Only 2 days to go until the 2014 FIFA World Cup gets underway. Today, we’ll be looking at Group C and Group D.
GROUP C GROUP D
COLUMBIA ENGLAND
GREECE ITALY
IVORY COAST COSTA RICA
JAPAN URUGUAY
OPENING FIXTURES
GROUP C- COLUMBIA V GREECE (SATURDAY 5PM)
GROUP C- IVORY COAST V JAPAN (SUNDAY 2AM)
GROUP D- ENGLAND V ITALY (SATURDAY 11PM)
GROUP D- COSTA RICA V URUGUAY (SATURDAY 8PM)
TEAMS
COLUMBIA– Columbia suffered the biggest blow possible to them in the build up to the World Cup, with star player Falcao ruled out. There only chance really in having a decent tournament have surely been blown now. They will still expect to progress to the last 16 where they will face probably England or Italy, and then you would expect that to be the end of them. A player to watch though is midfielder James Rodriguez.
IVORY COAST– No doubt the strongest of the African teams represented in Brazil. They have a plethora of stars within their squad. The Toure brothers, Drogba, Tiote and Bony will all be hoping to contribute to a successful tournament for the Ivorians. They should comfortably progress to the last 16 where like their counterparts Columbia, should face either England or Italy, or indeed Uruguay depending on outcome of Group D. I expect a quarter final spot for them would be classed as a success.
JAPAN– Nobody will expect anything from Japan in this group, which could help take a bit of the pressure off them. Star player Shinji Kagawa has had a poor season at Manchester United and will not exactly be coming into this World Cup with much confidence. Unfortunately I think 3rd place in the group will be the best result for the Japanese this time out.
GREECE- Greece, the 2004 European championship winners and 12th ranked team in the world, enter this World Cup on good form having won 6 of their last 7 qualifiers only conceding 2 goals in the process. They face a battle to progress but they will certainly be hoping to cause an upset.
ITALY- The Italians are always a threat. no matter what for they are in when it comes to the major tournaments you always have to be wary. Losing Montolivo is a big blow, but they will be looking at Balotelli and De Rossi for big performances, especially in the early stages. Andrea Pirlo is obviously a big player for the 2006 winners, and teams will have to make sure they keep him quiet. What would be deemed as success for Italy? Surely they will be looking to minimum quarter finals, but anything beyond that would be a bonus in my opinion.
COSTA RICA– Costa Rica have seemed to have been forgotten about in this group. big outsiders to qualify out of the group, but you never know, an early goal against one of the big boys could cause a scare. I don’t expect this to happen though, and I can’t see anything other than 4th place in the group.
URUGUAY– Uruguay will be heavily relying on one man, Luis Suarez. If he is contained then they should not cause any major problems. Conditions will be on their side but they have a very ageing squad, and defensively they look very weak. The game against England could be a big game in terms of who will qualify and who won’t. Both sides are weak at the back so it could be a goal fest.
ENGLAND– England, the masters in failure and disappointment. Promise so much yet deliver seemingly nothing. This is a huge tournament for them, a lot of young players called into the squad, which could work, but also could not. England SHOULD progress through the group stage and if they do that will certainly be a relief to Roy Hodgson. Wayne Rooney is coming under a lot of scrutiny and a lot are questioning whether he should start against Italy on Saturday. If he does, he needs to offer a lot more than he has been recently, both for club and country. So what are their chances? as a patriotic fan you always want to win but I would be very surprised if they get past the quarter finals where they will probably meet Brazil or Spain.
So that’f Group C and D looked at. Both quite open groups, check out my predictions on Thursday afternoon where you can have a look at what I think will happen over the next couple of weeks in Brazil. Tomorrow I’ll be previewing Group E and F.
Tee Time 