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 31: Campeones! 2

Netherlands 0 – 1 Spain (a.e.t)

That’s it, justice is done and the best team have won. Spain triumphed in what ended up as a straightforward battle between good and evil that rivalled anything from Middle Earth.

The first half of the showpiece occasion was one of the worst forty-five minutes of football in the tournament and, indeed, one of the worst I can remember. Spain were seemingly the only team there in the first fifteen but failed to capitalise and eventually the Netherlands came back into it. Their game plan quite quickly turned out to be to press Spain hard high up the pitch – but what that ended up translating into was a campaign of cynical fouling that prevented any outbreak, God forbid, of a game of football. It must surely have been the most difficult game that Howard Webb has ever had to referee in his life, and though he got plenty of decisions right, there were some he got wrong, mostly when it came to letting players off lightly. In the first half alone, Mark van Bommel should have picked up three yellow cards (only one was shown), Wesley Sneijder should have seen yellow for a poor studs-up challenge across the thigh of Sergio Busquets, and Nigel de Jong should clearly have been given a straight red for his reprehensible kick to the chest of Xabi Alonso. That challenge could have broken a rib. How he got away with just yellow is an absolute mystery.

There were one or two goalmouth incidents in that first half but not much. The best chances actually went to the Dutch, when from a cleverly pulled back corner van Bommel miskicked laughably from the edge of the area only for it to reach Joris Mathijsen from a great angle, who produced a centre-back’s shot, swiping at the air.

Half-time could not come soon enough, though the second half gradually improved. Spain, again, started dominantly but couldn’t find a way through, again really struggling without a Fernando Torres through the middle for Villa, Pedro, Xavi and Iniesta to swarm around. Pedro was replaced after an hour by Jesus Navas – it seemed a strange substitution for me at first in that tactically nothing really changed and Pedro had done OK, but Navas justified it by adding a little more directness in terms of running at Giovanni van Bronckhorst, playing his final professional game, and also in passing into the box, but just didn’t have anyone to aim for.

The first really good chance fell to the Netherlands, though, and Arjen Robben, comfortably the most dangerous player for his team. He broke through the defense picking up a great through ball from Wesley Sneijder, otherwise quiet, and was one-on-one with Iker Casillas, who produced a stunning save with his leg to deny Robben. Arguably Robben could have done better with that chance but you cannot deny the brilliance of Casillas to keep Spain level. John Heitinga then managed a similarly great stop to deny David Villa, having slipped badly to allow the striker to pick up posession at all, but managed to whirl around on the floor and stick a leg up to block the shot away.

The next golden chance that went begging, though, was all about the miss – Sergio Ramos really should have scored with fifteen minutes to go when he did very well to escape his marker from a corner and earn a free header from six yards, which he blazed over. It was a huge miss and one that you worried might punish the Spanish if Robben got another chance to break, and he did just that a few minutes later, tussling with Carles Puyol just outside the area and, for once, staying on his feet showing strength that makes even more deplorable his customary falling flat at any opportunity. Casillas once again came out and denied him, prompting Robben to run screaming at Webb in a disgusting example of dissent. The boy who cried wolf comes to mind.

Eventually, inevitably, it came to extra time and it was a pleasing relief that neither side seemed willing to settle the game on penalties, although the Dutch attempts to go forward immediately ceased when the red card was finally produced to Heitinga. Half-time in extra time and Vicente del Bosque produced a baffling substitution, withdrawing Villa for Torres. Villa hadn’t had a great game but he had been hamstrung by the absence of Torres or Fernando Llorente, and with penalty kicks looming why take off your best goalscorer and a natural penalty taker in favour of a striker with a confidence problem? I was seriously worried that del Bosque was shooting himself in the foot.

Finally, though, we got a breakthrough, although there was a touch of controversy. It came after Sneijder’s free-kick cannoned off Cesc Fabregas and went behind but was strangely given as a goal kick, which was a wrong decision, and then in the play that followed Eljero Elia went down looking for a free-kick having possibly been blocked off by a Spanish defender. The key word there is ‘looking’, though, as he was clearly trying to buy the free-kick for a foul that wasn’t really there (I’ve seen them given, but it’s not really a foul in my book). While Elia was asking for the free-kick Spain got on with it and, despite a lucky deflection allowing them to hold onto posession, Fabregas finally opened up space in the box for Iniesta, who, as coolly as you could ask for, took one touch and fired home a decisive shot. Spain went mental, and the Dutch more so, fuming that the goal had been allowed. There’s a slim case that backs them up but it was a lesser injustice than, say, Holland having eleven players on the pitch after forty-five minutes, so I don’t think they can really complain. There was just time for Fernando Torres to do his hamstring before full-time, and it really was the depressing icing on a miserable personal tournament for the Liverpool man. He’ll be back, though, and it was good to see that he was OK to walk around for the celebrations.

So in the end Spain definitely deserved it. They played the best football on the night, and were the best team of the tournament. They’ve been the single best international team in the world over the past four years, and this trophy is a fair reflection of that. The scary thing is that they could have been better – imagine if Torres had been fit and firing. Imagine if Vicente del Bosque was better at making substitutions. This team is still young enough to keep on at the top for the forseeable future, even if Puyol retires from international football now, as I believe is to be the case.

Man of the Day: Iker Casillas for me was the standout player, although his opposite number Maarten Stekelenburg also had a good game. Casillas’ two saves from Robben were absolutely crucial, and of course the Real Madrid man is the captain who lifted the World Cup trophy. That probably justifies him as Man of the Day.

Tomorrow…oh. No, don’t worry, there’s still some mopping up to do. I’ll be discussing the tournament as a whole in the next couple of days and handing out some CDB Awards, and then once all that’s wrapped up there’s all sorts of football to talk about. The Europa League’s already started, don’t you know.

Finally, I bow down before Paul the octopus. Let’s just elect him Supreme Overlord and be done with it.

Day 6: Forlan of Hope and Glory

Honduras 0 – 1 Chile

Spain 0 – 1 Switzerland

South Africa 0 – 3 Uruguay

An intriguing day at the World Cup has ended on something of a sad note as the hosts’ hopes of making the second round took a body blow, but as always we’ll start with the first game, where we finally got a look at Chile, a side I’ve been waiting with some anticipation to see in action, and I was not disappointed. Given most of the posession by a Honduras side trying to play on the break, Chile took advantage although they failed to convert a number of chances, much like Argentina and Mexico already in this tournament. However they will be delighted with their performance, especially with super striker Humberto Suazo still to return from injury. When he is ready to play, Jorge Valdivia can drop back to his preferred playmaker role and Matias Fernandez can move to the left, and that should see them an even stronger side than we saw today. Alexis Sanchez was the main star for Chile, causing constant problems for the Honduran defenders although if anything he could have been a little less selfish – one a couple of occasions, Sanchez tried to dribble too long or shoot when it wasn’t really on. He also threw himself to the ground a few times looking for free kicks where none were deserved. Remind you of anyone? No wonder Real Madrid are sniffing around.

