Teams in Group A: South Africa, France, Mexico, Uruguay
Brief Overview: South Africa has draw the most difficult group for a host nation at least since the USA's group in 1994 (and that team could advance in 3rd place because it was a 24 team tournament with only six groups), a surprise given what normally transpires for host nations, none of whom have ever failed to qualify for round two. France, while controversially in the tournament after the Theirry Henry handball goal in the playoff against Ireland has recent World Cup success on their side despite not having been in good form since the 2006 final. Mexico overcame a disaster of a start in the final round of CONCACAF qualifying to ride into the World Cup on a wave of momentum and small little Uruguay will bring its usual all-out attack offensive game for another attempt at recreating the past glory of two World Cup Championships in the tourney's early days.
Questions for each team and group prediction after the jump
South Africa
Can a team with the second worst offense in the tournament (according to the ESPN Soccer Power Index) possibly score enough to advance?
Is the home field advantage enough to make up for a decided lack of talent?
If the team is eliminated after round one, will it really cast a pall over the entire tournament like some are saying it will?
Key game: Game 1 vs. Mexico, a necessary game to build confidence
France
Can a team with already fragile chemistry recover from the disarray of egos and the Ribery/Benzema underage prostitution issue?
Is there a leader to replace the great Zinedine Zidane and guide the French roster?
Do the old guys (Vieira, Gallas, Henry) have one last run in them?
Key Game: Game 1 vs Uruguay, nothing repairs fragile chemistry like winning. A loss here could signal an early exit like 2002
Mexico
Can they endure the opening onslaught that is sure to come from host South Africa?
Can Blanco really survive the rigors of World Cup play at age 37?
Are Giovani Dos Santos and Javier Hernandez ready to lead Mexico into the future?
Key game: Game 1 vs South Africa, in a balanced group, losing the one game you're definitely supposed to win in the opener would be a bad omen
Uruguay
Is there any defense to support Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez's striking capability?
Can the two star forwards remain healthy as Uruguay is a small nation without much depth?
Can this team ever be consistent after winning qualifying matches by 5-0 (against Bolivia) and 6-0 (against Peru) scores then drawing and losing to those teams in the return games?
Key game: Game 2 vs South Africa, Goal differential has a chance to play a role in who advances and the best chance to rack up a four or five goal win to ensure passage in that scenario is against the hosts.
Group Prediction
Uruguay wins the group behind its offense
Mexico advances despite a surprising draw against South Africa
South Africa make a good run at it but can't find the offense to win a game
France collapses in a mass of infighting and egos behind their hated coach after losing the opener to Uruguay.
Team Win Draw Loss Pts
Uruguay 2 1 0 7
Mexico 1 2 0 5
South Africa 0 2 1 2
France 0 1 2 1
No comments:
Post a Comment