World Cup Fever has truly struck yours truly, and the only prescription is an insane and superfluous amount of analysis, discussion and bracketology. From a Liverpool supporter’s perspective, LFC News would like to take you through the groups and the impact it will have on our players who are participating in this fantastic tournament, or at least the players who have a CHANCE of participating (for example. Lucas… will he be in Brazil’s squad or not?). First off, here are our players who have a legitimate shot- barring injuries- of playing in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa in the middle of June:
Glen Johnson (England), Alberto Aquilani (Italy), Daniel Agger (Denmark), Steven Gerrard (England), Fernando Torres (Spain), Albert Riera (Spain), Fabio Aurelio (Brazil… though a major longshot), Sotirios Kyrgiakos (Greece), Dirk Kuyt (Holland), Ryan Babel (Holland), Javier Mascherano (Argentina), Lucas Leiva (Brazil), Emiliano Insua (Argentina), David Ngog (France… IF he catches fire like he has done recently for the rest of the season), Pepe Reina (Spain), Phillip Degen (Switzerland… maybe), Martin Skrtel (Slovakia), Andrea Dossena (Italy… but probably only if we sell him and he plays at that club).
Pretty long list, but only a handful of those players are guaranteed a place in their national team’s set-up. The obvious players that will play are Johnson and Gerrard for England, Aquilani for Italy, Agger for Denmark, Torres, Riera and Reina for Spain, Kyrgiakos for Greece, Mascherano for Argentina, Kuyt for Holland, and Skrtel for Slovakia. The others will hope either for an increase in form (or playing time) and for injuries from teammates at the national level and/or doubts from the manager in those players. Sounds ridiculous to wish ill upon your national teammates, but this is the World Cup and you would have to be crazy to not wish for ANYTHING to get there. Especially this World Cup, which already has a unique and historic buzz about it with it being the first ever World Cup in Africa.
Our players’ road to the Final (July 11th) should see them facing each other in several places throughout the tournament. Let’s look at the draw, which pulled out a couple of absolutely thrilling contests and some groups which are less than impressive.
Group A: 2006 World Cup Runners-Up France, Uruguay, Mexico and the hosts South Africa.
Only David Ngog has a shot of partipating in this group, and those chances are slim… so we won’t talk too much about this one. My best guess is that France and Mexico will progress from this one, as South Africa are quite poor, but you never know with a host nation… just remember South Korea in 2002! Uruguay are the real wild-card here, with Mexico’s clash against them probably being the decider. This group is definitely one of struggling nations given a second chance… which is an interesting and intriguing storyline.
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, and Euro 2004 Champions Greece.
Javier Mascherano and possibly Emiliano Inusa will see their Argentina side face Kyrgiakos and Greece in this group. I’m going to pick Greece, who are strong and defensively superior to most teams in the world, to join Argentina through to the group stages. In other words, Liverpool players will progress through! Nigeria and South Korea are decent teams, but I doubt either have the strength or will to cope with either the Greeks or the Argentines. This group is fairly straight forward, though South Korea could upset my prediction.
Group C: England, USA, Slovenia, and Algeria.
Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson are the only players for us to represent England, and they will be quite pleased with the outlook of this group. Given that we’ve never even had a Slovenian or Algerian play for the club (and only Friedel and Whitbread as an American), this group will have QUALITY of Liverpool players but not the quantity of other groups. I expect England, and my home nation the USA to progress, though the USA will have a much tougher road (but should progress somewhat comfortably… a lot depends on their match with Slovenia). As normal, though, England’s easy progression to the knockout rounds will probably end in disappointment later on.
Group D: Euro 2008 Runners-Up Germany, Ghana, Australia, and Serbia.
A difficult group to predict due to the wild-card nature of the Serbians, as well as the gritty Australians, but I believe the quality and home-continent advantage for an already talented Ghana will see them through. Germany are almost a given in major tournaments, as they are so organized and unified as a group. Not to mention that they are solid in every area of the pitch. The one concern for the Germans will be goals, but Gomez should do the job. Yes. A German named Gomez. MARIO Gomez. Ha ha! No Liverpool players in this group to speak of, though former Red Harry Kewell should play a part.
Group E: Holland, Denmark, Cameroon, and Japan.
