World Cup 2010 Preview: Let's Go!
We're gonna talk about Diego Maradona. We're gonna talk about Gonzalo Higuain. We're gonna talk about Didier Drogba. We're gonna really get into it. We're gonna talk about Winter in the Southern Hemisphere, vuvuzelas. We're gonna talk about Franck Ribery. We're gonna go hard on this.
This will be broken up into a few different parts. I'll basically write until I feel like I'm not making sense anymore and then I'll stop. I'll do that until we get through all 8 groups and then I might make some knockout round predictions. Maybe even pick a winner of this thing.
Let's go!
Group A: South Africa, France, Uruguay, Mexico
It bears mentioning that the host country has never failed to qualify for the second round. But I'm not sure any host team has really been as bad as South Africa. Still, maybe momentum or a vuvuzela immunity will carry them through. Maybe Matt Damon will come down from heaven and captain them to the glory. Something will get them to the next round. Plus, they really didn't look too horrible in last summer's Confederations Cup and their group mates are each a bit lacklusterish in their own ways.
France is franceing its way to the World Cup with its handballs and its child prostitution scandals and its astrology and dune buggy-loving head coach. Sure they got Ribery, Anelka, Malouda, Gourcuff, and an unstoppable young goalkeepr in Hugo Lloris. But I picked these guys to win Euro 2008 and they basically took a nap on the field against the Netherlands. So, the foolman can't get fooled.
I really think the other second round team will come down to the Uruguay/Mexico match. And with two red-hot strikers in Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan, you have to give the edge to the Uruguayans. With Carlos Vela, Javier Hernandez, Gio dos Santos, and others, Mexico has a nice young core, but I don't think they'll have the experience to shut down Uruguay's lethal attackers or break down their experienced defenders.
Uruguay and South Africa move on
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece
Argentina forwards Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain and Diego Milito scored a combined 155 goals for their club teams in 2009/10. So, yeah, Argentina's probably a pretty good bet to make it to the next round. I still think that Diego Maradona not calling up Esteban Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti--the midfield lynchpin and the captain, respectively, of the BEST CLUB TEAM IN THE WORLD--will come back to haunt these guys in the later rounds. But you can probably book them in the quarterfinals just based on offensive firepower alone.
As for the other squads, South Korea pretty much relies on Ji-Sung Park and Chu-Young Park for all their offense and Greece isn't scaring anyone, except for fans of fast-paced free-flowing football (Oh SNAP!), so you really gotta think that Nigeria will be able to pull out second place. If there's gonna be any African unity bounce or whatever, the Nigerians should be a prime recipient. Also, their squad is kind of stacked. Aiyegbeni Yakubu, Obafemi Martins, Mikel John Obi, three goalies that play in the Israeli Premier League; they're not a team that anyone's gonna look forward to playing.
Argentina and Nigeria move on
Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia
England has their issues, but if Wayne Rooney can just manage not to break his leg climbing a tree from now until June 12, the Three Lions should have a pretty easy time in what might be the weakest group in the tournament. England's defense might be a question mark but Rooney, Peter Crouch, Frank Lampard,Steven Gerrard and a crew of tricky wingers led, most likely, by Aaron Lennon and Theo Walcott should see them through.
As for the rest of the group, it's hard to be objective (because I love freedom and bald eagles so much), but you really couldn't handpick more favorable opponents for the United States. Algeria and Slovenia both had to go the playoff route to qualify for the tournament and there's really not any player you'd call world class on their squads. Sure, they got their Seria A and Bundesliga strikers, their Ligue 1 defenders, their Coca-Cola Championship midfield generals, but they're teams the U.S. is eminently capable of defeating or, at least, drawing. Landon Donovan and Clint Dempesey bring a lot of skill and athleticism to the midfield, Jozy Altidore is exponentially more beastly in international play and with Tim Howard, they have a top-10 goalkeeper. They should be able to score a few goals and make up for a bitterly disappointing performance in 2006.
England and the United States move on
Check back later (or never) for the rest of the preview.
This will be broken up into a few different parts. I'll basically write until I feel like I'm not making sense anymore and then I'll stop. I'll do that until we get through all 8 groups and then I might make some knockout round predictions. Maybe even pick a winner of this thing.
