Guardiola masterminds the next evolution in tactics

Why has the CDB Pod been quiet for the past few months? Well, a big part of that is that I’ve relocated to Zaragoza in Spain for the year and so there have been various other things to sort out. But what that does mean is that I’ve been able to take in some Spanish football and it’s been a really interesting experience. Today, I’m going to discuss a team I’ve seen twice already this season, the reigning Liga BBVA champions Barcelona. Earlier in the season I made a pilgrimage to the Camp Nou to watch what turned out to be a pretty disappointing game, a 1-1 draw with Mallorca, as well as a trip to La Romareda to watch my local side Real Zaragoza host Barca, which ended 0-2, and in those two games I was really fascinated by Pep Guardiola’s tactics. I was treated to seeing two quite different but revolutionary formations, which confirmed to me that Guardiola is the most exciting, innovative coach currently operating.

We’ll start with Barca’s more frequently used formation over the last six to twelve months, which was in operation at the Camp Nou for the draw with Mallorca. Bearing in mind a depleted first team through injury, this is what it looked like:

Barcelona formation vs. Mallorca, 3rd October 2010

The main innovation of this formation is the use of Sergio Busquets (or his stand-in in this instance, Javier Mascherano) in the deep-lying midfield position as essentially a modern incarnation of the Libero-style sweeper (as has been discussed by the likes of Jonathan Wilson and zonalmarking.net). Rather than being based behind the centre-backs when out of posession as was in the old 5-3-2 formations, Busquets/Mascherano starts around where Claude Makelele used to sit just ahead of them, but when his team are in posession drops further back, in line with the centre-backs, pushing them wider and allowing the full-backs to bomb forward safe in the knowledge that the defence is sufficiently guarded. Busquets isn’t the first to be doing this for Barca – Yaya Toure started the practice circa 2008 – but he’s much more rigidly a centre-half in posession than Toure was.

The benefits of this are several for Barca – one of the big plus points is that Gerard Pique, pushed out on the right of the defensive three, has more freedom to bring his considerable ball-playing technique into play, often instigating many attacking moves by bringing the ball out of defence. With Xavi out of the Mallorca match with injury, this was particularly evident in that game as Pique was arguably the main playmaker on show for them. Also it allows Dani Alves to utilise his full potential as a terror rushing up on the right flank. Alves is an absolute beast but is slightly defensively frail and the reduction in his responsibilities on that front allow him great freedom to rampage at opposition left-backs, who have to deal with him hugging the line as well as Pedro cutting inside from slightly further forward. It’s an effect that is replicated to a lesser extent with Maxwell on the left flank, although obviously Maxwell is not on the same level as Alves. I found it strange that Eric Abidal was playing that role instead of him against Mallorca, who is much more limited as an attacking force and is better utilised as the left centre-back in this formation, and I felt his presence in that position was a contributing factor to Barca’s empty-of-ideas performance in the second half as the game slipped away from them.

The other interesting thing about the Mallorca line-up was that there was no orthodox centre-forward. Where first Samuel Eto’o and then Zlatan Ibrahimovic would have been in seasons gone by, there was an empty space in the centre of the box around which Leo Messi, Bojan Krkic and Pedro floated somewhat nebulously, with Messi nominally through the middle and Bojan cutting in from the left in the role David Villa would presumably have played if he had been fit. Messi was outstanding in the role in the first half, orchestrating everything as Barca cut through Mallorca at will and scored a great placed shot from the edge of the area halfway through the first period.

Several things, however, were different about the system on show with a more complete first eleven away to Zaragoza a few weeks later.

Barcelona formation vs. Zaragoza, 23rd October 2010

This image is of the formation with Barca in posession, and the first thing to notice is Pique, rather than Busquets, in the middle of the three centre-backs, something I found quite strange, as it seemed to inhibit Pique’s playmaking qualities. Busquets in turn looked to be in a more typical holding midfield role. But really the fantastic thing about the system on show at La Romareda was that hardly anyone was actually bound to a particular position. To an extent this will have been prompted by the opposition (Real Zaragoza are a real mess at rock bottom of the the league, although they did manage to take a point off the impressive Valencia away recently), but the team was set up with a great deal of positional fluidity, everyone moving into space wherever they could find it, knowing that a team-mate would be aware enough to move themselves in compensation. A key example of this fluidity was the relative positioning of Alves and Puyol, Puyol playing noticeably wider than the Brazilian throughout the game, with Alves hovering almost as a partner for Seydou Keita in central midfield before moving wider when the ball found his feet. When Zaragoza were on the attack, however, Barca shifted to a more normal flat back four with Alves and Abidal at full-back and Busquets and Keita playing ahead of Pique and Puyol. All this versatility in defensive positioning allowed Guardiola to field essentially four out-and-out forward players, with Andres Iniesta very advanced on the left wing and Messi given total freedom to float around Villa at centre-forward, to devastating effect, might I add.

Obviously this is against the league’s worst side, but the sight of a team fielding four frontline attackers away from home is brilliant to see, and it does seem like Guardiola has arrived upon the evolution of the past six or seven years of defence-minded tactical innovations into its eventual attacking output. By that I mean that when Makelele made the single holding midfield player a must for every successful side, the pragmatic 4-3-3 became the dominant formation in top-level football, a formation that had room for only one out-and-out forward with the wingers having to do plenty of work in midfield rather than go all-out attack. Since then there has been a trend towards trying to open that tactic up to greater attacking flexibility. The previous stage of this was the 4-2-3-1, seen in use by the best teams at the World Cup, and the 4-2-1-3 at Jose Mourinho’s Inter last season, where a pair of defensive midfielders gave greater license to the full-backs to attack at will, and at Inter allowed for three genuine forwards as well. Now, with Barca making defenders less rigid positionally, there are six players in a broad defensive bloc, any of whom can cover for any individual starting or joining attacks. It’s hard to know what to call it (3-3-4? 4-2-4? Jonathan Wilson suggests it’s a return of the W-W or 2-3-2-3.) but Guardiola has managed to find a tactical system which seems to have given him essentially an extra man at each end of the pitch. I can’t wait to see how Mourinho deals with it in the upcoming Clasico.

Premier League preview 2010/11 part 2

MANCHESTER CITY

City are going to be one of the most interesting sides to observe over the next year. Having comfortably outspent the rest of the league put together, Roberto Mancini now has to trim down a strong squad into his twenty-five. His signings so far have been impressive – Yaya Toure and David Silva in particular are genuine world-class players – although Mario Balotelli is a huge risk. There’s no doubt about his potential (and, indeed, current) ability, but his attitude is awful and it seriously impedes him. When James Milner eventually arrives he, too, will be a good addition. City have fixed some of their defensive problems by signing Aleksandar Kolarov, an excellent attacking left-back, and Germany’s Jerome Boateng who will probably play at right-back, although centre-back is still a problem that needs urgent work. It’s impossible to discount City from having a serious title chance, although I think there are still questions over Mancini’s quality. If he does not at least keep pace with the challengers he’ll be gone, but there’s enough quality at Eastlands to finally break into the Champions League promised land. Verdict: 3rd

MANCHESTER UNITED

I don’t think it’s just my personal bias that leads me to think that United will slip down the table a little this year. Their greatest strength of two or three years ago, the central defensive partnership of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand, is now something of a worry as Ferdinand’s body quietly falls apart and Vidic’s motivations are seriously questioned. The centre of midfield is either ageing to the extent that starting games will be unusual (Scholes, Giggs) or not quite top class (Carrick, Fletcher, Anderson, Gibson). Javier Hernandez is a great signing up front and has been impressive in pre-season but when you get past him and the utterly-vital Wayne Rooney depth in attack is limited to the underwhelming Dimitar Berbatov and sadly past-it Michael Owen. Of course you can never rule United out but for the first time in a long time they start the season looking slightly weaker than their local rivals. Verdict: 4th

NEWCASTLE UNITED

Put simply, Newcastle look no better than they did two years ago and will probably go back down to the Championship. Chris Hughton’s squad were too good for the second tier but they don’t look like Premier League quality in any area. Goals will be hard to come by, as is to be expected when a side relies on Shola Ameobi as the senior striker. Kevin Nolan is probably the club’s best asset, likely to play just behind Ameobi in the role that saw him score eighteen goals last season, but his efforts are unlikely to be enough. The behind-the-scenes circus which will inevitably flare up at some stage in the season will be no help either. Verdict: 18th

STOKE CITY

In two short years Stoke have established themselves as a Premier League club and are now able to start splashing cash on the likes of Kenwyne Jones, who is a little inconsistent but will bring much-needed power to the Potters’ front line. Tony Pulis has assembled a hard-working squad who may profit from other teams’ deficiencies to build further on their recent league finishes and break into the top ten. Goalkeeping is a strong point, with Thomas Sorensen and Asmir Begovic set to fight for the number 1 jersey, behind the improving Ryan Shawcross at centre-back. Backed by the loudest fans in the league, Stoke have every reason to be optimistic about their chances. Verdict: 9th

SUNDERLAND

Sunderland’s seasons have a habit of tailing off nearly as badly as Aston Villa’s, but I still feel they should do well this year. This is mostly down to Darren Bent, one of the most effective strikers in the division, who can be relied upon to hit the back of the net, and a midfield containing maturing young talents Lee Cattermole and last year’s Young Player of the Year Jordan Henderson which will be bolstered by Cristian Riveros, who was impressive for Paraguay at the World Cup. A lot will depend on how new signing 22-year-old Belgian keeper Simon Mignolet deals with being thrust straight into first-team action deputising for the injured Craig Gordon, but if Sunderland can find the season-long consistency that has eluded them for so long, then I think it will be a good year. Verdict: 8th

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

If, as is likely, Spurs overcome Young Boys of Berne to reach the Champions League group stages, then I have a feeling that they may get distracted by their European campaign and lose out on their newfound top four status. There’s plenty to be excited about at White Hart Lane, particularly former Southampton favourite Gareth Bale’s development into a devastating winger, but I think that Manchester City have gone further forward over the summer and Spurs are about where they were at the start of it. Not impossible that they can stay in the Champions League places but more likely that they just miss out. Verdict: 5th

WEST BROMWICH ALBION

Boing, boing, etc. The Baggies should continue their now-customary bouncing between the top two tiers and go straight back where they came from. Their problem remains the same as ever – chairman Jeremy Peace refuses to risk spending £10-15 million on two Premiership-quality strikers and so they don’t score enough goals in the top tier. Roberto di Matteo seems a talented young manager with a little more street smarts than the ultra-idealist Tony Mowbray but I don’t think there’s enough to work with in his squad to survive. Spanish defender Pablo, signed from Atletico Madrid, is a great transfer, though, and should be an important part of their fight against relegation. Verdict: 19th

WEST HAM UNITED

West Ham have done well to keep hold of their key players, particularly the spine of Rob Green, Matthew Upson, Scott Parker and Carlton Cole, and with Uncle Avram at the helm I think there should be some increased stability at Upton Park. That spine has been bolstered by some clever signings like dynamic German midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger, pacy Mexican winger Pablo Barrera and, surprisingly, New Zealand World Cup hero Winston Reid, who scored that memorable last-gasp equaliser against Slovakia. West Ham won’t pull up any trees this season but they should be clear of the relegation places. Verdict: 15th

WIGAN ATHLETIC

Still struggling to attract many fans, Wigan are unlikely survivors in the Premier League but may escape again thanks to the low quality of the promoted teams. Roberto Martinez is commendable for trying to play stylish football on the awful pitch at the DW Stadium but has yet to have any success with it. Hugo Rodallega should score plenty of goals, although the jury is out on how well the much-feted new signing Mauro Boselli will adapt to life in Wigan. Charles N’Zogbia seems to have found his level here, as well, although rumours that he may be handing in a transfer request soon would be bad for both parties. Antolin Alcaraz and Maynor Figueroa will be reliable in defence as well. Verdict: 16th

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS

Wolves finished fifteenth last year mainly thanks to the inadequacies of those around them and they should probably expect a closer brush with relegation this time around. The squad has not been particularly well strengthened (Steven Fletcher didn’t exactly set the world alight for Burnley last year) and I’m not convinced by Mick McCarthy as a top-flight manager. Goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann might be the difference between staying up and going down. Verdict: 17th

FA Cup: Manchester United

Carling Cup: Manchester City

Championship: Middlesbrough

League 1: Southampton (no, really!)

