Final round of group matches start tonight: Which teams are likely to make it to the round of 16 in the World Cup?

The second round of all group matches was concluded this morning with Spain's 2-0 win against Honduras.
Tonight the final round of group matches will commence. Although the first two rounds produced the lowest average goal per game of just over 2, the final group round promises to produce lots of thrilling moments as well as a few surprises. The reason for this is because almost all of the European favourites or heavy weights, i.e. Germany, England, Spain, France & Italy, must win their final matches to guarantee passage to the knockout stage of the Cup. The South American teams on the other hand, are all on the way to potentially win their respective groups. As a result, the first knock out stage promises top produce a few blockbusters (such as e.g. England vs Germany) as the favourites in many of the groups will probably finish second instead of the expected first place.

Here's a quick review of each group & my view on which teams will advance (in bold):

Group A: Uruguay & Mexico

As mentioned in my previous emails, France not only embarrassed themselves on the pitch with their inept performances, they also disgraced themselves off the pitch with publicly fought unrest in their camp. South Africa will sadly be the first host nation in the history of the Cup not to advance beyond the group stage.

Mexico & Uruguay have been the stand out teams in this group. France need to score at least 3 goals against South Africa & for either Mexico or Uruguay to win their battle in order to have any chance of advancing to the next round. If this does happen, it will be undeserved.

Group B: Argentina & South Korea

Prior to the World Cup, I predicted that Nigeria, despite having so many talented players would disappoint at the World Cup & so far they have been far from competitive with two losses.

I believe despite their heavy loss to the scintillating Lionel Messi & Argentina, South Korea have shown enough to get past the predictably boring Greece & advance to the next round.

Argentina, on the other hand, arguably have the best player in the world in Lionel Messi & are once again one of the main favourites to go all the way & are simply irresistible to watch.

Group C: USA & England

This was supposed to be one of the easiest draws for one of the pre tournament favourites England. But once again they have failed to fire & have been rather disappointing. It all started to go wrong with Robert Green's disastrous mistake in the first game against the USA. It got worse when Ledley King who had replaced the injured Captain Rio Ferdinand in the central defence injured his knee. And to top it all, John Terry, the disgraced former captain destabilised the England camp further by attempting & failing to start a rebellion against the coach Capello on Sunday. Despite all this, England have enough character & calibre to beat Slovenia & advance to the second round for a possible show down with their arch enemy Germany.

I have been very impressed with the USA's fighting spirit, their speed & energy & believe they will be able to break down Algeria's disciplined defense & advance alongside England.

Group D: Germany & Serbia

My heart wanted my favourite two teams Germany & the mighty Socceroos to advance from this group, and Australia to meet England in the knock out phase. However, red cards have dented both Australia & Germany's prospects in their previous matches.

Germany, the record 11 time semi finalist & 7 time finalist in the World Cup have never failed to go through the group stage in World Cup history & should be too strong for Ghana. On the other hand, whilst I am sure the Socceroos will put up a brave fight, I do not believe Australia, in Harry Kewell's forced absence, will have the fire power to get through the solid Serbian defence and score the minimum of 2 goals they require. :(

Group E: Netherlands & Denmark

After a slow start in their first game, Holland found their feat in the second game & will advance as an outside favourite for the World Cup. their odds improve even further if Robben ends up being fit enough to play for them at some stage.

Denmark on the other hand will be too strong for Japan & should be able to win and advance. Japan however, do have a better goal difference. They will aim for a draw ad therefore there is an outside chance that Japan will end up advancing on goal difference.

Group F: Paraguay & Italy

Group F was supposed to be a walk in the park for the defending champions Italy. But Italy's coach Lippi failed to rejuvenate the 2006 team & stuck with the likes of Canevarro who is now 37! Their slow & tired legs has seen Italy ride their luck to two draw their first two matches.

