This year for the WC in South Africa, I resisted the urge of entering predicting games and took the low road of tight a-- conservative approach meaning I waited for all the teams to play their first 2 games in the group stage and now I am going to release my analysis, hopefully I will have enough consistency to continue my analysis as knock-out stages unfold. One last thing: I think there is much more than WC and football in SA now, the other or rather darker sides of SA are yet to be touched and talked about...I'll see how much I can accomplish on that.
Group A
1. Uruguay: Drew with France in the opener and thrashed the hosts in the 2nd game. A very good and solid all-around team but one player stands out big (as it was expected): Forlan...Forlan...Forlan! Hell, I would have loved to see him pair up with El nino in LFC, he had a massive form during Atletico's run in Europa cup too.
2. Mexico: A lot of young faces mixed with some vets. They had a great night at the expense of Les Bleus the other night: very strong, a lot of running and much hunger but I suppose, they will clutch when facing big powerhouses from further south. They do have an element of surprise though, I guess they have really pulled themselves together after sacking the highly overrated Swedish manager Sven-Göran Eriksson.
3. France: Probably the biggest disappointment of the cup. Les Bleus are aging, don't have an inspiring leader on and off the pitch and lots are happening on the scandals front. None of the players have lived up to the expectations, their manager is too passive and not functioning, there is a major lack of mutual respect from players and management, Anelka was tossed out of the camp and the players subsequently refused to train and so on and so on. 1998 champions and 2006 runner-ups are not even close to championship calibers. Even if they advance, they will be kicked out easily with a much disciplined squad.
4. South Africa: I had very little knowledge about Bafana Bafana except for the fact that their vet striker Benny McCarthy didn't make the final squad and of course Pineaar from our rival team Everton. Given the home crowd pressure they did quite well in the opener with Mexico, a bit unlucky not to have taken the 3 points. They simply had no answer to the brilliance of Forlan in the 2nd game and the nasty sounds of vuvuzelas were shut down a bit prematurely. It would be interesting to see if the Brazilian manager Parreira would stay after the cup to build up for future or he will be sacked or leave and instability would continue as it does in many aspects in Africa--sadly.
Group B
5. Argentina: A star-studded squad and one of the strong favorites to win the cup with the likes of Messi, Hiquain, Veron, Milito and more. The short chubby man who sports an unfamiliar beard on the sideline of Argentina, yes none other than Saint Diego Armando with his unique passion and jests is as noteworthy as the quality of the football that Argentina displays. How much he contributes to the tactical game and how much respect the superstars of today lay on him is another question. They have won all the games with relative ease nonetheless and will presumably carry on until semis at least.
6. South Korea: They have defended the dignity of football in Asia by showing a fast and attractive football compared to their peers. They will definitely advance from their group and the extent of their success could be limited down the stretch as the tournament fatigue will take its toll on their bodies.
7. Greece: Not much to say here really, they are too boring and maybe aging and don't display much, they seem to be lost in the WC hype: a mere shadow of former European champions.
8. Nigeria: One of the disappointments so far. Their biggest mistake came from hiring the sacked Swedish manager Lars Lagerbäck after the failure in the African cup; a man who had literally no managing experience outside Sweden and has led his country's team to mediocre results in the past years, failing to qualify to this year's cup among them. He could induce some discipline to the Nigeria but he is far too weak, conservative, boring and has no charisma to fit with the diversity of Nigeria.
Group C
9. Slovenia: I have got nothing to say about them and haven't seen anything particular about them neither. However, as strange as it may sound, they seem in the best shape to advance from their group for the time being.
10. USA: My most favorite underdogs: they work hard and are well structured. They show reasonable tactical and technical quality at times and everyone underestimates them. By rough assumption you could say that football came to US in 1994 when WC was held there and given this 16 years, they have come along way in the international stage; something that many countries with richer football history have not managed to pull off. Interesting to see how they will do in the last group game. They were also ripped from a crucial goal by referee's mistake which can prove costly for their fate in WC.
11. England: My favorite team in WC has performed far from expectations. They have every element to succeed to the best and fail miserably at the same time. From bad luck and injuries and non-related football issues (manager-player relationship not at its optimum level seemingly and Capello being a very special person with possibly different mindset than English players doesn't make this easier) to keeper's incredible gaff and the superstars who are lost in the shadow of WC. Nevertheless, even if they manage to advance from group stage, they seriously lack world class strikers (other than Rooney who is yet to deliver) and this can cause them massive problems.
12. Algeria: Labeled possibly the dirtiest team in WC has performed quite OK so far. Funny thing that it seems most people don't even consider them as African team since they are not as 'black' as the likes of Ghana, Nigeria and etc. They still have a chance to advance from group stage but I have hard time seeing them beyond that as they lack quality and many more.
Group D
13. Ghana: The most successful 'African' team so far with a narrow win over Serbia and a draw with Australia. The loss of star player Essien has not shown any damage for the time being but it is very difficult to predict how they do in the next rounds.
14. Germany: The youngest squad in the cup impressed everyone by thrashing Aussies 4-0 in the opener but they fell short in a intense match against Serbia. They play a very versatile and beautiful football now--uncanny of effective and rather dull style of the Germans and they have great potential to advance as far as semis.
