Man-nipples aplenty on the Algerian side

So while everyone analyses Fabio Capello’s formation and team tactics, let’s face it, as much as we all want England to win, screaming at the TV just won’t help. Neither will booing.

Sunday’s match was like watching a dog chasing its tail, and so naturally my eyes also began to wander away from the ball. If you haven’t already realised, I’m a girl. So here’s an alternative take on England v Algeria.

Okay, first let’s get the tit-tat out the way. Was it only me who noticed the Algerian’s teams football kit? Say hello to nipples! And while their t-shirts were super tight, their shorts were so loose I was worried we might see something a little inappropriate. Saying that, it would have made the match more exciting!

I’ll admit, I am no footie-guru. The off side rule means nothing to me. But I was kitted out in all things England – my flag, mini vuvuzela, and even an England earring. There was an immense amount of pressure and hype surrounding the match, especially after England’s game against US wasn’t the team we were all expecting. But the feeling afterwards was pure frustration. The players might have been playing, but there was no teamwork. Manager Capello, who’s English is minimal, was going nuts from the sidelines. And it was only a matter of time before he started looking like Mr Bean.

On a serious point, if you only tell your team that they are playing hours before, nerves will kick in. (Note to Capello: don’t keep the guys in limbo)

So what does England need to do ahead of the game on Wednesday? Well, one thing is for sure – they need to score some goals. Get their mojo back. They are all top players, but if they don’t work together they will be coming home.   And then maybe Capello should re-think his reasoning into why the WAGs were banned from the World Cup. Maybe the guys need some TLC. All this testosterone doesn’t seem to be doing any good at the moment.

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Gonzalo Higuaín finally found his scoring boots

Despite the win, Argentina undoubtedly had a frustrating start to the World Cup against Nigeria. Argentina went into this game looking to prove their right to be called one of the favourites.

Argentina went for a 4-3-3 formation again, but with perhaps a slightly more attacking slant, replacing Juan Sebastian Verón for Maxi Rodriguez.

South Korea, on the other hand, went defensive. They packed their defence right from the start, and it looked like Huh Jung-Moo’s side were to make damage limitation their number one priority.

Possession was solely in the hands of Argentina in the first part of the match. In fact it took no less than nine minutes for the South Koreans to have the ball in their possession while in the Argentina half. They improved shortly after, starting to pressure  Argentina down their right side – where left-back Gutierrez was once again playing out of position.

South Korea even opened the scoring on 16 minutes – too bad it was in Argentina’s favour. Messi’s well-delivered free kick deflected off the shin of Park Chu Young.

Argentina found the net for themselves after 32 minutes, when Gonzalo Higuaín, who was left wanting in the previous game against Nigeria, headed in from a Maxi cross and subsequent Burdisso flick-on.

From this point, South Korea lacked any sort of cohesion up front; but at the other end of the pitch, goalkeeper Jung Sung-Ryong made a fantastic save. A rebound landed squarely at the feet of Argentinian midfielder Di Maria, but Jung did well to propel himself into the air and get a hand onto Di Maria’s top corner rocket.

Argentina’s work rate was remarkable, with the effort being led by none other than Carlos Tevez, of course. The South Korean defence looked scared of Man City striker, but absolutely terrified of the World Cup’s most hyped player Lionel Messi. Surprisingly, Messi wasn’t being man-marked for a large part of the game, and was allowed space to twist, turn and get a few shots in himself.

Goalkeeper Jung Sung-Ryong can only watch as an own goal off the shin of Park Chu-Young slips past him

Then, out of nowhere, a schoolboy error from Argentina full-back Demichellis puts the Koreans back in the game. He hesitates on a pass from goalkeeper Romero, allowing Lee Chung-Yong to steal the ball and cooly slip it past the keeper before the half time break.

The Koreans went into the second half believing they could cause an upset. Both teams looked fluid going forward, but South Korea had the first good attempt on goal following the restart, when Lee Young-Chung broke away to lay the ball into the path of Yeom Ki-Hyun. It was a near miss, however, as Yeom slapped the ball into the side netting.

Despite this second wind from South Korea, they could not stop Argentina extending the lead, when a Messi rebound fell to Higuaín for a simple tap in. That’s two for Higuaín and three for Argentina.

