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In our various World Cup previews we have mentioned how the likes of England, Spain and the Netherlands have been massive underachievers. Would Argentina be the biggest underachiever of them all? After all they have only been to the semi-finals four times in their history. Compare this to the likes of Italy, Brazil and Germany who have made the final four – eight, 10 and 11 times respectively.
Argentina lost the final of the very first World Cup, won it for the first time when they hosted it in 1978 and then made back to back finals during the Maradona era. And that’s it.
Since 1990, they have struggled. Maradona’s drug scandal rocked them in 1994, they were bundled out by the Dutch in 1998, they couldn’t get past the group stage in 2002 and then lost a penalty shootout to Germany in 2006. The loss in 2006 was particularly galling as they had what many regarded as a dream team and had supercoach Jose Pekerman to guide them.
While Argentina are always going to have the most amazing talent at their disposal maybe the key is being able to play as a team. This isn’t made easy when the manager makes more headlines than the team. Qualifying for the 2010 World Cup was a bumpy ride but in the end, Maradona got La Albiceleste there.
Now they find themselves in a group with Nigeria, Greece and South Korea. None of these sides are really going to scare Argentina. After losing to Cameroon in 1990, Argentina hasn’t since lost to an African side at the World Cup. They smashed Greece in 1994 and will have too much talent and skill for South Korea.
The squad is so good and has that much fantasy football value that the problem is who to leave out. They have the likes of Martín Demichelis (Bayrne Munich), Gonzalo Higuan (Real Madrid), Carlos Tevez (Manchest City), Walter Samuel (Inter), Javier Mascherano (Liverpool), Sergio Agüero (Atlético Madrid), Maxi Rodríguez (Liverpool), Diego Milito (Inter) and obviously Lionel Messi (Barcelona).
Messi is arguably the best player in the world and a big favorite for the Golden Boot. Milito is in great form and led Inter to the Champions League title.
During qualifying they shared around the goals with Agüero, Messi and Juan Román Riquelme leading the way each with four goals.
For Argentina the key is to get to the semi-finals. They want to get over that hump of the quarter-finals which they haven’t been able to get past in the last 20 years. Get by that and anything is possible.
11 more long days before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa kicks off. In the meantime we are proud to present our 11Kicks Fantasy Football iPhone application for the World Cup. We rerally hope you will have fun with the App which is one of a kind…
The App let’s you
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- Trash-talk with friends and fellow competitors
- Keep up-to-date with the events and scores
- Follow your fantasy team’s points and scoring in real-time
You can download the app for free here
When it came to qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, all of the European nations were seeded into six pots. The best nine were in the first pot, second best nine were in the second pot and so on and so forth. Such being the case, for someone to qualify from the fifth pot is pretty remarkable.
The quality of the sides in the fifth pot were the likes of Latvia, Iceland, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Slovenia. That is were Slovenia came from to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. After the draw was finished it found itself in a group along with Poland, the Czech Republic, Northern Ireland and Slovakia. The crazy thing about this group is that Slovakia were from the fourth pot and also qualified.
After the 10 qualifying matches, Slovakia topped the group with 22 points and Slovenia was second with 20. The Czechs were in third spot on 16. This put it in a play-off with Russia. After losing the first leg 2-1 in Moscow it won the return match 1-0 in Maribor to go through to its second World Cup.
It’s first was in 2002. It was in a group with Spain, Paraguay and South Africa and lost all three games. This time it is with England, USA and Algeria and is hoping to do better.
During the qualifying Milivoje Novakovič was their leading scorer with five goals. The Koln player is a good fantasy football option. Other Slovenians who you may consider for your World Cup fantasy football side are Branko Ilič (Lokomotiv Moscow), Bojan Jokic (Chievo), Robert Koren (West Bromwich Albion), Rene Krhin (Inter) and Valter Birsa (Auxerre).
The bottom line is that not many pundits are expecting them to make it through to the second round. It is already a huge shock that they have made it this far. Do they have the capabilities to make it further?
There have been many teams which have underachieved at the World Cup over the years – teams such as England, Netherlands, France and Spain come to mind. The one team which is mainly responsible for that is Germany. If there is one team which peaks at the right time it is Die Mannschaft. Even if they aren’t playing well in the opening stages they get through and then keep on going.
Their worst performance since 1954 is the quarter-finals. No-one else can manage that level of consistency over the last 50 years. It hasn’t lost a group match since 1986 when Denmark defeated it. In fact it only has five losses in the first-round of the World Cup going all the way back to 1934.