15. Serbia: I've got not much to say about them like Slovenia, very solid and physically strong team that is not and easy opponent for anyone.
16. Australia: After a massive loss to Germany, no one is taking them seriously or bothers about them 'Groos'. I think I will do the same.
Group A
1. Uruguay: Drew with France in the opener and thrashed the hosts in the 2nd game. A very good and solid all-around team but one player stands out big (as it was expected): Forlan...Forlan...Forlan! Hell, I would have loved to see him pair up with El nino in LFC, he had a massive form during Atletico's run in Europa cup too.
2. Mexico: A lot of young faces mixed with some vets. They had a great night at the expense of Les Bleus the other night: very strong, a lot of running and much hunger but I suppose, they will clutch when facing big powerhouses from further south. They do have an element of surprise though, I guess they have really pulled themselves together after sacking the highly overrated Swedish manager Sven-Göran Eriksson.
3. France: Probably the biggest disappointment of the cup. Les Bleus are aging, don't have an inspiring leader on and off the pitch and lots are happening on the scandals front. None of the players have lived up to the expectations, their manager is too passive and not functioning, there is a major lack of mutual respect from players and management, Anelka was tossed out of the camp and the players subsequently refused to train and so on and so on. 1998 champions and 2006 runner-ups are not even close to championship calibers. Even if they advance, they will be kicked out easily with a much disciplined squad.
4. South Africa: I had very little knowledge about Bafana Bafana except for the fact that their vet striker Benny McCarthy didn't make the final squad and of course Pineaar from our rival team Everton. Given the home crowd pressure they did quite well in the opener with Mexico, a bit unlucky not to have taken the 3 points. They simply had no answer to the brilliance of Forlan in the 2nd game and the nasty sounds of vuvuzelas were shut down a bit prematurely. It would be interesting to see if the Brazilian manager Parreira would stay after the cup to build up for future or he will be sacked or leave and instability would continue as it does in many aspects in Africa--sadly.
Group B
5. Argentina: A star-studded squad and one of the strong favorites to win the cup with the likes of Messi, Hiquain, Veron, Milito and more. The short chubby man who sports an unfamiliar beard on the sideline of Argentina, yes none other than Saint Diego Armando with his unique passion and jests is as noteworthy as the quality of the football that Argentina displays. How much he contributes to the tactical game and how much respect the superstars of today lay on him is another question. They have won all the games with relative ease nonetheless and will presumably carry on until semis at least.
6. South Korea: They have defended the dignity of football in Asia by showing a fast and attractive football compared to their peers. They will definitely advance from their group and the extent of their success could be limited down the stretch as the tournament fatigue will take its toll on their bodies.
7. Greece: Not much to say here really, they are too boring and maybe aging and don't display much, they seem to be lost in the WC hype: a mere shadow of former European champions.
8. Nigeria: One of the disappointments so far. Their biggest mistake came from hiring the sacked Swedish manager Lars Lagerbäck after the failure in the African cup; a man who had literally no managing experience outside Sweden and has led his country's team to mediocre results in the past years, failing to qualify to this year's cup among them. He could induce some discipline to the Nigeria but he is far too weak, conservative, boring and has no charisma to fit with the diversity of Nigeria.
Group C
9. Slovenia: I have got nothing to say about them and haven't seen anything particular about them neither. However, as strange as it may sound, they seem in the best shape to advance from their group for the time being.
10. USA: My most favorite underdogs: they work hard and are well structured. They show reasonable tactical and technical quality at times and everyone underestimates them. By rough assumption you could say that football came to US in 1994 when WC was held there and given this 16 years, they have come along way in the international stage; something that many countries with richer football history have not managed to pull off. Interesting to see how they will do in the last group game. They were also ripped from a crucial goal by referee's mistake which can prove costly for their fate in WC.
11. England: My favorite team in WC has performed far from expectations. They have every element to succeed to the best and fail miserably at the same time. From bad luck and injuries and non-related football issues (manager-player relationship not at its optimum level seemingly and Capello being a very special person with possibly different mindset than English players doesn't make this easier) to keeper's incredible gaff and the superstars who are lost in the shadow of WC. Nevertheless, even if they manage to advance from group stage, they seriously lack world class strikers (other than Rooney who is yet to deliver) and this can cause them massive problems.
12. Algeria: Labeled possibly the dirtiest team in WC has performed quite OK so far. Funny thing that it seems most people don't even consider them as African team since they are not as 'black' as the likes of Ghana, Nigeria and etc. They still have a chance to advance from group stage but I have hard time seeing them beyond that as they lack quality and many more.
Group D
13. Ghana: The most successful 'African' team so far with a narrow win over Serbia and a draw with Australia. The loss of star player Essien has not shown any damage for the time being but it is very difficult to predict how they do in the next rounds.
14. Germany: The youngest squad in the cup impressed everyone by thrashing Aussies 4-0 in the opener but they fell short in a intense match against Serbia. They play a very versatile and beautiful football now--uncanny of effective and rather dull style of the Germans and they have great potential to advance as far as semis.
15. Serbia: I've got not much to say about them like Slovenia, very solid and physically strong team that is not and easy opponent for anyone.
16. Australia: After a massive loss to Germany, no one is taking them seriously or bothers about them 'Groos'. I think I will do the same.
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