham and Ryan Nelson will be relied on, but there is not much hope for them. For me, New Zealand is the weakest team in the World Cup field, and will be lucky to score a goal.

Slovakia rounds out this group. They are very much an unknown except for a few. The crown jewel of this team is clearly Marek Hamsik, an attacking midfielder who has been impressive with Napoli in Italy the past few years. He will be vital to Slovakia doing well, and he is expected to have a fantastic tournament. It is also an advantage to have Italy in the group, a team whose players he plays week in and week out in Serie A. Goalkeeper Jan Mucha appears to be the goalie of the future for the Slovaks after securing a big money transfer to Everton this past year. Martin Skrtel is a big name defender who plays consistently for Liverpool in the center of defense. He will be expected to both marshal the defense and shut down the opposition’s best forwards, a lot to ask of one individual but Skrtel is very good and should be up to the task. Stanislav Sestak scored the most goals in qualification for Slovakia, who topped a group with Slovenia and the Czech Republic, and will be expected to put the ball in the back of the net in South Africa. An interesting storyline when the Slovaks play will be if they can do better than bitter rivals Czech Republic, who made the tournament last time but failed to progress past the group stage. Doing so would be considered a huge success in Slovakia, and appears to be the only way this campaign will be considered one, despite making the tournament at the Czech’s expense. They will compete with Italy and Paraguay for the second spot, hoping to not be the odd man out and join New Zealand in heading home early.

Conclusion:
I predict an upset in a historical sense, and see Paraguay winning the group, with Italy finishing second. The first match of the group will see Paraguay shock the world and beat the defending champions 1-0, with the Italians looking lost and lacking creativity up top. Paraguay will tie a tough Slovakia team, who will deserve to win the match but be unlucky, before dominating New Zealand to secure top spot. Heading into the last day, all Slovakia will need to do to advance will be draw with Italy but I do not think they will be able to do that, losing 2-0. This may be a weak Italy team, but the match against Slovakia will be one where all that experience they have will be useful and they will find a way to win. New Zealand will leave with one goal scored, coming against an already qualified Paraguay on the final day of the competition. Here is the table, schedule and how I see the group playing out:

Game 1: Italy 0 vs. 1 Paraguay
Game 2: New Zealand 0 vs. 3 Slovakia
Game 3: Slovakia 1 vs. 1 Paraguay
Game 4: Italy 2 vs. 0 New Zealand
Game 5: Slovakia 0 vs. 1 Italy
Game 6: Paraguay 4 vs. 1 New Zealand

Final Standings:
Paraguay 7pts
Italy 6 pts
Slovakia 4 pts
New Zealand 0 pts

Thoughts on What Will Happen in Group E

Group E is a very interesting group from my perspective. It features one clear favorite, an African team that may be in the process of crumbling, a European team that is underrated and an Asian team that is extremely organized. For me, the contrasting styles and expectations makes it an interesting group from the perspective of if the teams with anticipation of advancing actually do it, or crumble as teams with no hope at all proceed into the next round. The four teams who reside in this group are Netherlands, Denmark, Japan and Cameroon.

No team is coming into the World Cup with more confidence than the Dutch. They’re brand of attacking and beautiful football appears unstoppable, having not lost since September 6, 2008 to Australia in a meaningless friendly. Since that game, the Dutch have been on a tear especially during World Cup qualification, where they won every game they played. Their impressive streak is led by the amount of flair they have up top in the form of Arjen Robben, Robin Van Persie, Dirk Kuyt, Rafael Van der Vaart, Elijero Elia, Klas Jan Huntelar and Wesley Snejider. Sneijder for me is the key, running the show from the midfield and setting up all the attacks going forward. While there are questions at the back for the Dutch, it’s hard to imagine a situation where they will have to allow less than two goals a game in order for a victory to be possible. That is how potent the Dutch attack; whenever they take the field they look like they could score double digit goals. This attack could take a potential hit in the form of an injury to Arjen Robben, but even if Robben cannot partake in South Africa, the Dutch have players who they can replace Robben with like Elia and even Ryan Babel, who despite not having good form for Liverpool, always looks dangerous in the orange jerseys of the Netherlands. What the Dutch also have is a very good midfield in the likes of Sneijder, Van der Vaart, Mark van Bommel and Nigel de Jong. The defense and goalkeeper position is average at best yes, but the midfield and attack are so top class that I can’t see that really mattering, especially in the group stages. If the Dutch do not advance, I will be beyond shocked.

