with a day of draws in the books, we can only hope tomorrow will be more exciting. should be with 3 good looking games. here is a tidy write up for groups c and d.
Group C
With quality all over the pitch and enviable depth in every position, England should dominate this relatively weak group. Their star striker, Rooney, is back from injury and is one of the favorites to win the golden boot for good reason. He has improved his heading ability drastically this season and now has become arguably the most complete striker in the world. However, the key for this squad to progress to the finals is the return of top form of Gerrard. Either deployed in central midfield with Lampard or in the “free” role on the left side of midfield, Gerrard has the opportunity to be the catalyst on this squad. If he returns to the fantastic form he was showing the last couple seasons, England, with their solid defense, is as good as any squad in the world. The question mark remains in how their goalkeeping will fare and whether they will ever win a penalty shootout if it comes down to that. USA, on the other hand, has question marks everywhere except for goalkeeping. If Davies was playing, and Gooch was 100%, as they were during the Confederations Cup, they have the potential to beat any side in the world. However, they are not which makes them vulnerable to not making it out of the group stages. They key to the squad is the two star wingers, Dempsey and Donovan, to not only produce goal scoring opportunities for their teammates, but also score goals themselves.
Slovenia come into the tournament as somewhat of a surprise team, but because they play well together as a team and are extremely well organized, they have as good as a chance as USA in progressing to the knockout round. Their best player is their goalkeeper, Handanovic, and with a solid back four, should be extremely difficult to score against. They play a similar 4-4-2 system as the USA with the striker system being the classic big, Novakovic, feeding balls to the small, Dedic. The key player to their squad is the left-footed right midfielder Birsa, who is a dangerous free kick taker. In order for Slovenia to advance, they must take advantage of their size and convert free kick opportunities.
Algeria is one of the worst squads in the tournament. They are known more for their red cards recently then their goals. Additionally, their best player, Meghni, is injured for the tournament and will not play. The key to there is their dodgy keeper, Chaouchi, because he must perform miracles for them to advance from this group. However, I do not seeing this happening as I predict they end the tournament with zero points to show. Essentially, this group should come down to who wins from the USA Slovenia match on the 22nd.
England, USA
Group D
Germany comes into this tournament the same as they usually do. They seem to lack imagination, don’t have any superstar quality like the other top teams, and do not seem that threatening to do much in this tournament. However, this is Germany, and they always seem to exceed expectations in the big tournaments. Arguably their best olayer, Ballack, is out for the tournament with ankle ligament damage. Their top striker, and reigning golden boot winner, Klose, couldn’t even crack the starting lineup on his club team. They do possess quality depth in attack and midfield to make up for the loss of Ballack and the lack of form of Klose. The dangerous player on their squad is attacking fullback and captain, Lahm, but the key to their squad is whether Podolski can play the way he plays for his nation and not his club team. If he can score crackers with his cannon of a left foot, they have the ability to make a deep run. However, I do not see that happening this time around.
Serbia is the best team no one talks about. They have quality in attack, with the vastly underrated Krasic able to score from anywhere. Combine that with one of the strongest defenses in the world, including stars Vidic and Ivanovic, and they potentially go deep into the tournament. The key to their squad is whether erratic goalkeeper Stojkovic can stop allowing weak goals past him.
Ghana is arguably the most complete African side in the tournament. Even though their superstar, Essien, is out of the tournament, they still possess one of the top midfields in the world. Normally with their gifted midfield, I would have them making a strong run in the tournament. But with Essien out, Muntari hobbled, and the weak form of Appiah, their midfield drastically weakens, and I cannot picture them progressing from this “group of depth.”
Australia is easily the “best worst” team in the tournament. By that I mean out of the weakest teams in each group, they are the best of the bunch. With any team featuring Cahill, they are very dangerous on corner kicks and should be able to score the ugly goals as well as anyone. The key to them progressing is whether Cahill can score goals, because they do lack firepower up front. Any one of these teams can progress, but with every team dangerous in the air, scoring goals off corner kicks may be the key.
Germany, Serbia
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