This group is absolutely fascinating to me, and I doubt it will get the media coverage it deserves. Of all the groups, this one has real parity to it. All four clubs could progress, and all four are capable of capitulating. Their World Cup fortunes over the years have been so mixed and inconsistent, and that is something that Kuyt, Babel and Agger will hope to rectify. My guess, though, is that Holland will come out unscathed (to the delight of Kuyt and Babel) and that Denmark will scrape through (to the relief of Agger). This will be a TIGHT group, though.
Group F: 2006 World Cup Winners Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, and Slovakia.
This group bores me, and the rest of the world, beyond comprehension. It is just far too obvious that Italy will breeze through, and if fit, Aquilani will have a huge impact on that progress (Dossena won’t… even IF selected). Martin Skrtel’s Slovakia will give it a good go, as well, but I do not think that they possess the quality of Paraguay, who have been playing extraordinarily well in South Africa over the past few years. New Zealand might be the worst team in the World Cup since Saudi Arabia in the 2002 competition, and I expect a few blow-outs with them involved. Paraguay and Italy to go through, with Skrtel to be sent back to Liverpool to watch the rest of the competition unfold.
Group G: 2002 World Cup Winners Brazil, Ivory Coast, Euro 2004 Runners-Up Portugal, and North Korea. “The Group of Death!”
Group G is quite possibly the strongest group drawn in the World Cup since the format changed from 24 teams to 32 teams in 1998. Brazil, possibly fielding Lucas Leiva on the pitch or on the sidelines, will be favorites to progress despite such a difficult draw, as they are absolutely cruising at the moment in international competitions. Lucas is the only player (though Aurelio COULD make it) from Liverpool in this group of death, but a lot of our club’s foes are in it. Drogba, Toure and Kalou will hope to give Africa some pride, and I think they will do so in beating out an inconsistent Portugal (with Cristiano Ronaldo, Deco, Nani, Almeida, etc.), who are extremely talented but lack cohesion. This will be fascinating viewing, for a variety of reasons. The one to watch? Portugal v. Ivory Coast. The one to pray for? NORTH KOREA. WOW.
Group H: Euro 2008 Winners Spain, Honduras, Chile, and Switzerland.
Torres, Reina, and Riera will be licking their chops. This draw could not have been sweeter for the Spaniards, who will not just breeze through this group, but should impressively demolish their opposition. And you can bet your last dollar that Torres will be a massive factor in this. Riera will hope to play, and I think he will, but Reina will almost certainly be watching from the sidelines, as Casillas is probably the best goalkeeper in the world. Reina is not too far behind, which is a shame for him, but his leadership in the dressing room is not to be underestimated. As far as the rest of the group is concerned, Degen’s Switzerland is very solid defensively and should probably make it through to the next round… though Chile will give them a real contest as they have nothing to lose and not many people know much about them. Honduras is decent, but they just don’t have the firepower up front to deal with the tough defenses of their opponents.
KNOCKOUT ROUNDS:
Difficult to say now, as so many things can change in six months, but it is safe to say that we’ll see at LEAST Johnson, Gerrard, Kuyt, Torres, Riera, Mascherano, and Aquilani in these rounds. England, Holland, Spain, Argentina, and Italy were all given draws that should see them through without too much trouble, but the World Cup HAS thrown massive surprises at us before. France in 2002 against Senegal springs to mind! If Lucas makes it into the Brazil squad, we’ll also see him go pretty damn far in the competition, as well.
FINAL PREDICTION:
I believe with the way the bracket is laid out, that the semifinals will see England face Brazil and Holland face Spain. Gerrard and Johnson’s England side are good, but probably not good enough to see off the Brazilians, and I believe the same can be said about Kuyt and Babel’s Holland against the Spaniards, who possess a certain Fernando Torres (and David Villa, Xavi, Iniesta, and Casillas mind you…). In the final, I believe Torres, Riera and Reina will be lifting the cup. HONESTLY. They are just too good. I probably have not seen a national team with so much quality in all my life, and that is saying something given the quality of the Brazilians in 2002 and the French at the turn of the millenium.
No matter how it turns out, Liverpool are well represented and it is assured that our players will impact the tournament.
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Good post mate!! Keep ‘em flowing!