However, those of you who are keen football supporters would know or (in my case) remember how Italy won the World Cup in 1982 after having drawn all their 3 group stage matches & advancing to the knock out stage on the basis of having scored a mere one goal more than Cameron. In more recent times, having experienced their mighty sting against Australia in 2006 & aging New Zealand last week make it hard to write off Italy totally.

Paraguay have on the other hand been the dominant team in this group, and a massive show of admiration also goes to the courageous effort by the great New Zealand side. They have once again overachieved & should be congratulated.

Group G: Brazil & Portugal

After sluggish start in their first respective matches, both teams produced fantastic attacking football & great wins in their second matches making in almost impossible not to go through. The final group game clash between Portugal & Brazil promises to be one of the best matches of the entire tournament.

Group H: Spain & Switzerland

After their shock loss in their opening match against Switzerland, Spain got back on track with a win against Honduras.

I believe they need to beat Chile to guarantee passage to the next round as Switzerland will beat Honduras. This will probably eliminate the impressive Chile on goal difference. However, amazingly, if Chile draw with Spain & the Swiss beat Honduras, Spain, the favourites will be eliminated from the competition.

It must also be mentioned that Switzerland broke the record for the longest time any team has not conceded a goal in the World Cup history last night, although eventually they conceded a goal 7 lost to Chile 0-1. their record started in the 2006 world Cup where they got eliminated without conceding a single goal in open play (eliminated in a penalty shoot out) & lasted two matches into this year's second round match against Chile.

As you can see, the mouth watering excitement of the World Cup is only beginning. Enjoy & check my blog to rate my predictions!

If you wish to leave comments but are unable to click on the comment section as reported by some of my friends, you may wish to email me on ricksamimi@gmail.com & I will post your comments.

How do the teams rate as the second round of the group stage starts to shape at the World Cup 2010?

The second group matches got on the way last night in FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa.

Before having a look at the first round, I must thank 702 ABC Sydney (radio station) for interviewing me for the last two Fridays in the morning show with Deborah Cameron about the World Cup & also for including a link to this blog on the ABC website.

I'd like to remind those of you who are casual followers of the sport not to lose too much heart! The first round of the group stage of this World Cup has been unusual in its lack of goals. Most teams have been very cautious & some like Australia have not looked settled.

As it was evident last night, we will be witnessing much more attacking football in the crucial second round matches (13 goals scored in the 4 second round matches played so far whilst the same groups only scored 5 goals in the first round). And now to a selection of teams making headlines so far:

• France: As predicted, lost & clueless under their coach Demenech
• South Africa: sadly for them & their fans, will become the first host nation in the Cup's history not to make the second round
• Argentina: Maradona, Messi & co look good both on paper & on the field, a potential winner
• England & Brazil, both looking a little bit out of sorts & in need on fine tuning, which may be too late to do! but still potential quarter finalists & in case of Brazil, a potential winner
• Germany, sublime against Australia, got stifled in midfield vs Serbia & lost 1-0 having had their star striker Klose sent off & missed a penalty. I still rate them as a good bet for semi finals, and an outside chance for the final.
• Italy, looked old, jaded & too slow! They will be out by quarter finals!
• Portugal & Ivory coast had a tough match. Overall ronaldo was yet again disappointing for Portugal. But we have to wait to see their respective second matches.
• Switzerland & USA should be congratulated for taking points out of Spain & England games respectively. Switzerland legendary coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said he learned from USA's win against Spain in the Confederation Cup last year.
• Australia were hugely disappointing against Germany. Their coach Pim Verbeek should have used the same system as USA & Switzerland did in their first matches.
• And last & not least, Spain are still my favourites to win as long as they can mentally pull themselves out of the misery of the loss to Switzerland. However, that may turn out to be easier said than done as Spain are the perennial under achievers at the World Cup level & are notorious for losing their nerves. However, they are the current european Champions & the most attratctive side to watch!

All in all, the second & third round of the group matches are sure to provide more goals, thrills & surprises like the defeat of France by Mexico & Germany by Serbia.

