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.
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
When it comes to the World Cup, there’s Brazil, and then there’s everyone else. Brazil has won a record of 5 World Cups, with their all time record at 64-14-14.
This year’s team looks equally impressive with world-class forwards Luis Fabiano and Kaka, while goalkeeper Julio Cesar is among the game’s best.
“They could probably field three or four teams in the World Cup,” says Forrest. While Brazil plays in arguably the tournament’s toughest group — Group G, which includes Portugal, North Korea and Ivory Coast — it would take an epic collapse for this team not to advance to the Top 16.
Kaka is a key player to watch on Brazil.
The latest in the long line of otherworldly Brazilian forwards, Kaka — dubbed the game’s “most complete player” by no less an authority than Pele –boasts both a tremendous shot and an unparalleled passing ability.
While FIFA’s 2007 World Player of the Year has struggled through a lacklustre season with Real Madrid, his status as one of the game’s elite players was confirmed at the 2009 Confederations Cup (won by Brazil), where he was awarded the Adidas Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player.
Of course Germany is a team to watch this year as they are every year. They have intense football skills all round and always last quite long in every tournament.
Check out Germany’s last 10 games…
| 06/09/08 14:45 | Liechtenstein | 0:6 | Germany | |||
| 10/09/08 13:35 | Finland | 3:3 | Germany | |||
| 11/10/08 14:45 | Germany | 2:1 | Russia | |||
| 15/10/08 14:45 | Germany | 1:0 | Wales | |||
| 28/03/09 15:00 | Germany | 4:0 | Liechtenstein | |||
| 01/04/09 14:45 | Wales | 0:2 | Germany | |||
| 12/08/09 12:00 | Azerbaijan | 0:2 | Germany | |||
| 09/09/09 14:45 | Germany | 4:0 | Azerbaijan | |||
| 10/10/09 12:00 | Russia | 0:1 | Germany | |||
| 14/10/09 12:00 | Germany | 1:1 | Finland |
Watch the 2010 FIFA World Cup: South Africa right here at watch-fifa-online.com, the one stop site for all your FIFA needs.
