France-Germany World Cup Quarterfinal Match: How They Got Here and Game Background

Germany vs France in the Quarterfinals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup from the Estadio do Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:

How They Got Here:

Germany were good enough in a very difficult group G with the United States, Portugal, and Ghana to finish atop their quartet in the first stage of the World Cup for the 7th straight competition, but like many of the other top teams in this year's tournament, they have yet to hit their true stride and show all of their quality. The Germans began the tournament with a 4-0 smacking of Portugal in their most complete performance of the World Cup to continue their dominance over the nation from the Iberian Peninsula. Although they did get a lot of help from the Portuguese because of the ridiculous Pepe red card in the 37rd minute, they already had a 2-0 lead before Pepe ruined any chance of a comeback with his headbutt of Thomas Muller. Muller scored a hat-trick in the game, the 7th in German history at the World Cup and the first since Miroslav Klose scored 3 against Saudi Arabia in a group match in 2002. In their second group game against the Black Stars, Die Mannschaft struggled with the speed of the Ghanaian wingers like Kwadwo Asamoah, Christian Atsu, and Andre Ayew, especially in the fullback positions, and they also did not have that same interchanging of runs going forward from the front three of Mesut Ozil, Mario Gotze, and Thomas Muller that they did in their first match. Although Klose tied Ronaldo's record mark of 15 World Cup goals and joined Pele and Uwe Seeler as the only players to score in four different World Cups with his game-tying score in the 71st minute on the biggest Klose goal you will ever see, the Germans dropped points in their second group match for the 4th time in the last 5 competitions with their 2-2 draw (tied Spain 1-1 in 1994, tied Yugoslavia 2-2 in 1998, tied Ireland 1-1 in 2002, beat Poland 1-0 in 2006, lost to Serbia in 1-0 in 2010). Germany dominated possession against the United States, out passing the US 748 to 356 and having nearly 70 percent of the ball, and got the 1-0 victory to secure first place in the group because of a beautiful Thomas Muller finish in the 2nd half, but the Germans did not show the cutting edge going forward that all their ball possession in the midfield often warrants. In the round of 16, it seemed as if Germany had the easiest match of any of the group winners against the very surprising Algeria out of group H, but the Fennec Foxes nearly pulled off the shocking upset as they did in the 1982 group stage against Die Mannschaft. Germany were held scoreless for 90 minutes for the first time in a round of 16 contest and if it weren't for Manuel Neuer practically playing sweeper, they could have went down in regulation with Saphir Taider, Sofiane Feghouli playing balls over the top to Islam Slimani and El Arbi Hillel Soudani due to Germany playing such a high line in defense. Germany, however, were able to recover behind overtime goals from substitute Andre Schurrle and Mesut Ozil, who Joachim Low really seems to trust, to help them move on to the quarters with a 2-1 victory over the African nation.

Meanwhile, France have taken a complete 360 from the debacle of a World Cup that they had in 2010 with Raymond Domenech at the helm and have actually looked like a true team at this World Cup (maybe not taking Samir Nasir wasn't such a bad idea because chemistry is as important as anything at the world's biggest international tournament). Aside from possibly Colombia, no team has looked as strong as France through the group stage and round of 16, which shouldn't be too surprising because France firmly follow the pattern of doing really well at one World Cup and then flopping at the next (champions in 1998 in France, out in the group stage without a goal in 2002 in South Korea/Japan, runners-up in 2006 in Germany, and eliminated in the group stage without a win in 2010 in South Africa). Much like the Germans, the French got a lot of help from a red card in their first group game, as midfielder Wilson Palacios was shown his second yellow card in the 45th minute on a push in the back to Paul Pogba in the box and Honduras, who were already very under-matched coming into the game, had to play an entire half with 10 men. France hit Los Catrachos for 3 goals and Karim Benzema scored 2 of them, becoming the first French player to have multiple goals in a World Cup game since Zinedine Zidane scored twice against Brazil in France's 3-0 victory in the 1998 final. Even without Frank Ribery, who was not able to play for Les Blues because of a lingering back injury, the French looked dangerous going forward because of their ability to keep the ball in the middle with Matuidi, Cabaye, and the powerful Pogba and then spread the ball wide to their speedy wingers with Griezmann and Valbuena. In their second group match, France showed just how devastating their counter-attack can be against an attacking opposition, as Les Blues knocked off Switzerland 5-2 from the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador. Using both Olivier Giroud and Benzema up front, the French scored their most goals in a World Cup match since they beat Paraguay 7-3 all the way back in the 1958 cup in Sweden behind a hat-trick from Just Fontaine. To finish out the group stage, the French were a little lackluster in their 0-0 draw with Ecuador to secure the top place in group E, but Didier Deschamps made several changes in his lineup to keep the squad fresh for the knockout stage such as bringing in Bacary Sagna, Lucas Digne, Morgan Schneiderlin, and Moussa Sissoko to start. In the round of 16, France met Nigeria for the first ever time in a competitive match and the Super Eagles had a very impressive performance that did cause Les Blues some real trouble, and if it weren't for Laurent Koscielny having a terrific game in the back, Nigeria could have made their first ever quarterfinal appearance. France were quite fortunate on several occasions in the game, specifically Patrice Evra not getting called for a penalty kick for holding Peter Odemwingie in the first half or Blaise Matuidi not getting sent off for his tackle on Ogenyi Onazi, but the introduction of Antoine Griezmann changed the game and allowed France much more width going forward for crosses into the box. The French were able to avoid their first regulation loss in the knockout stage since all the way back in 1986.

Germany-France Background:

Despite Germany winning the European Championships in 1972 in Belgium over the Soviet Union 3-0, in 1980 in Italy over Belgium 2-1, and in 1996 in England over Czech Republic 2-1 and France taking the the European continental crown in 1984 in France over Spain 2-0 and in 2000 in Netherlands/Belgium over Italy 2-1, the teams have never met in Europe's biggest competition. Although they have only played three previous times in the World Cup and never in World Cup qualifying (they were in the same group in qualifiers all the way back in 1934 but since Germany beat Luxembourg 9-1 and France beat the Red Lions 6-1, they both had already qualified and did not have to play each other), they have been apart of some of the most exciting contests in the history of the competition. In the 1958 cup in Sweden, West Germany and France played in the third place match, which is a glorified exhibition match because it really means nothing, but the French won the game 6-3 behind four goals from World Cup top scorer Just Fontaine, who finished the competition with a record 13 goals and at least one goal in each of France's 6 games (the only other player to score a goal in 6 consecutive World Cup matches is Jairzinho for Brazil, who did so when the Canarinho won the cup in 1970 in Mexico). In the 1982 semifinals from Seville, West Germany and France played one of the best games in the history of the tournament that featured 4 goals in a 16 minute span from the 92nd to the 108th minute mark (the other World Cup games I would consider up there with the West Germany-France game from 1982 would be the West Germany-Hungary title match in the 1954 finals, the Portugal-North Korea contest in the 1966 quarterfinals, the West Germany-England game in the 1970 quarters, the Italy-West Germany battle in the 1970 semifinals, the Italy-Brazil game in the second round of the 1982 cup, and the Argentina-England game in the second round of the 1998 cup). After 90 minutes, the teams were tied 1-1 and despite France scoring two goals in the first extra time period, West Germany came back with two goals of their own in extra time to tie the game at 3, which Die Mannschaft would eventually win in the first ever World Cup penalty shootout because of a goal from Horst Hrubesch after a miss from Maxime Bossis. In the World Cup four years later in 1986 from Guadalajara, West Germany beat France once again in the semi-finals, this time 2-0 behind goals from Andreas Brehme in the 9th minute and Rudi Vollerin the 89th minute. Despite the fact that the bordering countries in Europe have not played each other too often in major tournaments, they are football powerhouses with France making it to at least the semifinals every year they have made it past the group stage (quarterfinals in 1938 in France, 3rd place in 1958 in Sweden, 4th place in 1982 in Spain, 3rd place in 1986 in Mexico, champions in 1998 in France, and runners-up in 2006 in Germany) and Germany making their ridiculous 16th consecutive quarterfinals appearance since 1954 (No other team has ever made it to more than 6 straight quarterfinals in World Cup history).

2014 FIFA World Cup Group E and Group F Podcast - Switzerland vs Ecuador, France vs Honduras, and Argentina vs Bosnia and Herzegovina

  

Switzerland-Ecuador Highlights

France vs Honduras Highlights

Argnetina vs Bosnia and Herzegovina Highlights

Biggest Questions Heading Into The 2014 World Cup

It has been 3 years, 10 months, and 20 days since Andres Iniesta gave Spain their first ever World Cup with his crazy 116th minute goal in extra time against the Dutch to help La Roja join West Germany as the only team to win the European Championship and then follow up that triumph with a victory at the world's biggest international tournament (West Germany beat the Soviet Union 3-0 in the 1972 Euro Final behind two goals from legend Gerd Muller and then beat the Netherlands and Johan Cruyff in the 1974 World Cup Final 2-1 behind a game-winning goal from Muller once again).

It has been 150 weeks and 5 days since Giovanni van Bronckhorst scored an absolute rocket of a goal with his left foot against Uruguay in the semifinals from an unthinkable range (honestly, he took that shot from Zambia and that doesn't even border South Africa) and sent the Netherlands to their first World Cup final since they lost 3-1 in extra time to Argentina in 1978 (that goal has to be up there with some of the best World Cup goals ever like Maradona's solo run against England in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinals, Carlos Alberto's goal in the 1970 World Cup Final against Italy, or Dennis Bergkamp's goal for the Dutch in the 89th minute of their 2-1 quarterfinal victory over Argentina in 1998).

It has been 1,399 days since FIFA finally realized that we need goal-line technology after Frank Lampard's chip goal over Manuel Neuer, which clearly hit off the crossbar and went over the line, was not ruled a goal and not only continued the Three Lions disappointment at the World Cup because the game went from being tied at 2-2 to Germany running away with things in their 4-1 victory, but also the Germans dominance over England in head-to-head games (Germany is 3-1-1 against the English in their contests at the 1966, 1970, 1982, 1990, and 2010 World Cups).

It has been 34,152 hours since the Netherlands beat Brazil 2-1 and Germany destroyed Argentina 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the competition, sending both South American teams home before the semifinals in the same tournament for just the third time in the last eleven World Cups (1982 when they both exited in the second round to eventual champion Italy, who finished at the top of their group, and 2006 when Brazil lost to finalists France behind a goal from Henry and Argentina lost in penalties to Germany being the others).

It has been 2,059,200 minutes since Jay DeMerit and Carlos Bocanegra left a big enough gap for OJ's Ford Bronco to fit through when Asamoah Gyan scored in extra time against the US to help Ghana become just the third African nation along with Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002 to ever reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup.

It has been 123,033,600 seconds since Ghana and Uruguay played the most dramatic World Cup quarterfinal match I have ever seen, a game that included Luis Suarez's infamous hand ball to prevent a goal in the final minute of the second extra time period, Asamoah Gyan's missed penalty that would have ended the game on the final kick, then Gyan's subsequent beauty of a spot kick in the penalty shootout, and finally Uruguay's victory that helped them earn their first semifinal appearance in the World Cup since 1970.

However, after such a long wait there is only one number that really matters anymore, which is 14, the number of days until Brazil and Croatia finally kick off the World Cup in Sao Paulo on June 12 (I was tempted to say the only number that matters is 42, but I'm not sure how many of my readers are familiar with the answer to the ultimate question in life according to The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy). As good as the last World Cup proved to be, and it was that amazing even without any head-butting or Italian defensive wizardry, there is just something extra special about this World Cup.

The soccer world has not seen a World Cup in South America since Argentina won the tournament in their home nation behind Mario Kempes and Daniel Passarella in 1978 and Brazil have not hosted the cup since they lost in the final to Uruguay 2-1 all the way back in 1950 (that was so long ago that Mark Hamill, Geoffrey Rush, and Robin Williams were not even born yet). Thus, the Brazilians will face an unprecedented amount of pressure to bring World Cup glory back to their soccer crazy nation for the first time since Roberto Carlos, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, and Ronaldo led them to the trophy in 2002 with a 2-0 victory over Germany. In 2006, Germany faced the pressure of playing in front of their home fans and their third place finish was seen as a respectable result under now United States manager Jurgen Klinsmann, but a third place finish for the Brazilians at the World Cup would be the worst thing for the nation since Anderson Silva went down to Chris Weidman in December.

Meanwhile, Spain are looking to become just the third nation to defend their World Cup title four years after winning it, which would put them in a category with Italy, who did so in 1934 and 1938 due to the play of Giovanni Ferrari and Giuseppe Meazza, and Brazil, who did so behind Garrincha and Pele in 1958 and then again in 1962. La Roja have already won three straight major international tournaments with Euro 2008, the World Cup in 2010, and the European Championship for a second consecutive time in 2012, so a fourth title in a row would make them the greatest international soccer dynasty of all-time, ahead of the Brazilian teams in the late 1950's and early 1960's and the separate group in the early 1970's (Pele and Rivelino), the great German teams in the mid 1970's (Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Muller, and Paul Breitner), and the incredible French teams in the late 1990's and early 2000's (Zidane, Vieira, and Henry). There have been some great dynasties in sports that include the New York Yankees in the 1950's (Berra, Mantle, Rizzuto, and Whitey Ford), the Montreal Canadiens in the 1950's (Maurice Richard, Beliveau, Doug Harvey, Plante), the Boston Celtics in the 1960' (Cousy, Russell, Sam Jones, and Havlicek), UCLA in the 1960's and 1970's (Gail Goodrich, Lew Alcindor, Lucius Allen, and Bill Walton), the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1970's (Bradshaw, Harris, Greene, Ham, and Blount), the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980's (Magic, Worthy, Wilkes, and Kareem), the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980's (Gretzky, Messier, and Paul Coffey), and the Chicago Bulls in the 1990's (Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman), but the Spanish National Team would be right there with every last one of them if they were able to take the World Cup Trophy back to their home nation once again.

The scary part about this discussion is that I've only talked about the two favorites in the field with the 2013 Confederations Cup Finalists, Brazil and Spain (Brazil is the only team to play in the Confederations Cup Final and then the World Cup Final the following year when they did so in 1997 and 1998). All 32 teams have so many stories to follow whether it be can Mexico turn things around after winning the Olympics in 2012 but having a dreadful qualifying campaign, will Joel Campbell of Costa Rica or Christian Atsu of Ghana be the break out player at the World Cup (they could go back to Arsenal and Chelsea respectively and each leave their loan deals with Olympiacos and Vitesse with a good tournament), or can a team like Chile or Colombia make a dark-horse run deep into the competition (Belgium is no longer a dark-horse in my book)? Here are the answers to all your pressing questions with the 2014 World Cup right upon us at last.

Will Didier Deschamps and France Regret Leaving Samri Nasri Off The Roster?

Although there were some big names in the soccer world that were left off world cup squads the past week including Isco, Lucas Moura, Philippe Coutinho, Kaka, Carlos Tevez, Mario Gomez, Michael Carrick, and Gael Clichy, Samri Nasri has to be the best footballer not going to the World Cup on a team that will be playing in Brazil (Nasri will join Petr Cech, David Alaba, Neven Subotic, Aaron Ramsey, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Zlatan Ibrahimovich, Robert Lewandowski, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and Gareth Bale as the best players not going to the World Cup at all this summer). There was widespread speculation for weeks that Nasri would not be included in the French national side and his exclusion is not a real stunner to anybody that has closely followed his deeply strained relationship with French coach Didier Deschamps (anytime a player says, "I'll watch the World Cup on TV," and then defends his own abilities by saying, "If starting games in a club like Manchester City and winning two titles isn't enough, too bad, I won't regret anything," you know that things are going pretty poorly, even for the always tumultuous French National Team). Nasri's time playing for France, especially since Didier Deschamps took over Les Blues for Laurent Blanc after France's disappointing 2-0 exit in the quarterfinals of Euro 2012 to eventual champions Spain, has been rocky and tense to say the least, making his omission not something totally out of the blue, unlike the Cavs taking Anthony Bennett or the Jags selecting Blake Bortles.

However, it is still hard to fathom that a player of Nasri's quality, when he is at his best, has been left off a World Cup roster entirely. As you can say for any attack-minded Manchester City player this season, except for Alvaro Negredo at the end of the year, Nasri thrived in City's free flowing offensive movement under first year manager Manuel Pellegrini (City finished just 1 goal shy of tying Chelsea's record for most goals in a Premier League season, which they set in 2009-2010). Nasri's incredible outside of the foot goal in the League Cup Final against Sunderland, which helped give City their first League Cup since their 2-1 victory over Newcastle in 1976, showed his world class technical ability that few players have the ability to emulate around the box. He was instrumental in giving City their second league title in three seasons and making them just the third team in the last thirty years to do the League and League Cup double along with Chelsea in 2005 and Manchester United in 2009. Unlike his time playing under Roberto Mancini during his first two years at City, which was often characterized by his baffling inconsistency from game to game, Nasri was one of Man City's most reliable players this season. Yaye Toure, who I think had the best season for any midfielder in the world, was the only City midfielder to play more games than Nasri in the Premier League and the Frenchmen had more goals in his 2013-2014 campaign than his past two years with City combined. It is safe to say that Nasri had his best professional season in a World Cup year, another reason why his omission has some legitimate basis to be questioned.

When thinking about the biggest enigmas in sports, names like Nene, Starlin Castro, Andrei Arshavin, Hatem Ben Arfa, and Samri Nasri immediately come to mind (we just saw the good Nene that was determined to show the world he had enough of hearing about Joakim Noah and his Defensive Player of the Year Award, the first by a Bull since 1987-1988 when Michael Jordan had one of the best seasons in NBA history, when Nene averaged 17.75 points and 6.5 rebounds in the Wizards domination of the Bulls in 5 games and then we saw the run away and hide your children Nene when he averaged just 11 points and 4.5 rebounds in Washington's 6-game series loss against the Pacers). Before his very impressive season with City this year, Nasri's play with his club could be characterized by a very good performance where he would attack the back line and continue to move into open spots in midfield for passes followed by a game in which he would be content with passing and receiving the ball from side to side and showing very little interest in proceedings or in going forward. Nasri's maddening inconsistency for a player of his caliber was the reason why he was so often be passed over in the lineup prior to this season at City for guys like James Milner, Javi Garcia, Adam Johnson, Gareth Barry, and Nigel de Jong in the midfield. While his very frustrating erratic play stopped for club this year under Pellegrini, it sometimes still rears its ugly head for the French National Team. Nasri did have some real bright moments for France in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup that showed his quality as one of the world's most gifted midfielders, especially his goal against Belarus in Gomel that gave France a much needed 3-2 lead in the game and an eventual victory to secure their spot behind Spain in group I. However, in the first leg of France's World Cup playoff against Ukraine, Nasri was caught dribbling around the 18-yard box much too often and had a very poor performance in Les Blues 2-0 loss to the Yellow-Blue in Kiev. The defeat put the French on the brink of not making the World Cup for the first time since 1994 before they narrowly took the tie with a 3-0 win back in Paris in the second leg without the sometimes up and down Nasri in the lineup.

Despite his poor performance in the pivot first leg against Ukraine, most of the French team including Ribery, Remy, and Koscielny had terrible games as well, so Nasri's exclusion has more to do with Deschamps belief that Nasri would plague the chemistry of the squad (we all remember the disaster of a World Cup that France had in 2010 with the team boycott after the incidents with Anelka, Evra, Ribery, and Toulalan, so making sure that the French would play together, much easier said than done, was very important to Deschamps). Not only did Nasri serve a three game suspension for his altercation with a reporter after France's loss to Spain in Euro 2012 (he was one of four players along with Menez, M'Vila, and Ben Arfa to be reprimanded for their actions at the championships, another instance of French insolence that Deschamps has been trying to stop), but Deschamps also pointed to the fact that Nasri's "not happy when he's a substitute," giving more credence to the fact that Deschamps did not want to hurt the harmony of his squad by bringing on the sometimes disgruntled Nasri. Even if Nasri was not going to start and the French were going to play Matuidi, Pogba, and Cabaye in the middle with Ribery and Valbuena on the wings, Nasri could still provide a different option for Les Blues. Ribery and Valbuena are both very quick outside midfielders and can use their pace to get around players and put balls into the box for Benzema or Giroud. However, as we saw this season with Nasri at City when he played in beautiful little triangles with Toure and Silva, Nasri can play intricate football in the middle of the field and undo a defense if the dribbling on the wings is not working against the outside backs of Switzerland for example, who have the experience Juventus right back, Stephan Lichtsteiner, and the 21-year old rising star at left back from Wolfsburg with Ricardo Rodriguez, a player that was only topped by Reus and Max Kruse in terms of Bundesliga goal scoring chances created despite playing half back. Obviously, France could not take Nasri on the squad if he was truly unwilling to play the various roles that Deschamps would ask of him (I question the validity of this anyway because his teammates at City have never said anything bad about him), but there is no doubt that they will miss his passing ability and cleverness in midfield. Carrick had a terrible season at United and missed out on the England squad, Mario Gomez missed most of the season for Fiorentina and was not picked by Low, Clichy played a reserve role behind Aleksandar Kolarov and was not selected by Deschamps, so it is odd that Nasri will not be on the plane to Brazil after his finest year in England for City.

Will Adam Lallana Be In England's Starting XI?

A little more than three years ago in 2010-2011, Adam Lallana was playing in the third tier of English football with Southampton and competing for the Football League Trophy and promotion just to get one step closer to the Premier League (Southampton did win the Football League Trophy in 2010) rather than playing in the League Cup and England's highest footballing division. On the other hand, in 2010-2011, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard were coming off their second World Cup trips and Lampard scored 10 goals in the Premier League for Chelsea, marking the 8th consecutive year he bagged at least double digit goals in the league, dating all the way back to the 2003-2004 campaign when the blues finished 2nd to "the invincibles" of Arsenal. Gerrard also showed his quality in the 2010-2011 season when he came on as a substitute and scored a second half hat trick against Napoli in the group stage of the Europa League (Gerrard's only other hat trick in European competition came against Total Network Solutions in the first leg of their first round qualifying match in the Champions League in 2005-2006, the year after Liverpool beat AC Milan in their famous final in Istanbul). Meanwhile, in 2010-2011, Wayne Rooney was in the prime of his career with Manchester United, netting his 100th career goal with the club during a 4-2 game against West Ham where he scored a hat trick, scoring the best goal of his career on a ridiculous bicycle kick against rivals Man City, and helping United win their 3 league title in 4 years (they became the 6th club to accomplish the feat and joined Liverpool as the only English team do so since Arsenal won three titles in a row in the early 1930's. Two weeks ago I would have made a joke about Arsenal winning trophies, so it saddens me that they actually won something that isn't Champions League qualification by finishing 3rd or 4th in the league, which they have done for 9 straight seasons, when they narrowly came back against Hull for their first FA Cup title since they beat United in penalties in 2004-2005). With all that being said, it is crazy to think that Lampard and Gerrard, two players that rank in the top 8 in English international caps with more than 100, and Rooney, who is 5th in international goals for an English player and should eventually catch Bobby Charlton for the all-time lead in the category, could conceivably be relying on a player in Brazil, if Roy Hodgson starts him in midfield, who after the last World Cup was playing two divisions below Chelsea, Liverpool, and United all the way down in league one in Adam Lallana.

To begin with, England's midfield is not as talented or as deep as any of the other so called top teams in the field (can we still call the Three Lions a top team when they have not reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup since they finished in fourth in 1990 and when it would actually be a mild surprise if they made it out of the group stage with Uruguay and Italy also in group D). The only definite in the England midfield is Steven Garrard, who is going to play in front of England's back four after he showed this season with Liverpool that he is as good as any defensive midfielder in the world, which includes players such as Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Andrea Pirlo, Daniele De Rossi, and Sami Khedira. Gerrard's ability to play long balls over the top with pin point accuracy will help an English team that could have some real pure speed up front to get behind defenses. However, the rest of the English midfield is a bigger mystery than a Harlan Coban novel. While James Milner is a very good player to have on a squad because he can play anywhere in midfield and works very hard to win the ball and keep it, he is not dynamic enough to start for the English. Although Ross Barkley is a terrific talent at just the age of 20 and has the ability to become England's next great midfielder following in the footsteps of Beckham, Scholes, Cole, Gerrard, and Lampard, Hodgson is not going to start a player with that much inexperience (he has yet to play double digit premier league games in a season). On the complete other end of the spectrum, Frank Lampard is no longer the same guy that became the first player in the Premier League era to score more than 20 goals in a league season as a midfielder and will likely not feature in England's starting XI after playing behind Ramires, Nemanja Matic, and Oscar for Chelsea this season. If Rooney is going to start up front with Sturridge playing off him in some sort of formation, that leaves six players (Wilshere, Henderson, Ox, Sterling, Lallana, and Welbeck) vying for three spots in the English midfield and wide areas and with Welbeck a much better fit up front than on the left and Wilshere just coming back from a left foot injury that kept him out nearly two months, Lallana does have the inside track to start.

Although Lallana is not trying to crack the Spanish midfield, it is not like he is the tallest midget either because for all their promise to let you down, much like Ivory Coast, the English do have some talent to provide some fireworks at the World Cup, especially if they start Lallana. With the likes of England internationals Rickie Lambert and Luke Shaw along with players such as Steven Davis, Jay Rodriguez, Dejan Lovren, Jack Cork, and Jose Fonte, Southampton had a very solid squad this season to help them come in 8th in the premier league, which was their highest finish in the top division since they came in 7th all the way back in 1989-1990. However, everything that the Saints did under Mauricio Pochettino in their best campaign in nearly 25 years was centered around Lallana, as evidenced by the fact that the 26 year old was put on the Premier League Team of the Year in midfield along with Gerrard, Toure, and Hazard and was on the shortlist for Premier League Player of the Year with Suarez, Gerrard, Sturridge, Toure, and Hazard. If Lallana can perform on the international level like he did all season long for Southampton, he provides something a little different than anybody else on the English team because no other player in midfield, except for maybe Wilshere, has the creativity to set up goal scoring chances like Lallana. Although Lallana only has three caps for the Three Lions, he showed his quality to make the players around him better when he set up Daniel Sturridge's header at the doorstep of the goal for England's only score in a 1-0 friendly win at Wembley against Denmark in March. While England do have players with pace like Sturridge, Welbeck, Ox, and Sterling and some players that are real good distributors of the ball like Gerrard, Henderson, and Lampard, Lallana is one of the only players on England that enjoys playing in tight spaces and can keep the ball with his quick feet, something England could not do at all when Italy beat them in penalties in the quarterfinals of Euro 2012 (that game was just about the best single performance I have ever seen from a guy that didn't score a goal because Pirlo dictated the whole game from a deep lying midfield position). Lallana can play both sides of the field equally well and is very good with the ball at his feet, which is why Hodgson should really start the Southampton man in midfield for the World Cup.

Will Their Be A Team Outside of Europe and South America In The Quarterfinals:

In my picks for the World Cup, the only team I had reaching the quarterfinals of the tournament from CONCACAF, the CAF, or the AFC was Ivory Coast out of group C, but past history shows that it is entirely possible that we could have our final eight teams all from the European and South American confederations. In 1986, Mexico made a run to the quarterfinals of the World Cup and Cameroon did the same in 1990, but they were one of only two teams, along with Morocco in 1986 and Costa Rica in 1990, to even make it to the knockout stage from CONCACAF, the CAF, or the AFC in those two respective tournaments. With Saudi Arabia losing to Sweden 3-1, the US going down to eventual champions Brazil 1-0, Mexico losing in penalties to Bulgaria, and eventual finalists Italy beating Nigeria in extra time 2-1 in the round of 16, the 1994 World Cup did not see one team from a confederation outside of Europe and South America in the quarters. In 1998, Europe and South America swept all eight spots in the quarterfinals of the tournament once again with Nigeria losing 4-1 to Denmark and Mexico falling 2-1 to Germany in the round of 16. The only real good year for nations in CONCACAF, the CAF, and the AFC came in 2002, when the United States and Senegal both made it to the quarterfinals before losing 1-0 to eventual finalists Germany and 1-0 to Turkey on a golden goal in extra time respectively and when South Korea made it all the way to the semifinals of the World Cup, marking the best finish for the federation at the world's biggest international tournament. Back in 2006, all of the teams in the quarterfinals were from Europe or South America, as Mexico lost to Argentina 2-1 in extra time, Australia fell to eventual champions Italy on a penalty kick goal from Francesco Totti in the 95 minute right before extra time, and Ghana were killed by Brazil 3-0 in the round of 16. Most recently in 2010, Ghana was the only team to reach the quarterfinals from a region outside of Europe or South America after they beat the United States behind Asamoah Gyan's goal in extra time in the round of 16 (I'm still bitter about that goal so of course the soccer gods put US and Ghana in the same group once again for this World Cup for the big rematch in Natal on June 16). Since the competition went to this current format in 1986, there have been just 6 teams to reach the quarterfinals of the tournament not from Europe and South America in the last 7 World Cups combined.

Now, the landscape of international soccer has certainly changed of late and teams from all over the world have become much more equipped to compete against the powerhouses from Europe and South America since the turn of the century. Some of the most gifted players in the world right now come from CONCACAF, the CAF, and the AFC including Yaya Toure, Kwadwo Asamoah, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mehdi Benatia, John Obi Mikel, Keisuke Honda, Son Heung-Min, Shinji Kagawa, and Javier Hernandez. The Asian confederation has improved with the addition of Australia, a team that has made three straight World Cups and even made the round of 16 back in 2006. While the rest of the teams in CONCACAF are still coming along at a slower pace than anticipated, which is a nice way of saying that they are struggling (Honduras is likely the 4th most successful team in the confederation and they have never had a World Cup victory), Mexico took home Olympic gold over Brazil in 2012 and have made it to the knockout stage in 6 straight World Cups that have participated in (they were banned from the 1990 tournament) and soccer in the United States has seen an undeniably growth over the past decade and will continue to rise in popularity until it becomes one of the most popular sports in all of America (the US has made 7 straight World Cups after missing out on every tournament from 1954 to 1986 and the MLS has expanded from the 10 teams it had in its inaugural season in 1996 and will have 21 teams by 2015 with the addition of New York FC and Orlando City SC with teams in Atlanta and Miami likely coming by 2017). Although there are teams outside of Europe and South America that do have some real promise for not only the present but also the future (calling on you Julian Green, Lacina Traore, and Joel Obi), they have not been able to put it together as of yet, so this World Cup will serve as a very important referendum for the progress and the state of soccer in CONCACAF, Africa, and Asia on a global platform.

Based upon the quality of their squads, their World Cup groups, and their chances of getting hot in June and making a surprise run in the field, here are my rankings of teams from CONCACAF, the CAF, and the AFC from least to most likely of making the quarterfinals of the world's biggest international soccer competition, which has been a rare feat for teams outside of Europe and South America: Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Mexico, Japan, United States, Ghana, Cameroon, Algeria, South Korea, Costa Rica, Honduras, Iran, and then finally Australia (it is amazing that 40 percent of the field are teams outside of Europe and South America and yet they will be lucky to have one of them reach the final eight clubs left in the World Cup). Starting at the bottom, you can easily make a case that Algeria, South Korea, Costa Rica, Honduras, Iran, and Australia are the worst six teams in the entire World Cup field with Greece being the only team keeping Cameroon out of the bottom seven. In arguably the toughest group in the tournament with the two finalists from 2010 with Spain and Netherlands and the very dangerous Chilean side, Australia is going to be a horror show (I'm calling it now that the Socceroos will become the first team since El Salvador in 1982 to conceded at least 13 goals in one World Cup). Despite having some talented players with PSV midfielder Bryan Ruiz and fellow playmaker Joel Campbell, Costa Rica are in a very difficult group with England, Italy, and Uruguay, all ranked within the top 11 in the world in FIFA rankings, and will almost certainly be knocked out in the group stage for the third time in four tries. Unlike Costa Rica, Honduras and Iran are not in terribly difficult groups, but they are just plain bad teams and there is no way around that, so they will likely exit the World Cup early as well. Finally, Algeria and South Korea are in the same group and will play in Porto Alegre with chances to pick up points, but Belgium and Russia are heavy favorites to make it out of group H. I would be more surprised if Algeria, South Korea, Costa Rica, Honduras, Iran, or Australia made it to the quarters than if the next Transformers movie didn't have any autobots, meaning in an odd roundabout way that it is not going to happen.

Although there are some really poor teams featuring in the World Cup from CONCACAF, the CAF, and the AFC (essentially, the confederations are a pseudo NBA Eastern Conference), the regions do have some clubs with the capacity to make a run to the quarterfinals of the tournament. Cameroon and Mexico are both in group A and will more than likely be fighting for the second spot in the group behind Brazil as long as the natural order of the world remains intact. Mexico are the more likely to make it out of the group and have a chance at probably Chile or Netherlands in the round of 16 although Cameroon do have some pretty good individual players with Samuel Eto'o, Pierre Webo, Stephane Mbia, Alex Song, and Benoit Assou-Ekotto. Mexico had very little variety in the offensive third in their horrendous qualifying campaign when they scored just 7 goals in 10 games in the hexagonal. Giovani dos Santos and Oribe Peralta will both have to be less predictable going forward and Javier Hernandez will need to start finishing the opportunities his movement around the box provides for him in order for the Mexicans to reach the final eight teams. Of all the teams outside of Europe and South America, Ivory Coast is the only squad I would pick ahead of the United States and Ghana, but their group of death with Germany and Portugal is just so difficult that making it into the knockout stage would be quite an accomplishment for the clubs, which is why I had them behind Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Mexico, and Japan in terms of likelihood to reach the quarters. The US take on the Black Stars in the first set of games in group G, so if either team suffers a loss in the opening game their hopes of a run past the group stage would certainly be all but over.

Meanwhile, Japan and Ivory Cost, my pick to win group C and then beat Uruguay in the round of 16 to make the final eight, are both in a group that hinges upon Radamel Falcao's availability for Colombia, meaning that the clubs have a chance to make a World Cup run with the uncertainty of the Monaco striker. Everybody knows that Italy have a ton of world class defenders, Spain is stacked in the midfield, but Ivory Coast is actually the team with the best group of strikers in all of the World Cup (Germany, who if they don't play Miroslav Klose may deploy a false nine, could use one of Cote d'Ivoire's forwards). The Elephants have a loaded strike-force of Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Wilfried Bony, Seydou Doumbia, and Lacina Traore all at their expense. This Ivory Coast team is massively talented with Yaye Toure being the orchestrator in the center of midfield, Cheick Tiote of Newcastle playing in behind him, the speedy Gervinho playing on a wing, and Didier Zokora and Kolo Toure solidifying the defense. Will all the talent they have, if Cote d'Ivoire fail once again at a major international tournament, they will be the most disappointing sports team since the 1988 US Men's Basketball Team that lost to the Soviet Union and had to settle for a Bronze in the Olympics. Finally, the Super Eagles, who won the African Cup of Nations in 2013, could make a trip to the quarterfinals, especially since group E of France, Switzerland, Ecuador, and Honduras is not a very strong quartet of teams if Nigeria do happen to make it into the knockout stage. Argentina will more than likely top group F with Iran coming in dead last, so the game between Nigeria and Bosnia and Herzegovina in Cuiaba on June 21 could determine which team will move on to the round of 16 with a fighter's chance to get into the final eight.

What Did We Learn, If Anything, From The United States' 2-0 Friendly Victory Against Azerbaijan?

Let's get this out of the way first, the decision by the US Soccer Federation to play a friendly against Azerbaijan in one of the windiest cities in America at Candlestick Park in San Francisco is the worst decision by an American group since the SEC declined to investigate Bernie Madoff or since the government essentially let Lehman Brothers go bankrupt. The opponent for the US National Team made very little sense unless Klinsmann wanted to give the squad some confidence just 16 days before the World Cup because outside of their midfielder Vagif Javadov, who was apart of the CSKA Moscow youth system, the Azeris did not have a single player on the field with a skill set that was anywhere close to what the United States will be seeing in the World Cup. Azerbaijan's soccer history is about as detailed as the history of Timor-Leste or South Sudan, meaning that it is basically non-existent. In qualification for the 2014 World Cup, the Azeris had their most successful campaign to date and yet they had just one victory, which came over Northern Ireland, a team so bad that they lost to the Netherlands 6-0 in a friendly in Amsterdam in 2012. Looking at Azerbaijan's attempts to qualify for the World Cup in 1998, 2002, 2006, and 2010, and their hopes to make the European Championships in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012, they have only ever had one single victory away from their home nation in competitive matches, which came over the mighty powerhouse of Liechtenstein in 2010 World Cup qualifying, who make the Oakland Raiders look like a dynasty (they are currently 50th out of 53 teams in UEFA in the FIFA Rankings). More often than not, Azerbaijan had nine or ten guys behind the ball when the US was attacking, which is why the USMNT had 70 percent possession in the game. Although Klinsmann has instilled a sense of confidence in the US players to keep the ball and play out of the back while looking for combinations and balls over the top to the wings much more than Bob Bradley ever emphasized, constant ball possession and quick passing in the midfield is more of a weakness than a strength for the US.

