Argentina
*Nickname: La Albiceleste (The Sky blues)
*FIFA Ranking: 7th
*Manager: Diego Maradonna
*One to look out for:
Angel Di Maria, the young left winger from Benfica. He usually plays in Maradonna's 4-4-2 (as an attacking left half) or 3-4-3 (as a left winger upfront) down the left, providing the Argentineans with a lot of crosses. Also, like Arjen Robben for instance, he likes to come inside and take a shot on goal. Blessed with a lot of technical abilities and pace, Di Maria is said to be a hot target for Spanish giants Real Madrid this summer. Di Maria shot into prominence by being one of the leading characters in Argentina's successful campaign at the Olympic Games in China a few years ago, where he scored a wonderful goal in the final versus Nigeria.
*Team's pros:
1. Quality in abundance throughout the team.
2. One of the world's best, if not THE best, player in the team (Lionel Messi)
3. Good at keeping possession of the ball.
*Team's cons:
1. Maradonna manages them.
2. In midfield, they depend too heavily on old-timer Veron.
3. Defensively they are not very well organized.
*Cloggy's verdict:
They'll walk this group, not only because the opposing teams are no real match for them but also because of their attacking supremacy; with Higuain, Messi, Tevez, CL winner Diego Milito (amongst others) they will scare the life out of defenders. Their attacking power will also deflect any attention away from their defense. It is the defensive side to Argentina, which is their Achilles heel. Usually they play with either a flat back four or with three central defenders. When they do play with four defenders, the usual suspects in here are (from right to left) Otamendi-Demichelis-Samuel-Heinze, These are all natural center-backs however, and the two fullbacks do not offer much attacking wise, which means Argentina will have huge gaps down the flanks when their wingers push up to support the strikers. Maradonna has tried to slot Newcastle's Gutierrez in at right back to offer them more going forward, but the pony tailed player is not much of a defender and feels at his best when he can play as a right half.
In central midfield, Argentina have a few wonderful players such as Mascherano, Veron, Bolatti, Pastore etc. However, they do depend a lot on veteran Veron. Veron needs to spread the play for them from there, but if the former Man United and Chelsea flop is not up to it, there is no one who can really replace him for that role. This is why critics such as BBC's Tim Vickery were so baffled as to why Maradonna didn't include Valencia's Ever Banega in the squad.
On paper, Argentina have a world cup winning squad. Reality will tell however how far they can go in this tournament, but one thing is clear; they will easily win the group.
South-Korea
*Nickname: Tigers of Asia
*FIFA Ranking: 47th
*Manager: Huh Jung-Moo
*One to look out for:
Monaco's striker Park Chu-Young. The 5 ft. 11 player has been hugely popular with the Korean fans and with the Monegasque outfit this season. Known for his pace (supposedly he can sprint 100 meters in 11 seconds) and free kicks, South Korea finally have a number 9 capable of scoring goals. Versatile enough, he can also play as a winger or as a second striker behind former Boro player Lee Dong Gook. Chu-Young was linked with Fulham a few months ago, and a good World Cup performance could secure him a move to the premier league.
*Team's pros:
1. Like most Asian teams; lot of energy and enthusiasm in the side, will keep going till the end.
2. A strong collective rather than a bunch of individuals.
3. Pace is one of their weapons against any team.
*Team's cons:
1. Depend hugely on their captain Park Ji-Sung
2. Tactically still a very naive team.
3. Like to push up the defense till the half way line, leaving huge gaps behind them.
*Cloggy's verdict:
The Koreans like to attack and to keep a high tempo, suited to their quicksilver midfielders, fullbacks and strikers. This way of playing comes with both ups and downs as you understand presumably.
First of all, it does make their game attractive to watch and the high tempo game means they will do well against slow defenses. However, they are prone to counter attacks because of the fact they like to push their defense up until the half way line. Imagine what Messi and co can do to them!
Beside their talisman Park Ji-Sung, the midfield is kind of anonymous. Much rests on his shoulders, and the question remains if the Red Devil's super sub can handle the burden of being the captain on a World Cup tournament. Last time around, he couldn't.
