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Will The Minnows Beat The Big Fish - FIFA World Cup

By Matt Jackson (WebWiseWords)

In major sporting events like the World Cup, nothing is certain except uncertainty. Most of the world is certain that Brazil will win it, and in all honesty they certainly should. As usual, the big names in international football have installed themselves as favorites to win the tournament but you can pick holes in most of the sides. The only possible exception to this is Brazil because they have sheer strength in depth with world class, top quality players from back to front and from first team to dressing room. Perhaps their defense is more attack minded than perhaps it could be but it is rare for Brazil not to score more goals than the opposition and that's how you win a game of football.

England look to have an excellent shot at the tournament that has produced disappointment after disappointment for many years. However, when it comes to the big tournaments and with the enigmatic Wayne Rooney still not guaranteed to be fit in time, disappointment could once again be on the cards. They do have an excellent crop of players and a mix of youth with experience, but a failure to perform in crucial games is their usual downfall.

As hosts, Germany are quite rightly expected to capitalize. How well they will capitalize is the only question that remains. In all fairness the German side is a very young and inexperienced side managed by a relatively young and very inexperienced manager. In Michael Ballack they have one of the best midfielders in the world but it would be asking a lot for the hosts to win the tournament in this case. The side simply seems to be too young this time around.

Apparently, South Americans don't do so well in Europe but nobody seems to have told either Brazil or Argentina. Argentina are strongly fancied and have a very strong squad as well as some individually brilliant players. With so many Argentines playing for European clubs now, the difference in climate and condition is highly unlikely to make a difference. What is likely to make a difference is having players like Riquelme to run rings around the opposition. With Holland and the potentially surprising Ivory Coast in their group, getting out of the group stages will be more of a challenge than they would have hoped.

Italy are another team that generally enter the World Cup as one of the favorite teams and then fail to keep their heads. Will things be different this time around? The Italian national side certainly has the squad to compete with any team in the world, possibly even Brazil, and individual talents like Totti and Toni give the team huge appeal. However, scandal has rocked the world of football in Italy amid reports of fake accounting and match fixing. This scandal has set in deep down to the roots; even the national coach Marcello Lippi will be fully investigated after the tournament. Will the distraction prove to be too much?

Fever pitch has kicked in around most of the world, although apparently not in the USA. Despite having climbed the FIFA world ranking to number 4 and being touted as having an excellent opportunity in the 2006 World Cup the home fans just don't seem interested in the sport of soccer. Strong players, exceptional goal keepers and a strong team unit mean that USA could cause some upset along the way.

The Czech Republic must be feared simply because of the amount of goals they scored in qualifying. As the highest scoring European team in qualifying, the Czechs have strong claims this time around. They also have several star names who will be looking to make an impact on the world stage.

One team that could really cause an upset is the Ivory Coast. The Ivory Coast have a strong backbone of top quality players running through a well oiled unit. Players like Drogba and Toure would fit into most teams throughout the world but the Ivory Coast is never on the lips of those who are looking for a surprise run.

In all fairness, Brazil should be crowned champions of the World for the sixth time by the end of this tournament. With so many quality players on the pitch, they can afford to have one or two players suffer a poor display and still beat almost any team. There will undoubtedly be upsets throughout the tournament, though, so you just never know who will be lifting the trophy.

The author of this article, Matt Jackson, is copywriter for WebWiseWords. For website content visit their website at www.webwisewords.com or email info@webwisewords.com.