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.