League 2: Wycombe Wanderers

Spanish Primera: Barcelona

Italian Serie A: Roma

German Bundesliga: Bayern Munich

Dutch Eredivisie: Ajax

Champions League: Chelsea

Europa League: Stuttgart

Premier League preview 2010/11 part 1

With the international friendlies out of the way (probably not to be discussed again until the first qualifying matches take place) it’s now time to turn our attentions toward club football once again, so here is the Official CDB Pod English Premier League Preview 2010/11, part one. Part two coming tomorrow.

ARSENAL

Arsenal are a tough team to judge this season. At the end of the last campaign it was pretty obvious that Arsene Wenger needed to invest in at least one good centre-half, holding midfielder, centre-forward and goalkeeper – compare to what he’s actually done so far and you can only say for sure that one of those objectives has been achieved, namely Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh on a free. Chamakh is an excellent acquisition, especially for nothing, the type of strong forward player who should add a dimension to Arsenal’s attack that has been missing for several years. However the other problems still remain. Manuel Almunia is not a sufficiently good keeper for a club of Arsenal’s aspirations, and Wenger’s refusal to scrape together the surely-not-too-large amounts of cash to prize 37-year-old Mark Schwarzer away from Fulham is a little bizarre. Laurent Koscielny may have arrived from Lorient but both William Gallas and Mikael Silvestre have left at the end of their contracts, so further strength at centre-back is clearly needed. That said, the likes of Alex Song, Carlos Vela, and Samir Nasri look to be finally delivering on their promise and that may be enough to build on the good starts that Arsenal haven’t quite kept going for long enough in past seasons. Verdict:2nd

ASTON VILLA

The period of Aston Villa knocking on the door of the top five looks to be over. Owner Randy Lerner is clearly balking at the fact that the considerable amounts of money he’s already put into the club aren’t nearly enough to actually break into the Champions League reckoning, and inspirational manager Martin O’Neill finally lost his patience with Villa’s slide towards feeder-club status and resigned just a couple of days ago. Reports suggest O’Neill’s attitude towards the wage bill may have been a little cavalier, but it’s entirely understandable how frustrating it must be to do so well for consecutive seasons and, at the end of each, have your best player sold in an embarrassingly public drawn-out transfer saga, as happened to Gareth Barry and is currently happening to James Milner. With his as-yet unknown successor surely tasked with reducing the wage bill, I wouldn’t expect to see much in the way of reinforcement at Villa Park before the end of the transfer window, and coupled with question marks over the motivations of Ashley Young and possibly other players, it looks like they’ll be getting left behind by the teams surrounding them. Brad Friedel and Stephen Warnock remain key figures. Verdict: 10th

BIRMINGHAM CITY

There’s no doubt the Blues punched above their weight last time around and are unlikely to finish quite so strongly again, especially with Joe Hart having returned to Man City, but Alex McLeish’s men should have enough to avoid being caught in a relegation battle. Ben Foster is a clever piece of business to replace Hart, a man hungry to prove himself after stagnating slightly on the Man United bench and establish himself as Hart’s understudy for England. In Scott Dann and Roger Johnson they boast a sterling central defensive pairing, too. The problems come in squad depth further up the field – on a good day new beanpole striker Nikola Zigic is very good, but on a bad day he can be prize pants, and backups like Kevin Phillips, Cameron Jerome and Marcus Bent hardly inspire confidence. Lee Bowyer will struggle to have as good a season as last in the midfield and much may rely on the creative influence of James McFadden to get things done in front of goal. Verdict: 14th

BLACKBURN ROVERS

Well, nobody wanted it to happen, but it looks like Sam Allardyce is successfully reproducing his old Bolton side at Ewood Park, warts and all. Blackburn are perfecting the art of defending stoutly for eighty minutes, then shoving centre-back Chris Samba up front and lumping the ball up to him for somebody else to bundle it in when it bounces off the Congolese colossus. They’ll be perfectly fine again this season – Paul Robinson has remembered he’s half-decent, Samba and Ryan Nelsen have both experience and expertise at the back, and will be supplemented by emerging 18-year-old Phil Jones. In midfield, young Steven N’Zonzi is attracting the attentions of Arsenal and for good reason. Goals are the problem and they are looking like relying heavily on Nikola Kalinic, who has talent but is still settling into English football, and Morten Gamst Pedersen’s free-kicks. Will stay well clear of trouble but won’t bother the Europe-chasing pack. Verdict: 11th

BLACKPOOL

Blackpool are going down as quickly as Ian Holloway can coin a metaphor. They look to have taken the ultimately quite sensible business decision on not frittering all their promotion money away on frantically trying to boost a squad several levels below Premier League ability and instead simply taking the Sky money and parachute payments for relegation to solidify their status as a Championship team. It may not be exciting as a neutral to see Blackpool with good odds of beating Derby’s wooden spoon record, but the achievement of even reaching the playoffs with this squad was miraculous enough. Their only player who you would say is of sufficient quality is playmaker Charlie Adam, who scored sixteen from midfield last season and was the main driving force behind their late push to Wembley glory, and I think it’s highly likely he will be snapped up on the cheap by a relegation rival in January when Blackpool’s fate should already be all but sealed. It’s a shame, because I love Holloway and I think it’s great to see Blackpool in the top tier, but their fans should look to the possibility of Premier League survival in three or four years’ time instead. Verdict: 20th

BOLTON WANDERERS

Owen Coyle is starting to have some success getting his Bolton side to play his desired attractive football, and Bolton should be comfortably clear of relegation questions. They boast a better-than-solid spine in Jussi Jaaskelainen (consistently one of the league’s best keepers for the past ten years), Gary Cahill, Fabrice Muamba and official dirtiest-ever Premier League player, captain Kevin Davies, and in Lee Chung-Yong and snazzy free transfer Martin Petrov there will be plenty of creativity in midfield. Weaknesses, though, will be scoring goals and top-class opposition wingers – up front, Davies, Ivan Klasnic and Johan Elmander are all the goal-shy kind and Gretar Steinsson and Jlloyd Samuel are far from inspiring full-backs. Verdict: 13th

CHELSEA

Chelsea mount the defence of their title in reasonably good shape and look favourites to win again this year, but they do look slightly weaker than they did twelve months ago. For one thing, all their key players – Lampard, Drogba, Cech, Terry, Ashley Cole – are all another year older and one has to wonder when the decline will become evident. For another thing, Ricardo Carvalho’s departure to Real Madrid does not look like it is going to be offset by the signing of a centre-back of equivalent quality. Reports are that at least one of Brazilians Neymar and Ramires are to arrive for in the region of £25 million each, possibly both, and given the slight scaling back in recent years of Roman Abramovich’s spending, that seems unlikely to be followed by a further big signing. That could be crucial, as while Alex stepped up last season to become a more consistent performer, Carvalho was a big part of John Terry’s success for the club, who made the captain look much better than he really is. This could, and probably should, turn out to be the season in which Terry gets dropped from the first team. Other news is good news, though, and Michael Essien’s return will be a big boost to manager Carlo Ancelotti (although at this rate you have to ask when he’ll be injured next). So, too, will the exchange deal bringing Yossi Benayoun to Stamford Bridge in Joe Cole’s place. Benayoun should fit in well as an impact substitute, part of the deepest squad in the league. Between them, Drogba, Anelka and Lampard should score the goals required to fire Chelsea back to the top. Verdict: 1st

EVERTON

David Moyes has done well to tie down key man Mikel Arteta to a new contract, with Steven Pienaar expected to follow suit in the best piece of transfer business to come out of Goodison Park this summer. Everton’s midfield is right up there with the best in the league, with Arteta and Pienaar supported by Marouane Fellaini, Jack Rodwell, Tim Cahill, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and Leon Osman. Tim Howard is reliably excellent in goal and if Louis Saha can stay fit he should be able to blend well with pacy new second striker Magaye Gueye. Jermaine Beckford is probably a gamble unlikely to pay off at this level, though. Verdict: 6th

FULHAM

It’s important that Mark Hughes fends off Arsenal’s approaches for evergreen Mark Schwarzer, because without him Fulham would be at risk of being given a slight reality check after the dizzy heights of last season’s Europa League adventure. The motivational powers of Roy Hodgson cannot be underestimated and I don’t really see Hughes as having similar managerial talent – he’s yet to really prove much of anything at club level. Fulham will be solid in defence (new signing Philippe Senderos notwithstanding) and full of effort in attack and will need Bobby Zamora to repeat his exceptional form of last season. If Hughes has time to spend the money that Mohammed Al Fayed says is available to him, then a forward or winger with pace should be on the agenda to freshen up the front line of journeymen. Progress from last year’s finish would be a good achievement. Verdict: 12th

LIVERPOOL

I’ve talked already about Liverpool and not much has changed since then. It’s surprising that Javier Mascherano hasn’t moved on yet but the offer from Inter hasn’t materialised and Barcelona aren’t as interested in the deal as Mascherano himself is. He is surely on his way out, though, now that Christian Poulsen has signed from Juventus. Poulsen’s a decent player but not in the same league as Mascherano – clearly a replacement signing for a player whose transfer fee is not expected to be reinvested in the market. With the takeover saga advancing at the pace of continental drift, it looks set to be another disappointing season at Anfield. Verdict: 7th

Day 27: Puyol Throws España In The Works

Germany 0 – 1 Spain

Bow down before the octopus. After a really fascinating if not thrillingly entertaining semi-final, Spain advance to meet the Netherlands in the final to ensure that there will be a new name on the Jules Rimet trophy.

Before the game the feeling was that although Spain had undoubtedly the superior players, Germany’s hard work, organisation and team ethic would be perfectly suited to keeping a lid on the tiki-taka and stifle the Spanish creativity while counter-attacking devastatingly. What actually happened was much the opposite – it was Spain who pressed hard and stopped Germany from getting any passing moves going, and still managed to build long spells of forward movement in posession. It was obvious very early on that Vicente del Bosque had won the main tactical battle and that he could alter the shape of the game whenever he liked. It transpired, however, that he was either unwilling or unable to exploit that position.

For all Spain’s quick passing and dominance in posession, they were unable to turn the screw for most of the game. As often turns out to be their problem, they were struck with a touch of the Arsenals, with so many players queueing up to provide the killer pass that could unlock the German defense, but with no player actually attacking the penalty box to receive that pass. Dropping Fernando Torres was a reasonable call for del Bosque – he’s clearly suffering from what golfers call “the yips” – but although his replacement, Pedro, was Spain’s most enterprising player in the first half, he’s not the same player who can go forward and lead the line. David Villa was forced to try and be that central striker but he was clearly unsuited to the role – he is a player who needs to cut in from the left and play off the main striker, which is why he has partnered Torres so well in the last few years. As the clock ticked on and on, Spain were desperately crying out for the introduction of Fernando Llorente to reprise his cameo role from the Portugal game as the target man around whom Villa, Pedro, Xavi and Andres Iniesta could have swarmed. I say Llorente very deliberately rather than Torres – dropping a player suffering from the yips is fair enough, but dropping him is very much a final admittance that his confidence is shot. Turning to Torres as a player to come on and change the game on his form would have been disastrous. Later, when Spain were ahead, Torres did come on, and in that situation it was more understandable – if he’d been able to tuck away a late opportunity to make it 2-0 it could have been the spark that revived him. However it was David Villa who del Bosque brought off to make room for him, an awful substitution that could have backfired horribly had Germany equalised.

