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
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