2010 FIFA World Cup: Preview Part 3 and Arsenal News

We're almost there as the World Cup starts today and we get to watch some football again at last.It seems like an eternity since the season ended for Arsenal and even though my own country aren't playing at the World Cup I'll still enjoy watching the 10 Arsenal players who have made the trip to South Africa with their countries.

Before I finish off my World Cup preview I'll run through the little bit of Arsenal news that there is.

Firstly the boss has urged both Walcott and Nasri to use their World Cup disappointment as motivation to come back as better players. He said that he was very surprised that both players were left out and that it was a disappointment for him as well. 

I think that France will regret leaving Nasri out of the squad and while I'm not so sure about Walcott and England it is possible that he could have played an important role for them. I hope the boss has got it right with both players and that they will use their setbacks to become better players for Arsenal and we will benefit from it in the long run.

We are again linked with Gregory van der Wiel of Ajax and the Netherlands. He's a very highly rated 22 year old right back but I think it's centre backs that we're in the market for and I would be surprised if he joined us.   Another player linked is Werder Bremen and Germany player Mesut Ozil who's a 21 year old attacking midfielder but as I said before it's defenders we're in the market for(and hopefully a goalkeeper too).

Lorient president Loic Fery has admitted that he received an offer from Arsenal for Laurent Koscielny but that he refused the offer. He did say that he is still open to another offer but the player is definitely a Lorient player at the moment. He also said that it was Lorient who inquired about possible loan switches for Traore and Coquelin despite rumours to the opposite in the media.

Anyway it's time to complete my World Cup preview with the final three groups. 

Firstly group F and the top seeds in this group are current World champions Italy. Having closely watched their games in their qualifying group I have to admit that I was wholly unimpressed with them but they did enough to win the group and like Germany they can never be discounted at major tournaments. Despite my doubts about their limitations I still think that they can win this group comfortably enough but I don't expect them to go any further than the last eight.

The second seeds are Paraguay who did very well in the South American qualifying group but who are still considered as rank outsiders for the World Cup. With New Zealand as third seeds it leaves the runners up place between Paraguay and Slovakia who managed to knock out the highly fancied Rusians to get there. Personally I can see the Slovakians getting through to the last 16 before going out to one of the other group winners. It's not a group that I'll be paying too much attention to but it might be interesting to Fantasy players as New Zealand are candidates to concede a few goals.

On to group G and the top seeds here are the team ranked first in the world by FIFA and who have won the trophy more than any other team. Brazil are likely to at least make the semi finals and are seen as favourites by quite a few pundits. Under Dunga they aren't as adventurous as they have been at other times but they are also very tight at the back and it would be no surprise if they won the World Cup for the sixth time.

However the bottom seeds in this group are Portugal and there is no doubting that they have some very talented players and could also go a long way in the tournament. They did struggle in qualifying and they never seem to get the best out of their star player and serial diver Ronaldo. With Ivory Coast in there as well it won't be easy and I see it as a three way shoot out between these teams with North Korea as also rans.

The chances of the Ivory Coast qualifying from the group probably depend on whether their serial diver can manage to play with his broken arm or not. Drogba only broke his arm last week and he's very fond of complaining anyway so I don't know how often we will see him grimace in each game if he does declare  himself fit. When Portugal play the Ivory Coast I wonder who will dive the most?

I can't see past Brazil winning the group and if Portugal can cut out the diving, feigning injury, attempting to deceive referees and concentrate on playing football they should probably finish runners up to them. That second spot will probably depend on that battle of the divers wen Portugal play the Ivory Coast.

The final group contains current European champions Spain and they have to be one of the favourites to win the trophy. They have never won the World Cup but they certainly have the players to do it this time. They are a joy to watch and it would probably be very good for the game if they won but I just cannot bring myself to cheer for them as their Barcelona players continually attempt to lure Cesc to their club from Arsenal.

With Switzerland, Honduras and Chile also in the group they can expect a fairly easy passage to the knockout stage and it's hard to know who will accompany them there. I don't think Honduras will make much of an impression on the group which means that it's between Switzerland and Chile and I think I'll plump for the Swiss as they have a little more know how in recent years in my opinion.

That would mean that my final 16 are Mexico, France, Argentina, Nigeria, England, USA, Germany, Ghana, Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Slovakia, Brazil, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. That would mean there are nine European teams in the last 16 and I doubt very much if that will be the case. To be honest I'll probably be lucky to get 12 of the final 16 right but you never know what might happen.

As I said before the real football will probably only start in the knockout stages and although my preference is for the Netherlands to win  my head says that it will  be between Brazil and Spain. I know that Argentina are favourites for a lot of pundits but I think that the players will have to play against the orders of their manager to win the trophy. There is also a possibility of England getting everything right and coming good but the more I think about it the less I can see it happening. Finally of course my preferred choice of the Netherlands have the ability to do it too if they can defend well and make sure that petty differences between their players don't affect their performances for a change.

All that is left is for me is to give you the link for my Fantasy World Cup competition and recommend a few other leagues too. The game can be found here and the code to join my league is 221858-52981. You can also join in the great Captain Arsenal's league by using the code 290523-68811 and a good friend of mine has a league running with the code 212147-50604. If all that isn't too much you can join in my results predictions league here and use the code 154756-7741. Don't forget that there's only one day left to set up our team.

Here's 

See You Tomorrow