What will the powerhouses be like in 2014?
As was once again proven at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, four years is an eternity in football. The world saw many changes in this tournament.
For one, the continent of Africa hosted its first ever World Cup and it was proven the continent can host future World Cups.
We also saw how champions can quickly come unglued as Italy went from a defensive machine in 2006 as champions to being an aged, unfit and uncreative team in 2010.
Spain went from being the world’s most under-achieving football nation to winning the Euro Cup in 2008 and the World Cup this year.
Uruguay lived in the shadow of fellow South American World Cup champions Brazil and Argentina but outlasted them in this tournament.
France, finalists from 2006, formed a mutiny against their coach as embarrassed the nation with a dreadful World Cup performance.
You can get the picture.
Now that this World Cup has passed, one might ponder how the next World Cup can be. Will a new champion emerge or will a traditional football power reclaim the crown?
If you look at the football powers, meaning former World Cup champions, Germany looked like it will be the most dangerous in 2014. They are the youngest of the eight World Cup champions and showed a lot of promise with a 3rd place finish in South Africa. If they were that good this year, it’s scary to think of how good they can potentially be in Brazil in four years time.
The five-time champions Brazil will be expected to win the World Cup for a sixth time, again. They will be counted on, being the host nation and anything short of winning a sixth title on home soil will be seen as a failure. Stars always emerge out of Brazil and they will need more in four years. The group will be a lot more seasoned by then which can either hurt or help them.
Italy who are second behind Brazil with four World Cups can never be counted out of a tournament. While they grossly underachieved in 2010, they were an aged squad and many of those players are retiring from the national team, meaning we will see a whole new Azzurri in 2014. Young stars such as Giuseppe Rossi, Mario Balotelli, Giorgio Chiellini will be counted on to return the Azzurri to glory. It will be tough for Italy to recover, but you can never rule them out.
Argentina will want to build on their talent with wisdom and look to improve his defense. Lionel Messi will also be in search of his first World Cup goal as the Albiceleste are seeking a third World Cup.
Spain, of course will be the hunted as the defending champions. They may find it difficult being World Cup champions because as hard as it is to win a championship, it’s that much harder to repeat.
France will seek a return to glory as they embarrassed the nation after being runners-up in 2006. In four years time, Thierry Henry, Eric Abidal and maybe even Patrice Evra will likely not be on the team and Les Bleus will need to rebuild in order to return to football’s elite.
England are now the most underachieving nation in football. They lack depth as the country focuses on importing star players rather than building home-grown talent. Their task will also prove difficult in 2014 and may lead to further disappointment.
Uruguay may find it hard to follow their fourth place finish in South Africa as Golden Ball winner Diego Forlan will be 35 years old. Luis Suarez will be 27 and in his prime so you really can’t tell right now with Uruguay.
Finally, next World Cup will see how the Netherlands can recover as they are perhaps the best nation to have not won a World Cup yet. Eyes will be on them as they search for that elusive title.
Next World Cup, we may truly see the rise of African football. Ghana is full of young stars and were a converted penalty kick away from a spot in the semi-final. The team has a core of young stars who won the U-20 World Cup in 2009. They were also missing Michael Essien for the whole tournament this time so they may be Africa’s best chance next time around.
We are already counting the days until the next World Cup.
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