Honduras, though, don’t look like having any sort of impact on this group at all, even when they get their own Suazo striker, David, back. They didn’t show any spark at all and surely cannot hope to dig out the sort of result that Switzerland managed this afternoon, stunning everyone (certainly me) with a dogged, hard-fought 1-0 upset over favourites Spain. It’s hard to say they really deserved it: the goal came from their only serious attack of the whole game and was bundled over the line by Blaise N’Kufo only after the Spanish defence fell completely asleep, having been duped by the Swiss’ total lack of enterprise into forgetting they were actually playing football rather than watching it. They did defend much better, though, tucking in really narrow so that Spain were constantly forced to pass the ball out wide, which is not how they prefer to play. David Villa was totally isolated on his own up front and Fernando Torres too was successfully crowded out after his arrival. Andres Iniesta on the left seemed very reluctant to try and cross the ball, which was the only option he really had, but even if he had tried Villa in particular is not really an aerial threat. If I were Vicente del Bosque I would have been very tempted to put Fernando Llorente up front, the tall Athletic Bilbao striker who would have given them that option. Villa’s scoring record for Spain is unquestioned but he clearly was having no impact on the game at all and you feel that had Silva been on the left, Jesus Navas on the right, and Torres and Llorente through the middle, Spain would have stood a better chance of breaking down the Swiss rearguard.

As it is they now face a battle to get out of their group. They must hope that Chile do not suffer the same fate against Switzerland, though tactically that side should face similar problems, and then to get a positive result against the South Americans in the final group game. It is a bonus that Spain’s next match is against Honduras, where a morale-boosting thumping could well be on the cards. In many ways this is the real test for Spain – the mental barrier of the World Cup apparently still remains but the Honduras game represents an opportunity to get over that barrier right in front of our eyes and send out a message that they are still the best side in the world. I’m still optimistic for Spain’s chances but they will need to build up momentum to get out of this group, and score plenty of goals while doing it if they want to finish top and avoid a meeting with Brazil in the second round.

With the first round of group games over, the second set of matches started in more promising fashion in terms of style and intent, as Uruguay were clearly more determined to get a win having avoided defeat in their first game. The gap in class between them and South Africa was clear as day, Diego Forlan in particular turning in an assured, confident performance pulling the strings in a slightly unfamiliar role behind the two main strikers. Far from being intimidated by the atmosphere in Pretoria, where the noise particularly during the South African national anthem as the entire stadium bellowed out at incredible volume, Uruguay seemed to shine under pressure. Several players upped their game from the underwhelming France stalemate, Luis Suarez in particular showing up with more threat and purpose than he had against Les Bleus despite not getting in the goals. The sending off of goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune was a heartbreaking moment but the referee, Massimo Busacca, got the decision spot on, Suarez having been onside as the ball was played through and the keeper unable to avoid bringing him down. Forlan again showed incredible calm and mental strength to hit such a brilliant penalty having had to wait for many minutes as Bafana Bafana scrambled to bring their substitute keeper onto the pitch.

This result means South Africa face an uphill struggle to qualify for the second round. They were always going to be up against it but after the opening match there was a feeling that they could run it closer than people expected. They’re not down and out just yet, though, as to bet against Raymond Domenech’s France making a hash of things would be a brave bet indeed. I hope the local fans stick by their team, as it was such a sad sight seeing so many of them trudge out of the stadium after the second goal went in.

Man of the Day: Diego Forlan. He completely ran the show against South Africa and showed his talent and adaptability by taking to the role behind the main strikers like a duck to water.

Tomorrow, Argentina meet South Korea in what could be a really fascinating game – I’m going to go for a draw there, Greece will probably grind out a 0-1 defeat to Nigeria, and France face Mexico in a decisive Group A game where I would expect Mexico to emerge on top.

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 G Preview

GROUP G

BRAZIL

FIFA World Ranking: 1

Team Colours: Yellow shirts with green trim, blue shorts, white socks. Away kit is blue shirts with yellow trim and pattern, white shorts, blue socks.

Manager: Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri is better known as Dunga (“Dopey”, after the dwarf) and is the second of two managers, next to Maradona, who is looking to emulate Franz Beckenbauer by winning the World Cup as a manager having lifted it as captain. His tactics are exactly what you would expect from the former battling midfield player – the most defensive Brazilian side in many years, with two holding midfielders who contribute little to the attacking play. In fairness to Dunga, this is as much influenced by the resources at his disposal as it is by his own nature. Look out for one or two hideous shirts that he wears because his daughter is a fashion designer.

Form: Brazil had no real trouble in topping the South American qualifying table but were criticised by many demanding fans for the run of form through the middle of the campaign that saw three consecutive goalless draws at home against Argentina, Bolivia and Colombia. In early 2009, however, they really hit their stride and sealed qualification to their 19th World Cup (they are the only team to have taken part in every tournament) with a dominant 3-1 win away in Argentina. Their only warmups for this competition have been routine victories against Zimbabwe and Tanzania, in which Brazil have scored 8 goals.

Captain: Originally a winger before retraining as a youth player to centre-back, Lucio is now the most solid rock in an already sturdy Brazilian back line. The Inter man, 32, has already won the World Cup with the Selecao eight years ago and was appointed captain by Dunga following the Germany tournament. At that tournament he set the record for minutes played at World Cups without committing a foul, going for an astonishing 386 minutes spanning two tournaments. Now a treble winner, Lucio will be determinedly aiming to make this the best possible season by securing the biggest prize of all once again.

Key Man: Kaka hasn’t had a very good season for his new club Real Madrid, struggling to pin down his identity in the team and get a run of form going, but he is still the vital piece of the Brazilian puzzle. He’ll play just behind Luis Fabiano, the Sevilla striker who is my bet for the Golden Boot, and in this generation of Brazilian players who are perhaps not as universally gifted as some of their recent predecessors, he’s the one man who really can do anything he wants with a football. Brazil will do well whether Kaka shines or not, but if he can find the form that he lost over the last year, their campaign will really come alive.

Man to Watch: You have to be a ludicrously good footballer to keep Dani Alves out of any team’s right-back slot, but Inter favourite Maicon, likely heading to join Kaka at Real after the tournament if the Special One gets his way, is just that good. Like Alves, he’s such a force of nature that playing a right midfielder really isn’t all that necessary, as he can somehow be a brick wall at the back and bomb down the wing to devastating effect seemingly without breaking a sweat. He’s an incredible athlete and I can’t see any opposition left-back at this tournament keeping him quiet.

