Wednesday 11 June 2014

Focus On... BRAZIL

BRAZIL

Manager: Luiz Felipe Scolari

Previous Best: Champions (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)
Nickname: A Seleção

Likely Formation: 4-2-1-3
Likely Line-up:




Pos Name Age Caps Club
GK César 34 80 Toronto (CAN)
RB Alves 31 75 (6) Barcelona (ESP)
CB Silva 29 46 (2) Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
CB Dante 30 12 (2) Bayern Munich (DEU)
LB Marcelo 26 31 (4) Real Madrid (ESP)
CM Paulinho 25 26 (5) Tottenham Hotspurs (ENG)
CM Gustavo 26 19 (1) Wolfsburg (GER)
AM Oscar 22 31 (9) Chelsea (ENG)
RF Hulk 27 35 (9) Zenit St Petersburg (RUS)
ST Fred 30 34 (17) Fluminense
LF Neymar Jr 22 49 (31) Barcelona (ESP)

* Has appeared at a previous World Cup

Average Age: 26.8
Total Caps: 438
Best Odds: 3/1F (Numerous)
Captain: Thiago Silva
Star Player: Neymar Jr
Player to Watch: 

Big Phil is back! Football's favourite Gene Hackman look-a-like is back, tasked with avoiding the disaster of 1950 when Brazil failed to win the last World Cup they hosted. Nothing less than a repeat of his 2002 victory will be considered a success, but things are unlikely to be as easy this time.

The contrast between the 2002 Brazil side and today's is obvious. In 2002 the forward 3 of Rivaldo, Ronaldo, and Ronaldinho were simply devastating, and all 3 were winners of the Ballon d'Or at some stage during their career. Neymar is still young and may well be their equivilent with time, but Fred and Hulk almost look second rate in comparison. For now the production line of Brazilian forwards that produced Pelé, Romario and Ronaldo has stalled.

Brazil will still be favourites to win their 6th title, but this is a side who are more impressive as a defensive unit, that as an attacking one. That just seems wrong.

For my player to watch I have picked Jô (left). Now back in Brazil playing for Atlético Mineiro, he is unlikely to be much more than a substitute, but as the 4th striker in a squad, he is likely to get some game time, given that Brazil play 3 up front. With the exception of the reserve goalkeepers, the squad are all household names around the world, so there will be no susprises, but with Jô there is the potential to perhaps see some of the ability that led Manchester City to spend £19m to secure his services.

Focus On... MEXICO

The blog is running out of time before the big kick-off. I'm going to try to do a quick summary on a couple of teams now before it all starts.

So without further ado...


MEXICO

Manager: Miguel Herrera

Previous Best: Quarter Final (1970, 1986)
Nickname: El Tri

Likely Formation: 5-3-2
Likely Line-up:



Pos Name Age Caps Club
GK Corona 33 34 Cruz Azul
CB Rodríguez 32 95 (1) Cruz Azul
CB Márquez 25 120 (15) León
CB Moreno 26 53 (1) Espanyol (ESP)
RWB Aguilar 28 30 (3) América
LWB Layún 25 15 (2) América
DM Vázquez 26 5 León
CM Herrera 24 13 Porto (POR)
CM Guardado 27 104 (14) Bayer Leverkusen (DEU)
ST dos Santos 25 76 (14) Villareal (ESP)
ST Peralta 30 62 (35) América

* Has appeared at a previous World Cup

Average Age: 26.8
Total Caps: 607
Best Odds: 200/1 (PaddyPower, StanJames)
Captain: Rafael Márquez
Star Player: Héctor Herrera
Player to Watch: Giovani dos Santos

Mexico set of to Brazil to appear in an astonishing 15th World Cup. But for being banned from the 1990 World Cup, that figure would almost certainly be 16, the equal of Argentina. as it is they have qualified more often than either Spain, France, England or the Netherlands. 

That said, they were a long way from comfortable in qualifying this time, finishing behind both Costa Rica and Honduras in the final group stage, before securing their place in a play-off against New Zealand.

This is not a classic Mexico side, but their star player this time round is Hector Herrera of Porto, a complete midfielder who gets from box to box, and whose defensive attributes are the equal of his attacking ones.

A player who should also be worth watching will be familiar to many, Giovani dos Santos (right). After flopping in England he is now playing with Villareal, after a spell with Real Mallorca. The dos Santos who plays for his national side is barely recognisable as the one who struggled so badly for Tottenham

Andrea Pirlo...

 is looking nervous. Only one day to go.

Tuesday 10 June 2014

John f**king Aldridge

John Aldridge just f**king wanted to mention that there are only two f**king days until the World f**king Cup starts!