2010 FIFA World Cup: Who Gets Through To the Knockout Round?
The FIFA World Cup 2010 begins tomorrow morning here in the United States. This World Cup will be extremely special to the Americans, as we have a lot of hope to make a run at this thing. But the U.S.A. is only one of 32 teams vying for a birth in the knockout round. Group play is one of the great aspects of international competition. So, let's break down group by group to see who gets through. GROUP A France, Mexico, South Africa, Uruguay The big named countries are there. France and Mexico would appear to be the easy 1, 2 for the group. But that's where you're wrong! Mexico, not France, is the easy through. But, with no disrespect to host country South Africa, Uruguay will make a run at the French. The aggressive Uruguay team can score goals as well, and should they keep their cool on the big stage, they could defeat France and possibly even tie Mexico. I give them the edge. Mexico and Uruguay advance. GROUP B Argentina, Greece, Nigeria, South Korea Argentina has arguably the greatest player in the world in Lionel Messi. Look to him to be a great scorer in leading the Argentinians to the knockout round. Nigeria will give them a run in their meeting on Saturday, but Messi will prove to be too much. With what I believe to be sub par opponents in South Korea and Greece, Argentina and Nigeria will easily advance. Argentina and Nigeria advance. GROUP C Algeria, England, Slovenia, United States Algeria and Slovenia are solid group mates for the U.S.A. and England, but if the latter two do not advance, this could be one of the biggest upsets of the entire 2010 Cup. The only drama here should the U.S. and England hold serve is who wins the huge match-up on Saturday. I like Howard in goal for the Americans, but Rooney & Co. will prove too much. England and United States advance. GROUP D Australia, Germany, Ghana, Serbia One of the most interesting groups lies here. Germany, which is almost always a lock to get out of group play, will have to lose twice to get bumped. Although I do see Serbia or Ghana stealing points from the Germans, they still get through winning the group. Ghana and Serbia are both good teams. But Ghana will be without Michael Essien, a catalyst in the midfield. The stiff defense of the Serbs should get the best of Ghana in Sunday's match. But this race could effectively be decided by Australia. Should the Aussies steal a win from either the Serbs or Ghana, which they are capable of, the whole outlook of the group could change. I still like Serbia to join Germany in the round of 16. Germany and Serbia advance. GROUP E Cameroon, Denmark, Japan, Netherlands Not to get ahead of myself, but I like the Dutch to make a push to win it all. In fact, if they don't get all nine points in the group stage, I would be extremely surprised. That being said, Cameroon and Denmark will face off on the 19th of June to determine who has the upper hand for second place. The Danes are hot, winning a tough qualifying group which included Portugal. But the experience from the holdovers from Cameroon's 2000 gold medal winning team, added to the young stars like Alex Song should prevail, as they also play an European type of soccer. With a tie in that game not out of the question, the story will then go to whoever scores more goals against Japan. The goal differential there will decide who advances should the match on the 19th yield a tie. But I say Cameroon wins that game, and advances with the Dutch. Netherlands and Cameroon advance. GROUP F Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay, Slovakia No surprise here, Italy should win the group. Paraguay and Slovakia will duke it out on the 20th to get the edge to advance. No disrespect to New Zealand, but they are surely the weak spot here. I tend to like the aggressive style of Slovakia to beat Paraguay, who will show up. The tragic shooting of forward Salvador Cabanas, the top scorer in qualifying, has this team playing for him. He is lucky to be alive. Unfortunately, only two can advance, and the two better teams are Italy and Slovakia. Italy and Slovakia advance. GROUP G Brazil, Ivory Coast, North Korea, Portugal Ah, the group of death. Brazil will have issues defeating both Portugal and the Ivory Coast, should Didier Drogba play. But I see Brazil getting at least seven points, which should be good enough to win the group. North Korea isn't a terrible team, but the three opponents will make them look like it. I see Cristiano Ronaldo playing his best game on the 15th against the Ivorians, which effectively knocks them out of the competition, unless of course they can upset Brazil. But I can't see that happening. Brazil and Portugal advance. GROUP H Chile, Honduras, Spain, Switzerland Spain is a premier team, and shouldn't drop a point in this group. If Switzerland had more scoring threats, I could see them advancing. But Chile and Honduras will battle it out for who moves on. Honduras may be the second most exciting team in the tournament behind Argentina. But the big guns of Chile, another country with weight on their shoulders from the huge earthquake, should defeat them. Their match-up on the 16th is still a must watch, but the Chileans should win. Spain and Chile advance. Knowing that the group stage has yet to begin, these predictions are subject to change. But this is how I feel about how the World Cup 2010 will play out until the knockout rounds. I will not play out the whole tournament, but I will tell you that I like the Netherlands to defeat Spain in the final. But that being said, there will be a new article after group play with my predictions on the actual 16 teams in the knockout round. So, World, let's sit back and enjoy the beautiful game, and never forget the moments it brings us.