Prediction: Built on organisation and athleticism more than flair, Brazil are as formidable as ever and will pose the sternest test to Spain for the Jules Rimet trophy. They are not invincible, though – while they do play with two holding midfielders the personnel they will be employing in that position (Gilberto Silva and Kleberson – yes, that Kleberson, who was rubbish for Manchester United a few years ago) are a little underwhelming. But Julio Cesar has matured into one of the world’s best keepers, they have the world’s two best right-backs, and Luis Fabiano has become one of the top poachers in world football without anyone really noticing. I still feel that Spain have the edge in squad depth and in midfield, but until the two meet in the final I don’t see anyone stopping Brazil.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Julio Cesar (Inter)

12. Gomes (Tottenham)

22. Doni (Roma)

Defenders

2. Maicon (Inter)

3. Lucio, captain (Inter)

4. Juan (Roma)

6. Michel Bastos (Lyon)

13. Dani Alves (Barcelona)

14. Luisao (Benfica)

15. Thiago Silva (A.C. Milan)

16. Gilberto (Cruzeiro)

Midfielders

5. Felipe Melo (Juventus)

7. Elano (Galatasaray)

8. Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos)

10. Kaka (Real Madrid)

17. Josue (Wolfsburg)

18. Ramires (Benfica)

19. Julio Baptista (Roma)

20. Kleberson (Flamengo)

Forwards

9. Luis Fabiano (Sevilla)

11. Robinho (Manchester City)

21. Nilmar (Villarreal)

23. Grafite (Wolfsburg)

NORTH KOREA

FIFA World Ranking: 105

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

Manager: I’m going to warn you now, this is going to be a short preview, because I’m pretty in the dark about North Korea. Anyway, Kim Jong-Hun is 53 and he favours a disciplined, pragmatic approach to tactics. That’s about as much as I, and apparently the official FIFA World Cup website, know.

Form: North Korea had to dispatch some reasonably handy Asian teams to reach the finals, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, and were a real surprise package, coming through every round of qualifying and meeting rivals South Korea in the third and fourth rounds. Results between the two were close, with two draws and then, in their final meeting, a 1-0 victory for South Korea in Seoul, after which Kim Jong-Hun suggested that the South Koreans had poisoned his team. I’m starting to like this guy. Their friendlies have ended with a surprising 2-2 draw with Greece and a more predictable 3-1 defeat at the hands of Nigeria.

Captain: Hong Yong-Jo is the only North Korean in the squad to be based outside of Asia (and one of only three based outside of North Korea, with two in Japan). The FC Rostov forward scored four in four in qualifying, although he only has three in thirty for his new club. There are no stats for how well he did in North Korea for the brilliantly-named club 25 April, though, so for all I know he’s a lethal predator.

Key Man: Goalkeeper Ri Myong-Guk was nominated for the 2009 Asian Footballer of the Year award after his heroic display in the qualification-sealing draw with Saudi Arabia, and my word, North Korea are going to need him this summer.

Man to Watch: Jong Tae-se is an interesting story. The “People’s Rooney” (I’m not joking) is so named for his stocky build and hard-working attitude and scores plenty too, with 15 in 22 for his national side. He was originally South Korean but renounced his country and got himself a North Korean passport from the embassy in Japan, where he plays his football for Kawasaki Frontale. He apparently had a trial with an unnamed Premier League side in January this year, so maybe he could earn himself a move to Europe with a good enough flight from this sinking ship.

Prediction: To be honest, I have no idea, but it strikes me as unlikely that North Korea will pick up a single point in this group. They may be focused on defense and disciplined but Luis Fabiano in the opening match, let alone the rest of the Brazilian squad, should take them apart. They should fulfill well the role of comedy team, though, having already had their plan to register forward Kim Myong-Won as one of their three goalkeepers foiled by FIFA. They’re now stuck with Kim only being allowed to play in goal, so I’m hoping for red cards for both their main keepers in the first game so we can see how he does in his new role. On a more serious note, if North Korea score a goal, they should be delighted.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Ri Myong-Guk (Pyongyang City)

18. Kim Myong-Gil (Amrokgang)

20. Kim Myong-Won (Amrokgang)

Defenders

2. Cha Jong-Hyok (Amrokgang)

3. Ri Jun-Il (Sobaeksu)

5. Ri Kwang-Chon (April 25)

8. Ji Yun-Nam (April 25)

13. Pak Chol-Jin (Amrokgang)

14. Pak Nam-Chol (Amrokgang)

16. Nam Song-Chol (April 25)

21. Ri Kwang-Hyok (Kyonggongop)

Midfielders

4. Pak Nam-Chol (April 25)

6. Kim Kum-Il (April 25)

11. Mun In-Guk (April 25)

15. Kim Yong-Jun (Pyongyang City)

17. Ahn Young-Hak (Omiya Ardija)

19. Ri Chol-Myong (Pyongyang City)

22. Kim Kyong-Il (Rimyongsu)

23. Pak Sung-Hyok (Sobaeksu)

Forwards

7. An Chol-Hyok (Rimyongsu)

9. Jong Tae-se (Kawasaki Frontale)

10. Hong Yong-Jo, captain (FC Rostov)

12. Choe Kum-Chol (Rimyongsu)

IVORY COAST

FIFA World Ranking: 27

Team Colours: Orange shirts with green trim, white shorts, green socks. Away kit is green shirts with white trim and white horizontal stripes (with their own orange trim) cut off at the right shoulder, white shorts, white socks.

Manager: The Ivory Coast sacked previous manager Valil Halilhodzic after a disappointing quarter-final finish for the most hyped African team in the world at the Africa Cup of Nations in January, leaving themselves with the quandary of whom to appoint to bring together a divided dressing room full of egos and madmen. But they projected a dollar sign into the night sky, and lo! Sven-Man is here to save the day! Yes, it’s everyone’s favourite womanising underachiever, Sven-Goran Eriksson who is charged with organising this talented group of players into a team that can break out of the Group of Death.

Form: The Ivorians were a real letdown at the Cup of Nations but steamrolled their group without losing a game, although the toughest test in that group was Guinea. Didier Drogba was on incredible form, scoring six in five and salvaging results in a couple of hard-fought matches against Burkina Faso and Malawi. Their friendlies have been up and down – a 2-2 draw over Paraguay decent, a 2-0 win over Japan pretty good, but most recently a 1-1 draw with Swiss second division side Lausanne not good at all.

Captain: Talismanic striker Didier Drogba is desperate to play in what will surely be his last chance at a World Cup despite the broken bone in his elbow that seriously threatens his participation. We know he’s one of the world’s best strikers and we know he is absolutely vital to his country’s hopes to getting out of this tough group, but even if he does make it onto the field will he still be in the condition required to make an impact? For the sake of the competition (and the fact that I drew the Ivory Coast in my patented www.random.org sweepstake), I hope so.

Key Man: If Drogba is short of his potential this summer than Sven will look to his probable strike partner Gervinho for goals. The Lille striker has scored one every two games this season and has more guile and creativity than Drogba, though he is less of a one-man battering ram.