Higuaín didn’t need much longer to complete his hat-trick – three minutes, in fact. Kún Aguëro had come on a substitute for Tevez, and it proved to be a good move by coach Maradona; after a few inspired moves, Aguëro then provided the assist for Higuaín’s third, chipping a ball for the Real Madrid striker to head in while on a run. The replays showed that Higuaín was offside, but it wasn’t spotted by the officials and the goal was allowed to stand.

South Korea knew they had been beaten, and looked a spent force towards the end of the match. Only fitting, then, that the last kick of the game was almost another for Argentina – and what a beautiful goal it would have been. Sending the Korean full-back every which way with some silky close control, Aguëro curled a ball toward the top corner of the far post. Unfortunately it sailed just wide of the mark.

After a generally dull round round of matches and few goals for us to talk about (bar the Germany-Australia match), it looked as if this tournament had finally come alive.

Final score: Argentina 4 - 1 South Korea

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While communication on the pitch is undoubtedly important, we must remember that football matches are noisy events. Decades ago, football matches in England were regularly set to a sound track of rattles and tickers. Today, drums lead the support when England play at Wembley, and repetitive (and often highly abusive) chants are a common part of going to see you favourite club. Surely, thousands of people hurling abuse at you is going to be far more detrimental to your on-pitch performance than a bunch of wind instruments?

Opposition to the vuvuzela is strong, and the South African authorities are considering to ban them before the tournament is over. In my humble opinion, this would be a shame, as they are a beacon of South African footballing culture, and if we take that away, then we lose some of the colour and atmosphere that a World Cup on any other continent could not bring.

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This game was always going to be a bit special for Argentina coach Diego Maradona. His final ever international match was against Nigeria in the 1994 World Cup, before he failed a drug test and was banned from the tournament. Now, he’s facing the Super Eagles in his first ever World Cup match as a manager, and he has unfinished business to take care of.

Maradona’s favoured 4-4-2 setup was criticised by his own star men Messi and Tévez, so the World Cup legend decided to take a gamble, playing his team in a formation that they had not tried before, but would accomodate Messi and Tévez.

Sporting the facial hair of a spaghetti western villain, the Argentina coach opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Tévez on the right and Messi playing just behind target man Higuaín. A number of players were playing out of their usual position, most notably Jonás Gutierrez, who took up the right back despite normally residing on the left for Newcastle.

Not that the Nigeria formation was without its surprises, however. The classic 4-4-2 was unusual for Lars Lagerbäck’s side, with Obasi playing on the left wing as opposed to his more familiar spot on the right.

Messi absolutely ran riot from start to finish. He terrorised the Nigeria defence with his one-two passes (often involving Véron, who also had a brilliant game) and slick dribbling around the penalty box. He looked like he really wanted to score – and prove his critics wrong, who questioned his comparatively poor performance in Argentina’s qualifying campaign, compared to that for Barcelona, even if by his own monumental standards. The man who coach Maradona humbly described as “my own Maradona” tried relently to get the ball in the back of the net, however this game saw him do just about everything else but that.

Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuaín also repeatedly failed to hit the net. He missed a number of chances that he really should have put away, especially given his form this season for the Spanish club.

"El Diego" can't resist having a little kickabout on the touch line

One man who did find the net, however, was Olmpique Marseille and former Manchester United full-back Gabriel Heinze, and he did it just six minutes from kick-off. He was left completely unmarked during an Argentina free-kick from near the corner spot, and he headed home to punish the oppositions early.

Nigeria’s marking was generally awful, despite having some big players on their side. Argentina, on the other hand, were fluid on the attack, and frequently posed problems for the Nigeria defence. Considering all the hype surrounding Messi, it was surprising that they laid off him, allowing him to trouble the keeper with a few well-placed shots curling shots.

Nigeria’s keeper Enyeama was the only thing preventing his side the embarrassment of much bigger scoreline. He played an absolutely brilliant match, stopping one-on-ones and reaching out to make some difficult saves. There was a bit of worry for the Nigeria coach 23 minutes in, as his best performer went down in pain, but luckily for his side he was able to continue shortly after.

For all of Argentina’s brilliance going forward, however, they were predictably disorganised at the back. Gutierrez looked particularly uncomfortable, having to play out of his normal position. Nigeria should have capitalised on this, but the fact is they just weren’t getting enough men forward to take advantage of Argentina’s weakness in defence.

Nigeria finally stepped up a gear toward the end of the match, with both sides trying to make something out of the quick counter-attack. Uche should have buried a volley from Yakubu’s cross, but tipped it over.

None of the Nigeria players, bar Yukubu, seemed to have any sort of first touch and, added to their poor marking and inability to pressure their opponents’ defence for much of the game, they were simply outclassed in this match. Argentina will have to sort their defence out, however, if they’re to go all the way in this competition.

Final result: Argentina 1 – 0 Nigeria

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Greece were on the whole unimpressive in their opening game against South Korea, but will be thanking Zeus they didn’t suffer a heavier defeat.

South Korea lined up with a 4-2-3-1 formation, making it their priority not to concede in their opening match of the tournament.

Greece went into the game having yet to score in a World Cup match, and seeing as they started with three up front, it looked like the Euro 2004 winners were aiming to make history.

Just two minutes in, Greece should have opened the scoring. Left wing back Torosidis popped a shot over that he really should have put away – not least because South Korea full back Lee Jung-Soo managed to tap a goal in from the free kick, giving his side the lead just four mintes later.

The early lead seemed to set the South Koreans on fire, while having a less fortunate effect on the Greeks, whose chaotic defence was only just managing to hang on against the Koreans who went at them like rabid dogs. Greece, as such, failed to hold on to the ball for much of the match, struggling to deal with the South Koreans pushing higher and higher up the pitch.

South Korea should have got their second after 27 minutes, when a through ball toPark Chu Young left the striker with only the keeper to beat – however Alexandros Tzorvas did well to get a foot on it and keep his side hanging on.

South Korea almost gifted their opponents the equaliser just before the break, when goalkeeper Jung Sung-Ryong made a hash of a a high cross, almost dropping the ball at the feet of Greek striker Gekas.

Park Ji-Sung celebrates his goal against Greece

Not long into the second half, South Korea got another goal when centre-back Vyntras’s mistake let captain Park Ji-Sung through. The Manchester United winger held off two defenders and slid the ball in to the back of the net nicely.

They should have made it a third just minutes later, however, as Park Chu-Young headed the ball over from point blank range.

Greece finally decided they had to step up their game, and put the pressure on their opponents for a short time. They even protested for a penalty, claiming that Lee Young-Pyo handled the ball in his own box – the replay shows it hit his chest, and the linesman flag was already up, anyway.

Still trailing and being out-performed in the final minutes, Greece switched to a 4-4-2 to try and build their attack through the wings. They even throw a few extra men forward, but it’s not enough to snatch their first ever World Cup goal as a consolation.

Final score:
South Korea 2 – 0 Greece

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The World Champions are the strong favourites to top this group and are expected to cause some heartbreak in the knockout stages. But even as World Champions they aren’t favourites to reach the final in let alone reclaim their title. How far and brightly will their 2010 campaign blaze?

Paraguay

Paraguay considered favourites to progress to the knockout phase alongside Italy. They saw off both Brazil and Argentina to seal their place at the summer tournament, with two games to spare, during their qualifying campaign. Are their impressive qualifying performances enough to strike fear into the hearts of Group F?

Slovakia

Although they pose little threat to Italy and Paraguay, Slovakia are still expected to outperform New Zealand. But how will they perform against the group favourites?

New Zealand

They’re not expected to move higher than the foot of the table in Group F. Surely they deserve some respect for making it to the greatest stage in the footballing world which some of their higher rated counterparts failed to reach, or are they just cannon fodder for their group mates?

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Qualified: Winners of Group 5 (in second round), Winners of Group D (in third round)

Best World Cup finish: Last 16: 2006

FIFA Ranking: 32

Odds for 2010: 100/1

Ghana successfully negotiated two rounds of qualifying to secure their place in the first ever African based World Cup and also a place at their second consecutive tournament following their run to the last-16 of the 2006 tournament before being eliminated by five time winners Brazil.

Like Germany, Ghana have been robbed of their star player, the versatile Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien, who will miss the tournament having sustained a knee injury during ‘the Black Stars’ African Cup of Nations campaign in January 2010, an injury that ruled him out of the rest of his club’s domestic campaign and which ultimately ended his World Cup chances, with a recovery estimated for late in July.

In his absence, the responsibility of his role in the side will be spread across the rest of the side, with Essien’s all-round midfield contribution regarded as almost impossible to replace.

However, the burden will perhaps fall more heavily on experienced midfielders Sulley Muntari and Stephen Appiah.

Muntari, who claimed a Champions League winners medal with Inter Milan last season, is regarded as one of Ghana’s best midfielders, and his creativity and versatility – he can play either on the left or central midfield – make him a useful asset to the side. He does have a turbulent history with the national team however, and was left out of 2010 Cup of Nations squad after a falling out with Serbian born Ghana manager Milovan Rajevac, before an apology opened the door to a recall.

Alongside Muntari in midfield will in all likelihood be Appiah, another Italian based midfielder who currently stars for Bologna, but has had spells with top European sides such as Juventus and Fenerbache earlier in his career. Perhaps seen as a similar player to Essien, albeit not as talented, he will be captaining the side for the second consecutive World Cup, having worn the armband in 2006.

Leading the attack will be Asamoah Gyan, who plays for French side Rennes, and was arguably the Ghanaians top player at the 2010 Nations Cup, scoring three of the four goals that the Black Stars managed in the tournament. An impressive tally of 19 goals in 38 games is promising, although he lacks a quality partner to play alongside, and may find it tough against the strong and physical defenders in Group D.

Speaking of defenders, much like Serbia, Ghana will be depending on two Premier League defenders to keep things together at the back for them.

Sunderland loan star John Mensah and Fulham right-back John Pantsil will start at the back for Ghana and with over 100 caps between them, they have enough experience to marshal a defence at a World Cup finals.

Another player who will be looking to shine include is the afore-mentioned Kevin-Prince Boatang, who only very recently changed his citizenship to Ghana, having represented group rivals Germany at all youth levels up to under-21. He will doubtless have lots of people to impress, none less than his brother who will be up against him, as well as the German manager who chose not to call him up. Not forgetting that following Portsmouth’s relegation from the Premier League and severe financial problems, he will be looking for a move to a major European league, and with the world watching, what better arena to showcase your talents?

Ghana are touted as the third favourites to escape Group D, and following the news that Michael Essien will miss the tournament through that knee injury, their chances took an even greater hit. With skilful midfielders like Boatang and Muntari as well as the strength and power of Mensah and Appiah, they look to have a good mix of skill and solidarity, although perhaps they may fail to score enough goals to give them a chance of making the knock-out stages.

Australia

Qualified: Winners of Group 1 (in third round), Winners of Group A (in fourth round)

Best World Cup finish: Last 16: 2006

FIFA Ranking: 20

Odds for 2010: 150/1

Australia booked a place in their third World Cup finals, and second in succession, with a successful first attempt at qualifying through the Asian Football Confederation, following their switch from the Oceania region.

Knowing that coming in the top two of their group in the Asian zone would mean automatic entry to South Africa 2010 – rather than to the lottery of a play-off as is the case in Oceania – the Socceroos got of to a flying start winning their first three games, and remained unbeaten throughout including taking four points off main group rivals Japan.

After a successful campaign in 2006, in which the Aussies reached the last-16 before controversially being eliminated by eventual winners Italy, the Socceroos will be confident of progressing to the knock-out stages for a second-time, with a squad that features several current or ex-British based players.

For the second consecutive major tournament, the spearhead of the Australian attack will be led by former Leeds United and Liverpool star Harry Kewell who currently plies his trade in Turkey for Galatasaray.

The injury-prone forward had notched 13 goals in 45 caps, making him the highest scoring striker in the squad in the absence of Mark Viduka, and there will be a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of Kewell to lead the attack and pose some problems for the somewhat physical defences in their group.

Aside from Kewell, the other attacking options in the side come from midfield, particularly in the shape of Everton star Tim Cahill. With his customary attacking midfield role he is a danger to most sides and his team-mates will be looking for him to add to his record of 20 goals in 40 games.

Other attacking stimulus should be provided by Blackburn Rovers wideman Brett Emerton – a veteran of over 70 caps – and former Palermo man Mark Bresciano.