It will be a tight finish for second spot, but in the end I expect the Koreans to fall a little short as they will be competing against two very physical sides for second spot in Greece and Nigeria, who on the whole have better players and are defensively stronger than South-Korea are.
Nigeria
*Nickname: The Super Eagles
*FIFA Ranking: 21st
*Manager: Lars Lagerback (Sweden)
*One to look out for:
Lukman Haruna - Another player from AS Monaco. The central midfielder is likened in his country to the great Sunday Oliseh and has a lot of potential. Still only 19, the box to box midfielder has played 5 times for his country and has scored 1 goal so far. His best qualities are his passing ability and stamina, which will help his side who are without star player Obi Mikel. Likely to be named as a super sub, the young Nigerian will have a lot of attention focused on him after a rather successful season at Monaco.
*Team's pros:
1. Physically as strong as rocks.
2. Playing to their strengths with the 4-3-3 system.
3. Will be geared up to repay their fans for missing out (rather miserably) on the last WC in 2006.
*Team's cons:
1. Jon Obi Mikel was their lynchpin in midfield, will they able to cope without him?
2. Fullbacks are defensively not as secure as going forward.
3. Are they a team? Lagerback certainly has intimated there is still room for much improvement in that area.
*Cloggy's verdict:
Nigeria usually play in a way that's easy on the eye and down the years they've given us great football players too. The likes of Amokachi, Okocha, Finidi George and Keshi are just some of the footballing talents the religiously divided country has produced since the late 80's.
Today's generation of Nigerian players too, have some real gems in their team. Especially upfront where the Super Eagles play with three strikers (usually Yakubu, Odemwingie and Martins) who can cause problems for defenses.
A little like with Argentina, Nigeria won't have many problems scoring goals in my opinion, but more with keeping clean sheets. African teams have never been renowned for being strong defensively and despite the fact Nigeria's back four contains Everton regular Yobo (captain probably of the team in the absence of Mikel), CSKA Moscow right back Chidah, Marseille's explosive left back Taye Taiwo and Red Bulls Salzburg center back Afolabi, they seem to have trouble containing opponents' strikers.
Coupled with the fact that this team too suffers from a lack of quality goalkeepers and you just know Nigeria will be all too keen on keeping the ball and not let the opponent have it so they can hurt them.
Lagerback has gone some way with the squad to drill some discipline into them, but I still see them conceding soft goals. Despite this, I feel they have enough to overcome South-Korea and Greece.
Second round for this lot.
Greece
*Nickname: Ethniki (the national team)
*FIFA Ranking: 13th
*Manager: Otto Rehhagel (German)
*One to look out for:
Sotiris Ninis, the youngest player of the Greece squad. The twenty year old right half is vice captain for his club Panathinaikos and is known for his industrious mentality coupled with a great technique and crossing ability. Though likely not to in the starting lineup, Ninis is being considered as a top talent in Greece and will certainly be a household name for the cash strapped country in years to come.
*Team's pros:
1. Play as a good old fashioned Spartan unit; disciplined.
2. Quite good at breaking up play.
3. Rehhagel seems to get the best out of this limited side.
*Team's cons:
1. Play so negative, all the focus is on defending rather than scoring.
2. Midfield contains too many central midfielders, which means little width to the team.
3. Strike force isn't prolific.
*Cloggy's verdict:
I'll be honest; I haven't got a lot of love for the Hellas outfit. Their manager Rehhagel did win them the euro 2004 championship but we all know in what fashion he did that. His philosophy of not conceding goals and breaking teams attacking play down is about as interesting as watching Horse dung drying up. I feel this will also diminish any chance of Greece reaching the second round. Sure enough, Liverpool's Kyrgiakos is a good center back and he leads the line well, but even he and is colleges won't be able to contain Yakubu, Messi etc.
Going forward, the Greeks don't have any sharpshooting forwards. Theofanis Gekas used to be a good one, but his goals have dried up since leaving VFL Bochum a few years ago. I cannot see them qualifying for the second round and by god, allah, buddha and all that's holy I hope they don't!
Doesn't exactly advertise free flowing attacking football, now does it?