Man to Watch: Pay attention to versatile defender/midfielder Romaric, who will probably be employed as a playmaker in this Ivorian team. I would expect him to be the most advanced of a midfield trio alongside Didier Zokora and Yaya Toure, allowing Gervinho and Salomon Kalou to flank Drogba.

Prediction: For my money, everything depends on Drogba’s fitness. If he’s fit and his elbow doesn’t bother him, I think the Ivory Coast will get out of this group, but if not, I don’t think they’ll have enough to push Portugal out of the way. I can’t see them overcoming Spain in the second round though.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Boubacar Barry (Lokeren)

16. Aristide Zogbo (Maccabi Netanya)

23. Daniel Yeboah (Abidjan)

Defenders

2. Benjamin Angoua (Valenciennes)

3. Arthur Boka (Stuttgart)

4. Kolo Toure (Manchester City)

6. Steve Gohouri (Wigan)

17. Siaka Tiene (Valenciennes)

20. Guy Demel (Hamburg)

21. Emmanuel Eboue (Arsenal)

22. Sol Bamba (Hibernian)

Midfielders

5. Didier Zokora (Sevilla)

9. Cheick Tiote (FC Twente)

12. Jean-Jacques Gosso (Monaco)

13. Romaric (Sevilla)

14. Emmanuel Kone (International)

18. Abdul Kader Keita (Galatasaray)

19. Yaya Toure (Barcelona)

Forwards

7. Seydou Doumbia (CSKA Moscow)

8. Salomon Kalou (Chelsea)

10. Gervinho (Lille)

11. Didier Drogba (Chelsea)

15. Aruna Dindane (Lekhwiya)

PORTUGAL

FIFA World Ranking: 3

Team Colours: Red shirts with green trim and a green horizontal stripe, white shorts, green socks. Away kit is white with green trim and two vertical stripes, one green and one red, green shorts, white socks.

Manager: Former manager of the host nation, Carlos Quieroz has had a rocky time of it since taking over as Portugal coach in 2008. He’s overseen their most frustrating qualifying period for some time and doesn’t look entirely comfortable as the top man rather than an assistant, in much the same way that he did when he was briefly in charge of Real Madrid a few years ago before skulking back to Fergie at Old Trafford.

Form: Qualifying was pretty horrific for Portugal, with very little cohesion and nearly avoiding even making it into the playoffs. Denmark beat them to the automatic qualification and they only finished a point ahead of Sweden and three ahead of Hungary. Among other lowlights were a 0-0 home draw with lowly Albania, and two nil-all draws with Sweden. Their friendlies have been improving – a pretty poor 0-0 draw with Cape Verde has been followed with more comforting wins over Cameroon and Mozambique, but Portugal are yet to be tested by a seriously good side, and therein lies the worry.

Captain: Now, for the most part of this blog, I will do my best to be unbiased, but I’m sorry, when it comes to this man, I can’t do it. Cristiano Bloody Ronaldo is to my mind the most odious man on the planet, a smug, arrogant cheating little rat. But I suppose he’s a pretty decent footballer. It doesn’t seem like Quieroz has figured out the best way to build the team around him yet, and at times he’s been the only man to have salvaged points for Portugal in qualifying. Another incredible goalscoring season, this time 26 in 29 for Real Madrid, means Ronaldo is the key man for his team, but in past major tournaments he hasn’t really shone. Let’s hope the same happens again for the obnoxious git.

Key Man: This may be an odd choice, but in a group filled with attacking firepower (and North Korea), Portugal need goalkeeper Eduardo to step up. The Braga man was behind Quim in the pecking order but since making his debut last year has won 15 caps and managed to force Quim out of the squad altogether, leaving Portugal with a very inexperienced group of keepers. Behind Eduardo, Beto and Daniel Fernandes have just 3 caps between them. Eduardo needs to marshal a potentially shaky defence if Portugal are to avoid being high-profile casualties.

Man to Watch: Venezuelan-born attacking midfielder/second striker Danny could be a breakout star for Portugal this summer. Probably playing behind Brazilian Liedson, he’s quick and nimble and scored ten goals last season for St. Petersburg side Zenit. Manchester United fans will remember him for scoring the winner in the Super Cup against them in 2008.

Prediction: Same thing I said for the Ivory Coast – if Drogba is fit then I can see Portugal failing to escape this group, as they have talent in their traditional areas (on the wings with Ronaldo and Simao, behind the striker with Danny) but leave something to be desired in midfield and defence. Exciting, dynamic players like Joao Moutinho have been left out of the midfield in favour of Deco, who rarely exerts any influence these days, and Tiago, who was never all that in the first place and has been passed around the European leagues trying to find a club where he can make an impression. My money is on Portugal to exit at the first opportunity, and I look forward to seeing poor ickle Ronnie have a good cry about it.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Eduardo (Braga)

12. Beto (Porto)

22. Daniel Fernandes (Iraklis)

Defenders

2. Bruno Alves (Porto)

3. Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea)

4. Rolando (Porto)

5. Duda (Malaga)

6. Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea)

13. Miguel (Valencia)

15. Pepe (Real Madrid)

21. Ricardo Costa (Valencia)

23. Fabio Coentrao (Benfica)

Midfielders

8. Pedro Mendes (Sporting CP)

10. Danny (Zenit St. Petersburg)

14. Miguel Veloso (Sporting CP)

16. Raul Meireles (Porto)

19. Tiago (Atletico Madrid)

20. Deco (Chelsea)

Forwards

7. Cristiano Bloody Ronaldo, captain (Real Madrid)

9. Liedson (Sporting CP)

11. Simao (Atletico Madrid)

17. Ruben Amorim (Benfica)

18. Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen)

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 C Preview

GROUP C

ENGLAND

FIFA World Ranking: 8

Team Colours: All white. Away kit is red shirts with white trim, white shorts, and red socks.

Manager: Fabio Capello has stamped his authority on the England team, forcing discipline and professionalism into training where Shteve McClaren let the players run the show. The Italian, who guided A.C. Milan to the Champions League in 1994, has yet to make England an excellent team but has certainly steadied the ship after McClaren’s disastrous reign. Refuses to be bullied by the media but doesn’t quite seem to have settled on his preferred tactics yet, having previously favoured pairing Wayne Rooney with Emile Heskey up front but deviating from that in the preparatory friendlies.

Form: One of the first European teams to qualify for the finals, England made good work of their qualifying group, with nine straight wins to seal their place before losing the dead rubber against Ukraine, and scored a European high of 34 goals during that campaign. The stats perhaps flattered them a little – the only game in which England really shined was the Theo Walcott-inspired demolition of Croatia in Zagreb that earned revenge over their Euro 2008 qualifying nemesis. More recently England have been uninspiring – they won friendlies against Mexico and Japan that they deserved to lose, having been outplayed in both and causing several players to lose their places in the squad, including Walcott.