The socceroos will be led by captain Lucas Neill who plays alongside Kewell at Galatasaray and he will be aided at the back by vice-Captain and former Rangers and Newcastle United centre back Craig Moore. And although Moore and Neill are the wrong side of thirty, their vast experience of the international arena may help to counter their lack of pace and mobility.

Behind them will be the vastly experienced Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who will wear the number one shirt with 75 caps to his name, and on the back of a brilliant season with Europa League finalists Fulham.

With plenty of experience through the whole of the Australian side, from Schwarzer in between the sticks through Neill, Emerton, Cahill and Kewell, the Australians stand a good chance of making it through to a second consecutive last-16 appearance, where as discussed above, they face the prospect of a potentially mouthwatering encounter with rivals England.

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Qualified: Winners of European Qualification Group 4

Best World Cup finish: Winners: 1954, 1974 (as West Germany), 1990.

FIFA Ranking: 6

Odds for 2010: 14/1

Germany cruised into their 15^th consecutive World Cup finals with an unbeaten qualification campaign that was clinched with an impressive one-nil victory over Russia in Moscow.

Dropping just two points in the whole campaign, the Germans had the two highest scorers in their group with Miroslav Klose’s seven goals just edging him ahead of frontline partner Lukas Podolski who notched six.

So the Germans, perhaps inspired by Bayern Munich’s impressive run to the Champions League final, marched into South Africa with a spring in their step, confident of at least a semi-final finish.

However, their optimism was surely rocked with the news that Captain Michael Ballack will miss the tournament courtesy of an injury picked up in the FA Cup final thanks to a tackle from Ghana midfielder Kevin-Prince Boatang – suffice to say it didn’t take long for the conspiracy theorists to clear their throats.

With the inspirational former-Chelsea star Ballack robbed of a chance to appear in a third World Cup finals, the captaincy was passed to Bayern fullback Phillip Lahm, whose quality is obvious to all not least by the fact that he was named in the All-star team at the 2006 World Cup.

The question for the Germans is who will step up and fill that void left by the absence of Ballack, and it looks like coach Joachim Loew will be looking to Werder Bremen youngster Mesut Ozil to step-up and prove his worth on the highest stage of all.

Ozil, who turned down the opportunity to represent Turkey for a shot with the three times winners, began his career with Schalke before being snapped up for about €4million by Bremen. He quickly became a key figure in the German youth teams and was a pivotal part of the team that dismantled England in their 4-0 win at the 2009 European under-21 championships.

With ten caps to his name so far, and just one goal, his team mates will be looking to him for some creative inspiration, although the fact that Germany are relying on such a precocious and relatively unproven talent is surely a concern for them.

So who is going to score the goals required to get them through to the knock-out stages?

On paper, the Germans have a strong assortment of forwards, although if you look a little further there is defiantly cause for concern.

The attack is likely to be spearheaded by Podolski and Klose, and despite their respectable goal returns in qualification, their domestic form throughout the last season has been poor, with the former scoring just twice since he moved back to FC Koln, and the latter – who needs just six goals to equal the all-time record of World Cup finals goals – notching just six times for Bayern Munich all season.

The back-up to these two, the €30million man Mario Gomez managed just ten goals for the European Cup finalists last season following his high profile move from Stuttgart.

As we all know, international football is different to club football, but if the leading German forwards continue with their poor domestic form, then the chance of a major upset occurring in this group will increase massively.

The responsibility for keeping the ball out of the net will be led by new captain Lahm, who will most probably line-up in a back four including new Manchester City signing Jerome Boatang – the brother of Kevin-Prince, who was involved in the injury to Ballack – and Per Mertesacker who was a regular at the 2006 tournament.

Behind the defence, the gloves will be given to Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who has just five caps to his name. The alternative, Werder Bremen’s Tim Wiese also has a low amount of caps – just two – but is four years older than his rival.

This group looks like being one that the Germans should progress from, but is littered with banana skins in every game, and certainly will be harder to navigate than other groups such as those involving England and Spain.

In terms of the latter stages of the tournament, well that will be covered when we come to it, but as discussed above, if Germany’s forward line performs like it has in the domestic season then they may not get to reach those knock-out stages.

