Wahoo Wire

Image Courtesy of fifa.com

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Group G

Group H

Italy

Hopes for another World Cup title are not high for the defending champions, but that does not seem to lower the confidence of the highly experienced squad. Coach Marcello Lippi’s decision to stick with many of the now thirty-something players who lifted the trophy four years ago, at the expense of some fresh blood like Mario Balotelli, Antonio Cassano and Giuseppe Rossi, may payoff mainly through having the tried and tested squad spirit devoid of any disruptive behavior (characteristic of Balotelli and Casssano.) What he loses out on by doing this is spark, creativity, and arguably pace to compliment the strong break-up play and trademark Italian defending.

The Italian’s will have captain Fabio Cannavaro as their defensive lynchpin. Despite the obvious setbacks of being a 36 year old outfield player, the former Juventus and Real Madrid Center back is solid and dependable. Most of the midfield tussling will be done by Roma favorite Daniele De Rossi. Fiorentina striker Alberto Gilardino has come a long way from his fringe role in the 2006 tournament and seems set to shine as the main target man this campaign.

While Italy has gotten by with defense minded disruptive play for a while, it has been alongside the creative attacking master-class of Andrea Pirlo. With flawless control and visionary passing, he initiates most of the Azzuris attacking play and was man of the match in the 2006 World Cup Final. At the moment though, his place in the squad has been put in jeopardy by a thigh injury picked up in a friendly against Mexico last week. The playmakers absence will be sorely missed if he can’t compete and will severely blunt Italy’s attacking edge. A very favorable draw leaves them with a decent chance of advancing. Whether Pirlo can play in the later stages is key to determining whether the team will dominate or be dominated by tougher opposition in the later stages.

Paraguay

Paraguay looks set to bring to South Africa another thrilling South American attacking lineup. While sometimes lacking creativity, the team is filled with attacking options. They also possess a very strong team spirit. This is highlighted by the fact that the team all speaks Guarani on the pitch so they are not understood by other Spanish-speaking nations. The unfortunate events surrounding Club América Striker Salvador Cabanas’, arguably the best player in the South American qualifications, absence from the squad since his assault in January is sure to give the squad more emotional drive to get far in the tournament.

The attacking threat will be launched by Benifica’s Oscar Cardozo and Manchester City’s Roque Santa Cruz (hopefully we see the Santa Cruz of old and not his disappointing form with Man City.) Atalanta winger Edgar Barreto will provide the supply for the strikers, with Cruz Azul holding midfielder Cristian Riveros keeping order in the center. Villareal’s Justo Villar provides a reliable pair of hands between the goal posts.

New Zealand

Australia’s move to the Asian Confederation is probably the greatest factor for New Zealand’s qualification for the World Cup. It left the All-Whites in the Oceania Football Confederation with soccer juggernauts such as New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji (to name three of the other ten members) as competition. Their goal to defeat Bahrain in the Play-Off stage came after the majority of the two legs had been played. Their honestly hapless performance in the Confederations Cup last year showed their lack of quality. Going in with this label, they will play with nothing to lose and are capable of surprising teams that take them too lightly, as they showed in a 1-0 victory over Serbia in a friendly two weeks ago. It is unfair not to acknowledge that they only have a single professional club, the Wellington Phoenix of the Australia League. Given there’s not even a professional soccer league in New Zealand, to reach the highest level of competitive football is a fantastic achievement. Getting any further than group stages is highly unlikely.

Team-captain and Blackburn Rovers center back Ryan Nelson will be the leader of New Zealand’s tenacious and hard working defense. Sadly, the other noticeable aspect of the squad is that two of its players currently do not even belong to professional clubs.

Slovakia

This World Cup is monumental for Slovakia since it is the first they have qualified for as an independent nation. This was made much sweeter by their qualification ahead of the Czech Republic, the nation of the two which has had more of the footballing success since Czechoslovakia’s “Velvet Divorce” in 1994. Slovakia begin the tournament with probably the best start of the three (sorry New Zealand) contenders for qualification. Their first game against the All Whites gives them the best chance of starting with full points and will put pressure on the other two, more so on Paraguay probably, from the get go.

While I harped on about Italy and Paraguay’s problems with creativity, Slovakia will not have that problem.  22 year-old Napoli attacking midfielder Marek Hamsik already has the makings of a world class playmaker. As the captain, he embodies the team’s pulse and spirit, with the team’s chances of success mostly down to him. Europe’s top clubs are already on high alert from his performances for his club, what he does for the nation this summer will only drive up his market value. Despite lacking full match fitness since his broken foot in February, Liverpool center back Martin Skrtel provides solid defensive presence and a good attacking header. Lille striker Robert Vittek is a stable and dependable attacking option.

Overall Prediction

As written earlier, this group is favorable for Italy and they can secure the top spot, with or without the presence of Andrea Pirlo on the field.  Further advancement against tougher foes however, will require the class of “l’architetto” and his playmaking abilities. The fight for second will probably be bitter and close. Despite having the more unfavorable run of fixtures, Paraguay seem more likely to prevail, in what should seem like a rousing comeback as they play from the harder to the easier competition in their group. Slovakia will surely beat New Zealand to finish a close third.