Captain: Following yesterday’s tournament-ending injury to Rio Ferdinand, England are spared the most uninspiring captain of all time (Rio probably thought that when Capello told him he was the captain that they were going to pretend to be pirates) and instead Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard takes the armband. This is a huge tournament for Gerrard – coming off the back of a disappointing season for his club, he has never played consistently at his best for his country and at age 30, this may be his last chance to make an impact at the World Cup. Rumours of a £30 million bid for his services by Real Madrid will follow him throughout the summer, but Gerrard may well find the captaincy liberating, allowing him to drive the team on in the same way that he has done in the past for his club.

Key Man: It’s tempting to say Frank Lampard, but you just can’t look past Rooney, the only English striker who can really do damage to the top teams. Everything comes down to how England make room for him – it’s the unfashionable option but I think Heskey needs to play alongside him. Rooney himself has said that he prefers playing with Heskey, and Capello’s inclusion of the Aston Villa striker in the squad against his previous statement that he wouldn’t pick players not playing for their clubs shows his importance. It will also be vital that Rooney doesn’t lose his temper – he’s shown signs of improved maturity over the last couple of years, but he will be one of the first to grow frustrated if the game isn’t going well.

Man to Watch: Four years ago Owen Hargeaves won back the hearts of an entire nation by being the only English player to visibly run all over the pitch with 100% effort and determination, and this year, though he’s already better known to English fans, James Milner will be the one who can be absolutely relied on to keep going even if everything seems lost. Has been a revelation since his club manager Martin O’Neill moved him into the centre of midfield, but he can play pretty much anywhere on the pitch except maybe centre-half or in goal, and will likely be the first person that Capello turns to off the bench.

Prediction: England have a thin squad with the possible exception of the midfield and need to avoid any more injuries to key players. They do have the virtue of a kind draw, though. They should easily move past this group and you would expect them to overcome Serbia in the second round. A potential rematch with Mexico awaits in the quarter finals, which could be a stumbling block, but again England would be favourites for that. But as soon as England bump into a really good team – most likely Brazil in the semi finals – they will probably be brushed aside.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. David James (Portsmouth)

12. Robert Green (West Ham)

23. Joe Hart (Manchester City)

Defenders

2. Glen Johnson (Liverpool)

3. Ashley Cole (Chelsea)

5. Ledley King (Tottenham)

6. John Terry (Chelsea)

13. Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa)

15. Matthew Upson (West Ham)

18. Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)

20. Michael Dawson (Tottenham)

Midfielders

4. Steven Gerrard, captain (Liverpool)

7. Aaron Lennon (Tottenham)

8. Frank Lampard (Chelsea)

11. Joe Cole (Chelsea)

14. Gareth Barry (Manchester City)

16. James Milner (Aston Villa)

17. Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City)

22. Michael Carrick (Manchester United)

Forwards

9. Peter Crouch (Tottenham)

10. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

19. Jermain Defoe (Tottenham)

21. Emile Heskey (Aston Villa)

USA

FIFA World Ranking: 14

Team Colours: White shirts with a grey diagonal stripe and red trim, white shorts with red and blue trim, white socks. Away kit is dark blue shirts with a white diagonal stripe and red trim, dark blue shorts and dark blue socks.

Manager: 52-year-old Bob Bradley managed first in college soccer and then in the MLS for nine years with Chicago Fire, MetroStars and Chivas USA. He was originally named interim national team manager following the 2006 World Cup as everyone expected Jurgen Klinsmann to take over, but while negotiations with the great striker fell though, Bradley was busy building with young players as if he was already the full-time manager. He was eventually given the job permanently in early 2007 and presided over a largely successful qualification period.

Form: The US only lost twice in the final phase of CONCACAF qualfication, once to Mexico (understandable) and once to Costa Rica (an aberration). Their form during that qualfication was at times very impressive, the win away in Honduras to secure their ticket to South Africa a particular highlight as well as a flashy 8-0 thrashing of Barbados. They’ve also made sure to play several friendlies against top quality teams (and England) in the last year or so to gain experience, and also sprung a surprise at last summer’s Confederations Cup by beating Spain in the semi finals.

Captain: Former Fulham centre-back Carlos Bocanegra now plies his trade at Rennes. He’s a solid if unspectacular defender who can also ably fill in at left-back or as a holding midfielder if necessary. For a defender, he has a pretty good international scoring rate of 12 in 78, too, so expect him to be marked heavily at corners and free-kicks. Should lead the back line well.

Key Man: Only one man – if Landon Donovan plays to his potential then the USA will be a force to be reckoned with. The most talented male footballer his country has ever produced, Donovan will play behind the forwards and look to slip in from behind and look for a shooting opportunity. He’s never quite produced the goods at a major tournament before but is now in his prime – if he doesn’t make this World Cup one to remember he may never do it.

Man to Watch: 22-year-old central midfielder Michael Bradley has fought off the predictable shouts of nepotism (he’s the manager’s son) to make himself a vital part of the American XI. At just 18 he earned a transfer to Europe with Heerenveen in Holland, where he impressed, scoring 16 goals in 52 games (including 15 in his second season, the most by any American player in a foreign league), and is now in Germany with Borussia Monchengladbach. He’s a dynamic player who likes to get forward and could have a real impact on this group.

Prediction: The US are a strong side with some great goalkeepers and a handy midfield – Donovan and Bradley will be joined by Clint Dempsey, who’s had an excellent season for Fulham, and Rangers winger DaMarcus Beasley – but they have a somewhat inexperienced forward line (past Jozy Altidore and Donovan, their other three forwards have 10 caps between them) and their full-backs could be exposed by a couple of good wingers. They should definitely get out of this group and will give England a run for their money but will probably finish second. They would be underdogs in the second round where presumably Germany await them, but not incapable of springing a surprise. In fact I have a sneaky feeling that this could be a good year for the Americans. I’ll stick my neck out and say they’ll make the quarter-finals.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Tim Howard (Everton)

18. Brad Guzan (Aston Villa)

23. Marcus Hahnemann (Wolves)

Defenders

2. Jonathan Spector (West Ham)

3. Carlos Bocanegra, captain (Rennes)

5. Oguchi Onyewu (A.C. Milan)

6. Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96)

12. Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA)

15. Jay DeMerit (Watford)

21. Clarence Goodson (Start)

Midfielders

4. Michael Bradley (Borussia Monchengladbach)

7. DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers)

8. Clint Dempsey (Fulham)

10. Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy)

11. Stuart Holden (Bolton)

13. Ricardo Clark (Frankfurt)

16. Jose Francisco Torres (Pachuca)

19. Maurice Edu (Rangers)

22. Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus)

Forwards

9. Herculez Gomez (Pachuca)

14. Edson Buddle (LA Galaxy)

17. Jozy Altidore (Villarreal)

20. Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake)

ALGERIA

FIFA World Ranking: 30

Team Colours: All white with one grey sleeve and green trim on the shirts. Away kit is all green with thin vertical red and white stripes on most of the shirt.

