Alright, here's where I really go out on a limb. There is a second group of death in my humble opinion and that is Group E which features the Czech Republic, Ghana, Italy and the United States.
Let's look at the teams. The Czech Republic has an impressive squad with arguably the world's best goalkeeper in Petr Cech, an excellent midfield featuring Tomas Rosicky and Pavel Nedved and a solid striker combination with Jan Koller and Milan Baros. There is but one catch here: Nedved and Koller are not kids any more (34 and 33, respectively) and Koller is coming off knee surgery, while Nedved's temper has seen him take early showers far too often.
Italy are notoriously slow starters and have traditionally matched up poorly against speedy teams (witness the South Korea round of 16 game in 2002). Luca Toni, although a late bloomer is a tall, skilled attacker, which is good given Alessandro del Piero's underperforming on the international stage, Christian Vieri's absence due to injury and Pippo Inzaghi's age, they may not score a lot of goals (as if Italy ever does). They will have to rely on defense, which is a cause for concern as Alessandro Nesta and Gianluca Zambrotta, two of their best defenders are recovering from injuries.
I know very little about Ghana's other than Sammy Kuffour, Eric Oddo and, of course, Michael Essien who is arguably one of the world's best midfielders. While I don't expect them to be the breakout African team at this World Cup, they should not be taken lightly. Their speed, skill and craftiness may yield some surprises.
As for the USA, the single best thing going for us is a combination of youth and experience. Yes, some of the starters (Eddie Pope, Brian McBride and Claudio Reyna) are not so young any more, but if heart means anything - and I believe it does - McBride and Reyna and especially McBride, have plenty of it. Couple it with speedy players like Landon Donovan, Damarcus Beasley and Eddie Johnson coming off the bench Italy could have a tough time as could the Czech Republic. With youthful defenders like Oguchi Onyewu Jan Koller and Luca Toni could have their hands full.
The single greatest intangible for the US, however, is the location for the Italy game. They are playing in Kaiserslautern, home to several thousand American military and dependents (and the city where I graduated from high school). This will be as close to a home field advantage as the US could have outside the US.
So my predictions for the finish in this group: Czech Republic, USA (on goal difference), Italy and Ghana. In for a penny, in for a pound.
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