Predicted Order of Finish: Brazil, Australia, Croatia, Japan

After Brazil, there is very little between the other teams in this group. All could advance and none are poor. After Group C, this foursome could provide the most exciting matches of the tournament and the second place decider could come down to who can get a draw against a Brazil team that will have no problems qualifying for the group stages.

When you have Ronaldinho, Kaka, Ronaldo, and Adriano upfront and Robinho coming off the bench, there would seem to be little to worry about. But the Brazilians are shaky in the back and while they’ll have no worries in the group stages, they could have unexpected troubles against some of the world’s top teams.

Australia are extremely confident after their playoff win against Uruguay. And with Tim Cahill returning from a near devastating injury, the Socceroos could make a run in the knockout round. Harry Kewell, Cahill, and Parma’s Marco Bresciano lead an impressive five-man midfield with Mark Viduka as the lone striker. Coach Guus Hiddink is looking to bring the same magic to the Australians as he did to the South Koreans and has found a way to balance their innate strength and speed with an intelligence that has been lacking in the past. The Socceroos will get out of this group and surprise teams in the knockout stages. For proof, see a recent draw with Holland.

Although they have the pedigree and experience, Croatia are in trouble amidst recent losses to Poland and Spain and a draw with Iran. They are somewhat solid in most parts of the field but are having trouble putting it all together and are far too reliant on Juventus’ Robert Kovac in defense.

The headlines this week from Japanese star Hidetoshi Nakata stating that the 2002 co-hosts “have no heart” are not what a team looking to convince they are not one-tournament-wonders. Japan played very well in the last Finals, but a very tough group and lack of home field advantage could see them go home with few or no points.

Reports coming out of Turkey are saying that Arsenal defender Sol Campbell has told reporters that he is very close to agreeing a move to Istanbul to play for Fenerbahce next season.

The England centre back, currently on World Cup duty with the national side encamped at Baden Baden in Germany, has had a torrid season in the Premiership with rumours of mental breakdowns and loss of form being exacerbated by his increasingly strange behaviour on the pitch. His half-time substitution and disappearance from Highbury during the game against West Ham where he was badly caught out twice in a few minutes has been the main talking point of the season for a player more accustomed to plaudits for his on field conduct and if the reports are true it maye be understandable if he has decided to leave England for foreign climes.

“The probability of me joining Fenerbahce is very high,” Campbell told the Vatan newspaper. “Not because they’ve offered me a lot of money, but because they have challenged me. Everything will be clearer after the World Cup.”

“It is obvious that they are considering me seriously,” Campbell said. “They made me a good and full offer. We are progressing step-by-step. I will give my decision after the World Cup.

“But, the probability of me joining Fenerbahce is bigger than that of refusing the offer.”

It’s looking increasingly likely that his goal in the European Cup final defeat to Barcelona could well have marked the end of a controversial Arsenal career.

Middlesbrough have called a 2pm press conference where they are expected to unveil Gareth Southgate as their new manager and will walk into a storm of controversy and dispute from the League Managers’ Association.

Boro chairman Steve Gibson has apparently decided that the Glenn Roeder case for special dispensation also applies to his club captain due to his successful playing career which has subsequently prevented him from studying for the requisite UEFA Pro coaching licence.

Middlesbrough chief executive Keith Lamb has outlined the club’s case on their official website:

“Middlesbrough and Gareth should not suffer because he has had such a successful career at club and international level.

“Until recently Gareth has spent his summers serving his country as a player. It makes little sense such players should be denied rare opportunities like the one he now has simply because he hasn’t had the chance to gain the qualifications.

“Why not allow players of such ilk the chance to gain their badges while doing the job rather than making them wait?

“It is no coincidence many of the current crop of good young managers did not actually play at the highest level, so were able to concentrate on gaining coaching qualifications while many top stars were playing for their country.

“If that continues, the natural conclusion is most top British managers will have no experience of international football.”

The decision by the Premier League chairmen to allow Glenn Roeder to take up the Newcastle job has obviously opened the floodgates now and every chairman who wants to appoint whoever he wishes will now have a legal precedent to back up his desires.