Manager: Rabah Saadane, whose playing career was prematurely ended by a car accident at 27 years old, is now incredibly in his fifth spell as Algeria manager. He’s pretty much spent the entirety of his managerial career in the Algeria job but found time to win the African Champions League in 1989 with Raja Casablanca.

Form: Algeria’s qualification for the tournament was impressive at home but unconvincing away – which doesn’t bode too well for their trip to South Africa. They won all six games at home in the final two qualifying phases but finished deadlocked with Egypt at the end, necessitating an atmospheric tiebreaker match in neutral territory, which Algeria won. Their Africa Cup of Nations campaign went OK, starting with a terrible 3-0 loss to unfancied Malawi, but recovered to reach the semi-finals, where Egypt exacted revenge to put them out. They lost to Nigeria in the third-place playoff. They were roundly humiliated by the Republic of Ireland, who really should be here instead of France, losing 3-0 in a friendly last week, and do not look entirely ready to make a fist of this group.

Captain: 32-year-old defensive midfielder Yazid Mansouri is the most experienced member of the Algerian squad, having made his debut in 2001 and earning 65 caps since. He played briefly on loan for Coventry City in 2003 but had his contract terminated when he left to play in the Cup of Nations without his club’s permission. He doesn’t score or get forward much, and isn’t a particularly gifted player, but his experience will be important if this squad are to force their way out of the group against the odds.

Key Man: Since joining Portsmouth in 2008, Nadir Belhadj has caught the eye in an otherwise uninspiring club side, with some exciting displays down the left-side as a defender or winger. He’s plenty willing to bomb forward in search of a cross or a shot but has a tendency to blow hot and cold. Algeria need him at his best as if he plays well he is a key attacking asset.

Man to Watch: Karim Ziani is a versatile player who primarily operates down the right side of midfield but can also be utilised as a second striker. His classy performances for first Sochaux and then Marseille in Ligue 1 earned him a move to German champions Wolfsburg last summer but he has struggled for games this season. With 52 caps he is one of the more experienced players in the Algerian side but he needs to score more goals, with only 4 for his national team.

Prediction: Algeria’s squad is shockingly inexperienced – it contains 6 players with just 1 international appearance, one with only 2, three more in single figures and one, defender Carl Medjani, with none at all. They also lack a prolific striker. It’s hard to see this somewhat ragtag bunch of players making a serious impact on the group, though they may have strong periods during games against England or the USA, it seems unlikely that they would be able to dominate entire games against the likes of those teams. Qualification for the round of 16 would be a really huge achievement.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Lounes Gaouaoui (ASO Chlef)

16. Faouzi Chaouchi (ES Setif)

23. Rais M’Bohli (Slavia Sofia)

Defenders

2. Madjid Bougherra (Rangers)

3. Nadir Belhadj (Portsmouth)

4. Antar Yahia (Bochum)

5. Rafik Halliche (Nacional de Madeira)

12. Habib Bellaid (Frankfurt)

14. Carl Medjani (AC Ajaccio)

18. Abdelkader Laifaoui (ES Setif)

20. Djamel Mesbah (Lecce)

Midfielders

6. Yazid Mansouri, captain (Lorient)

7. Ryad Boudebouz (Sochaux)

8. Mehdi Lacen (Racing Santander)

15. Karim Ziani (Wolfsburg)

17. Adlene Guedioura (Wolves)

19. Hassan Yebda (Benfica)

21. Foued Kadir (Valenciennes)

22. Djamel Abdoun (Nantes)

Forwards

9. Abdelkader Ghezzal (Siena)

10. Rafik Saifi (Istres)

11. Rafik Djebbour (AEK Athens)

13. Karim Matmour (Borussia Monchengladbach)

SLOVENIA

FIFA World Ranking: 25

Team Colours: White shirts with green trim and funky green zigzag pattern across the chest, white shorts, white socks. Away kit is green shirts with yellow trim and funky yellow zigzag pattern across the chest, green shorts, green socks.

Manager: Matjaz Kek was always more known for his leadership skills than his playing ability as a player and appeared just once for his national side, but has enjoyed more success as a manager. He spent six years at Maribor, the club he finished his career at, winning two Slovenian league titles. After spending a few months coaching the Slovenian under-15s and under-16s he was given the full national team job in 2007 and upset the odds by leading Slovenia’s charge towards qualification alongside eventual group winners Slovakia, both of whom put pre-qualifying favourites Poland and the Czech Republic into the shade. He’s done a really good job with a team nobody fancied to get here.

Form: Slovenia’s surprising qualifying campaign was built on defence, conceding only four goals (only the Netherlands conceded fewer, and they played two fewer games), and they were in the hunt for the automatic qualifying spot at the top of the table until the very last day. This included two wins over the group winners Slovakia. Their playoff against Russia was thrilling, with Russia quickly taking a two-goal lead before Nejc Pecnik scored a late goal which allowed Slovenia to dig deep in defence and snatch a one-nil home win to go through on away goals. They outclassed New Zealand 3-1 in a recent friendly but will need to be ready for sterner tests than that in this group.

Captain: Robert Koren was surprisingly released by his club West Bromwich Albion having played more games for them than any outfield player in the 2008/9 Premiership season and then helping them to promotion back to the big time this year, so he will see this tournament as an opportunity to sell his services as well as lead his country. A reliable central playmaker, Koren is one of his country’s most vital assets with the most caps (46) and the most effortless talent in the squad. He picks an excellent pass and has racked up plenty of assists.

Key Man: Milivoje Novakovic is at the peak of his powers. The 31-year-old Cologne striker has a superb record of 51 goals in 108 games for his club and scored five in qualifying. He is far and away this team’s most potent goal threat and at 6’4″, he will pose a serious aerial challenge for opposition defences.

Man to Watch: This could be the summer that 25-year-old goalkeeper Samir Handanovic really makes a name for himself. The young Udinese shotstopper was part of arguably the meanest defence in Europe through qualifying and has recently won himself a bumper new contract at his club alongside talismen like Fabio Quagliarella and Asamoah Gyan.