Luckily Spain had the cushion of Carles Puyol’s 73rd-minute goal, a bullet header from a corner scored from the edge of the area following a late run by the Barcelona centre-back. It would have been reassuring for Puyol who should have buried a heading chance in the first half. It always seemed unlikely after that goal went in that Germany would be able to respond, having been by some distance the inferior side. Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira were effectively prevented from exerting their influence from midfield by the Spanish pressing high up the pitch, usually crowding the German defenders out enough to force aimless long balls toward Miroslav Klose. Mesut Oezil just couldn’t get any of the ball, and was only visible for a penalty shout just before half-time. He basically ran into Sergio Ramos, though, and it was the right decision not to give it.

Germany have been a brilliant part of this World Cup and in many ways it’s a shame to see them go out, but their time will surely come. This immensely talented young team will be reaching their peak in four years’ time, and although Klose has probably played his last World Cup, there are several young defenders who should have surpassed Arne Friedrich and Per Mertesacker by 2014, and the likes of Thomas Mueller should be ready to take Klose’s place. Joachim Loew has done a fantastic job with his side and I very much hope that he resolves his current contract dispute to keep developing his team, who have combined solid and resolute defending with scintillating counter-attacking forward play. Philipp Lahm has been a revelatory captain, too.

Spain, though, deserve to reach the final, and it’s really delightful to know that this tournament will definitely be won by a country that has never won a World Cup before. The incredible statistic that Spain and the Netherlands have never met each other in either a World Cup or European Championship match serves to underline how both these nations have underachieved on the world stage, and I’m in the happy position of not minding at all which team goes on to win it.

Man of the Day: Xabi Alonso was a standout for me, even though I would have taken him off for Llorente if I were Vicente del Bosque. He was unlucky to be penalised by the referee for a couple of brilliant tackles and he was more willing than most Spanish players to actually take a shot now and then. Puyol, too, had a good game.

Only one game to go! All right, the third place playoff too, but it’s not as if anyone actually cares about that. I’ll be covering both and will be handing out some CDB Awards both before and after the final.

Day 20: They Showed What They Were Merde Of

What? Where’s the football gone? Come back!

Well, it’s the first rest day of the tournament as the remaining eight teams prepare for the quarter-finals. So I decided to take this opportunity to reflect on one of the biggest stories of this World Cup so far – France.

Before I start on the serious analysis, let me start with HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I mean, come on, it’s pretty funny. Rarely do you get to see a team self-destruct quite so spectacularly.

It all started in 2004 when Raymond Domenech was surprisingly appointed manager of the French national team following their exit from that year’s European Championships at the hands of eventual winners Greece in the quarter-finals. He had been in charge of the under-21 side for the past eleven years. Their qualifying campaign for Germany 2006 was stuttering, with France struggling against such footballing luminaries as Israel, Switzerland and the Republic of Ireland. They were in real danger of not qualifying at all, but then Domenech aggressively begged retired greats Claude Makelele, Lilian Thuram, and Zinedine Zidane to bail them out. Inspired particularly by Zidane, France managed to scrape through. At the World Cup that followed, France reached the final and might well have won if Zidane hadn’t had his infamous moment of madness, but none of it was down to Domenech. The players, with very little respect for their manager, who had little ability to influence a game and omitted talented players like Robert Pires because he was a Scorpio (according to Domenech, Scorpios “can’t be trusted”), held a revolution around the leadership of Zidane to get as far as they did. The result looked good on the manager’s CV but it wasn’t his achievement.

After that successful campaign, Domenech led his side into Euro 2008 qualification. Zidane had returned to retirement, but when Claude Makelele announced that he too was retiring from international football, Domenech disgracefully said no. “As long as he can walk, he will play,” said the loon, “I have the right to pick him.” This disgusting treatment of a player who had given long years of great service to his country and now wanted to be able to prolong his professional career at club level indicated Domenech’s desperation and inability to get the best out of the players who were actually available to him. Domenech kept calling him up and Makelele, to his great credit, played on.

At Euro 2008, France were drawn in an admittedly tough group with Italy, the Netherlands and Romania, but performed poorly. The team was old, slow and uninspired, and finish bottom of the group. They looked hopeless and leaderless, and Domenech should have been sacked there and then. The players blatantly didn’t believe in him but the French Football Federation pointed to the World Cup final two years previous and kept him on. And so the malaise continued into the World Cup qualifiers.

France were again poor in that campaign and finished second behind Serbia, who looked comfortably more assured, competent and determined. They then faced that infamous playoff with Ireland, and but for two missed Irish chances and a disgraceful example of cheating from a self-styled ambassador of the game in Thierry Henry, they would have never made it to South Africa.

When they did reach the finals, their group wasn’t the easiest in the world but considering the playing resources at their disposal, France should have made it out on paper. However, it became clear in the first game, a limp performance in a  0-0 draw with Uruguay, that the same problems that had always been under Domenech’s management were still there. There was no belief and no clear game plan. Time went by but Domenech didn’t act to change things for the better. And it just got worse from there. When France lost horrendously to Mexico, Nicolas Anelka berated his manager to kick off the release of all the pent-up discontent in the camp. Apparently Anelka’s situation was resolved inside the camp and it was agreed it would stay until the details of the story were leaked to the press. As soon as the FFF got hold of it they decided to expel Anelka from the squad, which upset many French players including the captain Patrice Evra, who talked of a “traitor” in their midst.

In the next training session Evra was involved in a huge row with the fitness coach Robert Duverne, presumably because he thought that he was the man who had leaked the story, and then we were shown the bizarre sight of Domenech reading a written statement by the playing squad saying that they would be boycotting training. All semblance of discipline and unity was completely lost, as was any lingering illusions that Domenech was in control of his side. He dropped several players, including Evra, for the final match against South Africa, needing a miracle to qualify, but another poor performance saw France lose to the hosts to leave with just one flattering point. The players never gave any other impression on the pitch other than that they couldn’t wait to be shot of the manager and start the new era under Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc, who was confirmed before the tournament to be taking over after proceedings in South Africa were closed. Domenech himself ended his reign by refusing to shake South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira by the hand, claiming Parreira had offended him when several months previously he had commented on the Henry handball incident. It was a petty, depressing sight that summed up his awful, incompetent tenure that somehow became the longest period in charge of the French national team of any manager in their history.

Now in the aftermath of the debacle, Thierry Henry, still nominally the captain but who played almost no time at all on the pitch, personally requested a meeting with his country’s President, Nicolas Sarkozy, to discuss the issues involved in the team’s exit. That this should be taken to the government is quite insane but I imagine that it will have little consequence for the Blanc era – Henry is a player who will have to be jettisoned by the new manager, having been past his best for a few years now and heading most likely to the MLS this summer, his exit from Barcelona confirmed last week.

Moving forward to the future, France will have the shadow of this World Cup hanging over them for a long time. It’s been a seriously embarrassing and depressing circus that will have affected some players more severely than others and major changes will be needed to lift the nation. Luckily, Blanc seems an excellent appointment, having brought Bordeaux right back to the top of French football playing really beautiful, exciting football in the process, and working closely with Yoann Gourcuff, the midfielder who was underused by Domenech and got harshly sent off in the South Africa match. He’s a player of boundless talent who really can be this new team’s Zidane, and together with Franck Ribery France already have two players to build a team around. There’s also Karim Benzema and Samir Nasri, two excellent young players inexplicably left at home by Domenech in favour of makeweights like Sidney Govou, and also Philippe Mexes, who for many years has been an absolute rock at the heart of the Roma defense and was controversially almost never picked by Domenech and who missed out on both the past two World Cups. Hugo Lloris didn’t have a great tournament here but he is a top class goalkeeper, and there are plenty of other young talents like Lassana Diarra and Mathieu Valbuena who can make a name for themselves on the international stage. I have no doubt that Blanc is the right man for the job, and in Brazil in 2014 France should be back where they belong – competing with the big guns.

World Cup Guide: Group H Preview

GROUP H

SPAIN

FIFA World Ranking: 2

Team Colours: Red shirts with yellow trim, blue shorts with yellow trim, red socks. Away kit is dark blue shirts with red and yellow trim, dark blue shorts with red and yellow trim, dark blue socks.

Manager: Vicente del Bosque came out of semi-retirement, having not coached since leaving Besiktas in 2005, to take charge of Spain following their Euro 2008 triumph and has carried on in much the same way that his predecessor, Luis Aragones, left off, relying on one-touch passing through midfield, and has had plenty of success. Del Bosque is best known for his four year stint at the helm of Real Madrid between 1999 and 2003, during which he won the Intercontinental Cup and twice won La Liga and the Champions League.

Form: Scary. Spain have won all but one game under del Bosque (the one loss being to the USA in the Confederations Cup semi last summer), including a 100% record in a qualifying group which included tricky sides like Turkey and Bosnia & Herzegovina. In the last few months they have comfortably beaten Argentina and France in friendlies, and more recently they’ve swept their warmup matches, beating Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and most impressively, Poland by six goals to no reply. At the moment Spain are something of a machine.

Captain: Goalkeeper Iker Casillas is right up there with Buffon and Julio Cesar squabbling over who gets to be called the best keeper in the world, and the 29-year-old, who has made nearly 400 appearances for Real Madrid, is an inspirational figure between the sticks, regularly pulling off saves that he has no right to make. Will forever be idolised in Spain for being the captain that broke their 44-year duck to lead La Seleccion to triumph at Euro 2008.

Key Man: It seems frankly rude to pick just one out of the Spanish line-up, but even in such mighty company, David Villa strikes out. The Barcelona-bound striker is simply the most impressive forward in the world game right now, terrorising defences all over the world with his searing pace, clinical finishing and, for Spain, his perfect understanding with Fernando Torres, who, you may have heard, is also a bit talented. He can drop deep to aid in the build-up play from around the midfield or drift wide only to cut back inside to devastating effect.

Man to Watch: The only reason why Sevilla winger Jesus Navas only has six caps to his name is a serious anxiety problem that forced him to retire from international football before making a single appearance soon after he emerged in the Spanish game, but last year he resolved to overcome his condition and force his way into the squad for South Africa. Spanish fans will be delighted – Navas has enjoyed his best season yet for the Andalucian side, maturing into a more effective, destructive player than ever before. His pace with and without the ball really has to be seen to be believed. Expect to see Navas come off the bench to run at tired left-backs down the right flank and cause havoc in the opposition box.

