England, Europe, Features, Ian John, Regions, World Cup 2010 POSTS

World Cup Preview : Groups A & B

Published by Ian John on May 28, 2010

With just two weeks to go before the FIFA World Cup Finals kick off in South Africa, we begin our coverage of the world’s greatest football tournament by previewing each of the teams in each of the groups over a series of four articles and we begin today by featuring Groups A & B.

GROUP A
SOUTH AFRICA
Currently unbeaten in nine games, South Africa head to the finals as hosts and in good form, which will please Brazilian boss Carlos Alberto Parreira. Despite having home advantage, the South Africans have drawn a tough looking group with no match particularly easy and despite their recent good form, it looks like being a struggle for the host nation to reach the second phase.

Key Man : Steven Pienaar (Everton)
The Everton midfielder is the all action midfield dynamo of the team and with him, will go the teams fortunes. If Pienaar can be inspired to find his best form in front of his home crowd, South Africa could just scrape through into the second phase.

One to Watch : Katlego Mphela (Mamelodi Sundowns)
A talented young striker who has a decent goalscoring record for South Africa despite starting many games on the substitutes bench. His 30 yard free kick against Spain was the highlight of last summers Confederations Cup and he will be hoping to repeat those heroics once again this summer.

FRANCE
This will be Raymond Domenech’s swansong as French national team manager and for many of his critics, the end cannot come soon enough. Domenech’s abrasive nature has polarised opinion somewhat and France’s less than impressive recent form has many critics wondering if this is a World Cup too many for some of their more experienced players. The French have more than enough talent to qualify from the group, but it is hard to see them having the Zinedine Zidane inspired impact that they had in Germany four years ago, especially with the knowledge that their manager is leaving regardless after the tournament.

Key Man : Frank Ribery (Bayern Munich)
With Zidane retired and Henry looking the shell of his former self, much of France’s hopes for a decent World Cup showing rests on Ribery’s shoulders. The 27 year old Bayern winger has endured a tough time of late in his personal and professional life, missing the Champions League final through suspension but French fans will be hoping he can use those disappointments to motivate himself for the World Cup finals.

One to Watch : Hugo Lloris (Lyon)
Lloris has taken over from Marseille keeper Steve Mandanda as the first choice for the national team. Linked with a move to Manchester United in recent weeks, Lloris has enjoyed a fantastic season with Lyon in the Champions League and his performances at the finals will surely confirm him as one of European football’s finest young goalkeeping talents.

MEXICO
The Mexican’s impressed in a recent friendly at Wembley against England. Despite the 3-1 loss and some obvious frailties at set pieces, their passing and interplay, particularly on the counter attack, was very effective and caused England plenty of problems. They will be a tough, well organised side this summer but they need to improve their organisation and defending at set pieces.

Key Man : Gerrardo Torrado (Cruz Azul)
The 113 cap midfielder is the hub of this Mexican team and his clever passing and movement will be key if the Central American giants are to progress beyond the first phase. A clever, elegant playmaker who is Mexico’s version of the Spanish teams Xavi.

One to Watch : Carlos Vela (Arsenal)
For some reason, Arsene Wenger hasn’t given Vela the chances he has perhaps merited at Arsenal this season and Vela may use that as ammunition to fire the goals to take Mexico into the second phase and beyond, a slight of build striker with great technique and a natural goalscoring touch.

URUGUAY
Uruguay are such a difficult side to predict. On paper, they have one of the strongest attacks of any team in the competition with the likes of Forlan, Cavani, Suarez and Abreu. However the team has struggled for form throughout qualifying and it looks like being very much a case of which Uruguay turns up this summer. They are good enough to win this group, and at times poor enough to finish bottom.

Key Man : Diego Forlan (Atletico Madrid)
The Atletico striker has enjoyed another outstanding season in Spain culminating in scoring the winning goal in the Europa League final against Fulham. Forlan will be hoping to bring his talents to a wider stage this summer and his goals and link up with Luis Suarez in particular will go a long way towards deciding how strong Uruguay are in this tournament.

One to Watch : Nicolas Lodeiro (Ajax)
Lodeiro is one of the young talents whom Uruguayan fans see as being integral to the future of the team. A talented youngster, he made the grade at Nacional before being snapped up by Ajax during the 2009-2010 season. He is yet to settle fully in Europe and may only play a bit part role as a substitute for Uruguay initially, but he has the talent to prove his quality at this level this year and in many years to come.

GROUP B
ARGENTINA
Diego Maradona’s men start the World Cup as one of the most hotly backed teams, mainly due to the inspirational form of Lionel Messi. A few months back, a stuttering qualifying campaign had left most punters cold on the notion that Argentina could triumph for a third time in South Africa. Now many punters are backing Messi to insprie his talented team mates into the latter stages and perhaps to ultimate glory. Any team that can stop Messi can stop Argentina, but the question is, does any manager know how to?

