The Contenders

In about 48 hours time the world's greatest tournament will be underway in South Africa and each of the 32 teams that have fought their way through qualification will have something to prove. Countries like Algeria and Honduras will hope to showcase their talents to the world and the hosts South Africa need to make sure they put up a good show on home soil. Synonomous with each World Cup is the rise of the favourites to win it. Teams like Brazil, Spain, England, France, Germany,current champions Italy,Netherlands, Argentina etc are all brilliant teams in their own regard. Lets analyze these teams a little closely

Brazil, 5 time World Champions and always a favourite during the World Cup. A new look squad and a new coach in the form of Carlos Dunga has everyone hoping that this might be Brazil's year. After the debacle during the 2006 edition, Dunga has brought about a fresh look into the squad by capping many youngsters and most importantly the ability to grind out results at the expense of free flowing football which is almost an alias for Brazil. They have one of the strongest backlines in the form of Maicon, Lucio, Juan and Michel Bastos with the reliable Julio Cesar in goal. The midfield has a totally new look with youngster Ramires, the veteran Gilberto Silva, the playmaker Kaka and the defensive midfielder cum playmaker Felipe Melo making up the numbers while the strike force has the tricky Robinho paired up with the lethal finishing skills of The Fabulous One Luis Fabiano. Looking beyond the first team the bench strength is formidable consisting Daniel Alves, Josue, Thiago Silva, Doni and Julio 'The Beast' Baptista . No doubt Brazil will always be a team to watch out for.

Spain a.k.a La Furia Roja, 2008 European Champions and one of the teams that until lately carried the chokers tag on them. The team chosen by Vicente del Bosque is overladen with talent. With the evergreen Casillas in goal with the reliable Puyol, Marchena, Capdevilla and Sergio Ramos in defence they sure are not a team that look like they might concede many goals. Spain's biggest strength come in the midfield and attacking departments. It has arguably the biggest names in football filling up each position. Barcelona playmakers Xavi and Iniesta flanked by David Silva and a defensive screen provided by Xabi Alonso all hoping to provide arguably the best strike force in world football in the form of Fernando Torres and David Villa. Spain's game is centred around crisp passing and fluid movement and sometimes telepathic understanding between the players. The bench strength is phenomenal. The quality of the squad is such that it has Liverpool's No 1 Pepe Reina and Barcelona's No 1 Victor Valdes as the backup goalkeepers, Barcelona youth prodigies Sergio Busquets and Pique, Arsenal star Cesc Fabregas, Sevilla's Jesus Navas, the blistering Juan Mata in the bench. Spain have had a near flawless buildup to the World Cup with the upset at the hands of the US in the Confederations Cup in 2009 being the only exception. Will they shed the chokers tag like in Euro 2008 and win the most coveted prize in world football is left to be seen.

England, The Three Lions, have had a very good qualifying campaign under Fabio Capello who's brought about a discipline into the England team which was earlier missing. No player is guaranteed a place in the team like before and also Capello has ensured that the players focus only on their football and nothing else. The sqaud boasts of some very familiar names like Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, John Terry and Frank Lampard. The English press has been quick to label this squad as the best that England have ever had with the exception of the 1966 World Cup winning squad. Many of the players in the squad may be playing their last world cup and whether this world cup is their swansong is in their hands.

No world cup roster is complete without the Germans who have a rich footballing history. They proved their critics wrong in the 2006 edition on home soil and changed everyone's opinion that the germans were a mechanical and physical team. The squad selected by Joachim Loew is a mixture of youth and experience even though the average age of the squad is only 24 years. The experience is in the form of Per Mertesacker, Lahm, Friedrich, Schweinsteiger, Klose and Podolski who all were part of the 2006 campaign and youngsters like Thomas Muller, Holger Badstuber, Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira( in place of the talismanic Ballack) have ensured that Germany are a force to reckon with as always. The bench consists of many unfamiliar names like Marko Marin, Dennis Aogo, Sergio Tasci, Kiessling and Cacau who all have a point to prove in the tournament as they were picked ahead of seasoned campaigners like Frings and Kuranyi. Loew's attack minded tactics coupled with the young squad will provide a stiff challenge to the other teams hoping to win the World Cup.

