It's That Time Again

Yes, it's that time every years when the Football World Cup, the largest single sporting event devoted to one sport takes place. I'm going to make a few prognostications in advance of the tournament as to who I believe will get out of the group stage from each group.

I'll start with Group A and Group B. Group A consist of the following teams: Germany, Poland, Costa Rica and Ecuador. Expect them to finish in that order. This is a very weak group and Germany benefits from the lucky draw as does Poland, despite the absence of goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek and forward Emanuel Olisadebe. Costa Rica finished third in the CONCACAF conference and has been lackluster in the warm up games. As for Ecuador, considering their poor record outside of Quito and the advantage they have in that city's altitude, I would be surprised if they win a game in the group.

Group B consists of Sweden, England, Paragua and Trinidad and Tobago. I also expect them to finish in that order. While Henrik Larsson is a bit long in the tooth, his play is what led Barcelona to  win the Champions League last month. Zlatan Ibrahamovic is an impressive attacker and was awe-inspiring in the Euro 2004 tournament. He was not very impressive for Juventus this year, but I believe his skill and flash will help Sweden at the right time. Also helping Sweden will be a healthy Freddy Ljungberg, one of the EPL's most gifted attacking midfielders.

As for England, so much is riding on Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen, that in a tougher group (such as the one they were in 2002 with Sweden, Nigeria and Argentina) they might not make it out of the group stage. However, they still have enough good players healthy to get to the round of 16. I'll reserve judgment for what happens after that. Paraguay, despite a gifted attacker like Roque Santa Cruz (though coming off of two knee surgeries) and midfielder Julio dos Santos just don't seem to have it in my opinion. Although they have made it out of the group stage in 1998 and 2002, they were in groups that were either weak (2002) or where a regular powerhouse (Spain) just didn't seem to have it in them that year. In both cases they finished second in the group and in 2002 they advanced only on a tie breaker.

Trinidad and Tobago, I'm glad that the Soca Warriors made it. It's great that four teams from CONCACAF got there. Enjoy your time in Germany as it will probably be brief.

Next Groups C (one of the groups of death) & D.