Source: FOOTYMAD
Cloggy's World Cup Preview - Group D
Ze Germans, Ghana, Australia and Serbia will be vying for the top 2 spots in this so called 'Group of death'. An interesting group wherein all four teams have a chance of going through or crashing out. Germany *Nickname: Die Manschaft (the team) *FIFA Ranking: 6th *Manager: Joachim Low *One to look out for: Manuel Neuer, a very talented goalkeeper who plies his trade for Schalke 04. Benefits from the absense of Rene Adler, who is normally first choice for the Germans, and has been in impressive form for both club and country this season. Been linked with Bayern Munchen, Juventus and Manchester United in the past. *Team’s pros: Germans are Germans; they will fight till the very end. The Bayern Munchen core of the group have had a great season and they are dead certain starters for the Germans. They can inspire the rest of the team to achieve great things. Despite the overall young age of the team, many of them have international experience. *Team’s cons: The absense of captain inspirational Michael Ballack. Most centerforwards have had a very poor season. Young team, no real leaders. *Cloggy’s verdict: I reckon this group is perfectly set up for the Germans to crash out of. I know that they always tend to score at the very end of the game to get a result, but somehow I doubt that that will happen this time around. The already mentioned absence of Michael Ballack will be felt, not just because of his leadership qualities (he was the team captain after all) and his obvious footballing capabilities, but not in the least because he was Germany’s ‘lock on the door’. Germany have selected very few controlling midfield players and Ballack was only one of two in the squad. What didn’t help either is that his replacement got injured too (Simon Rolfes) which leaves Germany with only Sami Khedira to take up that role. Besides this, Germany lack goals upfront. Miroslav Klose and Mario Gomez haven’t played much this season at Bayern Munchen and were plagued by injuries, Thomas Muller (also of the Bavaria outfit) did play a lot of games but isn’t a prolific striker, Brazilian turned German striker Cacau had a reasonable at Stuttgart but is forced to fight for his place with topscorer Stefan Kiessling. The latter one is expected to start with either Muller or Klose as his partner up front. I feel Germany will find it hard to score many goals (being too dependable on Kiessling) and with their defence not being particularly watertight either, and the fact their ‘leader’ is not there, I struggle to see them making the 1/8th finals. Ghana *Nickname: The Black Stars *FIFA Ranking: 32nd *Manager: Milovan Rajevac *One to look out for: Kwadwo Asamoah, the 21 year old midfielder is just one of the several young players in Ghana’s squad who were crowned world champions in 2009 at the U-20 WC. He plays for Italian outfit Udinese, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the left footer was snapped up by a bigger club this summer. Usually a supersub for Ghana, Asamoah’s best qualities are his ferocious shot and stamina levels (some calling him the marathon man of the team). Ghana will be hoping he’ll be able to fill the gap left behind by Mikael Essien’s absence. *Team’s pros: Physically very strong side, also have a lot of tall players which will help in dead ball situations. Lot of talented youngsters in the squad to freshen things up. Very compact team; there won’t be huge gaps between the midfield and defence. *Team’s cons: Mikael Essien makes them tick; the fact he had to pull out of the squad will be a major loss for them. Not a lot of fire power upfront. They better hope their goalkeeper won’t be tested on crosses a lot. *Cloggy’s verdict: I’ve adopted Ghana as my favourite African team since their display in Germany 06 where they made it out of a difficult group with Italy, Czech Republic and USA. Alas, I cannot see them repeating that trick. True, the team has become more experienced since then, but Essien was vital for them and without him, they do look half the team. Essien was the captain and the (arguably) best player they have. Despite Ghana’s numerous good options in midfield, none of them are (yet) of his level. As with Germany, they lack a strike force which can help them progress. This is not solely due to their lack of class, but also due to Ghana’s defensive minded approach to games. I feel 3 losses on the trot will be Ghana’s fate this summer. Australia *Nickname: The Socceroos *FIFA Ranking: 20th *Manager: Pim Verbeek (Dutch) *One to look out for: Luke Wilkshire, 28 year old right back of Dynamo Moscow. The former FC Twente and Bristol City fullback is a tenacious defender who doesn’t shy away from a full blooded tackle. He usually forms a tandem with Brett Emerton down the Aussies right flank and likes to get forward whenever he can. *Team’s pros: Plenty of experience in the side. Flexible team; can play football on the decks but also, when necessary, lump it forward. Good on dead ball situations with the likes of Grella, Cahill, Kennedy, Kewell, Bresciano and Neill known for their arial prowess. *Team’s cons: Just one out and out striker, who isn’t very good. Will struggle against opponents with pace. Ageing team, will they be able to cope with the conditions and physical demands of the World Cup? *Cloggy’s verdict: Despite the fact that their team is one of the oldest of the tournament, I feel the experience in the squad will help them a lot this tournament. For a lot of them, this will be their last World Cup so they’ll be giving it 110% (as Aussies always do). I like the way their midfield is shaped, with Dutchman Verbeek usually opting for a mixture of gritters and creative players (Grella, Emerton, Kewell, Bresciano and Cahill) with one attacker in the team (Kennedy usually). This allows them to play both long ball stuff or pass it around and look for Cahill or Kewell to sneak in between the opposition’s defence. Another thing that will work in their favour is that two of their rivals are without key players whereas the Australians have a fully fit squad. Therefore, I think Australia will advance to the second round, go Aussies! Serbia *Nickname: Beli Orlovi (the White Eagles) *FIFA Ranking: 15th *Manager: Radomir Antic *One to look out for: Milos Krasic is being viewed in Serbia as the next best thing since Vodka in a bottle. The CSKA midfielder usually plays in a central position for the Serbs, but can play also on either flank. His style of game is best compared to former Juventus maestro Pavel Nedved, and ironically Juventus are being heavily linked with him too. The blond midfielder is also a deadball expert and can shoot or pass with either foot. Similar to a player like Steven Gerrard, Krasic is an ideal link up player for any team between midfield and attack. *Team’s pros: Good down the wings with the fullbacks likely to get forward a lot. After years of internal struggle, the Serbs seem like collective rather than a divided group of players. Strong back four with Nemanja Vidic as the captain. *Team’s cons: The two strikers upfront aren’t very mobile. Like with Ghana; the goalkeeper is the weakest link in the team. They will need to keep their cool. Without wanting to generalise, Serbian players tend to be passionate to the extreme which could lead to a few unnecessary yellow and/or red cards. *Cloggy’s verdict: The first time they will be playing at a World Cup as the current nation. Despite their virgin status, the Serbs have a lot of quality and experience in the side. CL-winner Dejan Stankovic will provide the steel in midfield, as will Borussia Dortmund’s Neven Subotic and Man United’s Nemanja Vidic in the heart of the defense. Going forward, the two backs Ivanovic and Kolarov will be an extra weapon for them, along with Krasic, Tosic and Kuzmanovic. Serbia’s first choice 2 strikers are Birmingham’s Zigic and Ajax’s Marco Pantelic who form a classic big striker-little striker partnership. They have plenty of experience and despite neither being blessed with a lot of pace, this won’t hurt the Serbs that much. They are both physically strong and will bring the likes of Krasic and Kuzmanovic in to play, so creating chances won’t be a problem for the East-European outfit. The only real problem is their goalkeeper, ironically another Wigan goalie; Dragan Stojkovic. If I were a Serbian fan I’d be hoping the defence will make sure he won’t be put under pressure because if that happens, Stojkovic is bound to make a mistake. All in all though, the positives outweigh the negatives so I think that the Serbs will go through.