The team is much more suited to play on the counterattack after observing pressure, which is why a club like Azerbaijan that gave the US the ball and waited to see if they could break them down made very little sense for an opposition because things in the World Cup will be much different. Ghana have a lot of midfielders that like to play around with the ball including the Ayew brothers, Kwadwo Asamoah, Michael Essien, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Sulley Muntari, and Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, so the US will be looking to spring the counter against the Black Stars. When the USMNT take on Portugal in Manaus on June 22, the quickness of the Seleccao with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Silvestre Varela, Vieirinha, and Nani will put the US under a tremendous amount of pressure, so it will be of the utmost importance for Jozy Altidore to keep hold of the ball when it comes to him up front against the big Portuguese center backs, Bruno Alves and Pepe. Finally, with the midfield that Germany possesses of Schweinsteiger, Khedira, Toni Kroos, Ozil, Gotze, and Draxler (this is considering Podolski, Schurrle, Reus, and Muller as forwards), the most important thing for the US is organization rather than ball possession when they face off against Deutschland in Recife on June 26.

However, we can still get some takeaways from the United States' rather sluggish 2-0 victory over Azerbaijan in one of their final three World Cup tuneups (they are playing Turkey on June 1 at Red Bull Arena and finish up with fellow World Cup team Nigeria on June 7 at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, where the ghost of Blaine Gabbert can be still be found because he doesn't even make Rick Mirer, Joey Harrington, or Tim Couch look like terrible top 10 picks). Under Klinsmann, the United States has had a constantly evolving back four and since Jurgen has used so many different combinations in defense in qualifying and in World Cup tuneups, the back line has had a lack of stability with their inexperience in playing with one another. To begin, a strong central back pairing is vital to World Cup success because international games are typically not as high scoring as club affairs with teams less willing to risk sending too many players forward, especially with the knowledge that a few too many goals allowed in a game could prove costly in the four team round robin in group play if it comes down to goal differential. Therefore, teams like Brazil that have Thiago Silva and David Luiz (or Dante if they want, which is scary), Spain with Pique and Sergio Ramos, Italy that has Chiellini along with Barzagli or Bonucci, France with some duo of Sakho, Varane and Koscielny, Portugal that has Bruno Alves and Pepe, or Germany with some combination of Mertesacker, Boateng, Hummels, and Howedes are at such an advantage because they have a reliable tandem in central defense to keep them in ever game where goals need to be hard to come by.

I think last night's game showed Klinsmann that the best pair of center backs for the United States, which is still a question that needs to be answered before Brazil comes around, are Matt Besler and Geoff Cameron rather than Besler playing with the LA Galaxy's Omar Gonzalez or Hertha Berlin's very inexperienced John Brooks. The left-footed Matt Besler from Sporting KC, who was the MLS Defender of the Year in 2012, is going to start in center defense for Klinsmann, as he is really good with the ball at his feet, as he showed against the Azeris, and has the necessary composure to play in tense situations in the back. Meanwhile, with Marc Wilson and Ryan Shawcross playing in center defense for Stoke City and Mark Hughes having no problem with playing a very large back line of four, Geoff Cameron played primarily as a right back for Stoke in the Premier League this season (Cameron was a big part of a Stoke defense that helped the Stafforshire club finish in the top ten of the top division in English football for the first time since they finished 4th all the way back in 1995-1996). Nonetheless, Klinsmann likes his outside backs to get up and down the field with pace more so than Cameron likes to do and is capable of doing, so the German coach sees the Stoke man more so in center defense, which is where he needs to be next to Besler when the US take on Ghana in northeastern Brazil. At 6-3, Geoff Cameron is physically a commanding presence in defense and is very good in the air, a skill set that will help the US back line with any aerial balls or crosses that should come into the box. Granted it was against Azerbaijan, but Cameron looked very strong in the defense with Besler and very comfortable in the center back role that he has not played too much of in the past few seasons with Stoke.

In terms of outside backs, despite playing some left midfield with TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga, it makes sense for Klinsmann to play Fabian Johnson at left back, as he did against the Azeris, because he can provide width for the US in attack and can float in crosses with his dangerous left foot. Although Cameron is good at moving the ball around the back, Johnson is much better at getting by defenders in one on one situations and is better suited to play outside back in Klinsmann's system where his defenders are encouraged to get forward. Johnson is the best half back the United States has in its squad and will start in one of the half back roles, so it will be between the Sounders very talented 20-year old DeAndre Yedlin, FC Nurnberg's Timothy Chandler, and the veteran on the squad, DaMarcus Beasley, who has the 5th most international caps in US Soccer history, for the right back spot. All three of the candidates played against Azerbaijan and Beasley, who got the start at one of the half back roles, has the slight edge because of his experience and smarts in anticipation and knowing where to be on the field although Yedlin has the raw speed that is very valuable in a right back.

The most valuable lesson that Klinsmann learned from the United States' game against Azerbaijan was about his back line quartet and the next two games will also serve most importantly as a test run for the US defense and their shape, but there were also some interesting things to note about the US in their more cemented midfield and attacking areas in their 2-0 victory over the Azeris. Klinsmann went with a center mid pairing of Jermaine Jones and Michael Bradley against Azerbaijan although I still think Bradley, who has the keys to the US offense with his distribution abilities, plays his best with Kyle Beckerman of Real Salt Lake playing in behind him. In Klinsmann's system, where the outside backs are encouraged to get forward and join the attack, especially a player that is accustomed to doing so like Fabian Johnson, the US need a strong defensive midfielder to cover for the attacking runs of any player from the back four, which Beckerman does a better job of than Jones. As Jones showed against Azerbaijan, he is pretty good with the ball at his feet in playing to the outside backs and he showed his strength in winning most of the 50-50 balls against the Azeris, but he is too wild and reckless to be that steady holding midfielder for the US team. Jones does have a pretty good strike on him, but it is a blessing and a curse because he can get in on the goals, but it forces Bradley to sometimes play too deep because Jones likes to go forward and join the attack. Since the US need Bradley as high up the field as possible so that he can be the creative engine of the team due to his vision being superb by any standards, Beckerman is more suited to play in the hole behind the midfield and in front of the defense and I am not just saying that because he has great deadlocks (ok, only partly). Much like how Shane Battier knows his role on the Heat to flop around a little bit on defense and stretch the floor for any threes, how Draymond Green will attempt to guard anybody on the floor from the 1 to the 5 to help the Warriors, or how if you get near Erik Karlsson or Jason Spezza Senators enforcer Chris Neil will let you know about it, Beckerman understands his role on the USMNT really well, much better than Jones, and would allow Bradley the freedom he needs in midfield to set up wingers Graham Zusi and Alejandro Bedoya, who I thought had way too many careless giveaways with nobody on him against Azerbaijan, and Dempsey and Altidore up front. Bradley did not take enough risks against Azerbaijan because he needs to be further up the field to be at his best.

Meanwhile, Mikkel Diskerud from the club Rosenborg in Norway showed that he can be a useful sub in midfield with his goal against the Azeris and he will be used along with Brad Davis, who we know is a specialist with his wicked left foot where he can bend balls in from anywhere on a free kick and has a real hammer of a shot, off the bench to supplement the likely starters in the US diamond midfield of Jones or Beckerman, Bradley, Zusi, and Bedoya. The only question that stands is whether Aron Johannsson or Chris Wondolowski will be the first forward to come in when Klinsmann calls on a substitute in Brazil. Despite Altidore's massive struggle in his first year at Sunderland, where he scored just 1 league goal in 30 Premier League appearances, he is going to start for Klinsmann because the US need a big, strong forward up front like the 6-1 Altidore to hold up play and allow the US to release some of the pressure that they will be facing in the group stage from Ghana, Portugal, and Germany. Johannsson did score 17 goals for AZ Alkmaar in the Eredivisie, the 3rd most in the Dutch league (Jozi scored 23 goals for AZ in 2012-2013 and that didn't really prove to be worth too much of anything for what it is worth), and he has a pretty powerful strike on goal while Wondo could be play the Man United Javier Hernandez role, where he comes in and uses his incredible movement and positioning around the box to score an important goal towards the end of a match (he is always in the right place at the right time as evidenced by the two chances he had off the Zusi free kick and the Bedoya cross in the first half against Azerbaijan and his MLS record tying 27 goals in a single-season, which he set in 2012 with the San Jose Earthquakes due to his ball hawking sense on the field).

Which World Cup Favorites Are In The Most Danger Of Not Making It To The Knockout Stage?

Please don't get me wrong, the World Cup is not even in the same stratosphere as March Madness (the closest thing soccer has had to the 1983 North Carolina St. team that won it all by beating prohibitive favorite Houston in the finals, a team that had future NBA Hall of Famers Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon on it, after they went a very average 17-10 in the regular season and needed to win the ACC tourney over Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins of North Carolina and Ralph Sampson of Virginia just to get into the Big Dance was when Senegal made it to the quarters in their first ever World Cup in 2002, and yet the Lions of Teranga were still three full victories away from hoisting the trophy), but there is always a certain sense of unexpectedness and fickleness that can be felt at the world's biggest international tournament. The unpredictability of the competition and the fact that one unlucky loss in the group stage can be catastrophic and that the knockout stage is only single elimination lends itself to the fact that no team in the field is safe from being getting knocked out early. Of course, the dream semifinal that so many people have in their pre-World Cup brackets of Brazil against Germany in Belo Horizonte and Argentina facing off against Spain in Sao Paulo is what looks destined to occur on paper, but the best four teams in the world more often than not do not all reach the semifinals of the tournament. In fact, in most sports, except for college football most of the time, the best team so rarely comes away with the title at the end of the season (since 2003, the Columbus Crew in 2008 and the LA Galaxy in 2011 are the only two teams to win the Supporters' Shield and then go on to win the MLS Cup. In the first 13 years that the NCAA began to seed in March Madness from 1979 to 1991, a number 1 seed was only able to take home the championship 4 times, being North Carolina in 1982, Georgetown in 1984, Indiana in 1987 and UNLV in 1990. In the NHL, the Detroit Red Wings in 2007-2008 and the Chicago Blackhawks last year are the only two teams since 2002 to win the Stanley Cup after receiving the Presidents' Trophy that season. Since 1990, the New York Yankees in 1998 and then again in 2009 are the only two teams to have the best outright record in baseball during the regular season and then become World Series winners. Finally, in the last 17 years, only the Patriots in 2004 and the Seahawks last season have had the best or tied for the best record in the NFL regular season and gone on to win the Super Bowl later that year).

All the time in the World Cup we see teams that are favorites to take home the World Cup Trophy not only fall short of winning the world's most important title, like in many other sports, but also failing to even make it out of the group stage, as they go three and out in very disappointing and embarrassing fashion. In 1994, despite it being just their third ever World Cup and only their 2nd in the last 8 possible tournaments since 1966, and never having made it to even the quarterfinals of the big competition, Pele labeled Colombia as one of the favorites for World Cup glory in the Untied States. The Colombians were in their golden generation of football with world class players such as Carlos Valderrama, Faustino Asprilla, Freddy Rincon, and Leonel Alvarez in their squad, who all played a very exciting and attacking brand of soccer. However, after losing 3-1 to Romania, who would eventually make their furthest World Cup run ever with a trip to the quarters, Los Cafeteros let their nerves and external pressures get to them even more than before because they suffered a shock defeat to a much undermatched US team 2-1 that essentially was their World Cup knockout blow (it was literally Andres Escobar's knockout blow because he was killed due to his own goal in the game). While many people picked Argentina to win the World Cup in 2002 (it was Argentina, France, and Brazil as the three favorites in the field) for the first time since they had Diego Maradona running the show in Mexico in 1986, the White and Sky Blue were so poor offensively that they did not even make it out of the group stage for the first time since the 1962 World Cup in Chile when they finished behind Hungary and England in the first round pool play. The much hyped Argentinian team of Walter Samuel, Javier Zanetti, Juan Veron, Hernan Crespo, Gabriel Batistuta, and Ariel Ortega managed to score just 2 goals in their 3 games, tied for their fewest in a single World Cup and they were shockingly sent home after finishing 3rd in the difficult group F due to a 1-0 loss to England behind a David Beckham penalty for the Three Lions and a 1-1 tie to Sweden that was only salvaged by a late Crespo equalizer. Meanwhile, in 2010, coming off of their World Cup triumph over France in penalties in Germany, Italy somehow tied both Paraguay and New Zealand 1-1 and lost to Slovakia 3-2 in the very weak group F, joining just the 1966 Brazil team and 2002 French squad as the only clubs to not move past the first round of the World Cup as defending champions of the tournament. Despite having a roster with 9 players that were crowned World Cup champions just four years before including Buffon, Cannavaro, Zambrotta, Daniele De Rossi, Gattuso, and Pirlo, the Azzurri did not even make the second round of the field for the first time since they finished behind Poland and Argentina in group play in 1974 and they failed to win at least one game at the cup for the first time in 17 trips to the competition.