Key Man : Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
The best player in the world by far, the best footballer on the planet by a mile and on his day he has been simply unplayable. With Messi in form, Argentina can win this tournament. He is that good and that important. Argentina are fortunate that they now have a worthy successor to Diego Maradona in the number 10 shirt and at just 22, Messi still has his best years ahead of him. He will win the World Cup one day, but will it be this summer?

One to Watch : Angel Di Maria (Benfica)
The talented left winger has enjoyed a fantastic season with Benfica and has long been linked with a big money move to England or Spain on the back of his performances. Di Maria possesses a superb left foot and fantastic shooting ability which should see him stake a place in the team alongside Veron and Messi in what looks to be an attack-minded midfield.

NIGERIA
Lars Lagerbeck’s team are tipped to progress to the second phase behind Argentina by many in the know and certainly the German will be confident his side can improve on their disappointing showings in the last couple of World Cup Finals. Although they lack the playmaking guile of a Jay Jay Okocha, this team is strong physically, powerful and well organised, especially defensively. If they can ally that with a bit more attacking adventure then they have the quality in the squad to move into the second phase.

Key Man : Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Everton)
Scoring goals has been a problem for Nigeria in past major tournaments and the fact is with Argentina red hot favourites to claim the top qualification spot in Group B, Nigeria are going to need goals against the other two teams in the group in order to progress. Yakubu is the man most likely to provide that and after an injury hit year at Everton, he will be hoping to have a big impact at the finals.

One to Watch : Chidi Odiah (CSKA Moscow)
The talented CSKA Moscow left back has great stamina, pace and a fierce left foot shot. Technically he is still learning the game but he has been impressive in the improving Russian league and not looked out of depth in the Champions League this season. A good showing at the World Cup Finals here is vital, especially as he could be up against Lionel Messi when Nigeria clash with Argentina in their opening game.

GREECE
Greece coach Otto Rehhagel is a legend in his adopted homeland after leadng Greece to become the 2002 European Champions, but this tournament looks a step too far for the current squad. There’s plenty of quality in the squad, notably in defence where Seitaridis and Kyrgiakos will be key men and Karagounis is a clever little playmaker, but it is hard to see the Greeks having the attacking threat to worry the strong Argentinians and Nigerians. They’ll be well organised for sure but they lack enough quality in my view to make the second phase. Mind you, plenty of people said that at Euro 2002 and look what happened!

Key Man : Giorgos Karagounis (Panathinakos)
The playmaking midfielder has 91 caps for his country and is still the key creative influence in the team. Clever on the ball and an inventive passer, much of Greece’s best attacking moves will flow through the midfielder at some point and if Greece are to enjoy something of a rennaissance in this tournament then Karagounis is going to have to be at the heart of that.

One to Watch : Giourkas Seitaridis (Panthinaikos)
If you have not had the pleasure of watching Seitaridis play the game of football then you should take the opportunity during the World Cup to do just that. An elegant defender who is efficient and quietly effective, he reminds me very much of a Paolo Maldini type of player. Unassuming, reliable and one of the mainstay’s of the team, he never took his chance to shine in Spain with Atletico Madrid but at his best Seitaridis is one of the best full backs in European football.

SOUTH KOREA
Semi-finalists in 2002, South Korea have had less success on their travels around the world and they look to have a task on their hands to qualify from this group. Coach Huh Jung-moo will have his team as energetic, technically proficient and organised as ever and they will be no pushovers and while I fancy they may win one of their games, I don’t feel they have enough quality, or home advantage, to take them any further in the competition.

Key Man : Park Ji Sung (Manchester United)
The Manchester United star will be central to South Korean hopes of a good showing in the finals. As hard-working and reliable as they come, Park is also blessed with an uncanny knack for scoring vital goals and his endeavour and technical skills mark him as a class above most of his team mates.

One to Watch : Lee Chung-Yong (Bolton)
Bolton fans will be hoping that Lee Chung Yong can produce the same kind of form that saw him establish himself in the Premier League this season at the Reebok Stadium. A talented winger with pace and great creative ability, it will be interesting to see how he plays against the physically superior, but perhaps much slower, four central-defender Argentinean defence in particular. A good World Cup could see Lee attracting plenty more interest from some of the Premier League’s top sides.

Join me tomorrow as we take a look at the sides in Groups C and D which include England, the United States, Germany and Serbia

Image Courtesy of ***BlueRondo*** on Flickr.com

Readers Rating: