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The worlds largest sporting event is underway is South Africa. It is expected over 26 billion viewers will tune in during the course of the tournament - to put that in perspective the the largest Olympic event to date 2008 Bejing Olympics had 4.7 billion viewers tuned in throughout the course of the games. Truly the worlds game, 204 countries participated in qualification matches leading up the World Cup.
Looking beyond the politics and economics of this great event, we will solely be focussing on the soccer experience of the World Cup. During the upcoming weeks we will take a look at styles of plays, set pieces used, discuss different teams successes and disappointments, preview upcoming matches, and recap completed ones. We'll be focusing on the technical and tactical components of the game and provide you with examples taken from the games played to provide context on our topics. I very much look forward to the upcoming month and hope you are too!
First up we'll take a look at who has the chance of advancing beyond pool play. The first game of the tournament is always played by the home team facing another opponent from their group. In the 2010 World Cup, South Africa played Mexico. The Mexican team dominated the first half, up until the 43rd minute when the home team found their stride in front of the halftime break. There was nervous energy throughout the South African side leading into this stage of the game. In the second half, the home team was able to challenge for opening the tournament with a win and was unfortunate not to walk away with a victory as they hit the post on one of the last plays of the game. Regardless, with the draw they were able to preserve the record of the host team not ever losing the opening game. The second game of the first day in this group saw France and Uruguay tie 0-0. Which means, fast forwarding into the next round of games in Group A, the draw may work in South Africa's favor, as they will now face Uruguay while Mexico and France will play against one another. A win for South Africa over Uruguay gives them a very good chance of emerging beyond the round robin. Likely the team which wins between Mexico and France will also have a decent shot at advancing beyond the group stage. With this in mind, the first game of the round robin format is very important, an early win means three points with another victory almost ensuring the team advances beyond the round robin.
Further down the draw, in Group G we have Brazil, Portugal, Ivory Coast and Korea DPR and in Group H we have Spain, Chile, Switzerland and Honduras. With each of these groups it will be difficult to advance beyond the round robin if you are not one of the pre-tournament favorites. Take for example, the top two teams from each group qualify for the round of sixteen and crossover to play each other. Hypothetically speaking, the top two teams in sequential order from Group G could be Brazil and Portugal and the top two teams in sequential order from Group H could be Spain and Brazil. In the round of sixteen, Brazil would face Chile and Spain would face Portugal. For the Chileans, this would be a formidable task to defeat the heavily favored Brazilians, who qualified from the exact same South American Football Confedereation CONMEBOL. The Brazilians have defeated the Chileans six times in the last seven times they have played dating back to World Cup Qualifying in 2006 (plus one draw between the two teams). For the Chileans to make it to the round of sixteen and have to face Brazil the draw may not work in their respective favor. Likewise, with a potential Spain versus Portugal game in the round of sixteen one of the better teams in the tournament may exit far earlier than if the draw had been more favorable for either side.
The draw enables teams to establish momentum early in the tournament when it works in their favor, as well as in the later stages in the tournament by avoiding the heavily favored teams. Regardless of the draw, if a team is going to win the World Cup, they are going to have to beat the best teams in the world on a consistent basis. The Nigerians faced an "anxious to prove themselves side" in Argentina in the opening game of Group B. Argentina was close to failing to qualify for the World Cup Competition, as well as under a barrage of pressure by the media for the antics of their always controversial head coach Diego Maradona. Walking away from this game with a victory, Argentina has once again proven that regardless of the road to the World Cup, they are capable becoming one of the best teams in the tournament and capable of winning the tournament. Nigeria on the other hand, started with a strong performance against Argentina, and now must focus on two solid performances to ensure they advance beyond the round robin stage. There is tremendous excitement for an African team to win the World Cup on African soil, between Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Algeria and South Africa the whole world awaits to see this dream come true!
However, myself, I am pushing for a Spain versus Brazil final and Brazil to walk away the World Champion for the sixth time! Who do you want to make it to the final?
Get your favorite World Cup jersey here!
Yours in Soccer,
SB
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