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France
98 World Cup |
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France
98 World Cup |
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1. Netherlands
2. Nigeria
3. Norway
Most Dangerous: Argentina
Outsider: Yugoslavia
Shocks: Brazil will not make it past the first round, nor will Germany.
Just remember the Triple 'N'. Yep, the Warrior not only feels it will be time for a virgin winner to triumph, but feels that this unusual coincidence will eventuate.
Champions
The Dutch will win simply because they have the best all-round team that
can handle any opponent. There attack with Bergkamp, Overmars and Kluivert is second
to none and with Seedorf, Winter, Davids, Stam, and the De Boer twins in midfield and
defence; and their tremendous depth, it is time for the unlucky Dutch to finally be called
World Champions. They qualified in style defeating their great rivals Belgium
twice, and other than the recent 0-0 against Cameroon at home, their
players have been in outstanding form for both club and country. Just last night
they destroyed fellow finalists and South American runner up Paraguay, 5-1.
Second
Nigeria will be their opponents in the final. The Africans destroyed Italy
for 99% of their eighth final in the USA last time and should have won. They are the
Olympic Champions, beating Argentina and a Brazil
containing Ronaldo, Carlos, Bebeto and Juninho along the way. They were the very
first team to qualify and also have an outstanding strike force. With the new
Fifa rules banning tackles from behind (thought that rule was in place already?), there
will be a lot of wary defenders, and teams with an abundance of quality attackers willing
to take defenders on will succeed. Their recent form has been actually quite average
with a 1-0 loss away to Germany and a disconcerting 3-0 loss away to Yugoslavia
recently. There last warm-up match will be against Holland the Saturday before the
World Cup start, and a good showing here is vital for what I believe will be a preview of
the World Cup final itself. They are in a tough group (with Bulgaria, whom they beat
in USA 94, Spain and Paraguay) but with players the calibre of Ikpeba (African player of
the year), Oliseh, Amunike (who did not even make the team), Amokachi, Yekini and Kano;
and provided they overcome their complacency in defence, they should succeed.
Third
Norway should do well too. Their recent form has been outstanding.
Demolitions of Mexico and Saudi Arabia recently testify
to this, and they qualified with virtually their eyes closed from a competitive group
containing Hungary, Switzerland and Finland. In fact, they have not lost
a game since a 1-0 loss to Australia away in January 1997. A
win over Brazil recently (4-2, 30/5/97) has been registered and they will
beat them again and win the group. Traditionally they have play a long ball game
(very successfully too) but with a number of smaller forwards now prominent, have shown
that they can play on the ground equally as well. With most of their players
playing top division football in England, and with this versatility, they will trouble
many teams.
Most Dangerous
A South American team always does well and this time it will be Argentina.
A recent defeat of Brazil in Brazil, coupled with stunning late
form in the qualifiers says to me that they are Holland's biggest threat.
They have also recently dispensed with fellow qualifiers Chile
2-0. On ranking, Argentina and Brazil are
scheduled to meet in the semis and if this does eventuate, expect the Argies to win that
anyway. Argentina is the only team Brazil has trouble with, and time and time again
in major tournaments, the Brazillians have been knocked out by their great South American
rivals.
Dark-horse
Yugoslavia is the dark-horse. Again a team with a wealth of attacking
options with outstanding players playing in Spain and Italy. Mijatovic, Savicevic,
Milosevic, Jugovic and outstanding defender Mihajlovic; as well as the veteran and free
kick specialist Stojkovic, the Southern Slavs have the fire power and talent to destroy
any team; and that includes Germany. They qualified after a
aggregate 12-1 annihilation of Hungary; after finishing second out of the
toughest group one point behind Spain; and miles in front of Slovakia
and European Finalists the Czech Republic.
Shock 1: Brazil
What about Brazil I hear you say? Well simply, they are not playing
well; this time they will be the Colombia from USA94: over-hyped and
over-rated. Other than defeating Germany away, they have returned
mediocre results for over a year. Draws to Australia in the
Confederations Cup; Jamaica and Guatemala, and a loss to
the USA in the Gold Cup, are just a few of their recent results. As
Australia and the USA showed, teams with tough, uncompromising defenders can frustrate the
Champs; and with Scotland have an abundance of these players coming out
of their bagpipes, will cause the World Cup's first upset in an opening match draw.
The Scots may even scramble a goal through their long-ball tactics which they will be
forced to used.
After maybe defeating a very talented Morocco, Brazil will have to contend with another one of these tough teams; plus some. The Norwegians will not only frustrate them but beat them and with Scotland beating Morocco and drawing with Norway, this will leave the defending champions out of the World Cup in the first round. To top it all off, Romario has failed to overcome his injury and has not been selected in the final squad!
Shock 2: Germany
Germany will suffer a similar fate to Brazil. This ageing team
who is still trying to get their attack sorted out and has been hit by injuries to key
players Sammer and Mueller; and who were nothing special in qualifying, will at first be
frustrated by the Americans with their stoic defence and goal keeping,
and quick counter attacks. After a draw here, the Yugoslavs will simply
run riot over them and win 3-0. The Germans are getting too old and are quite slow
and seem to be lacking cohesion and thus rely too much on set piece opportunities to
score. Their biggest task is getting out of the group phase. If they do this,
by then they should have developed the teamwork and cohesion and a settled strike force to
take them a lot further; but I doubt they will overcome their problems and be eliminated
early. When Iran beats the USA in the mother of
all football (yeah I know, Hussain is Iraqi) games, they will be primed to take out the
Germans. With a number of Iran's top players actually playing in the German first
division, they have the quality and familiarity to succeed. Australia's
conquerors are regarded as the best team in Asia (granted, that does not say much) and
although dominated by Australia, they did show enough to warrant the label as a
troublesome team. Indeed they are very quick too. Azizi (Asian player of the year)
and winger Madavikia provide a lot of the play to the tall and outstanding Ali Daei; and
with captain Bagheri running the midfield and a quality goalkeeping, Iran have the quality
and the speed to trouble the Germans. Expect to see the Yugoslavs winning all three
games with Iran taking the runner's up spot.
Finally
There you have it: my World Cup thoughts. As you can see, all teams, except Norway,
are well endowed will superb ball-playing attackers who can take on defenders and beat
them; and class finishers. Compound this with what will most likely be shy defences
as a result of the crackdown on crude tackles, these teams will shine. Norway are
just in great form with excellent and versatile players and will be the Sweden from USA94.
Some may say I am crazy, but I say what's the point in picking teams widely regarded to do well? Anyone can do that. Besides, look at the recent major Championships show that there are no real upsets in World Football. Sweden and Bulgaria did make the semis last time and the Czechs made the Euro Final. Then Nigeria won Olympic Gold and even Australia made the Confederation Cup final. The times are a changing and simply the big teams will find it harder and harder to consistently have easy runs through major tournaments. One or two may get through, but the days when the semi finals are dominated by the noted super powers are over and my predictions reflect this reality.
Enjoy the greatest tournament for the greatest trophy in world sport. Pity Australia is not there. But as the police officer said to Stan Lazaridis after Australia's stunning elimination, "its not that bad, we'll get'em next time".