Serbia

Qualified: Winners of European Qualification Group 7

Best World Cup finish: Group stages: 2006 (as Serbia and Montenegro), 4^th Place: 1930, 1962 (as Yugoslavia)

FIFA Ranking: 15

Odds for 2010: 60/1

Serbia qualified for their first World Cup finals as an independent nation with an impressive campaign that saw them pip top seeds, and 2006 World Cup finalists France for the automatic qualification spot by just one point.

Despite lacking hoards of household names, the Serbian squad is made up of players at many of Europe’s top clubs, as well as several Premier League stars like Nemanja Vidic,Branislav Ivanovic and Nemad Milijas.

The captain, and holder of 81 caps spanning the three incarnations of the Serbian national team, is Inter Milan midfielder Dejan Stankovic.

A versatile player who can play in almost every position across the park, Stankovic became the captain of the newly formed Serbia following the disappointing 2006 World Cup campaign where placed in ‘the group of death’ Serbia and Montenegro returned home without a single point from their three group games.

Led by former Luton Town defender Radomir ‘Raddy’ Antic, who took over the coaching role in 2008, Serbia embarked on their successful bid to qualify for South Africa 2010 as the third seeded team in their group, behind Romania and favourites France. Yet they quickly established themselves as group leaders and didn’t surrender that throughout the campaign, which ended with a 5-0 thumping of Romania.

Their midfield linchpin and creative maestro will be captain Stankovic, however they will be looking to two prospective Premier League players to score the goals to give them a chance of doing anything spectacular at this Summer’s tournament.

Their top-scorer in qualification was Milan Jovanovic, who finished last season with Belgian champions Standard Liege, and who will be joining Liverpool later in the summer. His five goals helped to keep Serbia at the head of the group although he was aided by fellow English football new boy Nikola Zigic, whose three goals and considerable six foot, seven inches frame posed several problems for defenders. He will be joining Birmingham City for next season following an estimated £6million move from Valencia.

Although they did score a fair few goals in qualifying, their success was built on their solid defence, which features two of the best players currently in the game.

Manchester United centre-back Vidic, and Chelsea ‘utility’ defender Ivanovic have both included in the PFA team of the season, Vidic was in from 2006 to 2009 (spanning three seasons), whilst Ivanovic was included for the first time in 2010.

Another player that may be worth keeping an eye on is Manchester United reject Zoran Tosic who following a loan spell at FC Koln has managed to score five times in just 14 games for the German side and will be looking  to showcase his talent to boss Sir Alex Ferguson and prove his worth as a long term successor to Ryan Giggs on United’s left side.

With the two top class defenders mentioned above in their back line, Serbia can be confident of having a strong defensive base to build from, and can be confident that these two experienced and highly regarded players will be perform to a standard that will be among the very best at the entire tournament.

Rated by the bookmakers as the second most likely side to progress from the group, Serbia look set to do better than at the 2006 tournament, and will be looking to their forwards to score enough goals to keep them active in the tournament, whether they have enough skill and finesse to see off sides in what looks likely to be a physical group remains to be seen, but they are certainly in with a good shout of progressing, albeit in second place, which may set up a last 16 tie with England.

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As I mentioned in my previous post, Argentina are blessed with a wealth of attacking talent but lack organisation in defence, as well as a tactically sound manager. Even with the help of World Player of the year Leo Messi, La Albiceleste qualified for the tournament off the back of a rather unconvincing qualifying campaign which rested on the final game for Argentina to make it to the World Cup. Messi himself netted a very average (by his own high standards) four goals.

Inconsistency is probably the squad’s biggest failing. Coach Diego Maradona has used no less than 49 different players during qualifying, is unsure of his best formation and his tactics have been heavily questioned. Morale also appears to be a problem, and the team may find it difficult to hold their temperament for more than three games.

Nevertheless, the Argies will no doubt be expected to take the top spot. Although much has been said of Maradona’s rather dubious coaching ability, the fact is that my nan could probably take the team to a respectable distance in the competition, given the talent in the squad.

My prediction: 1st

Nigeria

It’s been a long time since the Super Eagles were African Cup of Nation and Olympic gold medallists in the mid-nineties. The nation has since failed to make much of an impact on the world stage since. The fact that star man John Obi Mikel has fallen prey to the injury curse that is wreaking havoc to big-name players in the lead up to the World Cup, is another huge blow to the team.

