So I’ve been struggling with doing the group previews for
the World Cup. Even though I enjoy the event, and soccer in general, I can’t
say that I am familiar with Croatia’s midfield or Iran’s options at striker.
But the reality of the World Cup is that only a handful of
teams have a legitimate shot at winning the tournament, about 25 teams expect
to get out of their group, and the rest are just happy to qualify for the World
Cup.
I won’t focus too much on tactics, but here are my group
previews for groups A through D.
Group A: Brazil,
Croatia, Mexico, Cameroon
It is hard to imagine any team in any sport coming into a
tournament with higher expectations that Brazil have coming into this 2014
World Cup. Brazilians expect to win every World Cup, but this one in
particular. The only other time that Brazil hosted the World Cup, in 1950,
Uruguay upset the Brazilians in the final, so there is also a chance for
redemption in 2014.
Brazil have a manageable group and advancement is an
afterthought. (Although the repercussions of Brazil not advancing to the Group
stage are a little fun to think about.) The real question in this group is
whether Mexico can regain their form of 2012 and put 2013 behind them.
The Mexicans have been through 3 coaches in the last year,
and some of their best players, haven’t been factors for the national team.
There seems to be a divide among the players that play in Europe and the
players that are based in Mexico’s domestic league. Croatia will be the main
competition for Mexico as they fight for second place behind Brazil.
Prediction: Brazil
and Croatia advance to knock out round
Group B: Spain,
Netherlands, Chile, Australia
This group is a perfect example of what I said in the
opening. Spain and the Netherlands played in the 2010 World Cup Final. Spain
would expect to be back in the same position again in 2014, while the
Netherlands would definitely expect to advance out of the group. Chile are an
up and coming team that will go forward constantly. Australia is so excited to
get a two week vacation to Brazil, and their plane tickets are probably already
purchased to head back to Australia after the group stage.
Spain return many of their key players from their 2010
championship team, but they aren’t the dominant side that they were four years
ago. The biggest question for the Spaniards will be who will be their striker. Diego
Costa was spectacular for Atletico Madrid this season, and he has since been
purchased by Chelsea, but he was unable to play in the Champions League Final a
few weeks ago and it isn’t clear just how healthy he is.
Four years ago, David
Villa was a scoring machine for Spain. If Costa isn’t 100%, will Villa get the
chance to repeat his World Cup heroics of 2010?
Meanwhile, Netherlands will hope that they can again be as
strong as the sum of their parts, just like they were in 2010. There are a lot
of star players, like Arjen Robben and Robin Van Persie on the Dutch squad, but
they are perennial World Cup underachievers. With Spain remaining a powerhouse
and Chile being a team on the rise, this group might be too much for the Dutch
to overcome.
I can’t say that I know much about Chile, other than each
time someone talks about Chile they talk about them attacking non-stop, so I’m
looking forward to watching their games because it sounds like they will be
wide open affairs.
Spain lost their first game in 2010, and then won out to win
the title. They won’t have that luxury in 2014. The key to this group is going
to be winning your first game and beating Australia. If any of the three
contenders fails to get three points against Australia, that will be the
difference in advancing and going home.
In the end, I think the experience of the Dutch, and the
strength of their strikers against a Chile team that would rather go forward
than defend will be the difference in this group.
Prediction: Spain and
Netherlands advance to knock out round
Group C: Columbia,
Greece, Ivory Coast, Japan
Ok, I don’t know much about any of these teams. The last
time Columbia had this much hype coming into a World Cup was 1994. To say that
the ’94 World Cup was a disaster for the Colombians is an understatement.
They failed to get out of the group after losing the United
States, and a week after the World Cup their best player, Andres Escobar was
murdered.
Greece are probably the most boring team in the tournament
as they would be content with three scoreless draws. They focus on defense and
put 11 players behind the ball making it nearly impossible for opposing teams
to score.
Ivory Coast has the clock ticking on their greatest
generation as players like Yaya Toure and Drogba are on the downhill side of
their career. (Ok, maybe not Toure, but I just don’t like him.)
Japan, apparently has a national team and they have
qualified for the World Cup and everything… huh.
Prediction: Columbia
and Ivory Coast advance to knock out round
Group D: Uruguay,
Costa Rica, Italy, England
You want to talk about a difficult group, this is it. Costa
Rica finished second to the US in their qualifying group and they have no
chance of getting out of the star studded group.
What is amazing about this group is the amount of
story lines. England and Italy have a storied rivalry, and the Italians
eliminated the English from Euro 2012, in penalty kicks of course. Italy’s best
striker, Mario Balotelli played in the Premiere League two seasons ago with Man
City and was constantly having problems on and off the field. Luis Suarez led
the Premiere League in scoring last year, but two years ago he was suspended
for biting a Chelsea player, and three years ago he was suspended for racist comments
made during a game.
Uruguay come into this World Cup looking to repeat 1950 when
they won the World Cup in Brazil. If Luis Suarez is 100% then Uruguay are a
favorite to win the tournament, and if he isn’t they might not make it out of
the group. Suarez is one of the best players in the world, and while Uruguay
have other players that can contribute, they don’t have anyone that can replace
the quality and scoring of Suarez.
Italy are always a contender when the World Cup comes
around, and they will expect nothing less this year. The Italians lost to Spain
in the final of Euro 2012, and won the World Cup in 2006.
England have underachieved for years now. They have a strong
team, but they just come up short when it gets around to the knock out stage of
the World Cup. The biggest question surrounding the English team is will they
play an attacking style that can produce goals, or will they play conservative
and risk coming up short again. With players like Daniel Sturridge, Raheem
Sterling, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlin that have the ability to create scoring
chances, along with the Old Guard veterans like Rooney, Lampard, and Gerrard,
this might be the best chance in years for England to make a legitimate run in
the World Cup.
Prediction: Uruguay
and England advance to knock out round
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