Any football fan would say that one of the most underachieving teams was the Netherlands whose players are scattered all over the globe and phenomenally talented. Ever since the Johann Cryuff era the Netherlands best performance was in France 98 when they were defeated by Brazil in the semi finals which is a shame considering the players that the nation boasts of. The 2006 campaign saw Marco Van Basten picking players based on form than experience and paying the price against Portugal. The new coach Bert van Marwijk has been cautious and brought on veterans like Phillip Cocu and Frank de Boer into his coaching staff to provide the experience any squad needs. The lineup boasts of some superstars in the form of Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Van der Vaart, van Bommel and van Persie along with the hard working Dirk Kuyt. The defence needed a bit of tweaking after the retirement of Dutch legend Edwin van Der sar. The transition has been smooth with Martin Stekelenburg in goal along with youngster Gregory van der Wiel with experienced players like Mathisjen, Ooijer and van Bronckhorst. Holland's strength is argubly in midfield and attack. The defensive screens in the form of Van Bommel and de Jong along with the playmakers Sneijder, Kuyt, Robben and van Persie. Youngsters like Elirio Elija and Ryan Babel and van der Vaart make up the bench. With the forward line the Netherlands boast it must send shivers down the spine of opposition defences but the individual talents combined into a team effort may see this World Cup belong to the Netherlands at long last.


The 2006 World Cup coincided with the Calciopoli scandal in the Italian League and the Italian national team was criticised on all fronts. However this united them and they won their 4th World Cup title. Since then Italy have struggled to recover from the retirements of Alessandro Nesta, and Francesco Totti who are proven performers on the world stage. The return of Marcello Lippi has ensured that they are not at all short of experience and Lippi's squad reflects that fact. With the ever present Buffon in goal along with defensive mainstays Cannavaro and Chiellini and fullbacks Zambrotta and Criscito the defence can hold itself under pressure even though many noises were made concerning the average age of the defence, but Lippi silenced them all stating that you cant beat experience. The Italian midfield bears a very familiar look with the aggressive Gattuso, playing his last world cup, playmaker and dead ball specialist Pirlo along with De Rossi and Cameronesi forming a formidable midfield. The forward line has come under much scrutiny and rightfully so. Vincenzo Iaquinta and Alberto Gilardino haven't performed at club level impressively and are in no way comparable to the forward line of 2006 which boasted of Totti, Del Piero and Toni. Despite calls for Lippi to bring back Totti and Del Piero for one last campaign coupled with protests regarding why Antonio Cassano and Mario Balotelli weren't picked they have had no effect on Lippi. He has however made a good selection in the form of Antonio Di Natale and Giampaolo Pazzini both of whom impressed with Udinese and Sampdoria respectively. The bench strength looks weak with Claudio Marchisio and Quagliarella being the only familiar names. Leonardo Bonucci, Morgan de Sanctis and Federico Marchetti are all debutants at the world cup and will hope to prove a point as they are the future of Italian football. Marcello Lippi's squad has the experience to do what Vittorio Pozzo's team did in 1934 and 1938 but it looks a daunting task for the reigning World Champions.


12 years ago a certain Zinedine Zidane inspired France to a memorable World Cup win on home soil. 8 years later Zidane came out of retirement and almost single handedly guided France to the final before an act of sheer insanity saw him miss out on a World Cup again and sealing his place among the footballing gods for good. Since then France haven't really coped with the losses of the 'golden generation' of French footballers like Lilian Thuram, Makelele, Sagnol, and Zidane and it needed Henry's Hand for France to make it to this year's finals at the expense of the Republic Of Ireland who deserve to be here. They struggled through Euro 2008 and rightfully crashed out. Coach Raymond Domenech has come under a lot of fire and his strange tactics have shocked fans in all the wrong ways. Dropping game changers like Samir Nasri, Hatem Ben Arfa and Karim Benzema has ensured that France have a lack of creativity which the majestic Zidane single handedly once used to take care of. The goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is one of the few exceptional talents in this French side. The defence looks ageing with Gallas, Abidal, Evra and Sagna. The defensive screen provided by Jeremy Toulalan along with playmakers Malouda, Gourcuff and Govou form a reasonable midfield. The forward line has two big names in the form of Anelka and Henry but they have to bring their club form into the national team in order for France to have any chance of progressing to the knockout rounds. Though the first team looks good on paper Domenech's tactics have ensured that they dont live upto that name. At length it will be a miracle if France can repeat the feats of 2006 or 1998 this year.