Prediction: Slovenia should not be taken lightly. Expect some determined defending in exactly the sort of way that England, for example, usually have serious trouble with, but a lack of squad depth in midfield and up front will probably tell for Slovenia in the end. They should pick up a point or two, and could definitely get a result against Algeria, but making it to the second round is unlikely.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Samir Handanovic (Udinese)

12. Jasmin Handanovic (Mantova)

16. Aleksander Seliga (Sparta Rotterdam)

Defenders

2. Miso Brecko (FC Koln)

3. Elvedin Dzinic (Maribor)

4. Marko Suler (Gent)

5. Bostjan Cesar (Chievo Verona)

6. Branko Ilic (Lokomotiv Moscow)

13. Bojan Jokic (Chievo Verona)

19. Suad Filekovic (Maribor)

22. Matej Mavric (Koblenz)

Midfielders

8. Robert Koren, captain (unattached)

10. Valter Birsa (Auxerre)

15. Rene Krhin (Inter)

17. Andraz Kirm (Wisla Krakow)

18. Aleksander Radosavljevic (Larissa)

20. Andrej Komac (Maccabi Tel Aviv)

21. Dalibor Stevanovic (Vitesse Arnhem)

Forwards

7. Nejc Pecnik (Nacional de Madeira)

9. Zlatan Ljubijankic (Gent)

11. Milivoje Novakovic (FC Koln)

14. Zlatko Dedic (Bochum)

23. Tim Matavz (Groningen)

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)

Day 1: Czechs and Portugal win

Switzerland 0 – 1 Czech Republic. Snore.

Actually, that’s a bit unfair. It was a fairly interesting game in patches, particularly the opening fifteen minutes or so but neither team really had the quality up front to turn that promising start into an actual contest of any great interest. I was surprised that Jan Koller was playing up front on his own, given that the Koller-Baros combination has been so incredibly successful in the past, and having seen Portugal and Turkey playing the later match, I think they’ll need that kind of firepower to beat those two.

Switzerland were, of course, completely useless, as we all knew they were going to be. Alexander Frei tried his best before suffering what looks like ligament damage – his tournament’s over, but then again it was only going to last two more games anyway. After he left the pitch the Swiss were pretty much devoid of ideas, though they should have had two penalties. I’ve no idea how Tomas Ujfalusi got away with both of those blatant handballs, but I wish he’d teach me the trick.

So let’s not dwell too much on that game, as Portugal 2 – 0 Turkey was a far more entertaining affair. You may sound surprised that I’m saying that, as I’m on record as being one of the world’s leading Cristiano Ronaldo haters, and by proxy his national team as well, but I see it this way: Portugal win, Ronaldo looks good, and Real Madrid throw all the money in their piggy bank at Man United in order to take him away from the Premiership and out of my sight. Brilliant! And, of course, there were some delightful moments during the game in which the Prancing Prat fluffed his lines, shot hilariously over the bar, hit the post, etc., followed by endearing close-ups of the poor dear on the verge of tears. How satisfying.

The game itself was pretty good, as I say, though Turkey never really looked like pulling up any trees. On this evidence Portugal will definitely walk the group. Colin Kazim-Richards was probably the standout for the Turks, looking composed and comfortable on the ball throughout. Rumour is he’ll be moving back to England this summer, so he could be a good bet for one of the newly-promoted Premiership clubs, maybe.

David Pleat Watch

Erstwhile ITV “expert” David Pleat will no doubt be treating us to a whole host of pronunciation mishaps during the tournament, and he started in fine style last night trying to get his head around Chelsea’s new right-back Bosingwa. “Bosinger”, “Boswinger” and my personal favourite “Botsingwa” all made an appearance. Thank heavens they put him and Tyldesley on together, I might have to kill myself if they shared the incompetence around.

Euro 2008 Preview: Group D

Team: Greece

Manager: Otto Rehhagel is Greece’s longest-ever-serving national manager, who was highly sought after by many a European club after masterminding the Euro 2004 triumph – yet somehow has remained where he is, even signing a new contract to carry the team through to the next World Cup. He’s clearly a talented coach but he can’t really believe his squad can make lightning strike twice?

Strip: All white with blue trim. Second strip is the inverse.

Captain: Central midfielder Angelos Basinas was instrumental in the 2004 success, grabbing an assist for the cup-winning goal and taking charge of the midfield throughout the competition. Now captain, his influence cannot be underestimated (though watch me try).

Form: Incredibly, Greece gained more points in qualifying than any other team in Europe, though considering their main rivals were Turkey the achievement is less impressive than it might have been. They also highlighted Portugal’s need to improve if they intend to win the tournament by beating them 2-1 in a March friendly. More recently, though…a 0-0 draw with Armenia. That’s how bad the world’s 8th-ranked side have the potential to be.

Man to Watch: Stelios Giannakopoulos has been told he won’t be getting a new contract at Bolton, so he’ll be looking to prove his worth to potential employers this summer. I was surprised at how little he was used, relatively speaking, last season, though when he did play he didn’t pull up many trees. On his day he adds excitement to a very functional Greek line-up.

Prediction: No way is it happening again. I don’t think Greece will get out of their group, but they could scrape a couple of points here and there.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Antonios Nikopolidis (Olympiacos)

12. Kostas Chalkias (PAOK)

13. Alexandros Tzorvas (OFI Crete)

Defenders

2. Giourkas Seitaridis (Atletico Madrid)

3. Christos Patsatzoglu (Olympiacos)

4. Nikos Spiropoulos (Panathinaikos)

5. Traianos Dellas (AEK)

11. Loukas Vintra (Panathinaikos)

15. Vassilis Torosidis (Olympiacos)

16. Sotiris Kyrgiakos (Eintracht Frankfurt)

18. Giannis Goumas (Panathinaikos)

19. Paraskevas Antzas (Olympiacos)

Midfielders

6. Angelos Basinas (Real Mallorca)

8. Stelios Giannakopoulos (free agent)

10. Giorgios Karagounis (Panathinaikos)

21. Kostas Katsouranis (Benfica)

22. Alexandros Tsiolis (Panathinaikos)

Forwards

7. Giorgios Samaras (Celtic)

9. Angelos Charisteas (Nuremberg)

14. Dimitris Salpingidis (Panathinaikos)

17. Fanis Gekas (Leverkusen)

20. Ioannis  Amanatidis (Eintracht Frankfurt)

23. Nikos Liberopoulos (AEK)

Team: Russia

Manager: Guus Hiddink has proved himself time and again as one of, if not the, best manager in the world. I’m apparently the only one who believes him when he says he’s staying with Russia rather than going to Chelsea (that’s clearly Mancini’s job) , and he’ll continue to do well with them. They may not quite be ready this time but by the 2010 World Cup they could be a real force.

Strip: All white with Russian flag colours across the chest and blue collar. Second strip is all red with the same flag effect and white collar.

Captain: Highly talented Zenit Petersburg midfielder Andrei Arshavin is the creative fulcrum of all the Russian attacks, so, helpfully, he got himself sent off with 8 minutes to go against Andorra, meaning he’ll miss the first two group games against Spain and Greece. Thankfully, he’s more intelligent when it comes to picking out a pass.

Form: Russia did their best to throw away qualification by losing away to Israel, who had nothing to play for, but as we all know England just wanted it less, and the rest is history. Their campaign had few genuine highlights apart from the comeback win against England in Moscow, and they drew twice with Croatia without ever really troubling them. A comfortable warm-up win over Lithuania leaves them cautiously optimistic.

