By Brian Harris
Starting on Friday with the host country of South Africa taking on Mexico, the 2010 World Cup will embark on a month-long journey which will not only bring out the pride that one has in their country or heritage but also will bring the “beautiful game” into the limelight.
The World Cup is a great way to show people who normally wouldn’t watch a Manchester United-Chelsea tilt but would watch the U.S play England because it stirs up some national pride and they will no longer see soccer (or football or futbol) as a wimpy sport but as the ultimate combination of speed and skill along with having the most passionate fans in all of sport.
On that note, here’s my group-by-group thoughts and predictions on the 2010 FIFA World Cup. For those not educated on how the World Cup works, here’s a quick synopsis on how it works. 32 teams from all over the world are broken up into eight groups of four. Special consideration is put into the choosing of groups so they are, for the most part, balanced.
Group A
Teams-South Africa, Mexico, France and Uruguay
The host country, South Africa, like the other African teams at the World Cup, is a team that isn’t a contender this time around but will have the potential to be in 2014 in Brazil. Uraguay, like every other South American team, will give anyone they face fits, but are on the second tier of teams on that continent. Mexico is the best team in Central America and will probably win this group outright unless France regains its 1998 form, which I highly doubt since the only reason they got in was due to an uncalled handball by Thierry Henry against Ireland in preliminaries.
My Prediction For Group A- 1) Mexico 2)France 3)South Africa 4) Uruguay
Group BTeams-Argentina, Nigeria, Republic of Korea (South Korea), Greece
Let’s get this out of the way. Lionel Messi is the best player in the world right. His prowess for scoring is right up there with Dirk Diggler and Tiger Woods. That being said, Argentina is going to win this group. The other three teams are going to slug it out for the other spot into the knockout stage. Greece, I feel, is the best out of those three but I wouldn’t be surprised if either South Korea or Nigeria slide in. This group is really Argentina’s to lose.
My Prediction For Group B- 1) Argentina 2) Nigeria 3) Greece 4) Republic Of Korea
Group CTeams- U.S.A, England, Algeria, Slovenia
Without question, the Americans and the English are going to advance. The other two countries simply don’t match up to both the storied Three Lions of England, led by Wayne Rooney, and the U.S. The biggest question that comes from this group is whether or not the U.S can pull of the victory over England, which would not only be the biggest win in the history of U.S soccer but could be the stepping stone into soccer truly being accepted by Americans overall.
My Prediction For Group C- 1) England 2) U.S.A 3) Slovenia 4) Algeria
Group DTeams-Germany, Australia, Ghana, Serbia
Three of the four teams in this group are good enough to make the knockout stage. Serbia probably shouldn’t be taken lightly either but in the end, the German squad, without injured captain Michael Ballack, will just eke out the victory while the Black Stars of Ghana, the highest ranked team from Africa, who are playing without star Michael Essien, and the Socceroos of Austraila, in only their 2nd World Cup since 1974, will play for the other slot into knockouts.
My Prediction For Group D- 1) Germany 2) Ghana 3) Australia 4) Serbia
Group ETeams-Netherlands, Cameroon, Denmark, Japan
Even though Dutch soccer legends Ruud von Nistelroy and Edwin van der Saar have retired from international play, the Dutch are still the strongest team in the group and assistant coach Frank de Boer has laid down the gauntlet, stating that the Dutch only have one goal, “to be champions of the world.” Even with a hamstring injury to star player Arjen Robben, the other teams in the group don’t pose a threat to the Dutch but Japan is a team on the rise and can pull off an upset of either Cameroon or Denmark.
My Predication For Group E- 1) Netherlands 2) Denmark 3) Cameroon 4) Japan
Group FTeams-Italy, Paraguay, Slovakia, New Zealand
The Azzurri, the defending World Cup champions, got a Duke-like draw as not even Paraguay poses a threat to Italy in group play. Slovakia and New Zealand are just happy to be here
My Prediction For Group F- 1) Italy 2) Paraguay 3) Slovakia 4) New Zealand
Group GTeams-Brazil, Korea D.P.R (North Korea), Cote’ D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Portugal
Now we come to the vaunted “Group of Death” as Brazil, Cristiano Ronaldo- led Portugal can say that they have a shot at the World Cup. Ivory Coast could also stake claim as a contender as well but with striker Didier Drogba out for at least group play with a broken arm, their chances shrunk considerably. With that being said, one really good team is going to going home early. North Korea, while a decent team, is nothing more than a whipping boy. Brazil-Portugal is going to be epic a first round match for sure.
My Prediction For Group G- 1) Brazil 2) Portugal 3) Cote D’Ivoire 4) Korea D.P.R
Group HTeams-Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile
This group has a distinct Latin flavor to it, and the Swiss are the oddballs in the group. However, I can see the Swiss making a run for the second slot out of Group H. Spain is the best team in this group by far with Chile and Honduras no slouches themselves.
My Prediction For Group H- 1) Spain 2) Chile 3) Switzerland 4) Honduras
Knockout Stage Predictions
Round Of 16Mexico over Nigeria, England over Ghana, Netherlands over Paraguay, Brazil over Chile, Argentina over France, U.S.A over Germany, Italy over Denmark, Portugal over Spain
QuarterfinalsEngland over Mexico, Brazil over Netherlands, Argentina over U.S.A, Italy over Portugal
Semifinals Brazil over England, Italy over Argentina
Final Brazil over Italy
I must give fair warning, the World Cup is the international version of March Madness so you never may know what will happen. This much I can promise, from June 11 to July 11, there’s going to be some epic soccer being played in South Africa.
