Preview

The World Cup - the greatest tournament in the footballing world and probably the second best in sport after the Olympics. For any player, the pinnacle of your career would be to represent your country at the World Cup and for over 700 players going to South Africa; they have made it to the grandest stage of them all.

Whilst, in the opinion of many, teams like North Korea, Honduras and New Zealand are there to merely make up the numbers – though that isn’t necessarily true given the history that will be created by each side regardless of how they do – there are a lot of sides there who have ambitions to be crowned World Champions come July 11th 2010.

The favourites with many bookmakers are Spain, who, previous to Euro 2008, were known as the perennial underachievers after numerous failings at the World Cup. This time around they’re in a strong position to mount a serious challenge for the Jules Rimet trophy.

Their goalkeepers, Iker Casillas, Jose Reina and Victor Valdes, are all world-class and I’d suggest there is no stronger goalkeeping trio in international football.

The defence is strong, particularly in the middle where Carlos Puyol and Gerard Pique will hope to carry their club form together onto the international stage, though a few injuries could see Spain’s weakness exposed at full-backs.

The midfield, arguably the best in the world, contains superstars like Xavi, Iniesta and David Silva, who can all pick a pass to unlock the tightest of defences and provide chances to the strikers; David Villa, Fernando Torres, Fernando Llorente and Pedro Rodriguez, who scored 96 goals between them last season.

It’s difficult to look past Spain to go the whole way in the tournament and they’re my tip to win the tournament at 4/1.

Brazil follow close behind Spain with an array of attacking options but a more conservative style of play. Coach Dunga is not the most popular man due to the style in which he has the team playing but he has experience of winning the World Cup as a player having captained Brazil to victory in the USA back in 1994.

Julio Cesar is a top goalkeeper with the in-form Gomes a reliable deputy.

Across the back, they are spoilt for choice with the full-backs given that they can call upon Maicon, Dani Alves and Michel Bastos – all three are class acts. Lucio has had a fantastic season for Inter Milan in the heart of the defence and formed a formidable partnership with Luisao in the Confederations Cup last summer.

Kaka is one of many players who provides flair in midfield though he, along with the likes of Felipe Melo, have had poor club seasons but definitely have the potential to step up to the plate and deliver.

Luis Fabiano is proven at international level and has a scoring record that betters a goal every one and a half games. Partnered by Grafite, Robinho or Nilmar, Brazil will be a force to be reckoned with in this tournament and I think they’ll make it to the final.

Argentina are next to be looked at with Diego Maradona promising to run naked through Buenos Aires if Argentina win the World Cup I bet a lot of neutrals are hoping they don’t!

Their attacking options are superb with Diego Milito, Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain all coming into the World Cup off the back of great seasons for their clubs. Maradona has a tough choice deciding who will play, for sure.

Lionel Messi and the highly-rated Angel Di Maria are likely to be on either wing – a duo that will frighten the life out of even the best of full-backs. In the centre of midfield, Esteban Cambiasso is the biggest absentee but Javier Mascherano will be confident he can fill the void.

Walter Samuel has enjoyed success at club level with Inter Milan last season and will be determined to add a World Cup winner’s medal to his collection. There are doubts over the Argentine goalkeepers, who have only 13 caps between the three of them but, despite this, I still fancy the Argentinians to go far in the tournament and I predict they’ll get 3rd place.

England will be looking to end 44 years of hurt in South Africa but were dealt a huge blow earlier in the week when captain Rio Ferdinand was ruled out with a knee ligament injury but hopes will remain high although the majority rest upon the shoulders of Wayne Rooney, who is key to England’s chances. As of yet, Fabio Capello has not found the perfect foil for Rooney, though Emile Heskey is the preferred option, Peter Crouch can offer something different.

Question marks still remain over whether Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard can play in the same midfield as well as who should start on the wings with Aaron Lennon inexperienced on the big stage.

The loss of Ferdinand was huge for England although his replacement, Michael Dawson, has performed terrifically for Tottenham, as has Ledley King though his ability to remain fit has been questioned.

The goalkeeping situation is not clear for England either. Joe Hart is inexperienced whereas David James is the wrong side of 40 and has 50 caps to his name, five times more than Robert Green, who has been the preferred goalkeeper in recent weeks.

Should England play to their potential, I see no reason why they can’t get far. My prediction is 4th place after losing to Brazil in the semi-final and then Argentina in the 3rd place play-off.

Those four teams, in my opinion, are the main contenders. The likes of Germany, Italy, France, Netherlands and Portugal will all hope to go far but I can’t see it happening. Germany are suffering with a lot of injuries, Italy don’t have enough quality, the Netherlands don’t have a good enough defence whilst France and Portugal have been in disarray for a long time and I can’t see that changing before the World Cup starts.

The group stages will be an interesting watch, particularly in the groups that are harder to call.

Here’s who I think will progress from each group:
Group A: Mexico and South Africa
Group B: Argentina and Greece
Group C: England and USA
Group D: Serbia and Germany
Group E: Netherlands and Denmark
Group F: Italy and Paraguay
Group G: Brazil and Ivory Coast
Group H: Spain and Chile

The race for the Golden Boot will be fascinating with so many world-class players vying to get the most goals. The likes of David Villa, Fernando Torres, Luis Fabiano, Wayne Rooney and Lionel Messi should all be up there challenging. An outsider is Humberto Suazo of Chile, who could score a fair few goals in the group stages. If I were pressed for an answer, I’d go for David Villa.

The countdown is on to the World Cup with just 5 days left before it kicks off when South Africa take on Mexico at Soccer City, Johannesburg. Here’s hoping it’s the best World Cup yet.