Denmark is the other European team in the group along with the Dutch. The Danes had a quiet but very successful qualifying campaign. In a group where Portugal, Sweden and Hungary struggled, the Danes cruised to the top of the table, with an impressive record of six wins, three draws and one loss, with that one loss being a meaningless game against Hungary after they had already qualified. This includes a memorable 3-2 victory over Portugal in Lisbon, an astonishing feat for a team who doesn’t have a strong soccer history. It is strange how overlooked the Danish are right now as one could argue they won the most difficult group in all of European qualifying. A major reason for this is their lack of a true star player. Striker Nicklas Bendtner, property of Arsenal, has the potential to be that guy, but he is young and this is his first world cup; it would be tough to expect Bendtner to be the go-to-guy in his first major international tournament. They also have a solid goalie in Thomas Sorensen and a talented defender in Daniel Agger who anchors a very tough and experienced defense. The questions for the Dutch are up top, where thirty three year old forward Jon Dahl Tomasson is expected to start, despite having an average year for Feyenoord in the Dutch league. If his play is poor, than questions as to why a player his age is starting will be brought up, but Morten Olsen really has no other options besides Bendtner. Tomasson is expected to provide the inspirational spark going forward, but he does not appear to be a very dangerous player at his current age. If Denmark scores goals they will be a tough team to beat because I don’t see them conceding many goals to any team in this group but the Netherlands, but that is a big if.

Japan is the third team in this group, and is considered by many to be the whipping boys of it. It’s hard to blame people who do this, as the Japanese have not won a world cup game outside of Japan, when they hosted it in 2002. Still, the Blue Samurai have a squad featuring some decent players in it particularly in the midfield. The midfield boasts extremely disciplined and experienced players who will not make many mental errors, like Yasuhito Endo, Keisuke Honda and Shunsuke Nakamura. Endo will have large amounts of pressure heaped on him as he is expected to provide creativity in the offensive sector of the pitch, something Japan has trouble with. While they are able to maintain much of the ball, and their defense is very organized, they do not have a terrifying scoring threat. No player on the Blue Samurai is a guarantee to find the back of the net during their time in South Africa. There are two forwards who will have the tough task of scoring, Keiji Tomada and Yoshito Okubo, but there is a better chance of neither of them scoring than both of them. The defense is not a weak link, but it isn’t a brick wall, featuring tough players like Brazilian-born center back Marcus Tulio Tanaka and Yuzi Nakazawa, but this is a unit with more heart and organization than actual talent. It also does not help when they do not have a reliable goalie behind them in Seigo Narazaki. Simply put, the Japanese can be expected to try more than any team in this group to make up for their lack of skill, but their desire should be expected to outweigh their actual talent.

Cameroon rounds out this group. For me, the Indomitable Lions are one of the toughest squads to read heading into this tournament. They have an extremely potent front line, a good defensive midfield unit and the best keeper Africa boasts, but they’re appears to be unrest amongst this team. It hasn’t been outright stated in the newspapers, but talented striker Samuel Eto’o has made very disturbing comments lately. He claims to not want to go to South Africa because of quotes stated by Cameroonian legend Roger Milla, who does not believe Eto’o has done enough for Cameroon at the international level, despite his accomplishments with Barcelona and Inter Milan. I have no doubt Eto’o will play in South Africa, but when the captain of the team is saying he doesn’t want to go to the tournament his team is about to partake in, I get a funny feeling of unrest in the dressing room. I don’t know if this is the case, but it is a hunch of mine. It reminds me of how unhappy Emmanuel Adebayor was prior to the World Cup four years ago, and how horrendous it made the rest of his Togolese team play. It’s unfortunate because I do favor Cameroon on paper, with Eto’o, goalie Carlos Kameni, midfielder Alex Song and forward Pierre Webo, they do have the makings of a decent team. I was 100% on the Cameroon bandwagon before stories of this unrest came out, now I am not sure.

Conclusion:
I have the Netherlands advancing comfortable, and after much consideration, I’ve decided to stick with Cameroon. Japan I see getting no points and being the whipping boys everyone expects, and Denmark not doing quite enough to steal second place from the Indomitable Lions. Despite all the unrest Samuel Eto’o may have caused, I still predict Cameroon beating Japan, and tying the Dutch and Danes. Cameroon has the benefit of playing the Netherlands on the final day of the group stage, and I expect the Dutch to rest many of their players because they will have already qualified. I think Cameroon can tie the Dutch backups, with Eto’o playing a big role in the draw. The Netherlands will win their other two games easily, and the Danes will beat the Japanese, missing out on the knockout rounds by one point. Here is the table, schedule and how I see the group playing out:

Game 1: Netherlands 5 vs. 1 Denmark
Game 2: Japan 1 vs. 3 Cameroon
Game 3: Netherlands 4 vs. 0 Japan
Game 4: Cameroon 1 vs. 1 Denmark
Game 5: Denmark 2 vs. 1 Japan
Game 6: Cameroon 2 vs. 2 Netherlands

Standings:
Netherlands 7 pts
Cameroon 5 pts
Denmark 4 pts
Japan 0 pts