Prediction: There are a couple of injury worries over two-parts-of-the-same-player midfield passing robots Xavi and Andres Iniesta but they should be fit to play, but the Spanish need not worry all that much anyway – they have by far the deepest squad in the tournament, particularly in midfield, where world-class talents Cesc Fabregas, Juan Manuel Mata, Jesus Navas and Sergio Busquets will probably all be on the bench. The only barrier to Spain bulldozing their way to what could be the most beautiful World Cup win ever is the mental hurdle of the World Cup – obviously they got the monkey off their back by winning the Euros, but the biggest tournament of all is another kettle of fish,if you pardon my mixing of zoological metaphors. That said, I can’t look past Spain to win this year. Their probable final clash with Brazil should be a belter, as well.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Iker Casillas, captain (Real Madrid)

12. Victor Valdes (Barcelona)

23. Pepe Reina (Liverpool)

Defenders

2. Raul Albiol (Real Madrid)

3. Gerard Pique (Barcelona)

4. Carlos Marchena (Valencia)

5. Carles Puyol (Barcelona)

11. Joan Capdevila (Villarreal)

15. Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)

17. Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid)

Midfielders

6. Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)

8. Xavi (Barcelona)

10. Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)

13. Juan Manuel Mata (Valencia)

14. Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid)

16. Sergio Busquets (Barcelona)

20. Javi Martinez (Athletic Bilbao)

21. David Silva (Valencia)

22. Jesus Navas (Sevilla)

Forwards

7. David Villa (Barcelona)

9. Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

18. Pedro Rodriguez (Barcelona)

19. Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao)

SWITZERLAND

FIFA World Ranking: 24

Team Colours: Red shirts with white trim, white shorts, red socks. Away kit is the inverse.

Manager: Ottmar Hitzfeld’s CV commands respect – one of only three men to win the Champions League with two different clubs (Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich), he’s won the Bundesliga seven times and the Intercontinental Cup twice. He’s more than familiar with Swiss football having played there for nine years and managed three Swiss clubs before going on to achieve so much in Germany, where he was named the greatest Bundesliga coach of all time as well as Bayern Munich’s best ever coach. Not bad.

Form: Switzerland started qualifying very slowly – a 1-1 draw with Israel was followed by an embarrassing loss to Luxembourg – but picked themselves up to finish top of their group ahead of Greece, including a five-game winning streak. Their warmup games haven’t been much good, though – they lost against Uruguay and a distinctly average Costa Rica side, but picked up enough to draw 1-1 with Italy on Saturday.

Captain: FC Basel striker Alexander Frei is his country’s all-time leading goalscorer and certainly one of the most capable players in the Swiss squad. He scores hatfuls of goals wherever he goes – including 48 in 100 games for Rennes, 31 in 69 for Borussia Dortmund and now 15 in 19 for his hometown club which he returned to last summer. With 40 in 73 internationals, Frei is very much the focal point of the Swiss attack and will want to make up for Euro 2008, where he was taken off injured during the first match and never featured again in the tournament.

Key Man: Udinese defensive midfielder Gokhan Inler has long been linked with a move a big Premier League club, and if Switzerland do well you can be sure those rumours will resurface. Sitting in the centre of the Swiss engine room, Inler’s tough, dominating approach governs his team’s play, and if he can be shut out of the game, opponents will find a much less cohesive unit in their way.

Man to Watch: Known amusingly as “Forrest Gump” for the way he’s constantly running, Lazio right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner should be an energetic presence for Switzerland. After ignoring interesting from Paris Saint-Germain and Everton following his performances at Euro 2008, Lichtsteiner has formed a potent partnership with Serbian man to watch Aleksandar Kolarov at Lazio and can be deployed further forward at right midfield if required.

Prediction: Switzerland are plenty willing but, Frei aside, lack attacking potency. If anything happens to their captain I can’t see where the goals are going to come from and they should be too rigid to trouble the likes of Spain and Chile in this group. An early exit for Hitzfeld’s boys beckons.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Diego Benaglio (Wolfsburg)

12. Marco Wolfli (Young Boys)

21. Johnny Leoni (FC Zurich)

Midfielders

2. Stephan Lichtsteiner (Lazio)

3. Ludovic Magnin (FC Zurich)

4. Philippe Senderos (Fulham)

5. Steve von Bergen (Hertha Berlin)

13. Stephane Grichting (Auxerre)

17. Reto Ziegler (Sampdoria)

22. Mario Eggimann (Hannover 96)

Midfielders

6. Benjamin Huggel (FC Basel)

7. Tranquillo Barnetta (Bayer Leverkusen)

8. Gokhan Inler (Udinese)

11. Valon Behrami (West Ham United)

14. Marco Padalino (Sampdoria)

15. Hakan Yakin (Luzern)

16. Gelson Fernandes (Saint Etienne)

20. Pirmin Schwegler (Eintracht Frankfurt)

23. Xherdan Shaqiri (FC Basel)

Forwards

9. Alexander Frei, captain (FC Basel)

10. Blaise Nkufo (Seattle Sounders)

18. Albert Bunjaku (Nurnberg)

19. Eren Derdiyok (Bayer Leverkusen)

HONDURAS

FIFA World Ranking: 38

Team Colours: White shirts with blue trim and a short horizontal stripe across the chest in various shades of  blue, white shorts, white socks. Away kit is blue shirts with both lighter and darker blue trim and the same stripe, blue shorts, blue socks.

Manager: Colombian Reinaldo Rueda’s first management job saw him lead the Colombian Under-20s to third place in the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship, and soon after he was promoted to the main job for qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, where he picked up a team in disarray and steered them to a mid-table finish in South America. Since taking the reins at Honduras in early 2007 he has won great popularity by returning Honduras to the tournament they last participated in in 1982.

Form: Honduras surprisingly came top of their third round qualifying group ahead of Mexico, as well as Jamaica and Canada, before edging out Costa Rica on goal difference to reach South Africa automatically, and condemning Costa Rica to a playoff with Uruguay that they went on to lose. They never really set the world alight, though, and would have missed out on the trip to South Africa if the USA had not come from behind to snatch a draw with the Costa Ricans. Their warmups could have gone a lot better – losses to Venezuela and Romania and draws with Belarus and Azerbaijan aren’t good enough to signal that this team will be competitive this summer.

Captain: Attacking midfielder Amado Guevara is Honduras’ most capped player of all time, having won 135 caps over 16 years in the international side. He spent a few years in the MLS with the New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC but now plies his trade in the Honduran league with Motagua. The crowning moment of his career so far was being named MVP in the Copa America in 2001, a tournament which Honduras only entered a day before it started when Argentina pulled out, and he led them to a shock semifinal finish that year – I doubt he’s dreaming that far ahead in South Africa though.

Key Man: Look no further than evergreen striker Carlos Pavon, according to a poll, the most popular footballer in the world. The 36-year-old journeyman, who’s played for 14 different teams, some of them two or three times, has nabbed 57 goals in exactly 100 international games and remains Honduras’ main man up front. Currently still banging them in for Real Espana in Honduras, his first club whom he has played for in five separate spells, Pavon will be keen to take this last chance on the world stage.

Man to Watch: Keep an eye out for Pavon’s understudy, the magnificently named Georgie Welcome, another Motagua player who scored an incredible goal for Honduras in a friendly against Latvia in November.

Prediction: Despite a couple of very good players – Tottenham’s Wilson Palacios is another, more well-known face who can cause problems for any team – Honduras look pretty limited and results recently have been far from encouraging. A lack of high-level know-how throughout the team will be a stumbling block when it comes to overcoming canny sides like Switzerland and Chile, and though they have the potential to manage it, it would be an upset if Honduras won a game here.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Ricardo Canales (Motagua)

18. Noel Valladares (Olimpia)

22. Donis Escober (Olimpia)

Defenders

2. Osman Chavez (Platense)

3. Maynor Figueroa (Wigan)

4. Johnny Palacios (Olimpia)

5. Victor Bernardez (Anderlecht)

14. Oscar Boniek Garcia (Olimpia)

16. Mauricio Sabillon (Hangzhou Nabel Greentown)

21. Emilio Izaguirre (Motagua)

23. Sergio Mendoza (Motagua)

Midfielders

6. Hendry Thomas (Wigan)

7. Ramon Nunez (Olimpia)

8. Wilson Palacios (Tottenham)

10. Julio Cesar de Leon (Torino)

13. Roger Espinosa (Kansas City Wizards)

17. Edgar Alvarez (Bari)

19. Danilo Turcios (Olimpia)

20. Amada Guevara, captain (Motagua)

Forwards

9. Carlos Pavon (Real Espana)

11. David Suazo (Inter)

12. Georgie Welcome (Motagua)

15. Walter Martinez (Marathon)

CHILE

FIFA World Ranking: 18

Team Colours: Red shirts with white trim, blue shorts, white socks. Away kit is white shirts with blue trim, white shorts, blue socks.

Manager: Marcelo Bielsa’s last appearance at the World Cup, as coach of Argentina in 2002, did not go so well, with his native side being knocked out of the Group of Death, but he was surprisingly allowed to continue until he resigned in 2004. He didn’t take another job until Chile came calling in 2007 and has been busy turning them into a seriously good side since then. Fans are currently campaigning for him to renew his contract, which ends after the World Cup, so he must be doing something right.

Form: The youngest South American side at the finals romped to second in the South American qualifying group, clinching their plane tickets with a game to spare thanks to an entertaining 4-2 defeat of Colombia. They scored more than half of their points away from home and were the second highest scorers in the group, playing a strange 3-3-1-3 formation and winning with style and resolve. A 1-0 loss to Mexico aside, their friendlies have gone well, with wins over Trinidad & Tobago, Zambia, Northern Ireland and Israel, the latter two being played on the same day by two separate Chilean XIs, as Bielsa tested out every one of his 23-man squad plus a few extra players to make up the numbers. There’s strength in depth in this side.

Captain: Claudio Bravo, who plays in goal for Spanish second divison side Real Sociedad, has recently returned from an injury that ended his league season in February, shortly after he scored his first career goal with a free kick. He has captained the side ever since legendary striker Marcelo Salas retired from internationals in 2007. Chile will be hoping he has no lingering fitness worries as they don’t really have an adequate backup in his position.

Key Man: Definitely Monterrey striker Humberto Suazo, a brilliant forward man who topped the South American goal charts in qualifying with ten goals, and has spent the past few months on loan at Real Zaragoza. A prolific scorer in the Chilean leagues with a strike rate in the region of two in three, it’s a wonder the 29-year-old hasn’t been snapped up by a European side yet, but he may well get his chance with a good showing in South Africa.

Man to Watch: Sitting in behind Suazo and the strikers will be Sporting CP’s Matias Fernandez. The former Villarreal man is brilliantly creative with a magical dribble and is a serious dangerman for Chile, whose three forwards will either feed off him to get in a scoring position or draw the defenders away from him and allow him to pop up at the last minute to tuck the ball away. Only 24 years old, Fernandez could become a big star as a result of the exposure here.

Prediction: Chile were excellent in qualifying and look ready to impress people in South Africa. They’ll score plenty of goals and their unusual formation should create problems for the European sides who only really play 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 these days. I don’t think they’ll have any trouble coming second in this group and might even give Spain a scare, and if anyone can beat Brazil in the second round, it’s them.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Claudio Bravo, captain (Real Sociedad)

12. Miguel Pinto (Universidad de Chile)

23. Luis Marin (Union Espanola)

Defenders

2. Ismael Fuentes (Universidad Catolica)

3. Waldo Ponce (Universidad Catolica)

4. Mauricio Isla (Udinese)

5. Pablo Contreras (PAOK)

17. Gary Medel (Boca Juniors)

18. Gonzalo Jara (West Brom)

Midfielders

6. Carlos Carmona (Lazio)

8. Arturo Vidal (Bayer Leverkusen)

10. Jorge Valdivia (Al-Ain)

13. Marco Estrada (Montpellier)

14. Matias Fernandez (Sporting CP)

19. Gonzalo Fierro (Flamengo)

20. Rodrigo Millar (Colo-Colo)

21. Rodrigo Tello (Besiktas)

Forwards

7. Alexis Sanchez (Udinese)

9. Humberto Suazo (Monterrey)

11. Mark Gonzalez (CSKA Moscow)

15. Jean Beausejour (America)

16. Fabian Orellana (Xerez)

22. Esteban Paredes (Colo-Colo)

World Cup Guide: Group E Preview

GROUP E

NETHERLANDS

FIFA World Ranking: 4

Team Colours: Orange shirts with black and white trim, black shorts, orange socks. Away kit is white shirts with blue trim and two thin Vs across the chest, one blue and one orange, blue shorts, white socks.

