Group C

1.England
2.USA
3.Slovenia
4.Algeria

England favorites here with a very good team, despite the injury on their captain and key-player in defence Rio Ferdinand who sustained a knee-ligament injury in training on June 4th. Tottenham`s Michael Dawson has replaced Ferdinand in the England squad while Steven Gerrard are their new captain. England dominated the group 6 in the WC qualifiers winning 9 out of 10 games and with a goal difference of 34-6. They have participated in 12 WC: s with their best result back in 1966 when they were the host and on the 30 July at Wembley Stadium won the final against West Germany with 4-2 AET in front of 98000 spectators. That`s the only time this big football nation have been crowned World Champions. Coached by Italian Fabio Capello since December 2007, a strict coach that demands a lot of his players. Capello has urged his players that he wants to see the English spirit in the WC. With that statement he probably means that he wants to see a team that plays without fear, and with a big confidence and fighting spirit. I think England can go far this time, they absolutely have the material for that and Capello is an excellent coach. Their potential draw in the finals also looks good. Algeria or the Les Fennecs (The Desert Foxes) as they are called have participated in the WC at two occasions before (1982, 1986) their squad is nothing in particular, and they will have a hard time in this group. They play very tough, almost brutal. Algeria haven`t impressed at all in the pre WC friendlies. Slovenia reached this WC after very surprisingly eliminating Russia in the WC Playoffs. Slovenia lost away 2-1 but turned it all around at home in Maribor on November 18th when they thanks to a goal from Dedic in the 44th minute secured their WC place with a 1-0 win and a total of 2-2 and Slovenia were through on away goals. This will be their second WC, they participated in the 2002 WC held in Korea/Japan were they finished without a single point and will just like Greece hope to earn their first WC points ever in this WC. I think it will be tough for them to go through. They have a good goalkeeper in Samir Handanovic of Udinese. I would also like to mention talented midfielder Rene Krhin of Internazionale who surely have a bright future only 20 years old. Striker Milivoje Novacovic of FC Köln could also be mentioned, Milivoje have scored 16 goals in 38 caps for his country. But overall they look to weak and to inexperienced. But I rank them higher then Algeria. USA is heading for their 9th WC and I like this team. They impressed a lot in the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2009 were they reached the final and even had the lead against Brazil 2-0 but finally lost 3-2. I think USA with their winner mentality and enormous fighting spirit will take them trough. Maybe they lack a little firepower upfront, but their midfield and their defense looks decent. This is actually USA: s 6th successive WC and that`s impressive, and even if they don`t play the toughest teams in the CONCACAF they have gathered a lot of experience in the previous WC:s that will benefit them in this group against teams like Algeria and Slovenia. USA are ranked 14th on the FIFA ranking. Interesting is the fact that the USA team player bonus scheme for this WC is the largest for any nation in the WC history. Worth about 895,000 USD per player for winning. Of course unlikely to be paid out. Finally, I both hope and think that USA will fallow England to the last 16.

Prediction; England group winners with USA as runners up.

Group D

1.Germany
2.Australia
3.Serbia
4.Ghana

Germany of course favorites here despite the injury of key-midfielder and captain Michael Ballack, they have also had injuries on a couple of other players that will miss the WC. They are heading for their 17th WC and they have been crowned World Champions at three occasions (1954, 1974, 1990) Germany have one the youngest squads in this WC with an average age of 25.0, only Korea DPR and Ghana have younger squads. Germany cruised through the qualifications without losing a single game. A tournament team that never can be underestimated or ignored at any stage. Maybe their weak spot in this squad are the midfield were I feel that they will miss Ballack a bit. They have very good strikers and a good defense. But overall a good depth in the German squad. They always work very hard and are also strong as a group.

Ghana or the Black Stars as they are called have participated in the WC once before (2006) and will enter this tournament without their best player, Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien who sustained a knee injury in January and won`t be fit until late July. Ghana has the youngest squad in the WC with an average age of 24.1. When I look at their squad I can`t say I`m too impressed, sure they have names like Appiah, Muntari, Mensah, but that’s about it. I don`t think they will be a contender for the last 16. I saw them against Netherlands a week ago and they were really bad, even if Netherlands are a good team, Ghana looked weak in almost every position. Especially in defense were they were all over the place. After that they really struggled to beat Latvia (won 1-0 in Milton Keynes) No, I really can`t see this team as a threat to the others in the group and I think Ghana is a really weak team and will finish last in the group D.

So then it`s between Serbia (previously Yugoslavia) who have qualified for their 11th WC and Australia who will participate in their 3rd WC. Most people would say Serbia here, as they by many are seen as the surprise package for this WC. I disagree. Serbia has a very good defense with players like Vidic, Kolarov, Ivanovic. They won`t be easy to score against even if their goalkeeper position is a bit weak, first choice GK Stojkovic haven`t been playing regularly at Wigan this season. But as always they are better individually then as a team. Clearly better defensively then offensively. They lost a WC pre friendly against New Zealand 1-0 on May 29th in Klagenfurt. My pick to reach the last 16 from this group is Australia. An underrated team that works very hard, works better as a group then Serbia. A physical team that have their strongest lineup in their midfield with the likes of Cahill, Cullina, Emerton, Grella, Bresciano. They are coached by Dutchman Pim Verbeek. The Australian team has played with each other for a number of years now and knows each other well. A recent incident shocked the Australian squad. Just hours before Australia lost (1-3) to USA on June 5th they received the news that the 4 year old son Luca of back-up goalkeeper Brad Jones is severely ill in cancer. But according to team captain Lucas Neill this has united the squad even more. Let´s hope for a full recovery for Luca. I predict the Socceroos as the Australian team is called to reach the 2nd stage.

Prediction; Germany as group winners with Australia as runners up.

- M@tteo