While not technically the host team, Ivory Coast represents Africa’s best hope to advance. Led by fiery-tempered Didier Dogba — “One of the bet strikers in the world,” says Forrest — and a supporting cast including Chelsea teammmate Salomon Kalou and Barcelona’s Yaya Toure, Ivory Coast could be this year’s dark horse contender. But with Brazil the odds-on Group G favourite, Ivory Coast must upset Portugal in its opening match to create any chance of surprise.
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While not technically the host team, Ivory Coast represents Africa’s best hope to advance. Led by fiery-tempered Didier Dogba — “One of the bet strikers in the world,” says Forrest — and a supporting cast including Chelsea teammmate Salomon Kalou and Barcelona’s Yaya Toure, Ivory Coast could be this year’s dark horse contender. But with Brazil the odds-on Group G favourite, Ivory Coast must upset Portugal in its opening match to create any chance of surprise.
Argentina’s World Cup expectations lie largely on Lionel Messi. But even if Messi’s play is bang on, it will be interesting to see how the team — winners in ‘78 and ‘86 — perform under manager Diego Maradona.
As a player his legacy is unquestioned (he scored, arguably, the greatest goal in World Cup history, in 1986); however, “He’s not really cut out for management,” says Forrest. “What he does have is a stacked team with one of the best players in the world right now.”
That means pay attention when Lionel Messi is on the field.
FIFA’s 2009 World Player of the Year might be short (listed at 5′7″), but Messi possesses at lethal left foot and incredible dribbling ability. He’s already topped the 20-goal mark with club team Barcelona this season and a remarkable stretch in March that included a three-goal performance against Valencia. Even the biased English media have proclaimed him the best in the world.
Despite being a perennial contender, England’s World Cup results — aside from its 1966 victory — have been gloomier than Old Blighty’s weather. But after storming through qualifying matches with 9 wins and 1 loss, England looks like a favourite.
The Three Lions’ roster features pugnacious forward Wayne Rooney, the unrivalled midfield duo Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard and manager Fabio Capello brings discipline and focus to a squad that has sorely lacked both previously.
Pay close attention to Wayne Rooney this year…
Rooney is at the peak of his abilities — the player England hopes will help end its 44-year World Cup drought. Just 24, Rooney is a singular talent on an England squad capable of going deep into the tournament.
Tenacious, powerful and immensely skilled, he can almost single-handedly determine a match’s outcome. “This is the best he’s ever been,” says Craig Forrest.
Until winning the European Championship in 2008, Spain was known as an underachiever, only cracking the World Cup quarterfinals once, way back in 1950.
Now, with a deep lineup featuring All World-goalie Iker Casillas and stellar forwards David Villa, Fernando Torres and Xavi, Spain is poised to be a top contender in South Africa.
“They’re stacked from back to front,” says Forrest. With a near-perfect record in World Cup qualifying matches, Spain’s place in Group H (along with Switzerland, Chile, and Honduras — none of which has ever beaten La Roja) virtually assures Spain a spot in the final 16. “Nothing’s going to worry Spain in that group.”
Look out for Fernando Torres on the playing field…
Magnificent, free-flowing — and that’s just his hair. At the relatively tender age of 26, Torres already boasts a resume filled with big-game goals including three tallies in the 2006 World Cup and the only goal in Spain’s 1-0 victory over Germany in the 2008 European Championship final.
A natural goal scorer who is adept with both feet, Torres recently became the fastest player in Liverpool FC’s illustrious history to score 50 goals in the English Premier League, making him “one of the best finishers in the game today,” says Forrest.
These are some interesting numbers relating to the FIFA World Cup.
- 7 nations have won the World Cup since it was first contested, in 1930.
- 715.1 is the estimated number of people, in millions, who watched the 2006 final between Italy and France. This was more than the total viewership of this year’s Superbowl and Men’s Olympic gold medal game plus the 2009 Stanley Cup final game…. COMBINED!
- 5 is the number of times Brazil has won the World Cup, most recently in 2002
- 15, the number of goals Brazil’s Ronaldo has scored in World Cup action, making him the all-time leader in World Cup scoring
- 27 is the number of goals Hungary scored during the 1954 World Cup, the highest total in tournament history.
- 199,854 The highest attendance for a World Cup clas, between Uruguay and Brazil, in 1950.
- 41 the days remaining until the 2010 FIFA World Cup: South Africa matches begin.
- 1 the number of sites that will allow you to seamlessly watch fifa online for free, streamed live! Which one is that? Watch-FIFA-Online.com