I could see Netherlands as the team that is favored by many to make a Word Cup run that could leave the tournament before the knockout stage even begins, which would mark the first time since the 1938 World Cup in France that they would participate in the tournament and not make it out of the first round. The Dutch remind me of Argentina in that they have as much offensive talent and playmaking as the 2000 Rams or the 1983-1984 Oilers, but they are very susceptible in their defensive third (a pretty massive difference between the clubs, however, is that Argentina have Lionel Messi and the Netherlands do not although Arjen Robben dribbles enough to make it seem like he is trying to be Messi). Holland can plug in Nigel de Jong in the holding midfield role so that he can fill in any gaps defensively and provide some toughness in the center of the field, but it really comes down to the back five playing as a group in keeping the ball and winning any aerial challenges around the box if the squad want to have anywhere close to a performance like they did in 2010 when they were just 4 minutes away from reaching penalties with Spain for the World Cup title (Iniesta is a name that is not to be uttered in the Netherlands). The future Man United boss Louis van Gaal seems to be leaning towards playing a 5-3-2 formation with the Oranje, which puts even more importance on De Jong staying in the hole when the wing backs go forward and overlap the wingers. Regardless of what kind of tactical shape the Flying Dutchmen were panning on deploying in Brazil, they were going to struggle defensively just because they lack the top class talent that other teams have in their back line, but going to five defenders right before the tournament with very little experience playing in the formation is a very risky move by van Gaal. Although playing with three central defenders against teams like Spain and Chile, clubs that would much rather pass the ball through the middle of the field than swing in crosses, may still yet prove to be effective, Ron Vlaar, Stefan de Vrij, and Bruno Martins Indi are not exactly going to scare the Spanish midfield or the likes of Alexi Sanchez, Arturo Vidal, and Eduardo Vargas on Chile. Spacing in the back could also be an issue for a team like the Dutch that has not played with the formation in a lot of matches prior to their kickoff against Spain on June 13 in a World Cup Finals rematch from Salvador.

Even offensively the Dutch could find some trouble scoring enough goals against Spain and Chile to move on to the knockout stage. Losing Roma box-to-box central midfielder Kevin Strootman to a torn ACL really hurt the Netherlands because the Dutchman was not only a commanding presence in the middle of the field but also had very good vision to find his teammates, and van Gaal got more bad news when Rafael van der Vaart and his very dangerous left foot that is always good for an incredible goal once in a while was ruled out of the World Cup due to a calf injury. The Netherlands Euro 2012 disaster, where they scored just two goals in their three losses to Denmark, Germany, and Portugal in their worst European Championship performance since they were knocked out in the group stage in 1980, showed the lack of offensive cohesion among the many talented attacking players that the Dutch still possess in their squad. If the Oranje want a chance to make it past Spain and Chile in the very difficult group B of the World Cup, their three main offensive players - Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, and Robin van Persie - will all have to be on the same page and willing to play with one another (in other words, they need to have the exact opposite of what Drake details in his song, "Trust Issues").

There are some other high quality clubs, outside of the Netherlands, that have to be careful if they want to make it past the group stage of the World Cup and be the last team standing on July 13 in Rio de Janeiro at the Estadio do Maracana. Amongst the top ten favorites for the world's biggest international tournament that do not include the Dutch, I think that Uruguay is the most likely squad to not make it to the knockout stage. Everything about me picking 2-time World Cup Champions Uruguay to not make the final 16 teams of the field for the first time since they finished behind Denmark and Senegal in group play in 2002 feels wrong on the surface level. Los Charruas made the semifinals of the 2010 World Cup behind a combined ten goals from their offensive trio of Diego Forlan, Luis Suarez, and Edinson Cavani, their best result in the World Cup since they came in 4th place in 1970, won their first Copa America since 1995 when they beat Paraguay 3-0 in the final in 2011, only lost to World Cup favorites Brazil 2-1 on a 86th minute goal from Paulinho in the semifinals of the 2013 Confederations Cup (they also only lost in penalties to Italy in the third place match after a very solid 2-2 tie for 120 minutes), they have two of the best twenty players in the world to score all of their goals with Suarez and Cavani, and if they were to not make it to the knockout stage, it would most likely mean that England would do something they never do, which is overachieve and actually play well in a major international tournament.

However, I just see some flaws in the Uruguayan team that could result in an early exit for La Celeste (in honor of the New York Rangers making their first Stanley Cup Finals since 20 years ago in 1994, a Cup where they would eventually go on to beat the Canucks in seven games for their first title since 1940 when FDR was President, this is my Mark Messier-like guarantee for the World Cup). Suarez is fantastic in all facets of the game and he is coming off a season with Liverpool in which he tied Alan Shearer and Cristiano Ronaldo's record for most goals in a 38 game Premier League season with 31 (he set the Premier League record for best goals to game ratio at 0.94) and became the 6th Liverpool player to win PFA Players' Player of the Year Award, but he had a very suspect surgery on his left meniscus right before the World Cup and even Cavani admitted, "We're all a bit discouraged by what happened [with Suarez]." Suarez's injury is very alarming for a Uruguay team that relies so heavily on his ability to put the ball into the back of the net, especially since Oscar Tabarez has not said if Suarez will be ready for the team's opening game against Costa Rica on June 14 from Fortaleza. Even at full strength, Uruguay were still going to have defensive questions, as only Paraguay, Bolivia, and Peru allowed more goals than La Celeste in South American World Cup qualifying, but with an injured Suarez, even the seemingly dynamic Uruguayan offense could have some troubles in Brazil.

A Massive World Cup Draw Analysis

There are few sporting events that seem so familiar to fans, yet at the same time feel so removed and distant. While this paradox is quite perplexing, it is the exact characterization that people around the world feel about the world's biggest international soccer tournament, the World Cup.

Ask any soccer fan and they can distinctly remember Zinedine Zidane's chipped penalty kick goal against Italy and then his subsequent red card in the infamous head-butt of defender Marco Materazzi to help the Italians win the 2006 World Cup, a tournament where the Azzurri allowed just 2 goals in 7 games (in comparison, when Italy won the World Cup in 1982 in Spain, they allowed a total of 6 goals). What soccer follower can't recall Siphiwe Tshabalala's goal for South Africa against Mexico to open up the World Cup in front of "Bafana, Bafana" in the first ever World Cup on African soil (South Africa did, however, fail to make the knockout stage, the first ever host country to do so). There isn't an American who can't give you the play-by-play of Landon Donovan's incredible 90th minute goal against Algeria to send the red, white, and blue past the group stage for just the third time since 1950 (the US also won their group for the first time since the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay with that goal). Any ardent soccer fan can recollect almost every moment of the classic 2010 final between Spain and the Netherlands, including Andreas Iniesta's goal in the 116th minute to cement Spain's world soccer dominance and their first every World Cup triumph (Spain won every game in the knockout stage 1-0, becoming the first team to not allow a goal past the group stage since the current format was initiated in 1986).

While these enduring moments will never be forgotten and seem so familiar to fans, the four year wait between World Cups has made it seem like an eternity since the players last took the field for the 2010 final in Johannesburg. It is this four year spell that makes the World Cup so much more tense and pressure filled than any other tournament because great players and nations may only get a few chances at a World Cup Trophy. For example, Turkey, who made the World Cup semifinals in 2002 before losing to eventual champion Brazil, have only ever made two World Cup appearances in their nation's history (1954 in Switzerland and that said year in 2002 in South Korea/Japan). Wales, who were in the World Cup quarterfinals in 1958 in Sweden, have not been back to the world's biggest international soccer tournament since their run nearly 60 years ago. Some of the world's greatest players like George Best of Northern Ireland, Ryan Giggs of Wales, George Weah of Liberia, and Alfredo Di Stefano of Argentina, Colombia, and Spain never even played in a single World Cup. The long interval and tension of the event makes fans salivating for the next World Cup to begin because the last one feels so far removed even if the memories will always remain.

With the World Cup draw finally unveiled and the tournament on the precipice of beginning, here is an analysis of each of the group in this year's tournaments.

(Note: Pot 1 of the draw were the seeded teams: Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland. Pot 2 were the non-seeded African and South American teams: Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon, Algeria, Chile, and Ecuador. Chile and Ecuador were drawn with one of the four European seeded teams so that two South American clubs were not in the same group to ensure geographic separation. Pot 3 were the non-seeded Asian and North American teams: Japan, Australia, South Korea, Iran, United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras. Pot 4 were the non-seeded European teams: Portugal, Italy, France, England, Netherlands, Croatia, Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Greece. However, Italy was moved to pot 2 to make each of the pots have an equal number of teams. Also, when Italy was put into pot 2, they were drawn with one of the four South American seeded teams to ensure that three European teams would not end up in the same group).

Group A: Brazil, Croatia, Mexico, Cameroon (5th Hardest Group According to the Cory Tell All Sports Index)

There have been six nations to win the World Cup as hosts: Uruguay in 1930, Italy in 1934, England in 1966, West Germany in 1974, Argentina in 1978, and France in 1998 (Brazil finished second in 1950, as did Sweden in 1958). Brazil's first step towards becoming the 7th nation to win on home soil became a little easier when their very manageable World Cup grouping was drawn in Bahia, as they should have no trouble with Croatia, Mexico, or Cameroon.

However, the Selecao are in a very unique position as the World Cup approaches, as Brazil has been a nation savaged by political strife, security issues, government corruption, and relentless public demonstrations over the past 12 months. In fact, millions of Brazilians took to the streets during the more than 2-week long Confederations Cup to protest the substantial government spending on the World Cup rather than the country investing the money in public transportation, hospitals, and schools. Brazilian police used tear gas, shock grenades, and missiles to somewhat subdue the violent demonstrators, who demanded an improvement in public services and an end to high prices and government inflation. The protests have created a very interesting paradox in Brazil. While many Brazilians are deeply unsatisfied that their country is leveraging millions of dollars on World Cup stadiums and preparations, football is life and religion in Brazil, and the fans remain coldheartedly behind the team on the actual field, just not the politics beyond the club. A variety of the Brazilian players even supported the protesters in their efforts to enact reform in the nation. Hulk said, "After seeing the people on the streets claiming for improvements, it makes me feel like joining them. They are doing the right thing... Brazil needs to improve." Neymar shared that sentiment when he stated, "I want a Brazil which is more just safer, healthier and more honest... It might seem demagogic on my part, but it isn't, to carry the flag of the protests which are happening in the whole of Brazil."

Anything less then walking away with their 6th World Cup would be an immense failure for a Brazilian team that is not only carrying the pressure of being the tournament favorite, but has the weight of an entire struggling nation on its shoulders. Nonetheless, Brazil definitely has more than enough quality to win on home territory in convincing fashion. While Brazilian football has become synonymous with skillfulness, imagination, and ingenuity over the years (think Garrincha, Ronaldinho), the back line is the real point of stability for the Selecao. With two of the best center backs in the world with Thiago Silva and David Luiz (when he stays disciplined) and two of the best attacking full backs in the world with Dani Alves and Marcelo, the Brazilian defense has looked very solid. A big reason that the Selecao allowed just 3 goals in their 3rd consecutive Confederations Cup victory was that whenever Alves and Marcelo provided width from the back, Luiz Gustavo would sit for the outside backs and provide any support for a possible counter-attack. While Luiz Scolari has certainly returned a sense of the creativity and free-flowing style that is analogous with Brazilian football, the strength of this team lies in their defensive aptitude, which was shown in their ability to high press Spain all around the field and stop their very effective passing style. Expect Brazil's pace to be too much for any of the other teams in this group.

Meanwhile, while Cameroon has been one of the most consistent African footballing nations (the team made four straight World Cups from 1990 to 2002 and its quarterfinal appearances in the 1990 World Cup in Italy has only been matched by Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010), it does not have once of its better squads as compared to tournaments in the past. Although the indomitable lions do have some European talent in Queens Park Rangers defender Benoit Asou-Ekotto, Barcelona midfielder Alex Song, and Chelsea striker Samuel Eto'o and should have some bright moments, expect to see an early exit for the Cameroonians.

If all things go as planned, it should be a dogfight between Croatia and Mexico for second place in this somewhat mild group.

The Mexicans certainly have the talent to be a sleeper in this year's competition, but they have been a dysfunctional and poorly managed team for the better part of a year. The national side have had four managers since September (Jose Manuel de la Torre, Luis Fernando Tena, Victor Manuel Vucetich, and Miguel Herrera) and have been under more scrutiny and criticism than arguably any other qualifier for the World Cup. While current manager Miguel Herrera only fielded Mexican club based players in the team's playoff against New Zealand, expect to see the likes of Javier Aquino, Andres Guardado, Giovani dos Santos, and Javier Hernandez back in the squad for Brazil.