Manager: Bert van Marwijk took Rotterdam club Feyenoord to an unlikely UEFA Cup (remember that?) win in 2002 after a second-place Eredivisie finish in 2001, briefly returning there in 2007-08 before being appointed as Marco van Basten’s successor. Van Marwijk has maintained essentially the same formation as van Basten but the style has been turned down a notch to help protect a somewhat wobbly defence. He is well liked by the Dutch fans for his quiet and sensible approach.

Form: The Dutch swept their (admittedly not that testing) qualifying group with a 100 per cent winning record, scoring 17 goals and conceding just 2 in their eight games, and were impressive throughout with no signs of faltering. Their subsequent friendlies have been similarly promising, with one draw against Paraguay last November and wins over the USA, Mexico, Ghana and Hungary in the build up to the World Cup, the 4-1 and 6-1 victories in the latter two games being particularly fearsome. They look in very good shape.

Captain: Long-serving left-back Giovanni van Bronckhorst will retire at the end of the tournament after a fourteen-year international career, 454 club appearances and a trophy cabinet containing Scottish and English Premier Leagues, La Liga and Champions League medals. At 35, though, “Gio” has lost most of his pace and vigour to the extent that he is sometimes used in a defensive midfield role rather than the more demanding left-back position for which he is best known. Netherlands fans will hope that his experience and nous will make up for his physical shortcomings.

Key Man: Wesley Sneijder has had a gold star season at the forefront of Inter’s charge to a treble and will be the playmaker-in-chief for the Dutch side. Voted by 70% of Dutch fans as being the best free-kick taker in the country, Sneijder can spray passes with pinpoint accuracy to any of the forward three and is in arguably the form of his life.

Man to Watch: Exciting young right-back Gregory van der Wiel is the latest in a long line of products of the Ajax youth academy. The 22-year-old has attracted interest from Arsenal and Manchester United as a result of a season which saw him win the Johan Cruyff Young Player of the Year award in Holland, and has been hailed by team-mate John Heitinga as the spiritual successor to Michael Reiziger.

Prediction: The Netherlands look very strong this year, with the only real worry being a slightly shaky-looking back line. The ongoing worries over Arjen Robben’s participation are a problem, as well, and while young Hamburg winger Eljero Elia could step up in his place, Robben’s absence would be a real blow to a settled, cohesive attacking quartet. They should be able to overcome the challenges in this group but face a tricky road to the final stages, probably meeting Paraguay or Italy in the second round and likely Brazil in the quarters. I can see them edging past whoever they meet in the last 16, and they could give Brazil a heck of a match, but I don’t see them being able to undo their organised defence. Quarter finals.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax)

16. Michel Vorm (Utrecht)

22. Sander Boschker (FC Twente)

Defenders

2. Gregory van der Wiel (Ajax)

3. John Heitinga (Everton)

4. Joris Mathijsen (Hamburg)

5. Giovanni van Bronckhorst, captain (Feyenoord)

12. Khalid Boulahrouz (Stuttgart)

13. Andre Ooijer (PSV)

15. Edson Braafheid (Bayern Munich)

Midfielders

6. Mark van Bommel (Bayern Munich)

8. Nigel de Jong (Manchester City)

10. Wesley Sneijder (Inter)

14. Demy de Zeeuw (Ajax)

18. Stijn Schaars (FC Twente)

20. Ibrahim Afellay (PSV)

23. Rafael van der Vaart (Real Madrid)

Forwards

7. Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool)

9. Robin van Persie (Arsenal)

11. Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich)

17. Eljero Elia (Hamburg)

19. Ryan Babel (Liverpool)

21. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (A.C. Milan)

DENMARK

FIFA World Ranking: 36

Team Colours: Red shirts with white trim and a white checkered strip horizontal across the chest, white shorts with red trim, red socks with white trim. Away kit is white shirts with red trim, red shorts with white trim, white socks with red trim.

Manager: 60-year-old Morten Olsen is one of the longest-serving managers at this World Cup, having taken the Denmark job back in 2000. Since then he’s led his team to qualification for the 2002 World Cup, Euro 2004 and now South Africa. He is best loved, though, for being the captain of the Danish team through much of the 1980s, a team much admired by the fans and considered the best in their history. Some say Olsen is the most important player in the history of Danish football, and so it’s no surprise that support for his management has always been high.

Form: Denmark defied the odds to top their group at the expense of Portugal and Sweden, only losing once on their way to qualification and completing a double over rivals Sweden to the delight of their fans. They also scored three goals in the last ten minutes to secure a vital victory in Lisbon over the group favourites. In friendlies they’ve been inconsistent, though – a reasonably assured win over Senegal was followed by a defeat to Australia.

Captain: Well-traveled veteran forward Jon Dahl Tomasson is as crafty as ever. The former Newcastle, A.C. Milan, Villarreal and Stuttgart player, now back for a second spell at Feyenoord, plays as a second striker behind Nicklas Bendtner for Denmark these days. His record for Denmark commands respect – 110 caps and 51 goals. He may be getting on a bit but is still dangerous and not to be underestimated.

Key Man: Nicklas Bendtner thinks it’s him, but the main cog in the Danish engine is Juventus midfielder Christian Poulsen. The, shall we say, combative midfielder really gets stuck in and if Denmark are to compete with teams like the Netherlands who keep possession so well, they will need Poulsen to be at his irrepressible best to win back the ball whenever possible.

Man to Watch: You may have heard people talk about him already, but Palermo centre-back Simon Kjaer is a really promising player whose stock is rising fast in the world game. At just 21 years old he is already an assured and reliable presence at the heart of the defence who can confidently deal with any opponent. Clubs all over Europe are chasing his signature and he has a chance this summer to push his potential salary up by a digit or two.

Prediction: Even with the depth in this group Denmark look pretty interesting. They are arguably a better balanced squad than Cameroon in terms of ability in every position and could make life difficult for many a team in South Africa. I think they’ll make it out of this group and could even spring a surprise against Italy in the second round.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Thomas Sorensen (Stoke)

16. Stephan Andersen (Brondby)

22. Jesper Christiansen (FC Copenhagen)

Defenders

3. Simon Kjaer (Palermo)

4. Daniel Agger (Liverpool)

5. William Kvist (FC Copenhagen)

6. Lars Jacobsen (Blackburn Rovers)

13. Per Kroldrup (Fiorentina)

15. Simon Poulsen (AZ Alkmaar)

23. Patrick Mtiliga (Malaga)

Midfielders

2. Christian Poulsen (Juventus)

7. Daniel Jensen (Werder Bremen)

8. Jesper Gronkjaer (FC Copenhagen)

10. Martin Jorgensen (Aarhus)

12. Thomas Kahlenberg (Wolfsburg)

14. Jakob Poulsen (Aarhus)

19. Dennis Rommedahl (Ajax)

20. Thomas Enevoldsen (FC Groningen)

21. Christian Eriksen (Ajax)

Forwards

9. Jon Dahl Tomasson, captain (Feyenoord)

11. Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal)

17. Mikkel Beckmann (Randers)

18. Soren Larsen (Duisburg)

JAPAN

FIFA World Ranking: 45

Team Colours: Blue shirts with red and white trim, white shorts with blue trim, blue socks with white trim. Away kit is the inverse.

Manager: Takeshi Okada was briefly in charge of the national team at France 98 but left after the tournament. His second, more long-term spell started in 2007 when he replaced Ivica Osim who had suffered a stroke. He bears a certain resemblance to a Japanese Sven-Goran Eriksson, and would be happy to emulate Sven’s traditional quarter final finish.

Form: Japan cruised through the various Asian qualifying sections until the final phase, where they were twice frustrated by Australia and finished second, though they booked their plane tickets an hour earlier thanks to the quirks of kick-off times. Their preparations have been less than ideal, though, with four losses in four friendlies against Serbia, South Korea, England, and Ivory Coast. In the game against England they showed signs of quality but shot themselves in the foot with two late own goals.

Captain: This will be goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi’s fourth World Cup, and strangely though he has been named as captain for his experience he will not start as the first choice goalkeeper, with Seigo Narazaki having impressed in qualifying (he, too, is in his fourth tournament). Kawaguchi has amassed 116 caps and is just 7 away from the all-time Japanese record.

Key Man: 26-year-old central midfielder Makoto Hasebe is a candidate to wear the captain’s armband if, as expected, Kawaguchi starts on the bench. The Wolfsburg man is a disciplined, mostly defensive-minded central player with plenty of stamina and determination, but can pick a pass well if needed to play further forward or on the right flank.

Man to Watch: CSKA Moscow midfielder Keisuke Honda became the first Japanese player to play in the Champions League quarter-finals this season and one of Okada’s main tasks this summer will be to find the best way to utilise him. Usually an advanced midfielder in the centre, Honda takes a powerful free-kick and likes to get forward and take a shot, and can also play at left-back if necessary.

Prediction: Japan should be willing enough but will be too short of quality to get out of this difficult group. Their former talisman Shunsuke Nakamura has been in decline in the last few years since leaving Celtic for Espanyol and they look a little devoid of invention and creativity.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus)

21. Eiji Kawashima (Kawasaki Frontale)

23. Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, captain (Jubilo Iwata)

Defenders

3. Yuichi Komano (Jubilo Iwata)

4. Marcus Tulio Tanaka (Nagoya Grampus)

5. Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo)

6. Atsuto Uchida (Kashima Antlers)

13. Daiki Iwamasa (Kashima Antlers)

15. Yasuyuki Konno (FC Tokyo)

22. Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama)

Midfielders

2. Yuki Abe (Urawa Red Diamonds)

7. Yasuhitu Endo (Gamba Osaka)

8. Daisuki Matsui (Grenoble)

10. Shunsuke Nakamura (Yokohama)

14. Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale)

17. Makoto Hasebe (Wolfsburg)

18. Keisuke Honda (CSKA Moscow)

20. Junichi Inamoto (Kawasaki Frontale)

Forwards

9. Shinji Okazaki (Shimizu S-Pulse)

11. Keiji Tamada (Nagoya Grampus)

12. Kishu Yano (Albirex Niigata)

16. Yoshito Okubo (Vissel Kobe)

19. Takayuki Morimoto (Catania)

CAMEROON

FIFA World Ranking: 19

Team Colours: Green shirts with red trim, red shorts, yellow socks with red trim. Away kit is yellow shirts with thin vertical red stripes and trim, green shorts, red socks.

Manager: Paul Le Guen has been in charge of Cameroon for just one year after leaving Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the 2009 season, whom he led to a Coupe de la Ligue victory but couldn’t bring out of the relegation zone. He quickly imposed himself on the team by dropping veteran defender Rigobert Song as captain and installing talismanic striker Samuel Eto’o, who then inspired the team to complete qualification for the finals. Le Guen was part of the Lyon success story, winning the second, third and fourth of their incredible seven straight French league wins, but struggled at Rangers and PSG. Has made a solid start with Cameroon, though.

Form: Under former boss Otto Pfister (one of the best names in sport) Cameroon made a slow start to their qualifying group, losing to Togo and drawing with Morocco, before Le Guen’s arrival perked things up. Both Song and Eto’o responded well to the change in captaincy, with Song winning back his place and Eto’o scoring the goals that put the Indomitable Lions through. Their friendlies haven’t been amazing – a come-from-behind one-all draw with Slovakia was followed by a routine loss to Portugal and an exciting but eventually disappointing defeat at the hands of Serbia, albeit without Eto’o.