The most impressive statistic is that it has been in four penalty-shootouts at the World Cup and won them all. Each time they left their opponent absolutely devastated: France (1982), Mexico (1986), England (1990) and Argentina (2006). They only know one way and that is forward.
For qualifying they topped their group containing Russia, Finland, Wales, Azerbaijan and Liechtenstein. During the qualifiers Germany had four focal points in attack. Miroslav Klose led the way with seven goals then you had Lukas Podolski with six, Michael Ballack with four and Bastian Schweinsteiger with three. Klose won the golden boot in 2006 with five goals and could be a good chance to win the prestigious award twice. Five goals was actually the lowest winning tally since 1962. Obviously with Ballack out, the other three will shoulder more of the load.
Klose will provide tremendous World Cup fantasy football potential as will most of the German squad. With Ballack out injured the entire squad consists of players from the Bundesliga. Apart from the players already mentioned there is Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich), Piotr Trochowski (Hamburg), Marcell Jansen (Hamburg) and Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich).
Germany has issues at goalkeeper where it lacks the experience that it has in the past but does it really matter? They will do what they have always done which is win. They are in a tough group but if they didn’t advance it would be the biggest surprise of the World Cup. How big? It would be bigger than North Korea winning the tournament.
If you a fan of Germany there is only one thing you want to see:
When you are speaking heavyweight contender, Spain would be right up there but are 70 years of underachieving going to hold firm? If Spain hadn’t won the 2008 European Championships no-one would be giving them too much thought. After all, if there is one thing which has consistently held firm World Cup after World Cup is that pedigree holds true. And the bottom line is that La Roja haven’t made the last four since 1950.
The reason they made the last four then was that all four group winners went straight into the final four. They have made every World Cup since 1974 and what has been their record since then? Two eliminations from the group stage, three Round of 16 exits, bundled out in Round 2 once and three times knocked out at the quarter final stage. Every time they have left with the sense of underachievement and failure.
The like of Raul, Fernando Hierro, Emilio Butragueño, Michel and Andoni Zubizarreta have all been scratching their heads wondering where it all went wrong.
Spain has always found the inopportune times to be on the wrong end of bad luck – In 1986 they were knocked out by Belgium in a penalty shoot-out; in 1990 it was Yugoslavia in extra-time; in 2002 it was a penalty shoot-out to South Korea and in 2006 it was running into a French side that was just too good.
Which is it going to be this time?
In qualifying Spain was a perfect 10 from 10 in a group that contained Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Belgium, Estonia and Armenia. They scored 28 goals and only let in five. David Villa led the charge with seven while Juan Manuel Mata, David Silva and Gerard Pique all scored three.
Vicente del Bosque has a formidable side at his disposal – one that has massive fantasy football value. All of the squad are playing in La Liga but for Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) and Pepe Reina (Liverpool). Everywhere you look, Spain is oozing with class and talent – so much so that the question is who to leave out? In above to the already mentioned, you have Carles Puyol, Andrés Iniesta and Xavi from Barcelona; Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas from Real Madrid.
Spain has great candidates for the Golden Boot – the only problem being that they may jeopardize each other. Although saying that, Villa topped the scoring at Euro 2008 with four goals.
They have three games against Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Poland before the World Cup starts in order to get their combinations flowing.
On paper, there is no doubt that Spain should top their group containing Honduras, Switzerland and Chile. From there they will have to try and negotiate three knockout matches to try and get to the final.
Spanish fans will be hoping for more of this:
Most often history is the best form-guide and if you go by that, once again Spain will disappoint.
The 11kicksblog is speaking to a number of figures in the football world as to their thoughts of the upcoming World Cup. We begin with Grant Wahl – the soccer columnist for Sports Illustrated, tweeter and the author of the Beckham Experiment which is being released in paperback next Tuesday. The book is a great read and a must for any football fan. There is also new afterword to the book.
11Kicks Blog: What would be a good result for USA?
Grant Wahl: To get at least into the second round. They have one of the easiest group at the World Cup and if they don’t get past the first round it will be a disappointment. We will see what happens beyond that. They would be quite happy to get to the quarter finals and beyond that is even better.
11KB: Do you think expectations were higher last time when they made the quarter finals in 2002?
GW: If you are only a casual soccer follower and saw that they made the quarter finals in 2002 you would have thought they would do just as well four years later but the USA had a very difficult group last time (Italy, Ghana, Czech Republic) if not the hardest in the tournament. So much of everything is dependent on the draw and this time round the USA fared well.