While the Mexicans have the flair to make a run in this year's tournament, the Croatias have been a much more consistent side. The blazers, who are led by Darijo Srna and Luka Modric, could be at a severe disadvantage, however, because Mario Mandzkic faces disciplinary action for his red card in the 2nd leg of the team's playoff win over Iceland and Josip Simunic may be suspended for starting a fascist chant following the victory. The possible penalties against one of the team's best defenders and the Bayern Munich striker will be too much to overcome for the Croatians, as the Mexicans should move on with the hosts.

Group B: Spain, Netherlands, Chile, Australia (2nd Hardest Group in the CTASI)

Group B is one of the three quartets in this year's World Cup that can assert itself as the "group of death" with three teams in the top 15 of the FIFA World Rankings, including the defending World Cup Champions Spain, the 2010 World Cup runner-up Netherlands, and the ever-improving Chilean national team.

The first game of group B will feature a rematch of the World Cup title clash four years ago between Spain and Holland, which is the first time ever that the World Cup finals will be the first match of a group in the subsequent tournament. In fact, there have only been three World Cup rematches between the two finalists in any round of the following tournament, all of which interestingly involve West Germany. In 1966, England beat West Germany 4-2 in the title match of the World Cup on English soil behind the only hat-trick in World Cup finals history from Geoff Hurst, including two of which came in stoppage time. However, in the 1970 competition in Mexico, West Germany got their revenge in the quarterfinals, as Westdeutschland came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat England in stoppage time after a goal in the 108th minute by German legend Gerd Muller. In the 1974 World Cup, West Germany won their second title at the expense of Netherlands and legend Johan Cruijff, as Gerd Muller proved to be the hero once again with a 43rd minute game-winning goal for the West Germans in the final. In the following World Cup in Argentina, in the second round, the two teams played again but this time to a 2-2 tie (Netherlands went on to lose in the finals once again, this time 3-1 to Argentina in extra time). In the 1986 World Cup final in Mexico, Argentina and Diego Maradona got out to an early lead against West Germany and held on for a 3-2 victory and their 2nd World Cup triumph. However, in the next edition of the World Cup in 1990 in Italy, the West Germans got their retribution, as they took down the Argentinians in a finals rematch behind an 85th minute penalty from Andreas Brehme.

This year, Spain and Netherlands should provide a spectacle in Salvador that is reminiscent of their World Cup final battle, except hopefully without 46 fouls and 13 yellow cards. That match probably still gives Howard Webb nightmares when he isn't thinking about Manchester United of course. Jokes aside, the jury is still out on Spain and Netherlands despite their title runs in the last World Cup.

Although La Roja became the first ever national team to win three straight either continental or world competitions (they beat Germany in the Euro 2008 final, Netherlands in the 2010 World Cup final, and won the European Championship again in 2012 with a victory over Italy), some questions have been risen about the national side in the past year, especially after the Confederations Cup. In World Cup qualifying, the Spanish dropped points at home to Finland from the El Molinon in Gijon, and as has been the case even with their unprecedented success over the past half decade, they have struggled to find a striking option to play at the top of their formation. Spain experimented with Roberto Soldado, David Villa, Michu, and Alvaro Negredo up top but got just 4 goals from the forwards in qualifying, and often resorted to a false nine with Pedro in the striker role to compensate for their lack of quality. Fernando Torres's dip in form at Chelsea has prevented him from even making some of the Spanish team's rosters, and has dropped him way down the totem pole in the national side's striker battle. If things continue to go poorly for the Spanish in pre-tournament friendlies in the striker position, expect Vincent del Bosque to turn to either Fernando Llorente or newly nationalized Spaniard Diego Costa to take up the reigns as the team's lone striker. However, before we get so dark and gloomy about a team that didn't lose a game for nearly three years from the 2010 World Cup to the 2013 Confederations Cup (breaking France's record) it should be remembered that the Spanish still have a majority of their wildly underrated defense. In fact, this back line of Jordi Alba, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, Alvaro Arbeloa (may turn into Juanfran by Brazil), went over 415 minutes without conceding a goal in the Euros in route to the title. As long as the Spanish can find some offensive spark, they should be moving on through to the round of 16 at the top of group B.

Meanwhile, after their Euro 2012 disaster where they lost all three games in the group stage and looked like they had less chemistry then Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie in The Tourist, the Netherlands have a major point to prove come this year's tournament. To think that the Dutch can bolster an attack of Rafael van der Vaart, Jeremain Lens, Arjen Robben, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, and Robin van Persie is very frightening, but it is just a matter of bringing all of these talents together in a cohesive way. In qualifying, Holland ran rampant with goals with 34 in 10 matches, most notably from van Persie and van der Vaart. Playing predominantly with the 4-3-3 system under head man Louis van Gaal, the Dutch were able to play a very good brand of attacking soccer in qualification. With world class midfielders like Kevin Strootman and Wesley Sneijder providing service to the attacking three, with Nigel de Jong sitting in behind them for protection, the Dutch have the talent to be a World Cup title contender if all of their flamboyant pieces can fit together.

However, Chile has looked really good in the past year and could easily knock Netherlands out of the World Cup in the group stage for the first time since the 1938 cup in France. The Chileans have one of the most dangerous trios in international football with the versatile Arturo Vidal and the speedy Alexis Sanchez and Eduardo Vargas. Chile looked very solid in qualification, finishing 3rd in the South American qualifying and rounding out their campaign with 5 wins and a tie. In fact, the Chileans have lost just two games in 2013 with victories over World Cup sides Uruguay, Ecuador, and England and ties against World Cup favorites Spain and Brazil in friendlies. Chile is a very pacey team that can easily catch any opponent on the counter-attack, which could smell trouble for a Dutch side that enjoys the ball but is susceptible to being caught out on the break.

Finally, as strong as the top three teams are in this stout group, Australia is really not a good side, as shown by their 6-0 losses to Brazil and France in the last four months and their 3-2 defeat to Romania in February. Despite being in their third straight World Cup and having some quality up front with Tim Cahill and Robbie Kruse, it will be important for Spain, Netherlands, and Chile to rack up a bunch of goals against the Aussies in case second place comes down to goal differential.

Group C: Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast, Japan (4th Hardest Group in the CTASI)

When the World Cup draw was selected in the costa do sauipe, group C seemed to lack the appeal that most of the other quartets in this year's competition possessed.

It did not have one of the world's usual soccer powerhouses, as Colombia, the group's seeded team from pot 1, will be making just its 5th World Cup appearance (only more than Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela in South America) and its first in 16 years since the 1998 World Cup in France. In fact, their round of 16 display in the 1990 tournament in Italy was their only run outside of the group stage in the nation's footballing history. Coming into this year's competition, Colombia is in the top 10 of the FIFA World Rankings for the first time since 2002, the year after it won its only Copa America. Typically, fans are also intrigued by teams that do not have a rich soccer history proving themselves more than capable of playing on the world's biggest stage, especially from continents not known for their footballing prowess. However, both Japan and Cote d'Ivoire have become World Cup regulars over the past two decades, perpetually representing Asia and Africa as their top team. Japan has made five consecutive World Cups, which has only been matched by three other teams that have never won the competition (the United States, Mexico, and South Korea). Meanwhile, Ivory Coast is one of just two African nations (Ghana) to be appearing in their 3rd straight World Cup. Finally, casual soccer fans enjoy watching games with good attacking football and a lot of goals. However, Greece is known for its tactical precision and its defense sturdiness. When the Greeks shocked the world and won the European Champions in 2004 in just their second appearance in the competition since 1960, they scored just 7 goals in 6 match and won every game in the knockout stage 1-0. In fact, Greece did not have more ball possession in any of their matches in the tournament. Just based on recent history and some of the fascinating storylines that some of the other groups present, group C does not have that "wow" factor. Nonetheless, of all the quartets in this year's competition, this group could be the most balanced from top to bottom, as any of the team's can truly move on the knockout stage. Thus, while the Argentina-Iran game is probably not in doubt, every match in this group will be closely contested and could go either way.

To begin, Colombia is likely in its golden generation of football, or at least its best spell since the 1990's. "Los Cafeteros" cruised through CONMEBOL qualifying, only finishing behind Argentina by two points, and got their FIFA ranking all the way up to 3 in the world by mid-summer (Colombia was all the way down at 35 in January of 2012). With Radamael Falcao up front, the Colombians have a true superstar in their squad, which only a handful of teams in the World Cup can boast. Falcao's AS Monaco teammate, James Rodriguez, could also come into the international spotlight during this year's World Cup, as the 22-year old is already one of the quickest and craftiest players in the world. The questions with the Colombian national team lies with their back line, which lacks the mobility with 34-year old Luis Perea and 37-year old Mario Yepes in the center back roles.

Meanwhile, despite the fact that Ivory Coast has a panoply of top tier talent with the likes of Kolo Toure, Yaya Toure, and Salomon Kalou, Gervinho, and most notably African footballing legend Didier Drogba, the team has been a massive disappointment in major competitions for years. In the African Cup of Nations, Cote d'Ivoire lost in penalties to Egypt in 2006 and Zambia in 2012 in two finals and bowed out very disappointingly to Algeria in the 2010 quarterfinals and in the same round in 2013 to Nigeria. Similarly, in the World Cup, Ivory Coast has certainly underachieved, failing to make it out of the group stage in both 2006 and 2010. With a majority of the golden generation of Ivorian football getting into their thirties, it is now or never if the Ivory Coast finally want to make a quality run with all the talent they have in their side.

However, the Japanese will try to continue the Ivorians failures in major international tournaments. While Japan has not had a great run of form leading into the World Cup with a loss to Jordan in Asian qualifying and Bulgaria and Belarus in international friendlies, the team plays a very positive style of football. With midfield talent like Keisuke Honda of CSKA Moscow and Shinji Kagawa of Manchester United, the Japenese can attack with the best teams in the world, as shown in their wild 4-3 loss to Italy in the Confederations Cup, a game they actually deserved to win with all the chances they created.

On the other end of the spectrum, Greece can shut down almost any offense in the world with their defensive organization and shape. Led by Borussia Dortmund center back Sokratis Papastathopoulos (good luck to the announcers who have to say that name) and Roma right back Vasilis Torosidis, the Greeks allowed just 4 goals in 10 European qualifying matches and had an astonishing 8 clean sheets. Greece will need to get some goals from set pieces, especially with a guy like Georgios Samaras up front at 6'4'' because the team will not get too many opportunities. This is a group where anything can happen, but expect to see Ivory Coast and Colombia to squeak by Japan and Greece by narrow margins.

Group D: Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy (3rd Hardest Group in the CTASI)

One of the things to watch in this World Cup, particularly in Group D with a very highly rated South American side that has won two World Cups in contrast with two very strong European teams that have both been champions of the world's most prestigious contest, is how the dynamic of the tournament being played on South American soil will have an impact on the outcome of the competition.

There are certain cliches and patterns that seem to hold true in international football like England continually falling to Germany in penalties, Mexico always beating the United States on home turf (the U.S. finally did beat "El Tri" in Mexico for the first time since they began playing in Mexico in 1937 in August of last year), and European teams gravely struggling in World Cups that are played in South America (South American teams also do not perform very well in European World Cups, but we will save that for another article). This World Cup in Brazil will serve as a representative template to see if the theory of European teams not performing in South America is just an odd coincidence or a trend that does have some legitimate basis in terms of the success of certain international teams in different continents. If we look back into the past, history tells us that the site of the World Cup does have a real impact on the tournament's results and that South American teams like Uruguay could be at an advantage over European teams like Italy and England since the competition this year is in Brazil. Of the ten World Cups that European sides have won, nine of them have come in Europe (Spain winning in South Africa in 2010 being the only exception). However, in the nine World Cups that have not been played on European soil, a European team has only come away victorious once, and the four World Cups in South America have only been won by teams from the home continent. In the 1930 tournament in Uruguay, the two teams in the final were both South American (Uruguay and Argentina) and European teams had a combined record of just 4-5. In the Brazilian World Cup in 1950, South America dominated once again, as Uruguay and Brazil finished at the top of the table in the final round. In the 1962 cup in Chile, Brazil won the tournament, and European teams went just 15-18-7, continuing South American triumphs in competitions in the continent and European failures. In the 1978 Argentinian World Cup, Argentina walked away as the champion, while European teams had a combined record of just 17-19-11.