Captain/Key Man: Samuel Eto’o was the subject of one of the strangest transfers of recent years when he was included along with £60 million in a deal to bring Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the world’s most over-rated striker, to Barcelona from Inter. Under Jose Mourinho’s stewardship, Eto’o has been playing in a slightly unusual role out on the right wing as a hard-working inside forward to make room for Diego Milito in the centre, but has done pretty well in that position on the way to winning the treble in his first season. Still one of the world’s most devastating finishers, Eto’o is a striker feared the world over and will be Cameroon’s main chance of getting out of this group. If you take him out of the equation Cameroon just don’t have much in the way of firepower, but Eto’o knows that this may be his last chance of making the impact on the World Cup that we all know he is capable of.

Man to Watch: Stephane Mbia joined Didier Deschamps’ Marseille last summer and became an integral part of their title-winning side having repositioned himself from central midfield to centre half. The 24-year-old could yet start at right-back for Cameroon, though, with no player having made the position his own in qualifying. Strong, powerful and versatile, Mbia’s physical presence will make life difficult for forwards.

Prediction: Will run it close with Denmark to get out of the group, and while it could go either way, my money is on Cameroon being pipped at the post and having to settle for third in Group E. Their midfield is willing, but Alexandre Song aside, relatively limited and their strength in depth isn’t quite good enough, with everything depending on Samuel Eto’o being fit and firing. A lack of experience in defence past Song, Geremi and Mbia if he plays there may be telling as well.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Carlos Idriss Kameni (Espanyol)

16. Souleymanou Hamidou (Kayserispor)

22. Guy N’dy Assembe (Valenciennes)

Defenders

2. Benoit Assou-Ekotto (Tottenham)

3. Nicolas N’Koulou (Monaco)

4. Rigobert Song (Trabzonspor)

5. Sebastien Bassong (Tottenham)

8. Geremi Nijtap (Ankaragucu)

12. Gaetan Bong (Valenciennes)

14. Aurelien Chedjou (Lille)

19. Stephane Mbia (Marseille)

Midfielders

6. Alexandre Song (Arsenal)

7. Landry N’Guemo (Celtic)

10. Achille Emana (Real Betis)

11. Jean Makoun (Lyon)

18. Eyong Enoh (Ajax)

20. Georges Mandjeck (Kaiserslauten)

21. Joel Matip (Schalke)

Forwards

9. Samuel Eto’o, captain (Inter)

13. Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (Nuremberg)

15. Pierre Webo (Mallorca)

17. Mohammadou Idrissou (Freiburg)

23. Vincent Aboubakar (Cotonsport Garoua)

World Cup Guide: Group D Preview

GROUP D

GERMANY

FIFA World Ranking: 6

Team Colours: White shirts with black trim and a single gold vertical stripe, black shorts with white trim, white socks with black trim. Away kit is black shirt with white and red trim, white shorts with black and red trim, black socks with white trim.

Manager: Joachim “Jogi” Loew succeeded Jurgen Klinsmann following Germany’s third place finish at the 2006 World Cup and started well by guiding the team to the final of Euro 2008, although by coming second to Spain they fell short of Loew’s stated aim of winning that competition. He had also pledged to continue the attacking brand of football introduced by Klinsmann but has perhaps faltered a little from that compared to his predecessor. The snappily-dressed manager has been accused of disrupting squad harmony during the qualifying campaign by bringing in newer faces to spark internal competition.

Form: Germany were unbeaten in qualifying, comfortably taking top spot in their group by beating second-placed Russia 1-0 in Moscow in the penultimate match, and only conceded five goals during that campaign. Their pre-tournament friendlies have gone well, including a 3-0 win over Hungary and a 3-1 victory against Bosnia & Hercegovina who were impressive nearly men in qualifying. Their plans have been disrupted by the loss of captain Michael Ballack, though.

Captain: Stepping into Ballack’s sizeable shoes is 26-year-old right-back Philipp Lahm, who is one of only nine players in the squad with more than twelve caps. He scored the memorable opening goal of the last World Cup in the opening game against Costa Rica with an absolute pearl of a long-range shot, but is not usually known for his scoring. He can also operate as a winger, though, which tells you about his attacking ability. He is also a very solid defender, though, and will be a reliable player for his team. It remains to be seen whether he will take to the captaincy.

Key Man: It has to be the man who fills Ballack’s role in a positional sense, Bastian Schweinsteiger. He will be more familiar to non-Germany fans as the bustling wide player who lacked a little in end product from previous international tournaments, but in the last season Louis van Gaal has transformed the Bayern midfielder into a central player who can both win the ball and spray it around as a playmaker. He would have played alongside Ballack but will now be thrust into the spotlight as the most experienced midfielder by far and needs to translate his excellent club form into a talismanic performance for Germany.

Man to Watch: Germany’s midfield is highly inexperienced but it does contain a quartet of rapidly rising stars – it’s hard to choose between Stuttgart general Sami Khedira, who will likely start alongside Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos, the attacking midfielder who has impressed, scoring 1 in 4, on his now-finished 18-month loan to Bayer Leverkusen from Bayern, and Marko Marin, the Bosnian-born Werder Bremen winger, but the most exciting of all is Mesut Oezil, the 21-year-old also playing for Bremen who exudes the most natural finesse of all four. He’s very forward-thinking with a gifted left foot and an eye for goal. Of the four, he is most likely to dazzle for Germany this summer, but all four need to be ready for the big time if the decision to leave behind more experienced heads is to pay off.

Prediction: Germany’s problems are twofold – first is the astonishingly young and inexperienced squad, most obvious in goal where the first-choice keeper, Manuel Neuer, has just 5 caps which is as many as his two deputies put together. The second is up front, where Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski and Mario Gomez are all very much out of form and their backups have little international pedigree. At least Loew has six of them to play around with, but it may take too much time to find a successful combination. There’s no doubt that this Germany team is the most vulnerable one for many years, and they have been dealt a tough group. They should be relatively evenly matched with Serbia and it will probably come down to who can get the best results against the other two teams, and I suspect Germany may just edge that, but I can see a second-round exit looming against probably the USA.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Manuel Neuer (Schalke)

12. Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen)

22. Hans-Jorg Butt (Bayern Munich)

Defenders

2. Marcell Jansen (Hamburg)

3. Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin)

4. Dennis Aogo (Hamburg)

5. Serdar Tasci (Stuttgart)

14. Holger Badstuber (Bayern Munich)

16. Philipp Lahm, captain (Bayern Munich)

17. Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen)

20. Jerome Boateng (Manchester City)

Midfielders

6. Sami Khedira (Stuttgart)

7. Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich)

8. Mesut Ozil (Werder Bremen)

15. Piotr Trochowski (Hamburg)

18. Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich)

21. Marko Marin (Werder Bremen)

Forwards

9. Stefan Kießling (Bayer Leverkusen)

10. Lukas Podolski (FC Koln)

11. Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich)

13. Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)

19. Cacau (Stuttgart)

23. Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich)

AUSTRALIA

FIFA World Ranking: 20

Team Colours: Yellow shirts with green sleeves and a white horizontal stripe across the chest, green shorts, yellow socks. Away kit is dark blue with lighter blue sleeves and a yellow horizontal stripe across the chest, dark blue shorts, dark blue socks.

Manager: Dutchman Pim Verbeek was assistant to Guus Hiddink at South Korea for the 2002 World Cup and was in the same post under Dick Advocaat in 2006, but took the Australia job in 2007 after Hiddink left it behind. He will be leaving it himself at the conclusion of the tournament to take up a youth development post with the Moroccan national side. Verbeek has been a vocal critic of the Australian A-League, frequently calling it out on its lack of quality and criticising national team midfielder Jason Culina’s decision to move back there from PSV.

Form: Australia were the second team not called South Africa to qualify for the finals, and did so just one hour after Japan, whom they eventually overtook in their group as they comfortably made it to the tournament. They were unbeaten in the final phase of qualifying despite one or two close calls, particularly against Bahrain where they were thoroughly outplayed but managed to sneak a 1-0 win. They looked poor in their lucky 2-1 victory over neighbours New Zealand and yesterday’s lacklustre loss to the US, though.

Captain: Lucas Neill moved to Galatasaray in January having spent 15 years in England. The 32-year-old right-back can be a little hotheaded and dirty sometimes but is hugely committed to the cause and has generally been reliable for his country. He is perhaps the most robust of the Australian defenders and will need to be on top form to keep Australia from being caught out at the back.

Key Man: Everton midfielder Tim Cahill is a level above the rest of the squad in terms of ability and if he doesn’t play well, Australia have little chance of escaping from this group of arguably more lethal death than Group G. His specialty is late runs into the box to meet a cross with his head, but has a good shot on him as well and plenty of energy to run a game at his tempo. He has a dazzling scoring record of 20 in 40 caps for the Socceroos. A little injury prone, though.

Man to Watch: The only other man who could potentially earn Australia points on his own is goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who at 37 shows no sign of declining following another outstanding season at the heart of Fulham’s European adventure and finding himself rumoured to be the subject of interest from Arsenal. Always solid and occasionally spectacular, Schwarzer could benefit from a group in which no team contains a world class goal threat.

Prediction: Australia should not be short of effort but do lack quality and strength in depth, particularly up front where their only three forwards are a one-trick beanpole (Josh Kennedy), a fading cripple (Harry Kewell), and a relatively untried winger (Nikita Rukavytsya). They need Cahill and Schwarzer to be on fire to stand a chance of getting out of this group, and the smart money says they should come last here.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Mark Schwarzer (Fulham)

12. Adam Federici (Reading)

18. Brad Jones (Middlesbrough)

Defenders

2. Lucas Neill, captain (Galatasaray)

3. Craig Moore (unattached)

6. Michael Beauchamp (Melbourne Heart)

8. Luke Wilkshire (Dinamo Moscow)

11. Scott Chipperfield (FC Basel)

20. Mark Milligan (JEF United)

21. David Carney (FC Twente)

Midfielders

4. Tim Cahill (Everton)

5. Jason Culina (Gold Coast United)

7. Brett Emerton (Blackburn Rovers)

13. Vincenzo Grella (Blackburn Rovers)

14. Brett Holman (AZ Alkmaar)

15. Mile Jedinak (Antalyaspor)

16. Carl Valeri (Sassuolo)

19. Richard Garcia (Hull City)

22. Dario Vidosic (Nuremberg)

23. Mark Bresciano (Palermo)

Forwards

9. Josh Kennedy (Nagoya Grampus)

10. Harry Kewell (Galatasaray)

17. Nikita Rukavytsya (FC Twente)

SERBIA

FIFA World Ranking: 15

Team Colours: Red shirts with blue trim and a white cross on the front, blue shorts, white socks. Away kit is all white with red trim on the shirt.

Manager: Radomir Antic is very popular with the Serbian fans and has quite the impressive CV as well. As well as being one of only two men to have managed both Real Madrid and Barcelona, he is the only man to have managed those two as well as Atletico Madrid, where he enjoyed the most success of his managerial career, returning there twice and winning the league and Copa del Rey.

Form: Serbia finished top of their qualifying group despite taking just one point from favourites France, who stumbled elsewhere. They were at their most impressive thrashing Romania 5-0 to seal qualification but were cohesive and competent throughout and were eventually deserving winners. Their friendly results have been mixed – a shock 1-0 loss to New Zealand was followed by a frustrating 0-0 draw with Poland, but yesterday they produced an excellent display to come from behind twice to vanquish Cameroon, the sternest test of the three. Things may be coming together.