Man to Watch: The art of getting yourself suspended from key games seems to be a feature of great Russian players. Zenit’s big target man Pavel Pogrebnyak led the line superbly in his club’s UEFA Cup campaign before getting himself suspended for the final. His team won anyway, but the imposing striker will need to take the heat off the team while Arshavin is suspended.

Prediction: It’ll probably come down to their last group game against Sweden to determine which of them will accompany Spain into the knockout stages.  It could go either way but I fancy Sweden’s greater experience will be the end of what is a youthful Russian side.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow)

12. Vladimir Gabulov (Amkar Perm)

16. Vyacheslav Malafeev (Zenit)

Defenders

2. Vasily Berezutskiy (CSKA Moscow)

4. Sergey Ignashevich (CSKA Moscow)

5. Alexei Berezutskiy (CSKA Moscow)

8. Denis Kolodin (Dinamo Moscow)

14. Roman Shirokov (Zenit)

22. Aleksandr Anyukov (Zenit)

Midfielders

3. Renat Yanbaev (Lokomotiv Moscow)

7. Dmitri Torbinski (Lokomotiv Moscow)

10. Andrei Arshavin (Zenit)

11. Sergei Semak (FC Rubin)

15. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (Lokomotiv Moscow)

17. Konstantin Zyryanov (Zenit)

18. Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow)

20. Igor Semshov (Dinamo Moscow)

23. Vladimir Bystov (Spartak Moscow)

Forwards

6. Roman Adamov (FC Moscow)

9. Ivan Saenko (Nuremberg)

13. Pavel Pogrebnyak (Zenit)

19. Roman Pavlyuchenko (Spartak Moscow)

21. Dmitri Sychev (Lokomotiv Moscow)

Team: Spain

Manager: Probably the maddest manager in world football, Luis Aragones is approximately a million years old and is going senile. I’ve been wondering why he remains in charge of the national side for a very long time, and I reckon he’ll go at the end of the tournament.

Strip: Red shirt, black shorts, black socks. Second strip is the same but with a yellow shirt.

Captain: A close second to Gigi Buffon as the world’s best goalkeeper, Iker Casillas was probably the main reason why Real Madrid won La Liga this year and last. He’ll need to be at his best as the defence is Spain’s weak link, but he can almost always be counted on and should make a valuable difference this summer.

Form: Won their qualifying group despite the occasional scare from Denmark and Northern Ireland – runners-up Sweden were relatively unthreatening – but looked convincing for the majority of their matches. Their warm-up games were not unqualified successes – it took a late winner from left-back Joan Capdevila to beat Chile and the 1-0 win over the USA was low-key – but earlier victory over Italy (while playing badly, so you know the cliche there) means the omens are good.

Man to Watch: You’ll have heard all about Torres and Villa but Real Mallorca striker Dani Guiza is a less renowned name. This season was a real breakthrough for him, scoring 27 goals to fire his team to the Intertoto Cup. Brilliant on the counterattack thanks to his pace and movement, Guiza will probably be moving on this summer and will be intending to show off his skills as a supersub.

Prediction: My head says they’ll fail again, but it’s less reluctant this year than ever, which means I feel comfortable going with my heart. I think Spain will finally end their wait for silverware this year. They’ve got the best central midfield in the world – Fabregas, Xavi, Iniesta, Senna and Alonso anyone? – and probably the best strike partnership in the world as well, with options like Guiza, Silva and Santi Cazorla on the bench. Winners.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)

13. Andres Palop (Sevilla)

23. Pepe Reina (Liverpool)

Defenders

2. Raul Albiol (Valencia)

3. Fernando Navarro (Real Mallorca)

4. Carlos Marchena (Valencia)

5. Carles Puyol (Barcelona)

11. Joan Capdevila (Villarreal)

15. Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)

18. Alvaro Arbeloa (Liverpool)

20. Juanito (Real Betis)

Midfielders

6. Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)

8. Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona)

10. Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)

12. Santi Cazorla (Villarreal)

14. Xabi Alonso (Liverpool)

19. Marcos Senna (Villarreal)

21. David Silva (Valencia)

22. Ruben de la Red (Real Madrid)

Forwards

7. David Villa (Valencia)

9. Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

16. Sergio Garcia (Real Zaragoza)

17. Dani Guiza (Real Mallorca)

Team: Sweden

Manager: Lars Lagerback has been quietly successful with Sweden for 8 years now. Having previously collaborated with Tommy Soderberg until the end of Euro 2004, he’s proven that he has the tactical nous and motivational capability to carry the team on his own. Whether he will stay on after the tournament is unsure, but he looks content enough in his position for now.

Strip: Yellow shirt with blue trim, blue shorts, yellow socks. Second strip is all black with yellow trim.

Captain: Freddie Ljungberg, always managing to be both industrious and creative at the same time, is a fitness doubt for Sweden after an injury-interrupted season for West Ham, but is expected to be at least mostly fit, which they will settle for. At 31, this may be his last tournament on the front lines, and he’s still got enough quality to stamp his mark on Austria and Switzerland.

Form: They started qualifying strongly with four straight wins but things became difficult after David Healy sunk them in Belfast. The Swedes were, however, typically efficient, qualifying on the last day of the campaign to reach their fifth consecutive major tournament. Their friendlies tell us little – a 1-0 win over Slovenia was to be expected, while the same scoreline was their undoing against Ukraine. A few niggling injuries may stunt their progress.

Man to Watch: 28-year-old winger Christian Wilhelmsson seems to have travelled all over Europe recently at club level, turning out for Anderlecht, Nantes, Roma, Bolton and Deportivo in the space of just over two years, but remains a quality player who can cut inside or cross from out wide to great effect. Should work in tandem with Ljungberg on the flanks.

Prediction: Their superior experience to Russia and greater quality than Greece should see them through to the quarters, but they are unlikely to trouble the winners of Group C.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Andreas Isaksson (Man City)

12. Rami Shaaban (Hammarby)

13. Johan Wiland (Elfsborg)

Defenders

2. Mikael Nilsson (Panathinaikos)

3. Olof Mellberg (Juventus)

4. Petter Hansson (Rennes)

5. Fredrik Stoor (Rosenborg)

14. Daniel Majstorovic (AEK)

15. Andreas Granqvist (Wigan)

23. Mikael Dorsin (CFR Cluj)

Midfielders

6. Tobias Linderoth (Galatasaray)

7. Niclas Alexandersson (Goteborg)

8. Anders Svensson (Elfsborg)

9. Freddie Ljungberg (West Ham)

16. Kim Kallstrom (Lyon)

18. Sebastian Larsson (Birmingham)

19. Daniel Andersson (Malmo)

21. Christian Wilhelmsson (Deportivo La Coruna)

Forwards

10. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter)

11. Johan Elmander (Toulouse)

17. Henrik Larsson (Helsingborgs)

20. Marcus Allback (FC Copenhagen)

22. Markus Rosenberg (Werder Bremen)