World Cup Preview Pt. 2

Welcome back for part 2 of the preview to the greatest sporting event of them all! Day 1 was an exhilarating experience, even if the second match wasn't all that great. Everything lived up to its billing, from a dancing Archbishop to the extraordinary absurdity of watching a match with 30,000 people blowing on plastic horns. I loved that South Africa got the first goal of the tournament, especially in such a fitting way for the beautiful game. A wonder goal to start a wonderful tournament.

Getting back to what everyone is waiting for, the preview itself...

Group E

This group should be a breeze for the Netherlands, who I think are a very good dark horse bet to win the tournament. They have about as much top-level attacking talent as any team in the tournament, along with a tried and tested total football system that wears down opponents. Teams that play a certain style year after year are always successful because they never have to be the team reacting to another style of play. This continuity allows for generations to be bridged quite seamlessly. Thanks to Johan Cruyff and the Dutch geniuses of the 1970s, Holland fits in this category. They are in my opinion the best team never to win a world cup. I dont know if that will change this year, but it does seem to have been the year of the Dutch, with Sneijder and Robben carrying their teams to the Champions League final.

There is not much to say about the other teams in the group. Cameroon have a great striker in Samuel Eto'o, and are very athletic, but dont look like much more than a round of 16 team. And Denmark and Japan are both pretty boring teams who would be lucky to get out of the group, although Denmark has a knack for swimming well above level in these tournaments.

Prediction
1.Netherlands
2. Cameroon
3. Denmark
4. Japan


Group F

This is far and away the worst group in the entire tournament, and not only because it has my least favourite team in the whole world, Italy. New Zealand and Slovakia are both just lucky to be here, and Paraguay is a very mediocre, albeit tough, South American squad. And then there is Italy, or as I like to call them, the black hole of the beautiful game. They win by neutralizing any attacking flair that the opposing team has, wearing the game down into a war of attrition in which they thrive. They go against everything that I love about this game, the incredible room for improvisation and vision. This years version of the team is virtually unchanged from the last World Cup, which would seem to be great considering they won last time, but then one must realize that its 4 years later. Italy's team was considered old four years ago and they used that all the years of experience to will themselves to a championship despite rarely impressing on the field. This year they are just plain old, and in any other group would probably crash and burn. However, they lucked out with garbage group F, and will somehow carry on their terrible version of soccer into the second round, where sadly, anything can happen.

Prediction
1. Italy
2. Paraguay
3. Slovakia
4. New Zealand


Group G

This would be the Group of Death, but its very clear that one team has no chance of advancing, obviously Brazil. I jest, but seriously, North Korea stands out in this group and should guarantee the other 3 teams one victory, which in a true group of death should not happen. I am not a fan of any of the teams in this group, although I am rooting very hard for the Ivory Coast, who are the class of the African teams at this World Cup. I was devastated when I saw that Didier Drogba, the best African player of his generation, a player with a chance to carry a whole continent on his shoulders with a legendary performance at this tournament, had broken his arm. I usually dont like Drogba, but he has worked for years to earn the right to represent his country at the first World Cup on African soil, and it would have been awful to see him lose that chance. I hope he is able to recover and play. I think that if Drogba is healthy, the Ivory Coast will be an incredibly tough team to beat, and could definitely win this group. Brazil is the best team here, but i am not totally sold on this year's group as true champions. Im not sure if they have the right combination of flair and form that the great Brazilian champions of the past have had. Portugal has really not been very good this year, and if Ronaldo tries to win the tournament by himself like he does for Madrid, hes going to be in for a tough time. Im going to enjoy seeing him sulk to an early exit.

Prediction
1. Brazil
2. Ivory Coast
3. Portugal
4. North Korea


Group H

Finally the group that I have been waiting for. Spain is clearly the favorite in this group, and before I get to them, I want to briefly discuss the other three teams. Chile is kind of like a homeless-mans version of Spain, playing a very open uptempo game with about 10% of the talent that Spain has (definitely not an insult). Honduras also plays a very wide-open style, and will be buzzing after having qualified for the World Cup due to a stoppage time goal in another game on the last day of qualifying. Switzerland plays exactly like one would think a Swiss team would play, in a very mediocre, neutral style.

And now on to Spain, in my opinion the best national side of my lifetime. They have so much talent that not only could a team of their substitutes be very competitive in this tournament, but if one made a starting 11 of Spanish players that didn't even make the World Cup, they would probably make it out of the group stage. However, Spain has always had great talent, but before 2008, they never had come together as a team and brought a self-belief to the table. Now they not only have by far the most talent they have ever had, but they play with a swagger that has been non-existent among Spanish sides in the past. They bring the game to new levels of beauty with their quick passing and improvisatory style of play. You know that it is going to be a great tournament when the best team is also by far the most fun to watch. And although a World Cup victory is not a guarantee, as the best team definitely does not always win, Spain is clearly the best team in this tournament, and at their best, can elevate the game to awe-inspiring heights.

Prediction
1. Spain
2. Chile
3. Honduras
4. Switzerland


Over the next month, this blog will be filled with posts on the Beautiful game, including an ode to soccer that explains my all-encompassing lover for this sport. Stay tuned...

Keep it real.