If you are unable to use the comment section, you canemail me at ricksamimi@gmail.com with your comments & I will post them. Thank you.

World Cup qualifier playoffs: Ireland lose to "Hand of FIFA", whilst the "Gus Hiddink" legend is shattered by the minnows of Slovenia

Two major news items made the main football headlines across the world this morning, one full of the astonishing & simple beauty of football, "The people's game", & the other a story of the tarnished image of the stubborn, out of touch, money chasing FIFA acting like a sect trying to protect itself from criticism & investigation, and the perception that its  has sold the "Beautiful Game's soul to sponsorship money.

a. The smallest & wealthiest of the former Yoguslav regions, Slovenia made history by stunning the legendary Gus Hiddink's Russian side & qualifying for the World Cup this morning. In doing so, Slovenia achieved something even more profound, something that stunned the rest of the football world: . It exposed & shattered the legend that was Gus Hiddink!

The "Legend of Gus Hiddink" in no more! The mythical legend "Gus Hiddink"was born when he helped PSV win the European Cup in 1988. He then took Holland to the brink of WC final in 1998 and repeated the same feat with the much lesser footballing nation of South Korea in 2002. He grew even more in stature by taking Australia to the brink of a quarter final birth in WC 2006 in Germany, Russia to the semi final of the European Championships last year, and helping Chelsea back on track by winning the FA Cup final with them whilst missing out on a Champions League birth by a last gasp goal by the magical Inesta.

All the big footballing nations, coaches,clubs & players were in awe of Gus Hiddink & his magic touch, and unable to stop him. The first cracks in the legend appeared when Germany comfortably beat Hiddink's Russia 2-1 in Russia in the first leg, and then again 1-0 last month. But it took the tiny Slovenia this morning to bring joy to true football fans worldwide. They beat Russia & its legendary cooach Gus Hiddink. In the process they demonstrate the intrinsic beauty of the game & its magical moments, and the fact that much love Gus Hiddink is after all human!

b. Whilst the beautiful events above were occuring, the ugly side of the game showed its ugly head & the Republic of Ireland got eliminated, literally in the hands of Thiery Henry, who shamelessly redirected the ball by his hand and created an equaliser for william Gallas & France & its undeserving coach Demenech.

In my view, Ireland lost to the "Hand of FIFA". FIFA is starting to act like an exclusive sect. It fools the fans into accepting what it offers as all that there is, and meanwhile rolls in money & pays its undecisive vote grabbing self serving executives from Sep Blatter down millions of dollars in remuneration & fringe benefits.  FIFA is distinctly creating the perception amongst fans that it is ok for crucial matches to be decided in favour of more profitable sponsorship outcomes.

If the above comments sound too harsh, then FIFA must at start clamping down on all forms of chating on the field by threatening to reverse results and/or order a rematch in order to deter players from acting so shamefully. Thiery Henry is not the first player who acted in an unsporting fashion and won't be the last. Players cheat in all shapes & forms, from diving, to throwing themselves on the ground holding their faces when hit by a feather, to handballing & getting away with it. Just ask Maradona and his "Hand of God" in 1986 against England. Remember the shameful behaviour of AC Milan's Brazilian goalkeeper Dida a few years ago in the Champion League?

Players do this totally shameful acts simply because they know they can get away with deceit because they are confident FIFA will not clamp down or punish them! All FIFA has to do is to order a few matches to be replayed & before too long coaches will come down hard on any player who acts in such shameful manner as the infinte examples of the last 15 years or so suggest.

If FIFA continues to hold the line that all is working in the interest of the game & its broader appeal, and it is not hostage to sponsorship money & its greedy self serving executives, then it must acknowledge the short comings of the current model & the need for  introduction of technology assisted refereeing.

Otherwise, it is only fair to accuse FIFA of selling out the game to generate sponsorship money & favouring teams/players with more sponsorship dollars appeal.