Captain: Dejan Stankovic is a highly accomplished midfielder who has won six Serie A titles and now the Champions League with Inter. A versatile player, he prefers to play in an advanced midfield role but can also be utilised on either flank or deeper in a holding or playmaking capacity and is a great passer of the ball. His experience and influence will be key for Serbia.

Key Man: It has taken some time for 29-year-old Milan Jovanovic to make a name for himself thanks to three unhappy years hardly getting a game for Shakhtar Donestk and Lokomotiv Moscow, but 52 goals in 116 games for Belgian side Standard Liege earned this deep-lying forward international recognition and a free transfer to Liverpool this summer. He will likely line up behind man-mountain Nikola Zigic with freedom to roam to the flanks if necessary and should be Serbia’s most potent attacking threat.

Man to Watch: Lazio left full-back Aleksandar Kolarov brings to mind Serbian legend Sinisa Mihajlovic with his runs down the left flank and rocket-propelled shot. Still just 24 years old, Kolarov has an impressive technique and should prove himself one of the best emerging defenders in the world game this summer.

Prediction: Serbia will surprise people. They have quality running right through the side with a reliable central defensive pairing of Nemanja Vidic and Branislav Ivanovic and Stankovic running things in midfield alongside creative 22-year-old Zdravko Kuzmanovic. They will be a serious threat and could be the ruin of a big name or two. I suspect they will meet England in the second round which should be a relatively evenly matched game, and really I wouldn’t know which way to call that one. If things fall into place a semi-final place wouldn’t be beyond their reach, but my gut says they will lose against England (though probably deserving to win).

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Vladimir Stojkovic (Wigan Athletic)

12. Bojan Isailovic (Zaglebie Lubin)

23. Andelko Duricic (Leiria)

Defenders

2. Antonio Rukavina (1860 Munich)

3. Aleksandar Kolarov (Lazio)

5. Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United)

6. Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea)

13. Aleksandar Lukovic (Udinese)

16. Ivan Obradovic (Real Zaragoza)

20. Neven Subotic (Borussia Dortmund)

Midfielders

4. Gojko Kacar (Hertha Berlin)

7. Zoran Tosic (Manchester United)

10. Dejan Stankovic, captain (Inter)

11. Nenad Milijas (Wolves)

17. Milos Krasic (CSKA Moscow)

18. Milos Ninkovic (Dinamo Kiev)

19. Radoslav Petrovic (Partizan Belgrade)

22. Zdravko Kuzmanovic (Stuttgart)

Forwards

8. Danko Lazovic (Zenit St. Petersburg)

9. Marko Pantelic (Ajax)

14. Milan Jovanovic (Liverpool)

15. Nikola Zigic (Birmingham City)

21. Dragan Mrda (Vojvodina)

GHANA

FIFA World Ranking: 32

Team Colours: White shirts with one grey sleeve with a dark grey star and black trim, white shorts, white socks. Away kit is red shirts with yellow vertical stripes and trim, red shorts, red socks.

Manager: Serbian Milovan Rajevac will lead Ghana into battle against his home country and the rest of Group D. He had only previously managed in Serbia and had not been in one job for more than two years before being hired in 2008. He is a strict disciplinarian who has earned a reputation as a shrewd tactician having overseen an impressive flawless qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations against a much-fancied Mali side, although Ghana’s second-round exit from that competition proper was less pleasing for the fans.

Form: In qualification Ghana were unstoppable, winning their group with a nearly 100 per cent record and becoming the first African nation (aside from the hosts) to qualify. They suffered a resounding 4-1 loss to the Netherlands in a pre-tournament friendly, though, and have had their preparations seriously disrupted by the withdrawal through injury of their best player, Chelsea’s Michael Essien, who will be a huge loss for them.

Captain: Stephen Appiah nearly hasn’t played at all at club level for two and a half years following a serious knee injury while he was at Fenerbahce that caused him to miss the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations and only made his debut for new club Bologna as a substitute on the 9th of May this year. However he is still in the squad as captain, which has given some Ghanaian fans cause for concern as they would rather see a fit, regularly playing man starting games in a tough group against physically strong opponents like Serbia and Germany. Appiah does have plenty to give if he is fully fit, but he must be disadvantaged by his lack of game time.

Key Man: Michael Essien plays further forward for Ghana than he does for Chelsea, and so with him gone so is some of Ghana’s attacking prowess. The onus now falls squarely on the shoulders of Asamoah Gyan, the 24-year-old Rennes striker who has scored exactly one goal every two games for his country. He’s a powerful unit, strong and fast and able to keep on running and running, and will cause problems for defences.

Man to Watch: Dominic Adiyiah is a 20-year-old forward who earned himself a dream move to A.C. Milan after being an integral part of the Ghana team that won the 2009 Under-20 World Cup. He has scored 17 goals in just 16 games for the youth side and has been blooded recently by Rajevac with a view to having a similar impact in this tournament. He probably won’t start but could be a surprise package coming off the bench.

Prediction: The impact of Essien’s absence cannot be underestimated and it is made worse by suggestions that Sulley Muntari may not be fully fit in time for the opening game against Serbia a week today. Ghana can’t be counted out completely though, and should be reasonably competitive, but they should be overpowered by Germany and Serbia. A gallant third in the group.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Daniel Adjei (Liberty Professionals)

16. Stephen Ahorlu (Heart of Lions)

22. Richard Kingson (Wigan Athletic)

Defenders

2. Hans Sarpei (Bayer Leverkusen)

4. John Painstil (Fulham)

5. John Mensah (Lyon)

7. Samuel Inkoom (FC Basel)

8. Jonathan Mensah (Free State Stars)

15. Isaac Vorsah (Hoffenheim)

17. Abdul Rahim Ayew (El Zamalek)

19. Lee Addy (Bechem Chelsea)

Midfielders

6. Anthony Annan (Rosenborg)

9. Derek Boateng (Getafe)

10. Stephen Appiah, captain (Bologna)

11. Sulley Muntari (Inter)

13. Andrew Ayew (Arles)

20. Quincy Owusu-Abeyie (Al-Sadd)

21. Kwadwo Asamoah (Udinese)

23. Kevin-Prince Boateng (Portsmouth)

Forwards

3. Asamoah Gyan (Rennes)

12. Prince Tagoe (Hoffenheim)

14. Matthew Amoah (NAC Breda)

18. Dominic Adiyiah (A.C. Milan)

World Cup Guide: Group B Preview

GROUP B

ARGENTINA

FIFA World Ranking: 7

Team Colours: Blue and white striped shirts, black shorts with white trim, white socks with blue trim. Away kit is blue and darker blue striped shirts with white trim, white shorts with blue trim, blue socks with white trim.

Manager: Dear oh dear, where do you start with Diego Maradona? Obviously a legendary player, El Diego is, shall we say, a somewhat eccentric manager. The man who runs over journalists and then insults them for letting themselves get run over nearly presided over the most disastrous Argentinian World Cup qualification group for many years, with only a last-gasp win at Peru guaranteeing them automatic qualification. His tactics are oddly defensive for such an exciting attacking player, and he seems to have an unhealthy man-crush on 36-year-old lumbering striker Martin Palermo, to the extent that he nearly excluded Inter Milan’s 20-goal-a-season hitman Diego Milito until someone managed to knock some sense into him. Palermo is still in the squad, though. Simply put, Maradona is the biggest threat to Argentinian success this summer.

Form: Not a lot. Previous manager Alfio Basile was sacked for the team being in third place in the group after ten games, but Maradona’s introduction saw further tumbles down the order, particularly after a humiliating 6-1 reverse against Bolivia. Their friendly preparations continued with their recent routine 5-0 win over minnows Canada – how much that really says about them I’m not sure, even if Messi was in the stands.

Captain: 25-year-old Liverpool holding midfielder Javier Mascherano was appointed captain by Maradona, who described his team as “Jonas [Gutierrez], Mascherano, Messi, and eight more”. Ignoring that statement’s ludicrous elevation in status of Newcastle’s inconsistent winger Gutierrez, it does make clear how important Mascherano is to the manager’s plans. With only three central midfielders in the squad, Argentina need their captain to dominate the midfield after an indifferent season for his club.

Key Man: I’m not going to try and be clever – it’s clearly the best player on the planet, Lionel Messi, upon whom Argentinian hopes rest. It’s hard to believe that Leo is still only 22 years old when he turns out destructive and beautiful peformances every week for Barcelona. The frustrating thing for Argentina supporters is Maradona’s refusal to build the team around his talisman. With the players available to them, Argentina could easily mimic Barcelona’s formation, which gives maximum freedom to Messi to do what comes naturally, but they don’t and so Messi can be somewhat stifled. He’s still capable of breaking those shackles and driving his team forward single-handedly, though.

Man to Watch: Much-sought-after winger Angel Di Maria has reportedly just moved to Real Madrid from Benfica, and will almost certainly start Argentina’s opener against Nigeria. The left-sided player is a hugely exciting talent, with a great turn of pace, mazy dribbling and a wicked cross. Also only 22 years old, a good tournament would establish him as one of the world’s leading forward players.

Prediction: Argentina have been given a relatively kind draw and should make it out of the group stage without huge problems, barring any huge calamities from Maradona. A second round tie against Uruguay or France could be a potential banana skin, but again you would expect them to edge past those teams. A quarterfinal against Germany would be winnable as well against another vulnerable side, but it’s hard to see Argentina making it past Spain in the semifinals (not that that wouldn’t be an acceptable achievement for this team and this manager). Their weaknesses (no goalkeeper with more than 6 caps’ experience, limited defence, willingness to use Palermo) could well be exploited by any of the above.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Diego Pozo (Colon)

21. Mariano Andujar (Catania)

22. Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar)

Defenders

2. Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich)

3. Clemente Rodriguez (Estudiantes)

4. Nicolas Burdisso (Roma)

6. Gabriel Heinze (Marseille)

12. Ariel Garce (Colon)

13. Walter Samuel (Inter)

15. Nicolas Otamendi (Velez Sarsfield)

Midfielders

5. Mario Bolatti (Fiorentina)

7. Angel Di Maria (Real Madrid)

8. Juan Sebastian Veron (Estudiantes)

14. Javier Mascherano, captain (Liverpool)

17. Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle)

20. Maxi Rodriguez (Liverpool)

23. Javier Pastore (Palermo)

Forwards

9. Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid)

10. Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

11. Carlos Tevez (Manchester City)

16. Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid)

18. Martin Palermo (Boca Juniors)

19. Diego Milito (Inter)

NIGERIA

FIFA World Ranking: 21

Team Colours: Green with white trim, away kit is the inverse.

Manager: Lars Lagerback is a recent recruit to the Nigerian cause, having joined five months ago following Shaibu Amodu led the Super Eagles to a third-place finish in the Africa Cup of Nations, which apparently was not good enough. Lagerback himself had only just left his post as Sweden manager after ten years in the job when he failed to lead them to qualification for this tournament, but before that he had done a fine job with his native country. This is first job outside of Sweden and it remains to be seen what his approach to the Nigeria job will be.

Form: A third-place showing in the Africa Cup of Nations is really not that bad a result to come to South Africa on the back of, but Nigeria’s pre-tournament friendlies have been going less well. A 5-2 win over DR Congo has been followed by disappointing draws, 0-0 with Saudi Arabia and 1-1 with Colombia. A further game against unknown quantities North Korea will be played on Sunday, and Nigeria will very much want a convincing win there to get their preparations back on track.

Captain: Portsmouth forward Nwankwo Kanu claims to be 33 years old. I’m not certain how much I’m actually going to comment on that considering any legal possibilities, but let’s just say that he looks a lot older (he certainly has the pace and mobility of a 40-year-old), and that coincidentally there have been recent scandals involving the Nigerian youth international teams and their players being several years older than their birth certificates claim. So, um, yeah. Kanu is a somewhat bewildering choice for the national team, as he is certainly in the twilight of his career and his best is long past. Pretty much unable to move at all during a game, he just hangs around and waits for the ball to come to his feet before shooting or laying it off.

