Grupo D

Trying to do all eight groups and four elimination rounds in the twelve days before the World Cup kicks off, which means blogging every day for this entire month of June.



Continuing my Cup breakdown with a look at Group D
(as in Death).

Germany
Australia
Serbia
Ghana

This is another group with one clear cut favorite and three other teams battling for the second spot. I've been cheering against Germany for my entire life because they're boring and methodical (IM0), but their style seems to work because they always make it deep into every Euro and World Cup. This year's German side doesn't have a lot of experience or big names, and they're currently ranked #6 in World SPI , but should still breeze through this group with maximum points.

If the USA makes it to the elimination stage, they will play Germany in either the first or second round. And they will lose. There are only about five or six teams that can beat Germany (the ones above them in SPI, plus Italy) and the Germans will keep winning until they play one of those teams. The Germans may be boring, but they do not lose to lesser teams.

Of the other teams in Group D, I like the Aussies because they call their national team the Socceroos (Australia is another country that calls this sport "soccer") and their star goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer (of Fulham FC, my current EPL team of choice) is an Australian of German descent who played in the Bundesliga and should be fired up when the Aussies face the Germans.

Ghana made it to the second round out of the USA's group in 2006, and should be motivated playing in Africa, so they'll also be tough. Group D features two German-Ghanan brothers on opposite sides with Jerome Boateng (of Man City) playing for Germany and his brother Kevin-Prince (of Portsmouth) playing for Ghana. Not a lot of brother v. brother in the World Cup.

Serbia will be another strong team. They're currently ranked 9th in SPI, which sounds a bit inflated because they didn't qualify for the Euro and didn't play well in 2006 (as Serbia & Montenegro), but maybe the Montenegrans were dragging them down? It wouldn't be surprising for any of these three teams to make the next round, unless two of them did at the Germans' expense.

I'm pulling for Australia and Ghana for the glory of continents that start with A. How can you pull against a team that uses a Toto song as their 2010 World Cup Theme?

Grupo C

Continuing the World Cup breakdown with a look at Group C:

England
United States
Algeria
Slovenia

The marquee match in this World Cup group, and possibly the whole tournament, is USA v. England next Saturday (06/12/2010) at 10:30AM PDT on ABC (check local listings). It's probably not a huge deal in the scope of the tournament, since both countries should advance if they take care of business against minnows Algeria and Slovenia, but should still be a big deal on both sides of the Atlantic.

First things first. I'm a big-time Anglophile when it comes to music or books or TV shows or even liking this sport that the rest of the world calls "football", but that does not extend into being a fan of England's national team in that sport.

The English seem to base a large part of their national identity on their performance in international tournaments, translating into a Rule Britannia jingoism that rubs me the wrong way. I was in the UK in 2007 when England failed to qualify for Euro 2008, and the British public and media were convinced that the sun had finally set their Empire.

After that failure, England fired their manager, hired a new one, and focused on the 2010 World Cup, breezing through qualifying with just one loss. They come into this World Cup flowing with confidence and high expectations, even though they haven't won an major international competition in 44 years, since their 1966 World Cup victory. And they've never beaten the USA in the World Cup (all-time record 0-0-1, remember 1950!).

On the other hand, Nate Silver ranks England as the 3rd best team in the world (behind Brazil and Spain) and the U.S. as the 15th (which is probably inflated since CONCACAF is such a weak region), so it would be a pretty big deal if Our Boys could pull out a win or even a draw. Maybe not as big as the "Miracle On Ice", but at least as big that 1950 game or last year's Confederation Cup win over Spain.

It would be a major embarrassment for England if We pull this out, and their schaden will give me lots of freude, but if we don't then whateverdude, just beat Algeria and Slovenia to make it to the knockouts. Some Americans might find it hard to cheer against the English since we were allies in two World Wars (as well as this War On Terror thing) and we're almost the same country, but with a certain "British" oil company pumping gallons of crude into the Gulf over the past six weeks, maybe it's time to break out some Johnny Horton records.



The two other teams in Group C, Slovenia and Algeria, appear to be overmatched in this group, so if either team makes it through, it means that either England or (more likely) the US laid a major egg. And Slovenia qualified from Europe, so they might not be as bad as people think.

Grupo B

Continuing my Cup breakdown with a look at Group B:

Argentina
Greece
Korea Republic
Nigeria

Argentina should win this group, because they've got the greatest player in the World.



They're my pick to win the whole thing because of the Great Messi. The other three teams aren't terribly strong, but they aren't weak either, so there should be a good competition to determine which other country makes the knockout stage. Nate Silver picks Nigeria to advance, and I'm inclined to agree with him, because of the home continent advantage. But if the Nigerians stumble, either South Korea or Greece wouldn't be out of the questions. Whoever it is will probably lose to the French (winner of Group A) in the first round of eliminations.

Here's the current Argentine coach (another one of the best players I've ever seen) showin' off to Opus's "Life Is Life".



If Maradonna was half as good as a manager as he was as a player, Argentina would never lose a match!

Grupo A

Starting my Cup breakdown with a look at Group A:

France
Mexico
Uruguay
South Africa


This isn't a very strong group, but it looks to be France's to lose, even though they only made the World Cup on la main de Dieu/Henry, and most of their big names (Henry, Galas, Anelka) are on the wrong side of 30.

Mexico also looks like a safe bet to make the knockout stage, with a lot of talented players and solid defenders, but they always have a knack for collapsing on the large stage. I don't know much about Uruguay, but they've won two World Cups (in 1930 and 1950), which should be worth something.

South Africa, the host nation are known locally as "Bafana Bafana", which sounds like someone singing the name game ("fana fana Bafana fa nana nana Bafana"). South Africa has the best World Cup song and they'll have lots of home country support, but don't have much hope of advancing.

My picks: Winner = France, Runner Up = Mexico
Cheering for : South Africa (Bafana, Bafana.. Bring it home to mama!)

Cup blogging

Most of my blog entries for the next six weeks will likely focus on a certain quadrennial athletic competition they're having in Southern Africa, which kicks off in just under ten days.



I follow international soccer fairly avidly nowadays, but have always been a fan of the World Cup even before I knew any of the players or teams. It's up there with the Summer Olympics as a sports spectacle, but unlike the Olympics, average folks actually care about the World Cup.

The 32 teams in the cup (selected by regional tournaments in their respective federations) are arranged into eight groups of four, and each group plays a three match round robin against the others with the top two teams from each group advancing to the knockout stage. The knockout stage works like playoffs in every other sport, the winner advances and the loser goes home.

Here are the groups for the 2010 Cup.

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece
Group C: Algeria, Slovenia, England, USA
Group D: Australia, Germany, Ghana, Serbia
Group E: Cameroon, Denmark, Netherlands, Japan
Group F: Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay, Slovakia
Group G: Brazil, Côte d'Ivoire, North Korea, Portugal
Group H: Chile, Honduras, Spain, Switzerland

Lots of notable absences! I hope to go over each one in detail before the start of the Cup, with my picks to advance and teams and players to watch. When in doubt, cheer for African teams and against European teams.

Ain't no cuffs on my pants

Alex on French TV, circa 1987

Now I can stay out all night long

Alex Chilton on 120 Minutes, circa 1986