Uruguay's two World Cup victories have come in South America and they hope their success in the continent can continue in 2014. In the last World Cup, the Uruguayans made the competition's surprise run to the semifinals after having made just two World Cups since 1990. However, "La Celeste" will not be an under the radar team at all coming into this World Cup after having won the 2011 Copa America in Argentina, subsequently participating in the 2013 Confederations Cup, and having arguably the two best strikers in the entire world with Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani. Suarez is playing as well as anybody right now with Liverpool, as the Uruguayan has propelled the reds to the top of the Premier League table. There are a thousand different adjectives that you can use to describe Suarez's play, as he has been nothing less than incredible so far this season. In just 12 games EPL games, Luis already has 19 goals and although it is obviously still early in the season, Suarez will likely break Andrew Cole's and Alan Shearer's joint record of 34 Premier League goals in a season. Suarez's game changing ability makes him ever so dangerous for Uruguay, as he has the quality to score some fabulous individual goals even if his team is not playing at a top level. His 40-yard smash against Norwich and his brace against Cardiff are symbolic of how he can change a game all on his own. While his striking partner, Edinson Cavani, has not been in his usual goal scoring form of late (mainly because he has been playing out on the wing for PSG due to the presence of Ibra up front) he has the same ability as Suarez to transform a match.

On the other side of things, Italy and England will be tying to change the narrative of European teams struggling in South American World Cups. While Italy's defensive brilliance and tactical shape empowered them to the World Cup in 2006, Italian manager Cesare Prandelli has turned the azzurri into a more attacking side, which is the popular trend in modern football. Unlike their 2010 team which was festered with older age players and a lack of pace, Italy is now a side that can go forward with the best in the world. Although Italy is certainly a different side than the one that won the cup in 2006, two things have remained constant, Andreas Pirlo being the field general in the center of midfield and Gianluigi Buffon barking out orders in between the goalposts. Pirlo's performance against England in the quarterfinals of the European Championship in 2012 is one of the best single displays that I have ever seen in a game that did not feature a single goal and it his unbelievable field vision that allows the rest of the Italians to shine. Buffon, likewise, makes the players around him so much better, as any mistakes that his defense makes he cleans up with extreme calmness and command. If the Italians can get just a little more cohesion amongst some of their forwards and have guys like Stephen El Shaarawy and Giuseppe Rossi playing off Mario Balotelli, Italy could be very dangerous once again.

Then we get to the ever so fascinating merry-go-round that is the English national team. There are so many different variables in England's squad that it is hard to predict who will even be in Roy Hodgson's team come World Cup time. Whether Hodgson goes with some of his elderly, more experienced Englishmen such as Ashley Cole, Glen Johnson, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, James Milner, and Jermaine Defore or goes with some of his more exuberant, young players like Phil Jones, Ross Barkley, Adam Lallana, Andros Townsend, Jay Rodriguez, and Daniel Sturridge, England does not have the bite that Uruguay and Italy possess. The English looked like a very organized and compact side in the European Championships in 2012, but they did not look to have that electric or dynamic feel that some of the other sides in the World Cup certainly have. Unless Wayne Rooney can spark some creativity in the side, England could be headed for an early exit.

Finally, nothing against Costa Rica, a nice side that will be in their third World Cup in their last four attempts and has a very creative midfielder in Fulham man Bryan Ruiz, but they will likely be playing nothing more than spoiler in this stacked group. In a hotly contested group, Italy should come out group winners with Uruguay right behind, leaving England out in the group stage for the first time since 1958.

Group E: Switzerland, Ecuador, France, Honduras (7th Hardest Group in the CTASI)

The utter incompetence of FIFA and its hypercritical nature as the world's governing soccer body reared its ugly head once again this year in the World Cup draw. In the 2006 World Cup, with 14 European teams in the draw and five seeded UEFA clubs, it left nine teams in pot C, which consisted of the unseeded European qualifiers. Since each of the four pots obviously needed an equal number of teams at eight, Serbia and Montenegro were put into a special pot (basically pot D, which had seven teams). They were then drawn with one of the South American or CONCACAF seeded teams (Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico) to ensure that three European teams would not end up in the same group to keep geographic separation in place. Serbia and Montenegro were put into this special pot because their FIFA ranking was the lowest of the European teams in the competition. The exact same situation occurred once again in this World Cup draw. With only four European seeded teams, it left nine non-seeded European qualifiers in pot 4. Therefore, it was assumed that France, whose FIFA ranking of 21 was two spots lower than Russia and thereby the lowest of the European teams, would be put into pot 2 and then selected to be with one of the four seeded South American teams. However, this year, FIFA decided to randomly draw one of the teams from pot 4 into pot 2 (turned out to be Italy) and then put them with one of the four non-European seeded teams in pot 1 (turned out to be Uruguay). Dubbed by many as "potgate," the mirror even suggested that Sepp Blatter, the FIFA President, made the move in order to please and subdue UEFA President and former French national team star Michel Platini, who has been rumored as a possible candidate to run against Blatter for FIFA President in 2015. Therefore, thanks to FIFA disregarding their previous precedent of how to reallocate teams when there are too many clubs in a certain pot, France were handed a very favorable draw, especially compared to the one that Italy got after moving into pot 2.

While France is by no means one of the top teams in the tournament, they have looked more like the Les Blues team that got to the finals in 2006 than the team that boycotted training under former manager Raymond Domenech. Didier Deschamps has done a nice job of reenergizing French football and putting meaning back into the national team shirt. It has also helped that a flurry of some of the best young players in the world like Raphael Varane, Paul Pogba, and Mamadou Sakho are now in the French national side and making a big impact in international play. While the French certainly hope that Karim Benzema can bring his Real Madrid form to the national team (Benzema scored just two goals in France's 10 qualifying matches), the team will heavily rely on their star man Frank Ribery. The 2012-2013 UEFA European Player of the Year provides a majority of France's offense by either taking players down the wing and putting in crosses or cutting inside and firing shots from the top of the box. Ribery, who admittedly had a terrible World Cup in 2010 for a player of his caliber, will have to be in prime form if France want to make a deep run in this year's competition.

Meanwhile, Switzerland can thank its relatively docile group in European qualifying in enabling it to get into the top 8 of the FIFA World Rankings (the national side's highest ranking since it was 11 in the world in August of 1995) and thereby earn a seed in the World Cup drawing. The Swiss dominated against weaker European sides in their qualifying group, which featured Iceland, Slovenia, Norway, Albania, and Cyprus and had an undefeated 7-0-3 record. Although Switzerland has some top class players with the likes of Valon Behrami of Napoli, Stephen Lichtsteiner of Juventus, Gokhan Inler of Napoli, Xherdan Shaqiri of Bayern Munich, and 21-year old Granit Xhaka of Borussia Monchengladbach, they should not be looked upon as a top eight World Cup team.

Ecuador, who should fight Switzerland for second place in the group, looked much better than expected in CONMEBOL qualifying. However, the tri-color will not be able to use the Ecuadorian elevation to their advantage, as they were 7-0-1 when they were playing nearly 10,000 feet above sea level in Quito, but failed to win a game on the road in South American qualifying with a 0-5-3 record.

Finally, while Honduras are a very organized side, they have never won a World cup game (Honduras went 0-1-2 in 1982 and 0-2-1 in 2010) and they will likely have to wait another World Cup to get one. The French should thank FIFA on their way to the round of 16, while the Swiss should narrowly move past Ecuador into the knockout stage.

Group F: Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iran, Nigeria (6th Hardest Group in the CTASI)

When it comes to evaluating the greatest players in the history of a sport, one of the arguments at the crux of the debate is always championships and how the player performs in the sport's biggest tournaments. While the merits of judging a player based on team success and the quality of the players around him in order to achieve a title can be disputed until you are blue in the face, it is one of the ways that many people define the greatest player in a particular sport.

In soccer, while domestic achievements in club football can certainly not be undervalued or diminished, the best players of all-time are almost always remembered for their moments in the World Cup and how they played on the world's biggest stage. Pele scored nearly a goal per game in his club career, but his incredible performances at the World Cup cemented his place as one of the best, if not the best, player in the history of soccer. In Brazil's 1958 World Cup triumph, Pele, at just the age of 17, scored the only goal in the team's quarterfinal win against Wales, notched a second half hat-trick in the semi-finals against France (the youngest player to ever do so), and then added two goals for good measure against Sweden in the final. After winning the 1962 World Cup, Pele became the first ever player to win three World Cups, as the Brazilians won the 1970 competition behind 4 goals from their playmaking #10. Diego Maradona has also become synonymous for his displays at the World Cup, as his performance at the 1986 cup is still something to marvel over. The all-time great had 5 goals in the tournament along with 5 assists, but what will live on forever is his iconic goals in the Argentinians 2-1 quarterfinal victory against England. The first goal from Maradona, coming early on in the second half, has become known as the "hand of God" goal, as Maradona put the ball past the English goalkeeper, Peter Shilton, by using his hand to pop it into the net. Maradona's second goal of the game is widely considered the "goal of the century," as the Argentinian great took the ball from behind midfield and evaded five English defenders before dribbling past the goalkeeper for the remarkable score.

While Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d'Or/FIFA Ballon d'Or 4 times (the most ever), scored the most goals ever in a European season in 2011-2012 with 73, and tied Jose Altafini record of 14 Champions League goals in a single competition (also in 2011-2012), Messi still has a lot to prove on the international stage. In the 2010 World Cup, Messi failed to score a single goal in 5 matches and Argentina went out in the quarterfinals to Germany in a very disappointing campaign for the world's best player. Thus, if Messi wants to be considered in the same category as Pele and Maradona, he needs to turn in a very good performance in Brazil. Argentina does have the most dynamic attack in the world, though, which should allow Messi to thrive in a more playmaking role than just a scorer. Messi could be deployed along side of Argentinian strikers Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain with the likes of Angel Di Maria and Javier Mascherano patrolling the midfield. Aguero's movement, which is top class, should also provide space for Messi in the middle of the field so that he can use his incredible dribbling ability to shake by defenders. Argentina should be able to score a lot of goals in this year's competition with their potent strike force, especially with Messi at the center of the team's attack. However, as much as this tournament is a referendum on Messi's place in the greatest of all-time discussion, the question with Argentina will actually be their back line. Unlike most of the other top teams in the competition, Argentina does not have an imposing general in center defense like a Thiago Silva for Brazil, a Pique for Spain, or a Hummels for Germany. While Ezequiel Garay of Benfica and Federico Fernandez of Napoli have played well for "la albiceleste," it remains to be seen how they will perform in the world's biggest stage in order to try and help Argentina capture their 4th World Cup.

Meanwhile, Bosnia and Herzegovina will be playing in their first ever major footballing competition more than twenty years after gaining independence in 1992 from Yugoslavia. Although Bosnia will be thrilled just to be in tournament, they could make some people surprised by their very exciting attacking style of play. In just 10 World Cup qualifying matches, Bosnia scored 30 goals, which was only less than Germany (36), Netherlands (34), and England (31). Playing with two strikers up front with Manchester City man Edin Dezeko (his 10 goals were only behind Robin van Persie in qualifying) and Stuttgart striker Vedad Ibisevic (his 8 goals were tied for the third most in qualifying) and stretching the back line, Roma midfielder Miralem Pjanic and Lazio midfielder Senad Lulic are given plenty of space to operate in the middle of the field.

The African Cup of Nations winners, Nigeria, should fight with Bosnia for the runner-up spot in this group behind Argentina. The Super Eagles are surprisingly looking to become the first African confederation champion to win a game at the following World Cup since Cameroon in 2002. The Nigerians have some real quickness in their squad with Victor Moses of Liverpool, Emmanuel Emenike of Fenerbahce, Victor Obinna of Lokomotiv Moscow, and Ahmed Musa of CSKA Moscow. The real ticking point for the Super Eagles, though, is the always reliable John Obi Mikel of Chelsea, who slows down attacks in the center of midfield and is the team's main distributor.

Iran, who actually has the highest FIFA ranking in Asia, rounds out this moderately difficult group. The Iranians finished ahead of South Korea in the final Asian qualifying stage and are looking to get their 2nd ever World Cup win (Iran did have a 2-1 victory over the United States in the 1998 World Cup in France). In fact, Iranian captain Javad Nekounam, who played for Osasuna in Spain for years, is a top quality footballer. However, the Iranian fans foolishly gave Lionel Messi added incentive to have his Argentinians crush them in Belo Horizonte on June 21. When the World Cup draw was announced, thousands of people from Iran wrote insulting message to Lionel Messi on facebook, but as we all know, the Iranians will need to do a lot more then just trash talking in order to even touch Argentina and Messi. This group should see a close fight for second, but Argentina and Bosnia should move on to the next phase of the competition.

