We have finally made it through the first round of Group games and the second selection are coming thick and fast. Germany v Serbia is about to kick off as I write this.
The Germans have a reputation for dull but efficient football, grinding out results in the early stages but somehow beating almost everybody.
But not this Germany.
The 2010 Germany squad is who are a real team of talented youngsters revelling in the freedom they have been given with the removal of Ballack.
With an average of approximately 24, this Germany team has all the confidence of youth and features a number of players hoping to be playing in the Premier League next season.
The World Cup is one hell of a shop window!
Having destroyed Australia in their opening fixture, Germany will only gather momentum and should easily top Group D.
But aside from Germany, it is the South American teams which have caught my eye.
Diego Maradona's Argentina could not quite impose their full weight against Nigeria, despite the 1-0 win, but everything came to fruition against the unfortunate South Korea who were beaten 4-1 largely by a Higuain hat-trick.
Messi has not yet got himself on the scoresheet, but has showed flashes of brilliance, and is not in fact needed, such is the quality that surrounds him.
Argentina probably cannot be matched as an attacking force, but their defence looks dangerously vulnerable at times.
Uruguay are my second team in this tournament. Having spent some time with players from a Uruguayan futsal team, I feel a certain affinity for the nation and support the team, whenever it does not affect England, despite not yet visiting the country.
Diego Forlan is an exceptional player and now that he is off the mark, could very well fire Uruguay in the final stages of the competition.
The two time winners have waited even longer than England to taste World Cup success again, and while I'm not backing them to make it three, I do think they will be in the mix.
Brazil were only really at half speed and were shocked into something approaching submission for 45 minutes by North Korea.
However, you wouldn't want to be the Ivory Coast on Sunday.
But it is Mexico and Chile which interest me the most.
When England played Mexico in that first friendly after Capello named his initial 30, I really liked the look of them. They have bundles of energy - usually coming from Gio Dos Santos - and a nippy but neat style of play which is easy on the eyes.
They also have the requiste aggression not to get pushed around by bigger teams.
The loss of Carlos Vela to a suspected hamstring injury yesterday in truth was a blessing in disguise, as he was struggling to find his feet in the competition, and his replacement, Barrera, gave the team fresh impetus, and they scored two goals in the second half.
Not that France did a whole hell of a lot to stop them.
And then there's Chile.
Their quirky 3-3-1-3 formation yields goals, 32 in qualifying, and their win over Honduras would have been a much more empathic victory were it not for the heroics of Honduran keeper Valladares.
Honduras were disappointing, but that's not to take anything away from Chile, who had 'dark horses' written all over them.
But South America aside, I picked Spain as the winners and I'm not going to change my prediction - that's cheating! Plus I just can't see them not improving.
They have a squad which on paper could beat anybody.
'Good on paper' so the joke goes means 'bad in bed' and Spain certainly did not live up to expectations against Switerland! However I'm expecting a much improved performance against Honduras.
First published on www.SportingPreview.com on 18/6/2010
No comments:
Post a Comment