Predicted Order of Finish: Germany, Poland, Costa Rica, Ecuador

Germany are firm favorites to win this group, not only because they are easily the most talented of the four, but because they will be inspired to perform in front of their home fans.

The other three teams all come to the Finals with something to prove and are looking to atone for dissapointments four years ago.

Poland went into the last World Cup expecting to make a strong showing but failed to get out of their group as the USA and South Korea advanced. They are now stronger although coach Pawel Janas raised more than a few eyebrows by not bringing to Germany Liverpool’s Champions League hero Jerzy Dudek and striker Tomasz Frankowski who lead the Poles in scoring during qualifying.

Costa Rica are one of the most entertaining of the 32 teams in this years Finals and were just a goal difference away from advancing from their group in 2002. They will be a pleasure to watch again with Paolo Wanchope up front looking to impress, World Club Championship MVP Chrstian Bolanos playing on either wing, and Alvaro Saborio, who has averaged 20 goals the last 5 years for Saprissa FC.

Ecuador qualified for the World Cup by finishing third behind Brazil and Argentina, but an asterisk will always accompany them as they play their home matches in their capital, Quito, which has an elevation over 9000 feet. When they play closer to sea level, their form drops significantly, winning only once away from home during qualification and recently drawing with Columbia, and losing to Macedonia in friendlies. In 2002 they defeated Croatia but it was meaningless as they had already been humbled by Italy and Mexico.

Expect the Germans to get 7 points to lead the group, with Poland and Costa Rica battling it out for second. As eventual semifinalist Turkey did to them in 2002, the Poles are likely to finish just ahead of the Costa Ricans on goal difference. Ecuador will not fall easily but don’t have enough quality (at sea level) to get more than a draw or two.

Tomorrow: Group B

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 31st, 2006 at 6:03 am and is filed under World Cup 2006. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.