Group G: Germany, Portugal, Ghana, United States (Hardest Group in the CTASI)

The group of death; the group of death. Just uttering the phase brings apprehension and trepidation to coaches, players, and fans alike, and Germany, Portugal, Ghana, and the United States will feel the full brunt of the abhorrent notion when the World Cup commences in June of this year in Brazil.

In the past, we have had some very arduous World Cup groups that have made the other quartets in the competition look straightforward and painless compared to the all so challenging and imposing group of death. In 2002, group F was one of the toughest groups that the world's biggest international tournament had seen in years. It was made up of 2nd ranked Argentina, who were 1998 World Cup quarter-finalists and 1999 Copa America quarter-finalists, 10th ranked England, who made it to the round of 16 in 1998, 16th ranked Sweden, who finished 3rd in the 1994 World Cup, and finally 40th ranked Nigeria, who were 2000 African Cup of Nations finalists. While it does not happen all that often, in 2006, there was a justifiable basis to claim that there were two quartets that could be considered the group of death. Group C in that year's competition was composed of 4th ranked Argentina, who had come in 2nd in the Copa America in 2004 and were runner-up at the Confederations Cup in 2005, 3rd ranked Netherlands, who had made the World Cup semifinals in 1998 and the European Championship semifinals in 2004, the 41st ranked and second highest ranked team in Africa, Ivory Coast, who had made the African Cup of Nations finals in 2006, and 47th ranked Serbia and Montenegro. Meanwhile, group E had three teams in the top 12 of the FIFA World Rankings, as the group was made up of 12th ranked Italy, who had already won the World Cup three times in 1934, 1938, and 1982, the United States, who at the time had a record best FIFA ranking of eight and were 2002 World Cup quarter-finalists and 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup champions, the 2nd ranked team in the entire world, Czech Republic, who had made the semi-finals of the European Championships in 2004, and 50th ranked Ghana. In 2010, while some contested that there was no group of death, group G of Brazil, Portugal, Ivory Coast, and North Korea fit the bill. Top-ranked Brazil were 2006 World Cup quarter-finalists in still a disappointing year, 2007 Copa America champions, and Confederations Cup winners in 2009, 10th ranked Portugal were World Cup semi-finalists in 2006, quarter-finalists in the 2008 European Championships, and had the one of the best two players in the world in Cristiano Ronaldo, and 19th ranked Ivory Coast were 2010 African Cup of Nations quarter-finalists and were making their 2nd consecutive World Cup. While North Korea were the worst side in the entire tournament, the top three teams in this group were so strong that the fact that one of the teams would not move on to the knockout stage made it the group of death.

However, these past groups pale in comparison to the burdensome and laborious quartet that is group G of the 2014 World Cup. Germany, Portugal, Ghana, and the United States, who all made the knockout stage in the 2010 World Cup, had a combined record of 32-6-6 in qualifying and each could be considered the best team in their confederation (Portugal may be a little of a stretch but they are still top five in the toughest continent in football). While group B and group D both have one weaker side with Australia in group B and Costa Rica in group D, group G is stacked across all four teams, as the lowest seeded team in this group is still ranked 23rd in the world according to FIFA. In fact, Germany's #2 world ranking, United States' #13 ranking, Portugal's #14 ranking, and Ghana #23 ranking have a combined mark of 52, which is the lowest combined rankings of a quartet since group G of the 1998 World Cup. (in comparison, this year, group A has a combined 112 ranking, group B has a combined 78 ranking, group C has a combined 80 ranking, group D has a combined 56 ranking, group E has a combined 84 record, group F has a combined 101 ranking, and group H has a 112 ranking).

Germany, whose domestic league represented both Champions League finalists in 2013, has more depth than any other side in the entire tournament, taking most of their players from German giants Bayern Munich and blossoming club Borussia Dortmund. Unlike some of the other top teams in the world who rely on a key player to initiate their attack (Neymar with Brazil, Falcao with Colombia, Messi with Argentina, Suarez with Uruguay, Rooney with England, Ribery with France), Germany have so many different players who can break a defense down such as Toni Kroos, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mesut Ozil, Mario Gotze, Marco Reus, and Thomas Muller. Their intricate passing in midfield is top notch and their combination of exquisite ball movement in the center of the field along with speedy wingers on the outside is hard to find in world football. Germany has made it to at least the quarterfinals of every World Cup since 1982, but they have fell short of a World Cup title countless times. Deutschland have so many quality midfielders to dictate the middle of the park that anything less than a World Cup will be a failure for the nation.

Germany's European foe, Portugal, has one of the two best players in the world in Cristiano Ronaldo, whose next goal for the navigators will set the Portuguese record for most goals in an international career. You don't need to be a genius to recognize Ronaldo's unique talent and his incredible capability to turn a game on its head like few players have ever been able to do in the history of the game. Ronaldo has a rare dribbling ability to go along with his exceptional speed, which affords him much space when he has the ball and allows him to get shots off because defenders can not catch him if they press him too tight. However, the notion that Portugal is just a one man team is a complete fallacy. While Ronaldo may not get the same supply that he does with Real Madrid when he has the likes of Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, Angel di Maria, and Isco, Portugal still has a very solid roster. Joao Moutinho is one of the smartest passing midfielders in the entire world and Nani provides quickness on the opposite Portuguese flanks. Even more importantly, though, Portugal has a center back pairing whose familiarity gives the team a safety net if they push too many men forward to help Ronaldo, as Bruno Alves and Pepe have both had upwards up 55 national team caps.

Finally, we get to the United States and their kryptonite that is the Ghanaian national team. In the 2006 World Cup, coming into the final match of the group stage, Italy were on 4 points, Czech Republic and Ghana were on 3 points, and the United States were on 1 point. With an Italy win over Czech Republic, which did occur, the US needed a victory over Ghana to advance to the knockout stage. However, the Ghanaians broke the Americans spirit after scoring a penalty kick in stoppage time of the first half and went on to win the match and end the United States' World Cup. The United States and Ghana then played an exceptionally memorable game in the round of 16 of the following World Cup. After Landon Donovan scored a game tying goal that sent the match into overtime, the Ghanaians broke the United States' heart one more time as Asamoah Gyan's 93rd minute goal in extra time sent the African nation through to the quarterfinals at the expense of the US. Just to add injury to insult, Ghana even knocked out the United States in the under-20 World Cup this past year. Destiny has brought these two sides together for the third straight World Cup in the toughest group we possbily have ever seen, as Ghana and the US open up against each other in Natal. Many players remain on Ghana's squad from the 2010 World Cup, most notably Kwadwo Asamoah of Juventus, Kevin-Prince Boateng of Schalke, brothers Andre and Jordan Ayew of Marseille, and captain Asamoah Gyan of Al Ain. However, the United States have been on a great run of form since the 2010 World Cup and with Jozy Altidore starting to link up better with the midfield play of Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan, the Yanks are a much better team than four years ago. In a group that is almost impossible to predict, Germany should get out unscathed with former German legend Jurgen Klinsmann leading the US to the knockout stage in a minor upset.

Group H: Belgium, Algeria, Russia, South Korea (8th Hardest Group in the CTASI)

There was so much speculation over the past couple of weeks about who would be in the group of death, and the variety of possible draws in which we could have the most difficult group in World Cup history with every team in the top 24 of the FIFA World Rankings going to Brazil except for Ukraine. However, in every World Cup there are always one or two groups that seem to lack the depth that is normally present throughout the world's biggest international soccer tournament. In 2002, with hosts Japan as the seeded team, group H of Belgium, Russia, Tunisia, and Japan lacked the quality of all the other groups. In 2006, group B of England, Sweden, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago along with group D of Portugal, Mexico, Angola, and Iran formed by far the weakest groups of the tournament. In 2010, the group of Paraguay, Slovakia, New Zealand, and Italy along with the quartet of the United States, England, Slovenia, and Algeria were significantly weaker than any of the other four-team groupings in the competition. In this year's rendition of the FIFA World Cup, group H of Belgium, Russia, South Korea, and Algeria seems to be the "group of debt."

Belgium has been everybody's dark-horse team to make a deep run in the World Cup, possibly reminiscent of a 1998 Croatia, a 2002 Turkey, or a 2010 Uruguay. However, Belgium has been talked about so much as a tournament sleeper, that ironically, they are probably no longer an under the radar team that could surprise people with a few victories in the knockout stage. With a deep roster that includes an array of world-class players such as Vincent Kompany, Jan Vertonghen, Thomas Vermaelen, Marouane Fellaini, Axel Witsel, and Eden Hazard, it would not be prudent to consider the Belgians as a long shot title contender or a surprise if they do make a deep run. The Belgians, though, still have some very interesting battles at a variety of positions, as the squad actually has too many players worthy of a starting XI spot (who would have ever thought we would be saying that about Belgium). Belgian manager Marc Wilmots will have to decide whether to employ Christian Benteke or Romelu Lukaku in the team's lone striker role as the red devils typically like to play the now-so very popular 4-2-3-1 formation. In qualifying, Benteke got a majority of the starts for the team, but Lukaku already has 8 premier league goals and at the age of 20 he is a commanding physical presence. Wilmots will also have to decide which Belgian players will be inserted into the team's attacking midfield roles, especially on the wings, as Nacer Chadli, Kevin Mirallas, Dries Mertens, Eden Hazard, and Kevin de Bruyne will all be vying for two or three spots in the squad. However, having too many playings deserving of positions on the field is always a good problem to have, as the Belgians are truly in their golden generation of football. Just four years ago in December of 2009, Belgium was the 66th ranked team in the world, and now they are a serious World Cup title contender with a bevy of seriously talented players. It would not be too far-fetched to claim that Belgium has the best squad in the entire tournament, which is astounding to say about a nation that hasn't even made the past two World Cups and has one win in the competition in the least 20 years. Belgium should also be helped out by the rest of the weak teams in their porous group.

While South Korea has been in eight straight World Cups dating all the way back to 1986 (the only other teams that have had a longer World Cup appearance streak are soccer giants Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Italy, and Spain), the reds likely have one of their weaker sides since they began their run of really positive form nearly 30 years ago. Although the South Koreans have one of the best young players in the entire tournament in 21-year old Son Heung-Min of Beyern Leverkusen (he scored a hat-trick against his former club Hamburg in November), they did not play all that well in Asian qualifying, finishing behind Iran and only advancing past Uzbekistan on goal differential. In fact, the South Koreans lost to a reduced Russian side in a friendly in Dubai, which should be a sign of things to come in their game in Cuiaba.

The Russians and their manager Fabio Capello have had similar histories, featuring early triumphs followed by a prolonged struggle. Now, they are both looking to have a big World Cup in 2014. Playing as the Soviet Union from 1958 to 1990, the USSR made it to the quarterfinals in 1958, 1962, and 1970 and the semifinals in 1966. However, since the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, Russia has only made the World Cup in three of six attempts and has never advanced past the group stage. Likewise, Fabio Capello's managerial career began off with immense success, as the Italian manager won seven league championships (four with AC Milan, two with Real Madrid, and one with AS Roma) along with a Champions League title with the rossoneri. However, his four year run as England boss was a disaster, as the English suffered their biggest defeat in World Cup history after a 4-1 thumping against Germany in the round of 16 and then Capello resigned after a clash with the FA over John Terry's captaincy. However, group H is a perfect quartet for the Russians and Capello to turn everything around, especially if they can get a result against group favorite Belgium.

Finally, Algeria will be appearing in their second straight World Cup, but they should not be around for all too long. The Algerians, who needed away goals to advance past Burkina Faso in the final round of African qualification, are undoubtedly one of the weaker sides in the competition. If all things go as planned, Belgium and Russia should have little trouble taking care of South Korea and Algeria and moving on to face stiffer competition in the round of 16.

After reading more than 9,000 words, you probably just want my full predictions for the entire tournament by now, so here we go:

Round of 16:
Group A Winner: Brazil
Group B Runner-up: Chile

Group C Winner: Ivory Coast
Group D Runner-up: Uruguay

Group E Winner: France
Group F Runner-up: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Group G Winner: Germany
Group H Runner-up: Russia

Group B Winner: Spain
Group A Runner-up: Mexico

Group D Winner: Italy
Group C Runner-up: Colombia

Group F Winner: Argentina
Group E Runner-up: Switzerland

Group H Winner: Belgium
Group G Runner-up: United States

Quarterfinals:
Brazil
Ivory Coast

France
Germany 

Spain
Italy

Argentina
Belgium

Semifinals:
Brazil
Germany

Spain
Argentina

Finals:
Germany
Argentina

Winner:
Germany