Let's go!
Group A: South Africa, France, Uruguay, Mexico
It bears mentioning that the host country has never failed to qualify for the second round. But I'm not sure any host team has really been as bad as South Africa. Still, maybe momentum or a vuvuzela immunity will carry them through. Maybe Matt Damon will come down from heaven and captain them to the glory. Something will get them to the next round. Plus, they really didn't look too horrible in last summer's Confederations Cup and their group mates are each a bit lacklusterish in their own ways.
France is franceing its way to the World Cup with its handballs and its child prostitution scandals and its astrology and dune buggy-loving head coach. Sure they got Ribery, Anelka, Malouda, Gourcuff, and an unstoppable young goalkeepr in Hugo Lloris. But I picked these guys to win Euro 2008 and they basically took a nap on the field against the Netherlands. So, the foolman can't get fooled.
I really think the other second round team will come down to the Uruguay/Mexico match. And with two red-hot strikers in Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan, you have to give the edge to the Uruguayans. With Carlos Vela, Javier Hernandez, Gio dos Santos, and others, Mexico has a nice young core, but I don't think they'll have the experience to shut down Uruguay's lethal attackers or break down their experienced defenders.
Uruguay and South Africa move on
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece
Argentina forwards Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain and Diego Milito scored a combined 155 goals for their club teams in 2009/10. So, yeah, Argentina's probably a pretty good bet to make it to the next round. I still think that Diego Maradona not calling up Esteban Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti--the midfield lynchpin and the captain, respectively, of the BEST CLUB TEAM IN THE WORLD--will come back to haunt these guys in the later rounds. But you can probably book them in the quarterfinals just based on offensive firepower alone.
As for the other squads, South Korea pretty much relies on Ji-Sung Park and Chu-Young Park for all their offense and Greece isn't scaring anyone, except for fans of fast-paced free-flowing football (Oh SNAP!), so you really gotta think that Nigeria will be able to pull out second place. If there's gonna be any African unity bounce or whatever, the Nigerians should be a prime recipient. Also, their squad is kind of stacked. Aiyegbeni Yakubu, Obafemi Martins, Mikel John Obi, three goalies that play in the Israeli Premier League; they're not a team that anyone's gonna look forward to playing.
Argentina and Nigeria move on
Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia
England has their issues, but if Wayne Rooney can just manage not to break his leg climbing a tree from now until June 12, the Three Lions should have a pretty easy time in what might be the weakest group in the tournament. England's defense might be a question mark but Rooney, Peter Crouch, Frank Lampard,Steven Gerrard and a crew of tricky wingers led, most likely, by Aaron Lennon and Theo Walcott should see them through.
As for the rest of the group, it's hard to be objective (because I love freedom and bald eagles so much), but you really couldn't handpick more favorable opponents for the United States. Algeria and Slovenia both had to go the playoff route to qualify for the tournament and there's really not any player you'd call world class on their squads. Sure, they got their Seria A and Bundesliga strikers, their Ligue 1 defenders, their Coca-Cola Championship midfield generals, but they're teams the U.S. is eminently capable of defeating or, at least, drawing. Landon Donovan and Clint Dempesey bring a lot of skill and athleticism to the midfield, Jozy Altidore is exponentially more beastly in international play and with Tim Howard, they have a top-10 goalkeeper. They should be able to score a few goals and make up for a bitterly disappointing performance in 2006.
England and the United States move on
Check back later (or never) for the rest of the preview.
posted by Alonzo @ 7:21 PM
2 Comments:
At 12:43 AM,
Unknown said…
well i dont know much about football but being in france and germany has got me pumped. im in it to win it- let's go!
At 5:31 AM,
Anonymous said…
Let me say that I firmly believe Argentina is gonna win the cup this time. I mean, maybe not calling Cambiasso or Zanetti was a big mistake and Maradona will regret it, but it is a matter of tactics. I remember that I was in Argentina in 2006 when the World Cup was held in Germany and people became so depressed when they lost that I think they deserve to win and they have the players to achieve that. I wanted to rent apartment buenos aires at the time, and stayed there for a couple of weeks. Losing that competition was real hard for them. Now they have a second chance!
Brit
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