One day to go until the World Cup
2014 in Brazil. The BBC has crowned the event in their 100 World Cup Moments by
giving the top spot to ‘Brilliant Brazil.’ The Carlos Alberto goal scored in
the 1970 World Cup final was a tribute to a great team and capped off one of
the most exciting collection of players seen in World Cup history. The iconic
goal is one of the great symbols of Brazilian football, combining precision and
beauty in a wonderfully crafted team goal. Brazil has been a defining nation in
World Cups since their shock loss against Uruguay in 1950. Since then their
dominance of the tournaments is undeniable, winning 5 World Cups, holding the
best defensive record in World Cup history and probably just about love the
World Cup that little bit more than any other nation.
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With the tournament going back to
Brazil this year the cult of football in Brazil, although special, has been
done to death by many media outlets. You can find countless stories of
Garrincha being compared to George Best, what actually happened to Ronaldo in
1998 and that bloody final in 1950. However I plan to focus on another World
Cup phenomenon, not a nation but a concept. Turkey in 2002, Uruguay in 2010 and
Sweden in 1994 are all perfect examples of the World Cup underdog; oh and England in 1990 (joke). The underdog will shock, often
get to the semi-finals and normally play football in a more pragmatic, ruthless
manner, while maintaining a certain amount of respect from the neutral, bar
Luis Suarez’s Uruguay. So who has been predicted to shock us at this tournament,
and who actually will?
One of the most highly
anticipated teams in this tournament is the young and fast Belgium side.
Players such as Hazard, Lukaku and Courtois have lit up European club football
this year and offer a lot of strength and speed on the attack while the
experienced captain Vincent Kompany can hold a sturdy backline. In fact Belgium
have such a strong squad and have been talked about so much that it may be
unfair to even call them underdogs. They have a squad that is as good as most
in the tournament; however, this isn’t always enough. With the prospect of
facing winners or runners up in Group G, perhaps the hardest group in the
tournament could massively hold them back and leave this golden generation
waiting another four years for some World Cup success. The problem with a
golden generation is that they are constantly reported on and told they are a
super force; the slyest and most successful of underdogs come from nowhere. Belgium
qualified without losing, having to play a reasonably strong Croatia twice and
coming out on top (more about Croatia later). Any Belgium success will not
shock us, but will, in the long running history of the World Cup, will
certainly stand out as an exceptional achievement.
The other team being hotly tipped
to provide a few upsets this summer is Columbia. Despite being hindered by the
injury of the star man Falcao, Columbia has a strong set of reserves who can
replace the formidable scoring power of Falcao. Carlos Bacca has been in good
form this season for Sevilla, his highlight being the two goals scored against
Real Madrid to dent their title campaign. James Rodriquez and Jackson Martinez
have also shown their potential to lead Columbia to success at Monaco and Porto
respectively this season. Columbia’s intriguing attack is not backed up by
quite the same core defence as the Belgium team, but we can guarantee that
scoring will be their main aim, in a group that does not offer too much
resistance. Columbia, more of an underdog then Belgium but whether they can provide
the rugged football needed to slip by the bigger teams is yet to be seen.
Progression through the group will be the least they expect, but definitely not
the least they can achieve.
Group C is a strange group, containing
the tournament specialists Greece, an old but still strong Ivory Coast and
Japan. Japan will have to face Columbia on the 24th June in what
could potentially be a battle for the group. Japan have qualified out of their
group on three of the last four occasions and perhaps the potential to do it
again. Some of Japan’s key players have really struggled to make a big impact
this season, Kagawa not being able to break through at Manchester United and
Honda really disappointing the fans at AC Milan. But some of the younger
players such as Gatoku Sakai who was once a rising star at Stuttgart could help
get those big names playing well again. Honda and Kagawa both have points to
prove to the footballing world, and Kagawa could be playing for a big move away
from Manchester so do not expect these two to carry on their club form. Japan
don’t stand out but a strong group performance could propel some of the
sleeping dragons of Japan to ignite and shock one of the teams coming out of
Group D, maybe even England.
Tomorrow we will find out what
Brazil are made of, against a Croatia side that have recently experienced a
real glory age, building a reputation with players such as Ollic and Kovac.
This year they come into the tournament from the play offs, beating Iceland
over the two legs. Anyone who has been watching Real Madrid and Sevilla this
season will be aware that the midfield combination of Rakitic and Modric could
be lethal. It has already been called the best midfield in the tournament, with
both players having led their relative clubs to European success. Players such
as Lovren, Corluka and Eduardo will all be very familiar to English football
fans and provide a strong surrounding for the two play makers in midfield,
although Eduardo will probably spend most of his tournament on the bench. There
is almost no chance that Brazil will let the Group go any other way than them
wining it, but the second place is up for grabs and Croatia look like the team
with the strength to qualify above Mexico and Cameroon.
My final and favourite underdog
is Switzerland. Switzerland is the country that we can thank for creating the sweeper,
the inspiration of Italian football through the 90’s and this year carrying
quite a strong team. Switzerland have a selection of players with great ability
and a real strong backbone, surely benefiting from the money pumped into
football on the back of hosting the European Championships in 2008. Shaqiri,
the outright star player has been struggling with injury recently but is
projected to be fit for the tournament. With such a youthful squad Switzerland
will be looking to qualify from a fairly strong group, perhaps even piping France
to top spot. The competition in their strike force is pushing the best out of
all the players, youngsters Seferovic, Mehmedi and Drmic are all competition
for a place in Hitzfelds squad. Based around great young talent, the strong centre
back Fabian Schar will provide the backbone while Inler will bring some much
needed experience to this exciting young team. Also, Valentin Stocker, who has
been impressive for Basel in their big European games, could threaten a number
of the top defences. Switzerland are quite serious contenders to get to the
later stages of the competition and could be our underdog to thrill, but also
batter their opposition of the park.
These are small reviews of just a
few of the teams we can expect to surprise us in this World Cup. International
football is becoming more and more competitive, as the lesser footballing
countries begin to produce not just players but styles and tactics that they
have often had to borrow from the dominating nations around them. Perhaps,
without an obvious winner this time one of the underdogs can change football
history and really defy the odds. But I think most of them will be more than
happy to compete in a third place play off, I know most England fans would.
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