11KB: Which players who are currently under the radar do you think will become stars as a result of the World Cup?
GW: I think Chile’s Humberto Suazo. While he is already a proven goalscorer, I think his profile will increase as a result of the World Cup. Chile aren’t in the toughest group and are a good chance of getting into the second round and beyond.
Also, I think Ángel Di María will have a good tournament.
11KB: Who will underachieve?
GW: I think France are in a tough group and that they will disappoint. There is a lot of confusion with the team. Argentina is very talented but with an erratic coach it will be difficult. I don’t think Germany will do as well as they normally do.
11KB: Who will overachieve?
GW: Serbia. They will win their group and are my dark horse to win the tournament. My real favorite is Spain who I think will win it all. They are ready to win a World Cup and winning the 2008 European Championships will take lot of pressure off their back. They will beat England in the final and England will get there after beating Brazil in the semi-finals.
11KB: How do you think the African teams will do?
GW: I have Cameroon upsetting Italy in the second round and Nigeria beating Mexico in the second round. The draw hasn’t been too kind to them with the Ivory Coast and Ghana both getting difficult groups and South Africa will struggle.
11KB: Who will win the Golden Boot?
GW: Wayne Rooney. He is the main scoring threat for England as opposed to Spain where the goals will be split between David Villa and Fernando Torres.
11KB: Speaking of your book, how do you think David Beckham would have fared had he been fit to play at the World Cup?
GW: He wouldn’t have started but he would have been a substitute and in that role, like he did in qualifying, he would have had an impact when he came on.
11KB: Do you think FIFA should have introduced technology at the World Cup to aid the officials?
GW: They need to do it at some point. I understand why they didn’t do it now because of the short time frame but at some point they need to introduce some sort of video assistance for the officials.
There is always pressure on the World Cup host but especially this time. South Africa needs to do well on the pitch and that is in doubt as they aren’t the best team. Would they have qualified if they hadn’t been the hosts?
As it was they participated in World Cup qualifying as it also doubled as qualifying for the African Cup of Nations. They were eliminated in the second round when they finished second to Nigeria.
They qualified twice previously in 1998 and 2002 and both times failed to make it past the group stage. Will they be the first host in the history of the World Cup not to get past the first round?
Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira is hoping that this isn’t the case. As you would imagine, South Africa has played an extensive amount of friendlies. But they have been against sides like Zimbabwe, Namibia, North Korea, Jamaica and Thailand. Not exactly the world’s best teams.
In March they played Paraguay in Asuncion and drew 1-1 and it played Bulgaria in Soweto during the week and again drew 1-1. It plays Colombia tonight and then meets Guatemala and Denmark before its opening match of the World Cup against Mexico.
Most of its players play locally but it has a few exports. Aaron Mokoena (Portsmouth), Kagisho Dikgacoi (Fulham), Benni McCarthy (West Ham)
and Steven Pienaar (Everton) all play in the English Premier League. Pienaar in particular will be good fantasy football value.
As for the goals, expect them to come from the likes of McCarthy, Siyabonga Nomvethe, Katlego Mphela and Bernard Parker.
South Africa has played six games at the World Cup for a record of one win, three draws and two losses. The one win came against Slovenia in 2002. In 2002 they actually tied for second spot with Paraguay and had the same goal difference but the South Americans went through by virtue of scoring one more goal.
But who knows? Bafana Bafana will have some massive home town support and that could see them get by Mexico, Uruguay and France. In recent opening games we have seen some funny things – if Cameroon can beat Argentina and Senegal can topple France then surely anything is possible!
Tonight Mexico will hope to bounce back from its loss to England by taking on the Netherlands. If there is anyone who typifies the perpetual cycle of entering the World Cup with expectations only to leave disappointed its the Dutch. Along with Hungary, they would be the hard-luck stories from over the course of the World Cup. These two and Czechoslovakia are the only three teams to have played in more than one World Cup final and never won.
But the Dutch are the only team to have lost successive World Cup finals and both times they had the misfortune of playing the host in the final meaning they were up against some enthusiastic hometown support.
After playing in the 1934 and 1938 World Cups, the Netherlands didn’t play in another World Cup until 1974. Then Johan Cruyff and Total Football were at the peak of their powers. They would then miss the 1982 and 1986 World Cups as well as the 2002 World Cup.