Speaking of Hands playing a part in a World Cup who could ever forget Diego Maradona's Hand of God goal. Surely Peter Shilton, the England goalkeeper during the 1986 campaign, wont. This time Maradona returns as the coach of the Albacieste along with Carlos Bilardo, the coach of the 1986 World Cup winning team. They have not had the best of qualifying campaigns after getting mauled by Bolivia 6-1 and losing to Brazil which would've meant the sack for any other coach of Argentina. But because it is Maradona, the man Argentinians call God, the people of Argentina waited patiently and they were rewarded as Argentina qualified for the finals. Having tried out 78 players in the 10 qualifying games Maradona finally settled upon 23 which to the surprise of everyone did not include the veteran and defensive rock Javier Zanettti and Esteban Cambiasso both of whom were Champions League winners this year with Inter. Zanetti must be wondering what he must do to play a World Cup match at all. Maradona has got a few calls right though. Rising goalkeeping talent Sergio Romero has been made as Argentina No 1. The defence looks reasonable with Samuel, Demichelis and Heinze and Gutierras. The midfield marshalled by Javier Mascherano and veteran Juan Veron will keep the opposition on their toes. But Argentina have arguably the best forward line in the tournament. Carlos Tevez, Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Angel Di Maria, Diego Milito. Phew.....there's no lack of depth in the attacking department. Although Messi will be the marked man Maradona has to realise that building a team around Messi is what needs to be done rather than just play the ball to Messi and expect him to take care of everything else. Maradona's team may not play the flowing football that everyone expects of them but they are still a potent force and with Maradona's successor within the lineup anything is possible which includes the possibility of Maradona joining an elite list having Franz Beckenbauer of winning the World Cup both as player and coach.

Although the above teams are favourites, teams like Portugal, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and USA have the firepower to cause an upset.

Portugal have within them Messi's rival to the title of the world's best player Cristiano Ronaldo within them. Along with veterans Deco, Simao and Lieidson it'll be left to be seen whether Ronaldo can inspire Portugal to a run similar to that of 2006.

Ivory Coast is arguably one of Africa's best chance this time. With the talismanic Drogba up front supplemented by Chelsea teammate Kalou and Didier Zokora and with Yaya and Kolo Toure in defence they will be a team to watch out for despite being unlucky second time round for being drawn with the big guns Brazil and Portugal

Cameroon have always been one of Africa's best teams and those who watched Roger Milla's side of 1990 will tell you why. Paul Le Guen's side is not short of experience with veterans Rigobert Song and Geremi along with Alex Song in midfield and Samuel Etoo up front they will hope to put up a good show at the first world cup on African soil.

MLB, NBA, NHL...All have one thing in common. The USA. The USA have never been associated with football or soccer as they call it, a lot. Since their upset win over England in 1950 termed as the Miracle on Grass, the US team have not done very well in the World Cup. But Bob Bradley's side have started to prove critics wrong by changing their style of play and becoming defensively very solid and thereby ensuring that no team takes them lightly. Ask the Spaniards and Brazilians. They'll tell you more about this fact when the US went on a dream run in the 2009 Confederations cup. Despite having many unknown faces in the squad Bradley has done what any team with a star player must do i.e build the team around that player, the star player in this case being Landon Donovan who is an inspirational figure in the squad. Bradley's men may not have the title of favourites but they sure can pull off an upset that can shake things up in the tournament.

Its going to be one month of absolute fun when the world becomes familiar with Vuvuzelas and the party atmosphere of the African continent. Personally i hope germany win this time.....but lets see

Cheers........