Maybe the Premier League chairmen knew what they were doing when they let the proverbial genie out of the bottle after all.

Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson is ready to go to war with John Barnwell and the League Managers’ Association to get Gareth Southgate installed as Steve McLaren’s successor as Middlesbrough manager as soon as possible.

After being turned down by Terry Venables and Martin O’Neill, Gibson has seen his list of potential bosses shrink substantially and now feels that bringing his 35 year old team captain in as manager will allow some continuity within the club and give Southgate a fast track entrance into top level management.

Gareth Southgate’s lack of the requisite UEFA coaching badges are the main stumbling block and with LMA chief John Barnwell in fighting mood and still smarting after being thwarted in his attempt to stop Newcastle appointing Glenn Roeder as manager despite his lack of relevant coaching badges, there could be several more twists and turns before this saga finishes.

The Glenn Roeder situation has given Boro a precedent with which to argue their case and if they too are successful in appointing Gareth Southgate then the LMA will be left in a very precarious position in future. John Barnwell knows this and as any man would do when his own position and power is threatened, he’s ready for a fight.

So Sir Alex Ferguson is somewhat less than pleased to hear that Wayne Rooney has been snapped performing bicycle kicks at his first full England training session in Baden Baden (what a great name for a place!) and for once I think myself and Lord Redface are in agreement.

Typical Rooney behaviour to be out for six weeks, have the English nation (never mind his employers at Manchester United who have most to lose financially if he gets injured again) on tenterhooks and then leap back into action in a tabloid seeking way that even Gazza in his prime would have been ashamed of.

While it’s great news for football watchers all over the world that Wayne Rooney is getting himself back into shape and now looks an increasingly better bet to play some part in the proceedings in Germany (unlucky Jermain Defoe), is it really a sensible idea to be performing acrobatic volleys in your first training session when the all important final scan hasn’t even been performed yet?

Time will tell on just how fit Rooney is, by all accounts he was running fast and free on the spot and executing sharp turns which (I’m told) are the main tests of a broken foot such as his but the real test will come in either a practice match or if he makes it, in a real match where the tackles won’t be pulled out of and there will be big, mean defenders just ready to stamp down on that highly prized foot to test out it’s durability.

For now though, maybe he should leave those high aerial balls which are just ripe for a tasty, head high bicycle kick to Peter Crouch to stoop down and chest in. England expects and their expectations are growing by the second as these pictures get out.

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Comment spam is an unnecessary evil on blogs and sites such as this but with Akismet looking after us we should be ok.

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Real Madrid have made it clear that Chelsea will have to wait until after their presedential elections before finding out if Roberto Carlos will be made available for transfer.

The 33 year old has had a disappointing couple of seasons for Madrid but still has massive pulling power and would be readily accepted into the growing Galactico club at Stamford Bridge.

Real vice-president Emilio Butragueno told The Sun:

“We believe it would be better not to decide anything until after the elections on July 2. It’s logical the next president and his advisors should decide if they want Roberto. We’ll see how they feel about him and Chelsea and a definite decision will be taken on his future.”

Predicted Order of Finish: Italy, United States, Czech Republic, Ghana

Nearly dubbed the ‘Group of Death’, this group features four talented countries who could go deep into the tournament. But it also contains four teams with enough questions (okay, maybe not Italy) to justify predicting them to be on a plane home before the Round of 16.

Italy is the most balanced of all the World Cup favorites. And most importantly they are the healthiest, with no serious injuries to be concerned with and have been lifted by the return of forward Francisco Totti, out injured since the very beginning of the year. His partnership with Albert Gilardino and Luca Toni should see the Italians shed their defensive reputation and be a serious offensive threat. Yes, we are actually going to see the Azzuri score plenty of goals this year. But unlike other teams with several dangerous strkers upront (like Brazil, Argentina, and Holland), Italy are just as solid in defense and when threatened, are able to bring star midfielder Gennaro Gattuso into a more defensive position, even further shoring up the back.