While supremely talented it just hasn’t had the ability to get by at the crucial times – in 1990 it was Germany, in 1994 and 1998 it was Brazil and in 2006 it was Portugal. The Dutch lose their nerve at key times and that is what has cost them dearly.
Bert van Marwijk would be hoping that it doesn’t happen this time. In qualifying they were a prefect eight from eight in a group containing Norway, Scotland, Macedonia and Iceland. The Dutch goals were spread around with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Dirk Kuyt both scoring three times and Mark Van Bommel and Rafael van der Vaart both scoring twice.
The Dutch aren’t going to be short of talent at the World Cup – you can tell this by the quality of the player they are going to have to omit from their 23 man squad. These are players who would walk into nearly any other team.
Across the park they are laden with class and tremendous fantasy football potential. Where to begin? Along with the aforementioned you have Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), Wesley Sneijder (Inter), Mark van Bommel (Bayern Munich), Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich), Robin van Persie (Arsenal) and Ryan Babel (Liverpool).
Sneijder was instrumental in leading Inter to the Champions League title while there is no way Bayern Munich would have got as far as they did without Robben.
Following tonight’s game they have friendlies against Ghana and Hungary. In a group containing Cameroon, Japan and Denmark, the Dutch should top it with ease. This would see them play the runner-up of Group F which would be Paraguay and Slovakia and from there the quarter-finals await. There they could meet either Brazil or Portugal – two of its previous nemesis. Is this the time they the Dutch pull it all together?
We’ll have to wait and see. Until then, you can enjoy the time when the Dutch managed to do this.
We are in full World Cup warm-up mode. Six friendlies yesterday, seven today, six on Wednesday and then another five on Thursday. Fun and exciting for the teams who are going to the World Cup – not so much for those who aren’t. One game today involves two teams who are both going to the World Cup – North Korea and Greece.
This will be just the second World Cup for Greece. Its first in 1994 was a disaster. Paired with Argentina, Bulgaria and Nigeria, it didn’t score a goal and leaked 10. Following two 4-0 defeats, it ended with a 2-0 loss.
Greece is obviously a different proposition and regarded in a different light when it won the 2004 European Championships. It missed out on qualifying for the 2006 World Cup when it finished fourth behind Ukraine, Turkey and Denmark.
That was a very tough group – this time round it finished second to Switzerland and ahead of Latvia and Israel. It has a play-off against Ukraine which it won. Now it gets the chance to have some sort of redemption for 1994 as its in a group with two of its foes from then. The group contains Argentina, Nigeria and South Korea.
Coach Otto Rehhagel has a good squad at his disposal. Sotirios Kyrgiakos (Liverpool), Theofanis Gekas (Eintracht Frankfurt),
Angelos Charisteas (Nuremberg), Georgios Samaras (Celtic) will lead the charge of a squad which is mainly assembled from players who play in Greece.
Greece will be looking to Charisteas and Gekas for goals and both of those provide great World Cup fantasy football value.
Gekas scored 10 of Greece’s 20 goals during qualifying while Charisteas added another four.
If you want to relive better times for the Greek team
But don’t be surprised if this World Cup is another Greek tragedy.
Tonight England hosts Mexico at Wembley. Will Fabio Capello be able to do what no-one has been able to do since 1966? Every World Cup winning manager becomes an instant legend but if Capello succeeds he will go to an even higher level.
For England the problem has always been peaking at the right time – that and penalty shootouts. They were eliminated in 1990, 1998 and 2006 due to the dreaded shootout. They have never won a penalty shootout at the World Cup.
In a group containing Ukraine and Croatia they qualified easily. They won their opening game and then lost to Ukraine which knocked out their nemesis Croatia.
Capello has named a 30 man squad consisting entirely of players who are in the English Premier League. He needs to cut it by seven to 23 at month’s end. Wayne Rooney will be their even though he may not be 100% due to injury.
The stars are going to be the usual suspects such as Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard. Up front, Darren Bent should get the nod. It would have been good if Bobby Zamora would haev been fit enough to been selected. Elsewhere will Aaron Lennon be fit enough to make an impact?
Following the Mexico game, England will play a friendly against Japan in Austria. Then its off to South Africa where they will take on USA, Slovenia and Algeria. England should top the group in which case its next assignment would be against the runner-up of Group D which contains Germany, Serbia and Australia.
The key for England is to play aggressive, attacking football. They should want to win the game in 90 minutes and if not that, then in 120. If they can avoid penalties they should. They have the talent to go all the way – they just have to believe in themselves and take their chances.
Every now and then it can all click – just like this:
