Art by Sacha Irick
Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series assessing the 2014 World Cup
On Dec. 6, 2013, the fates of the 32 nations participating in the most prestigious football tournament, the 2014 FIFA World Cup, were revealed. The World Cup Final Draw took place in Costa do Sauipe, an iconic Brazilian location known for its alluring beaches and the grand Chapada Diamantina National Park.
On that day, Brazilian models Fernanda Lima and Rodrigo Hilbert hosted an event that featured football legends such as Geoff Hurst and Zinedine Zidane, national football team head coaches, Brazilian dancers and FIFA hierarchy.
The 32 teams were divided into four pots based on their FIFA World Ranking. The teams were then split into eight groups (A-H), each containing teams from each pot. This World Cup is the most balanced one ever, with 26 of the top 32 FIFA ranked teams having qualified. Out of all eight groups, there is only one that seems to be unequal. The following is the first part of a brief analysis on how the participating teams in the draw will likely fare in the tournament.
Group A: Brazil, Mexico, Croatia, Cameroon
After facing each other in a round-robin format, only two teams in each group progress to the round of 16. The host country, Brazil, should have no problem in doing so as they have one of the world’s strongest teams, something they proved in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup Final. In said tournament, which is to be a dress rehearsal for the World Cup, they annihilated the reigning world and European champion, Spain, 3-0.
Brazil benefited from the draw as it was placed in a group that will not require much of them; their perfectly balanced team will be one of the main candidates to win the World Cup. Brazil will not only count on home-field advantage but will also be out for revenge, as they lost the World Cup final the first and only time they hosted it in 1950. On that occasion, Uruguayan Alcides Ghiggia scored the goal that brought despair to an entire country, causing the now famous “Maracanazo,” a result that even led several Brazilians to commit suicide.
Mexico’s situation is an ironic one: they were Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football’s (CONCACAF) last team to qualify and they are the ones with the best chance to progress. Mexico has the players and the manager required to do so. Giovani dos Santos, Javier Hernandez and Hector Moreno’s talents will be crucial to their country’s success, as will Head Coach Miguel Herrera’s fighting spirit. His main challenge will be to achieve a high level of cohesion to address problems displayed in Mexico’s disastrous qualifying campaign.
Cameroon can’t say the same. Their best players, such as Chelsea striker Samuel Eto’o, are past their prime; he has only scored 6 goals in the first half of the season. The man who was once considered one of the most feared strikers in Europe is now one of the bunch, with 16 Premier League players having scored more goals than him in the current season.
Even though the physicality factor could be important, instability at both field and organizational levels – Eto’o accused the Cameroonian FA from trying to assassinate him- doesn’t help the team in any way.
Croatia is in a pickle. Head Coach Niko Kovac has never managed a professional football team and even though they have great midfield talent in Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic , their defense is old and slow — something that doesn’t bode well against the Brazilian, Mexican and Cameroonian quickness. Long gone are the times of renowned striker Davor Suker. Croatia was the worst-seeded team to qualify to the European playoffs, an instance in which they had to triumph over Iceland to access the World Cup.
Prediction: 1st place: Brazil (7 points). 2nd place: Mexico (6 points).
Group B: Spain, Chile, Netherlands, Australia
Group B is all about revenge. Reigning world champions and football behemoth Spain will try to defend their crown from two teams they have defeated in the previous World Cup and an outsider that will try — yet most likely fail — to surprise the world. Spain beat Chile 2-1 in the group phase, and defeated the Netherlands 1-0 in the final at the Soccer City stadium in South Africa. These are two results that the teams on the wrong side of the scoreline will look to overturn.
Australia has no chance of progressing — it doesn’t have the players or managers to even dream of scraping a single point. Their best player, Robbie Kruse, was injured last weekend and will miss this summer’s World Cup.
Chile plays wonderful football. Head Coach Jorge Sampaoli has improved on legendary Marcelo Bielsas’s tactical system, implementing a more fluid and changing formation that allows for more goals and less mistakes. Barcelona’s Alexis Sanchez will be key, as he is Chile’s most dangerous player, along with Juventus’ omnipresent Arturo Vidal.
The Netherlands won 9 of their 10 qualifying matches and boast high-caliber players in the forms of Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie and Wesley Sneijder. Head Coach Louis Van Gaal, who boasts a 22-year long coaching career including the likes of Ajax, Bayern Munich and Barcelona, will try to put the famous Dutch “total football system” to use (total football is a football system in which all players have interchangeable positions — fluidity is key).
Prediction: 1st place: Spain (7 points). 2nd place: Netherlands (6 points).
Group C: Colombia, Greece, Japan, Ivory Coast
Colombia is back in the World Cup after 16 years of both political and football turmoil. Led by its most talented generation in years, Colombia is one of the tournament favorites. They play attractive football and have enormous offensive strength. Radamel Falcao, Jackson Martínez, Luis Muriel and Juan Fernando Quintero merely top off the list of tremendously talented players.
Greece somehow always manages to qualify for major tournaments even though they almost never triumph. Remember Euro 2004? That time, the Greeks won the tournament that nobody expected them to win a single match in, leaving the entire world in awe. This time around, the formula seems to be the same: no big players, not much hope and nothing to lose. Like a wise man once said: “Let’s see what happens.”
Japan triumphed in what is known as the world’s easiest qualifying zone, and enters the World Cup with hopes that its greatest talents will step up and show everybody why they shouldn’t be ignored. Keisuke Honda, Shinji Kagawa and Yasuhito Endo will try to lead the Samurai past the 16-round-stage, in which they fell to Paraguay in penalties in the 2010 tournament.
With Didier Drogba as commander and Yaya Touré, Didier Zokora and Salomon Kalou as generals, Ivory Coast will rely on its greatest players to lead them through what seems to be their easiest World Cup group in the past eight years. The challenge for Coach Sabri Lamouchi will be to synergize different playing styles into a powerful starting eleven.
Prediction: 1st place: Colombia (6 points). 2nd place: Ivory Coast (4 points).
Group D: England, Uruguay, Italy, Costa Rica
Even though they will most likely be unable to play Arsenal star Theo Walcott due to injury, the once-great English team will rely on individual talent and an old-fashioned head coach (Roy Hodgson) to hopefully make it past the group stage. Even though they have players such as Wayne Rooney, Jack Wilshere and Frank Lampard, Hodgson’s tactics limit the potential this group of players could have. As always, they will likelyenter with high expectations and settle with an early exit.
Italy is on a road of transition, switching their extremely defensive “Catenaccio” style for an offensive-minded system recently implemented by Head Coach Cesare Prandelli. As has been in their history, with the exception of the 2008 Euro and 2010 World Cup, Italy is a candidate to take home the trophy yet again, as they have done so on four occasions. Led by legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, the Juventus back three (Barzagli, Bonucci and Chiellini) and crazy man Mario Balotelli, the Italians have every reason to dream of a fifth World Cup victory. Doing so on Brazilian soil would be the cherry on top of the cake.
Uruguay qualified for the World Cup with a playoff triumph over Jordan, and will be a hard team to beat, as they have two of the world’s best forwards: Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani. Having an experienced head coach in Oscar Tabarez, who is extremely knowledgeable about the group of players at his disposal and football in general, Uruguay will be a tough nut to crack.
Costa Rica qualified as the second best team in CONCACAF, finishing only behind the United States. This will only be their fourth World Cup, and they will likely be heading home faster than the speed of light. Costa Rica’s only hope is that both PSV’s Bryan Ruiz and Levante’s Keylor Navas have an outstanding three matches, as they do not have the necessary players to succeed in this group.
Prediction: 1st place: Italy (5 points). 2nd place: England (4 points).
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Follow Ricardo Avila Alvarez on Twitter: @RAvila27
