World Cup Preview Pt. 1

In an amazing coincidence, the beginning of this blog just happens to coincide with the greatest sporting event on Earth, the World Cup. This blog will be an amalgam of my thoughts, just basically how im feeling at the time of writing. And right now, all im thinking about is the World Cup. For the past two weeks, about 4-5 times a day, ill have gotten chills down my spine with sheer excitement for this tournament.

The World Cup is incredible because it brings together the greatest players in the world and has them battle it out over the course of a month. What makes it unique is not only the great collection of talent that is on display, but the condensed nature of the tournament itself. It is basically like the NCAA Tournament multiplied by 100, with the whole world involved.

Anyway, because I am not feeling very eloquent tonight, Im going to jump right into a group-by-group preview of the tournament, starting with good old Group A

Group A
Mexico
South Africa
Uruguay
France

This is one of the most evenly matched groups, and one of the hardest ones to predict. There is no clear cut favorite in this group, meaning that really anything can happen. I think that Mexico is the best team in the group, and they have a knack for getting into the round of 16, but most of their top-level talent is very young and could struggle with the atmosphere, especially with the hosts in their group. In any other year, South Africa would not have the quality to make it out of the group stages, but the hosts always make it to the knockout stages, even in 2002 when both Japan and South Korea surpassed everybody's wildest expectations. Uruguay is a tough South American team with two of the best strikers in the whole tournament, and France has great talent (Franck Ribery is definitely a player to watch in this tournament), but an awful coach.

Predicted Finish
1. Mexico
2. South Africa
3. Uruguay
4. France


Group B

This is a much easier group to predict because there is a very clear cut best team in Argentina. They have the most talent in the entire tournament outside of Spain, as well as having the best player in the whole world in Lionel Messi, a once-in-a-generation player who occasionally brought me to tears with his exploits with Barcelona this year. I think that he is going to have a great tournament and I think that Argentina are going to be there right until the end. All the fuss about Maradona and whether he is going to cause the team to meltdown is overblown, because I dont think the manager has that much of an effect on the international level. This is a veteran team with great players who know how to win. They won the Olympic title in 2008 and were one of the two best teams in 2006 along with Germany, and I think that they will be near the top again this year.

The other teams in the group are all very mediocre, and whoever gets second in the group will not win a game in the second round. Greece is an awful team that plays a despicably boring brand of soccer, like Italy without any offensive talent. South Korea is a decent team that actually plays pretty wide-open, but is too far away from home to do much in South Africa. That leaves Nigeria, a team that has a history of success at the international level. This is not the best team they have sent to a World Cup, but because of the home-continent advantage, they should have enough to make it to the second round.

Predicted Finish
1. Argentina
2. Nigeria
3. South Korea
4. Greece


Group C

This is the group that everyone is talking about, with England and the US. However, they are clearly the two best teams in the group, so it should be a battle for who gets the top spot. England have a great shot to do well at this tournament, with the older guys still playing at world-class level, and the younger guys just starting to reach their potential. I think that if Rooney can replicate his ridiculous club form and England can develop a better self-belief than they have had in past tournaments, they could go far. I also think this is the best team the US has ever sent to a World Cup. They also have an incredible self-belief that their quality of play doesnt always match. The key to the US will be whether they take the game to their opponents. If they bring it right down the throats of the other team, they can do great. But if they show their opponents too much respect and try to methodically win games, they will be heading for an early exit.

Predicted Finish
1. England
2. USA
3. Algeria
4. Slovenia

Group D

This could be the best group from top-to-bottom, even if it doesnt have to top quality talent that Group H has. I think that even though Germany has a weaker team than they have had in the past, they still are dangerous and just know how to win. Australia has a quality team and plays with the swagger of a winner. Serbia might be the best team in this group, but im not sure if they have enough of a World Cup pedigree to win on a foreign continent. Ghana would have been a favorite in this group, but now that Michael Essien is out for the tournament, Im not sure if they have enough strength in the center of midfield to make it out of the group.

Predicted Finish
1. Germany
2. Ghana
3. Australia
4. Serbia


This will be continued with the rest of the Group Preview and my choice for the overall winner tomorrow.


Keep it Real