Most will be picking the Czech Republic to finish second in this group, and on paper, they’d seem like a lock. But age and the treatment table have not been their friend and they are hobbling towards the start of the tournament. Nearly all of their top players have been hurt in the run up to the World Cup with Tomas Rosicky, Tomas Galasek, Milan Baros, and Jan Koller having all missed valuable preparation time due to injury. Also, midfielder Vladimer Smicer tearfully announced last week that he would miss the entire tournament. On the plus side, Pavel Nedved came out of international retirement to help the Czechs qualify and will be more than motivated for what will be his final international tournament.

The United States has no major injury worries, but in recent friendlies, the Americans have had a hard time scoring and living up to the standards they set when they got to the quarterfinals (and outplayed but lost to Germany) in 2002. Coach Bruce Arena has one of the better problems you can have with Reading’s Bobby Convey, Manchester City’s Claudio Reyna, PSV’s DaMarcus Beasley, and MLS stars Landon Donovan, John O’Brien and Pablo Mastroeni all vying for and deserving of four midfield spots. Getting out of the group will depend on Arena finding balance, and some goals, from his talented and now experienced players.

Ghana are not one of the African teams that are just happy to be in Germany. Though this is their first appearance in a World Cup, they have the talent to not only get some results, but get out of this group. Lead by Michael Essien and Fenerbahce’s Stephen Appiah, the Ghanians will live and die on the form of their midfield. They are also buoyed by the return of Ghanaian legend Samuel Kuffour in defense, who was kicked off of the team for the African Nations Cup due to an attitude that put himself before the team.

Four teams with not much between them make this a tight group. Italy, though, could win all three of their matches with second place coming down to goal difference. Though neither of the other three teams, at this moment, inspire much confidence up front, it?s the Americans with most potential to move on.

Predicted Order of Finish: Portugal, Mexico, Iran, Angola

This is maybe the oddest of all the groups, with a few intriguing stories, major political overtones, and two clear cut winners who will almost certainly be dumped out of the tournament in the next round.

Both Portugal and Mexico are in different leagues when it comes to talent and experience in Group D. The Portugese were many times predicted to do great things and, like many others in this tournament, have failed to live up to their billing. Up front they have big names in Luis Figo, Christiano Ronaldo, and Deco playing just behind Pauleta and they should win this group with the full 9 points.

Because only a few of Mexico’s players are based abroad, they will have spent much more time together than any other team, playing 26 games in 2005. They are talented in spots and in the 2005 Confederations Cup, they beat Brazil and drew with Argentina and Germany. They are strong down the middle with Barcelona’s Rafael Marquez in central defense, captain Pavel Pardo in midfield and Bolton’s Jared Borgetti alongside Villareal’s Guillermo Franco as the two strikers.

Iran should be just happy to be here but are extremely confident of getting out of their group. A problem has arisen in their pre-tournament preparations because most countries have refused to play them in friendlies due to politics. Those who have not seen Iran much (okay for most of us, at all) should be on the lookout for Bayern Munich’s Ali Karimi who is the heir apparent to Michael Ballack now that he has moved on, and striker Ali Daei who has scored more goals internationally than anyone, ever!!

Angola actually are just happy to be here and got to the Finals not necessarily because of their outstanding play, but because Nigeria disappointed throughout qualification. The big story for them is their June 11 match against Portugal. From the 16th century on, Angola was under the thumb of the Portuguese and only gained independence in 1975. In their only previous meeting, the Angolans received so many red cards the match was cancelled. Tempers and memories will probably not be a factor this time.

Another curiosity of this group is that though Portugal and Mexico should easily advance, they should both be eliminated in the next round as they are to face the two teams to escape from Group C, most likely to be Holland and Argentina.

After all of the negative press attention over the past few months regarding Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein’s potential conflict of interest in keeping a high powered position at the Football Association as well, it seemed yesterday that common sense and the will of the people had spoken when it was announced that Mr Dein had been voted off the FA board by the other Premier League chairmen.
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