Our 2014 FIFA World Cup Preview continues? and today our focus is on group E and F.
Group E comprise of Switzerland, Ecuador, France and Honduras.
France is the clear favorite in this group considering the number of Arsenals at the disposal of coach Didier Deschamps.
Haven’t said that, let me quickly add that there’s going to be a lot of pressure on the ruthless Deschamps to at least justify why he did not include Manchester City’s Samir Nasri in his list.
In the absence of Nasri (the mouse) and the medical situation with winger Frank Ribery, a lot of responsibility is going to be on Juventus young middie, Paul Pogba to put out an outstanding performance in the midfield in other to push Les Bleus (The Tri-Colors).
France World Cup record stands at: winners (1998), runners-up (2006), third (1958, 1986), fourth (1982).
Probable Line-up:
Hugo Lloris
Bacary Sagna
Patrice Evra
Raphael Varane
Laurent Koscielny
Yohan Cabaye
Blaise Matuidi
Paul Pogba
Olivier Giroud
Karim Benzema
Mathieu Valbuena.
Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld’s Switzerland stand the chance of picking the second ticket from this group.
Ironically, whiles most teams weapons lies in their players, Switzerland’s real weapon lies in their experience manager Ottmar Hitzfeld who won the Bundesliga seven times with Bayern Munich.
Again, Switzerland has a lot of players who won cups with their respective clubs. Stephan Lichtsteiner won another Scudetto with Juventus, whilst G?khan Inler, Valon Behrami and Blerim Dzemaili won the Coppa Italia for Napoli. Xherdan Shaqiri also won the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich. Their World Cup record stands at: Quarter-finals (1934, 1938, 1954).
Probable Line-up:
Diego Benaglio
Stephan Lichtsteiner
Ricardo Rodriguez
Johan Djourou
Philippe Senderos
Tranquillo Barnetta
Valon Behrami
Blerim Dzemaili
Gokhan Inler
Xherdan Shaqiri
Haris Seferovic.
Coach Reinaldo Rueda’s Ecuador will fight with Switzerland for the second bone in this group. The main difference between Ecuador and Switzerland is that whereas the former is quite good upfront, the latter is quite dangerous defensively.
Ecuador have appeared twice at the World Cup with their best being the last sixteen stage in Germany 2006 and the other being the group stage at the 2002 tournament.
Coach Luis Fernando Suarez’s Hondurasneeds not to be dismissed too lightly in Group E because they quite a handful of players who ply their trade in the English Premiership like; Juan Carlos Garcia and Roger Espinoza at Wigan, Maynor Figueroa at Hull, Wilson Palacios at Stoke.
Honduras best performance is as far as Group stage in ?(1982, 2010).
The train moves to Group F where we have one of the favorite Country for this year’s Mundial. Coach Alejandro Sabella’s main headache is his goalie Sergio Romero who is yet to prove his worth.
But haven’t said that let me quickly suffice to reiterate here that any team that come face-to-face with an attacking quartet of Angel Di Maria, Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero should better be prepared for a lot of firing punches.
The Captain of the side Lionel Messi has a lot to prove in this summer’s World Cup and the Argentine footballing ‘god’ has already cast the shadows in the qualifiers where he was the top scorer. Argentina’s World Cup record stands: two-time winners (1978, 1986), runners-up (1930, 1990), quarter-finals (1966, 1998, 2006, 2010).
Probable Line-up:
Sergio Romero
Pablo Zabaleta
Federico Fernandez
Hugo Campagnaro
Martin Demichelis
Javier Mascherano
Ricardo Alvarez
Lionel Messi
Sergio Aguero
Gonzalo Higuain
Angel Di Maria.
Hoisting the African flag very high in group F is the reigning African champions the Super Eagles of Nigeria.
Coached by former player, Stephen Keshi (The Boss), this Nigerian team does not flatter to disappoint but does the business when it matters most. One key portmanteau that Keshi’s Nigeria carries with them to Brazil is their strong confidence level which is very important on a bigger occasion like the World Cup.
The boss was part of the great Super Eagles side which shocked Argentina in the US 94 World Cup with the likes of ?Austin Eguavoen, Uche Okechuku, ?Benedict Iroha, Thompson Oliha, George Finidi, Samson Siasia, Rashid Yekini, Austin Okocha and Emmanuel Amunike. Keshi would love to bring back this old memories back to Nigeria but to realize this sweet dream, he needs to sharpen his attack.
Nigeria’s World Cup record stands at: last 16 (1994, 1998), group stage (2002, 2010).
Probable Line-up:
Vincent Enyeama
Efe Ambrose
Austin Ejide
Elderson Echiejile
Godfrey Oboabona
John Obi Mikel
Ahmed Musa
Ogenyi Onazi
Shola Ameobi
Victor Moses
Peter Odemwingie.
Tipped to be one of the success stories of this World Cup, Coach Safet Susic’s Bosnia-Herzegovina will wrestle for the second slot in group F with Nigeria.
Though first timers but Susic’s team have got all it takes to make his nation proud. Their defensive prowess cannot be over emphasized haven’t passed their entire qualification test with six clean sheets from ten matches played.
Bosnia’s secret in this summer’s World Cup lies in their attacking trio of; Edin Dzeko, Vedad Ibisevic and Miralem Pjanic. They equally have a good goalie in Stoke City’s Asmir Begovic.
Affected by domestic issuesCarlos Queiroz’s Iran is the clear underdogs in group F. Their World Cup record stands at: group stage (1978, 1998, 2006).