Key Man: French champions Marseille’s left-back Taye Taiwo is an exciting player who, as well as being defensively solid, can attack well and has a thunderbolt shot from range in his arsenal. He will be an important player going forward trying to break down teams like Greece, and will also have to step up to the plate when he marks Leo Messi in the opening game. If Taiwo fails things will be much harder for the Super Eagles.

Man to Watch: Hoffenheim winger/striker Chinedu ‘Edu’ Obasi was one of the standout performers for Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations and will likely be deployed on the right hand side at the World Cup. He has plenty of pace and a strong finish and could make a serious impact on Group B.

Prediction: Nigeria should be strong enough to overcome South Korea and Greece but will probably a level short of seriously challenging Argentina for superiority in the group. I would expect them to go out in the second round against whichever team wins Group A, probably Mexico. Anything more would be a serious achievement for this team.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Vincent Enyeama (Hapoel Tel Aviv)

16. Austin Ejide (Hapoel Petah Tikva)

23. Dele Aiyenugba (Bnei Yehuda)

Defenders

2. Joseph Yobo (Everton)

3. Taye Taiwo (Marseille)

5. Rabiu Afolabi (Red Bull Salzburg)

6. Danny Shittu (Bolton)

15. Dele Adeleye (Metalurg Donetsk)

17. Chidi Odiah (CSKA Moscow)

21. Uwa Elderson Echiejile (Braga)

Midfielders

7. Chinedu Obasi (Hoffenheim)

10. John Obi Mikel (Chelsea)

11. Peter Odemwingie (Lokomotiv Moscow)

12. Kalu Uche (Almeria)

13. Ayila Yussuf (Dinamo Kiev)

14. Sani Kaita (Alania Vladikavkaz)

19. Lukman Haruna (Monaco)

20. Dickson Etuhu (Fulham)

Forwards

4. Nwankwo Kanu (Portsmouth)

8. Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Everton)

9. Obafemi Martins (Wolfsburg)

18. Victor Obinna (Malaga)

22. John Utaka (Portsmouth)

SOUTH KOREA

FIFA World Ranking: 47

Team Colours: Red patterned shirts with blue trim, white shorts, red socks. Away kit is white patterned shirts with blue trim, blue shorts, white socks.

Manager: Former PSV and South Korea midfielder Huh Jung-Moo is in his third period as manager of the national side. The 55-year-old scored the goal against Japan that qualified South Korea for the 1986 World Cup, beginning their run of six consecutive appearances in the tournament, and is a very popular coach. As a player he was nicknamed Jindogae after a local species of dog for his tough, combative style and was caught on camera appearing to kick Diego Maradona at the 1986 World Cup, so I’m sure the two will be pleased to reunite in Group B.

Form: Mixed. Huh won the AFC Coach of the Year award late last year for guiding South Korea to a 27 game unbeaten run, although their qualifying campaign stuttered at times, particularly against neighbours North Korea who held them to three draws, two of them goalless. A good warmup victory over Japan was followed on Sunday by a slightly embarrassing defeat to nonqualifiers Belarus, so their form could be better.

Captain: English fans will be familiar with Manchester United’s all-action midfielder Park Ji-Sung, who is a huge icon in Korea having emerged under the stewardship of Huh. Capable of playing anywhere across the midfield, Park will likely be utilised in the centre by Huh to maximise his influence on the game. Should be an excellent captain, as his determination should inspire the team to push on against resolute defending sides like Greece.

Key Man: Monaco winger Park Chu-Young will be vital if South Korea are to prise sides like Greece apart. He has searing pace (he can run 100m in 11 seconds) and a creative football brain. He’s also a dangerous dead-ball specialist, and Korea may look to play to his strengths by drawing free kicks in good areas.

Man to Watch: Ki Sung-Yong is an exciting prospect in the centre of midfield. His vision, technique and range of passing has earned him the nickname of the “Korean Gerrard”, which is high praise indeed. Currently plying his trade for Celtic, Ki is one of the “Double Dragon” pairing, which also includes Bolton winger Lee Chung-Yong, so known for their influential roles at the same time playing for FC Seoul before their moves abroad. Both are highly rated and could make an impact in South Africa.

Prediction: On their day South Korea can be a real handful, and are one of the more accomplished Asian sides. They should give a good account of themselves but I expect them to fall short of qualification for the round of sixteen, as they may lack sufficient bite up front to score the necessary goals.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Lee Woon-Jae (Suwon Bluewings)

18. Jung Sung-Ryong (Seongnam Ilhwa)

21. Kim Young-Kwang (Ulsan Horang-i)

Defenders

2. Oh Beom-Seok (Ulsang Horang-i)

3. Kim Hyung-Il (Pohang Steelers)

4. Cho Yong-Hyung (Jeju United)

12. Lee Young-Pyo (Al-Hilal)

14. Lee Jung-Soo (Kashima Antlers)

15. Kim Dong-Jin (Ulsang Horang-i)

22. Cha Du-Ri (Freiburg)

23. Kang Min-Soo (Suwon Bluewings)

Midfielders

5. Kim Nam-Il (Tom Tomsk)

6. Kim Bo-Kyung (Oita Trinita)

7. Park Ji-Sung, captain (Manchester United)

8. Kim Jung-Woo (Gwangju Phoenix)

13. Kim Jae-Sung (Pohang Steelers)

16. Ki Sung-Yong (Celtic)

17. Lee Chung-Yong (Bolton)

Forwards

9. Ahn Jung-Hwan (Dalian Shide)

10. Park Chu-Young (Monaco)

11. Lee Seung-Yeoul (FC Seoul)

19. Yeom Ki-Hun (Suwon Bluewings)

20. Lee Dong-Gook (Jeonbuk Motors)

GREECE

FIFA World Ranking: 13

Team Colours: White shirts with blue trim, white shorts, white socks. Away kit is blue shirts with white trim, blue shorts with white trim, and blue socks.

Manager: Otto Rehhagel still endures at Greece after nearly 10 years in charge, having unexpectedly won Euro 2004 with his hugely unwatchable brand of stoic, defensive football. A big favourite in Germany where he holds the records for most wins, draws and losses in the Bundesliga, and his teams in that league have also both scored and conceded more than any other. Crikey. You can’t say he hasn’t done a great job for Greece considering the resources at his disposal (zero flair throughout the entire country).

Form: A patchy qualification campaign saw Greece draw with lowly Moldova and Israel as they nearly allowed Latvia (yes, Latvia) to finish ahead of them in the table. They managed to scrape into the playoffs thanks to a win away in Switzerland and then stifled Ukraine in the playoffs to reach South Africa, but never really convinced. So far their only friendly has seen them lose comfortably to Paraguay, which is what you would expect.

Captain: Veteran midfielder Giorgos Karagounis scored the first goal of Euro 2004 to start Greece on their remarkable journey to the trophy in Portugal. Signed a contract at his club Panathinaikos last year that will take him through to 2012, and he says he wants to end his career there. A forward-thinking midfielder, Karagounis was once described as one of the most underrated players in the world, and while his best is past, he is still as determined as ever and will be the driving force behind the Greek midfield.

Key Man: 30-year-old Frankfurt striker Theofanis Gekas was the only bright spark for Greece in qualification, finishing top of the European qualification scoring charts with 10 goals, including four in one game against Latvia. He will be the main target for Greece when they occasionally decide to get the ball forward.

Man to Watch: One young player who could make a difference in this group is Sotiris Ninis, a 20-year-old right-sided winger with pace and skill. He is the youngest player ever to be selected for Greece by Rehhagel. The rumoured Manchester United, Real Madrid and A.C. Milan target has even at his tender age been named as one of the vice-captains of his club, Panathinaikos, by manager Henk ten Cate, which tells you something about his maturity. He may not start but expect to see him come off the bench if Greece haven’t scored.

Prediction: I can’t help hoping that Greece don’t progress from the group as their style of football is so unattractive and boring, and although they could potentially make it out, I don’t think they will. Nigeria have more of a goalscoring threat and Greece have been in such underwhelming form in qualifying. Rehhagel also sprung a surprise by picking not one but two completely uncapped players in his 23, so experience might be a factor if a key player or two gets injured.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Kostas Chalkias (PAOK)

12. Alexandros Tzorvas (Panathinaikos)

13. Michalis Sifakis (Aris)

Defenders

2. Giourkas Seitaridis (Panathinaikos)

4. Nikos Spiropoulos (Panathinaikos)

5. Vangelis Moras (Bologna)

8. Avraam Papadopoulos (Olympiacos)

11. Loukas Vyntra (Panathinaikos)

15. Vasilis Torosidis (Olympiacos)

16. Sotiris Kyrgiakos (Liverpool)

19. Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Genoa)

22. Stelios Malezas (PAOK)

Midfielders

3. Christos Patsatzoglou (Omonia)

6. Alexandros Tsiolis (Siena)

10. Giorgos Karagounis, captain (Panathinaikos)

18. Sotiris Ninis (Panathinaikos)

21. Kostas Katsouranis (Panathinaikos)

23. Sakis Prittas (Aris)

Forwards

7. Giorgios Samaras (Celtic)

9. Angelos Charisteas (Nuremberg)

14. Dimitris Salpigidis (Panathinaikos)

17. Theofanis Gekas (Frankfurt)

20. Pantelis Kapetanos (Steaua Bucharest)

Days 17-18: The semi-finals, and Final Preview

So, approximately an hour to go until the final kicks off, and having not seen either of the semis in full, I figured it was worth waiting until now to look back at the results and take a look ahead to the appetising game that will close the tournament.

I saw the last ten minutes of Germany’s win over Turkey, and it looks like I got a pretty good deal. Sure, there were three goals before then, two for Germany, but as I understand Germany were underwhelming at best while Turkey were a little out of their depths despite their opposition. The two goals that I did see, one apiece for Semih Senturk and Phillipp Lahm, were impressive ones, however – Semih’s an excellent poacher’s finish capitalising on some enterprising wing play (and, it has to be said, disappointing full-back play), and Lahm’s last-gasp effort an expertly crafted team goal, regardless of any literal slip-ups at the back (mentioning no names, Colin Kazim-Richards…). Exciting as it would have been to see Turkey topple Germany, I certainly feel we’re in for a better final as a result, as this Turkey side lacks both the quality and the squad depth (not all their own fault) to put up a good fight against Spain, who must surely now be considered favourites.

Yes, I know they’re playing the nation of inevitable tournament wins, but after Luis Aragones’ side powerfully took the wind out of Russia’s sails in the second semi, it’s hard to identify a department in which Spain are not better than the Germans. As well as David Villa had played so far for his four goals, his injury led to an even more fluid and dangerous line-up thanks to the introduction of Fabregas, who put Russia to the sword with an exemplary performance, far outshining Andrei Arshavin whose three contrasting games here haven’t really given conclusive proof either way of whether he’s the real deal. A move to Barcelona awaits, but I can’t see him getting into that starting XI, no matter how poor they were last year.

So we’re left with the two teams who, while not being the best two in the tournament (that would be Spain and Holland), have certainly been the best teams in their halves of the draw, meaning we really do have the perfect final, and it’s not often you can say that. I’m optimistic of an exciting game in which Germany must take the initiative if they want to stifle Spain’s superior quality, but if the Spainsh, and particularly Fabregas and David Silva, are allowed to play the way they want to they will win. My money’s on Spain, as it has been from the start, and just once, I’d love to be right. Here’s hoping.