A Preview of Group G before the 2010 World Cup
Right before the World Cup, here’s an assessment of the powerful group G. What an intriguing combination this group forms. This is promising to become the Group of Death, with Brazil, Ivory Coast, Portugal, and North Korea; it’s hard to argue with that claim.
A few matches to watch out for during the World Cup include the June 15 clash between Ivory Coast versus Portugal and Brazil against North Korea. Then on June 20, 2010, watch out for Brazil against the fearless Ivory Coast. This is followed by a battle between Portugal and North Korea on June 21, 2010. If you can bear the excitement, two must watch matches on June 25, 2010 between Portugal and Brazil and then the Ivory Coast vs. North Korea will commence in the days to come.
Let’s start the analysis with a screen test with Brazil. For a group to be considered the “Group of Death,” it usually has to be led by one of the best teams in the world. Brazil is that team in this case, as they are probably getting most of the votes as the favourite to hoist the World Cup trophy in July. They’ve overtaken Spain as the number-one ranked team in the FIFA rankings, and will look to prove their spot at the top when they get things started on June 15.
Next, there’s the worry-some North Korea. They have been placed in one of the toughest World Cup groups in recent memory, and fans see no way that they even sniff a chance at advancing to the knockout stage. They don’t have the depth or skill to match with the other three teams. When you have to play against three teams in your group that all have a chance to win the tournament, how can one succeed. On the positive side of things, a team with nothing to lose is often a team that can be the most surprising.
Then we have Ivory Coast, who has been saddened with the injury to Didier Drogba. Even with Drogba, Sven Goran Eriksson’s team was going to have a hard-fought battle with Portugal to try and wrap up the second spot in the group. But now, without their top scorer, it seems like Ivory Coast has taken a step back, and may be on the outside looking in when we get to the knockout stage. They still have impressive players like Kolo Toure and Salomon Kalou (just to name a few), but it’s simply impossible for them to replace the things that Drogba does in a scoring-spree. This is the worst possible thing that could have happened to this team, and before the injury, it really looked as though they had the potential to make a deep run to the semi-finals or finals.
And finally, there’s the magnificent Portugal which is ably led by the star-striker Cristiano Ronaldo. Portugal isn’t going to struggle to bring some creativity offensively in their group matches. They should be able to score some goals, but the question really turns to their defence in terms of being able to stop the excellent attacks of both Brazil and Ivory Coast. Without Drogba, the Ivory Coast task will be a little easier, but isn’t a given by any means. But can Portugal generate enough physicality to stop Brazil? That’s the big question, and while it’s an important one, it may not necessarily be the most important one. Ronaldo has to have some help though for them to be a factor overall in the tournament. Again, the defence has to be ready for the speed and skill that they are going to see from the other top teams in this group, and if they are unable to handle that, then this team may be in for a quick exit from the tournament.
Well that’s all for the Group G Preview, most fans would have gone with Ivory Coast to maybe win this group before the Drogba injury, but now, most think that Portugal will edge them out for the second-place finish.
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