However manager Lars Lagerback is fairly new in charge, having taken the helm only in February, and few friendlies have been arranged for the squad, meaning that the new coach has yet to really show what he can do.

The team suffer from a similar disorganisation that blights the Argentina side, but without raw footballing talent of their South American rivals. Expect the Nigerians to put up a fight on their home continent, but don’t expect them to go too far.

My prediction: 3rd

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South Africa – Entering the tournament as the lowest-ever ranked host nation, little is expected of Bafana Bafana and we can see why. Uninspiring in failing to qualify for the African Nations Cup, they missed their chance to test themselves in readiness for the big stage.  Although unbeaten in seven months, they ambled to draws against Jamaica and Namibia, before beating Jamaica 2-0 in April. Beyond Steven Pienaar, their only top-level player, there is little quality in the side. Benni McCarthy, well known to English fans, was dropped from the final squad amid concerns over his form and weight. With the exception of captain Aaron Mokoena and Kagiso Dikgacoi of Fulham – hardly a regular – the squad lacks experience in competitive European Leagues, with a few members plying their trade in Greece and Germany having been omitted. World Cup-winning coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has called on a large group of domestic-based players who we can know little about. Nevertheless, he has been unbeaten in 11 games, upon being named coach and we can be sure to expect that the strong team spirit that has been fostered will do their nation proud.

Eyes will be on Steven Pienaar, yet to secure his long-term future at Everton after a wonderful season where he emerged as the injury-hit clubs’ leading light. Speculated interest from top four teams may well materialise with a strong showing at the finals, not that he needs any added incentive.

With the lack of expectancy on the hosts’ we can look forward to a celebration of the game on its visit to Africa; vuvuzelas will be an astoundingly irritating feature for the unknowing, but what will truly shine through is the spirit of the African people showing their passion in a way which is rarely matched anywhere in the world. Now they have the chance to prove it.

Uruguay – Enter the tournament boasting the two most prolific strikers in Europe. Strikers who have an astonishing goal:game ratio of almost 1:1 for two consecutive seasons. Their midfielders may just be the players who look like World Cup Wizards when supporting them, thus earning a move to one of Europe’s big leagues. One to look out for is the creative Nicolas Lodeiro of Ajax. Having just joined the Amsterdam giants in January, Lodeiro will be looking to announce his arrival on the big stage, showing all the skills that had many Uruguayans pushing for his inclusion in the starting line up. However, on Thursday morning Oscar Tabarez named his side to face the French, excluding his midfield whiz-kid.

Seven goals in two warm up games suggests form going in to the tournament.

However, a lack of general quality should see them come unstuck if and when they successfully negotiate the group stage.  Too much rests on their deadly strike pair, backed up by Edison Cavani of Palermo, who, it is believed has impressed sufficiently to interest the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham in recent months. Fernando Muslera, a goalkeeper of promise, has failed to convince but there is a dearth of quality in the goalkeeping ranks, something a few of the South American teams will be cursing.  At the back they have Diego Lugano, a tall and rugged centre back in the Nemanja Vidic mould. Lugano is widely regarded for his no-prisoners approach and he will be an intimidating presence for opponents. Much will also be expected of Martin Caceres, a young defender coming off the back of an uninspired loan spell with Juventus after failing to break in to the Barcelona ranks. A good World Cup could turn his career back in the right direction, yet it may be that too much is riding on Uruguay’s youngsters to camouflage the lack of depth through the squad. For all of the promise of the future, it seems only Brazil have brought the continents’ best when it comes to defensive players – a commanding mix of youth and experience that stabilises a team otherwise full of flair players.

Uruguay also warrant a mention for being the side that pioneered the introduction of players of African descent in to the game. It was perhaps this policy of social diversity that led them to becoming the first winners of the World Cup, drawing on talents of European and African heritage, creating a heady mix of power and dazzling technique that so many teams seek now. It is fitting that they return to take part in this celebration of the beautiful game, for the very first time on African soil; that which brought them so much success in the past.

Line up to face France: Fernando Muslera, Diego Lugano, Diego Godin, Mauricio Victorino, Diego Perez, Alvaro Pereira, Egidio Arevalo Rios, Ignacio Gonzalez, Maximiliano Pereira, Diego Forlan, Luis Suarez.

Prediction: to progress – France, Uruguay

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