2010 World Cup Draw – Analysed

The live updates on “90 Minutes on The Pitch!” of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa brought together some very interesting groups and some rather disappointments in terms of the excitement that was built after Portugal and France were not seeded and therefore was the chance to have a group of death with another European giant. Here are the groups as they happened:

Group A
South Africa
Mexico
Uruguay
France

Views : The hosts, South Africa would bring in all the huge crowds and vuvuzelas to throng stadiums across South Africa. Mexico can spring in a surprise here and there but they look highly unlikely to bother the other three. Uruguay left it late to qualify for the World Cup and so did France who actually in all fairness, don’t deserve to be here. The way France have performed ever since the last world cup final where they lost to Italy, things have gone pretty sour for them. Dominich would have a hard time getting his team up against a motivated South Africa and the attacking prowess of Uruguay. In the end it would be between South Africa, Uruguay and France with South Africa and Frace looking like the ones to progress.

Group B
Argentina
Nigeria
South Korea
Greece

Views : A very interesting group indeed. 4 teams who work really hard and never give up. Argentina did qualify extremely late and in controversial circumstances given Maradona’s comments after the last game but eventually they did. Nigeria and South Korea both are extremely hard working sides with no superb individual players who take the limelite thus allowing the team to gel very well as a whole. Greece, winners of the European competition in 2004 qualified in the playoffs. They look unlikely to go all the way like they did in Portugal. Argentina and South Korea look the most likely to progress.

Group C
England
United States
Algeria
Slovenia

Views : England qualified with utmost ease and stomped 5-1 over group rivals Croatia to prove how they can be classy and superior when they play to their maximum ability. United States has impressed a lot of viewers and pundits globally and their grit and determination was viewed by people world over during the Confederations Cup where they beat Spain and stretched Brazil in the final. Algeria qualified like France in controversial circumstances with their win over Egypt. They beat the Egyptians in a one game playoff marred with violence on and off the pitch. Slovenia surprised plenty after their shock qualifiers win over Russia who looked easily to progress to the world cup. Despite the ability of Algeria and Slovenia, England and USA look like easy winners from this group.

Group D
Germany
Australia
Serbia
Ghana

Views : All four teams are capable of playing attacking football and neat attacking football at that. Germany, the perennial football powerhouse qualified at the expense of Russia with an away win in Moscow. Australia who qualified without conceding a goal in their qualifiers are a force which have remained since Gus Hiddink’s tenure at the “Land down under”. Serbia are fantastic defensively with two brick walls in the form of Vidic and Ivanovic who would be hard to beat for any attack. Ghana have a great midfield line going with Chelsea’s Michael Essien who partners well with Inter Milan’s Muntari to push the Ghanian’s forward. Eventually, the group would see Germany and Australia progress unless Serbia can spring a surprise from somewhere.

Group E
Netherlands
Denmark
Japan
Cameroon

View : Netherlands qualified with a 100% record and were the first team in Europe to qualify and conceded only two goals in the process. They are without a shadow of a doubt one of the contenders to life the trophy as is visible with their form. Denmark would be called the underdogs here who do not boast of any big stars or a lot of attacking options but their ability to progress in a group that included Sweden and Portugal is not a mean feat. Japanese and Camernoonians have improved in their exposure to the world cup scene year by year. I see Holland Cameroon making it from this group.

Group F
Italy
Paraguay
New Zealand
Slovakia

Views : Italy won the World Cup in 2006 but now with their ageing stars and no youngsters emerging to take over the rescinding Azzuri, it looks like they would have a hard time in South Africa. Paraguay qualified for the world cup with only one point lesser than Brazil and beat Argentina in their group to qualify for the opportunity to go to South Africa in 2010. New Zealand are one of the lowest ranked teams in the competition and would be considered to be the whooping boys. Slovakia did manage to send Czech Republic down but are largely without any quality to make a strong impact. Italy and Paraguay look like easy progressers.

Group G
Brazil
North Korea
Ivory Coast
Portugal

Views : Powerhouses and the country with most number of World Cup titles, Brazil, are again considered to be in the contingent to lift the cup. With an impressive team from back to front, Brazil are vying for their sixth title. Very little is known of North Korea and their ability to play and the to understand their formation. Most of their players play in the domestic league. Ivory Coast a.k.a “The Elephants” can be counted as the African nation which can truly be able to win the World Cup. Didier Drogba is a fiery character and their most influential player. Portugal have a lot of skilfull players in their ranks but despite that they needed a play off berth to enter South Africa 2010. Despite the threat posed by Ivory Coast and North Korea, Brazil and Portugal seem likely to go through.

Group H
Spain
Switzerland
Honduras
Chile

Views : Spain went eight wins in eight games just like Netherlands and England. Coached by former Real Madrid manager, Vicente Del Bosque, Spain play and win like a team. Brilliant performances are seen from the whole squad right from the keeper, Iker Casillas to forward, Fernando Torres. Switzerland impressed everyone in the European championships in 2008 where they didn’t concede a goal but lost out on penalties. They would want to continue that feature going away from home as well. Honduras qualified for the South African spectacle by way of a superior goal difference versus Costa Rica after last ditch games went their way in the CONCACAF zone. Chile have the ability to stage an upset with their attacking play but do not have anything to back them up in defense. Spain would go through from this group while it’d be a fight between Honduras and Chile for me.

So those are the groups and my views on the teams and who I think would go through? Disagree somewhere? Let me know!