Brazil 2014 - Group C Preview
Credit: Extratime Team (ETPhotos)
WHO’S IN GROUP C
COLOMBIA
The hipster choice of many, Colombia enter Group C as the seeded side despite not even competing in the showpiece tournament since France 1998. This is a side, though, that are touted as the best since the 1994 team containing Carlos Valderrama, Faustino Asprilla and the tragically ill-fated Andres Escobar.
The re-emergence of Colombia to the fringes of world football’s top table is largely down to the coaching of Argentine Jose Pekerman. He has adopted a more traditional Colombian style since his appointment in 2012. That style is of attacking, passing football.
These are the traditions of the country’s football heritage which have been restored following numerous managerial regimes which played a more negative style due to the pressure of assuring results. Argentines have played a big part in the culture of the Colombian game, this article from the Colombian travel guide will tell you more about that. http://www.
In terms of qualification for this summer’s tournament, Colombia finished second in the Conmebol qualifying group, two points behind Argentina. Their four defeats came at the hands of group winners Argentina (at home) and away to Ecuador, Venezuela and Uruguay.
They will be without their top scorer in qualifying and their top marksman for the Pekerman reign so far, Monaco’s Radamel Falcao. He is out of the tournament after tearing his ACL in January and not recovering in time despite being named in the enlarged 30 man preliminary squad.
The burden of who will score the goals for Colombia now falls on the shoulders of Carlos Bacca of Sevilla who has had a fine season, Tito Gutierrez of River Plate who himself scored six goals in qualifying and Jackson Martinez, the man who has admirably replaced Falcao at FC Porto.
IVORY COAST
While Colombia appear to be at the beginning of a golden generation, Brazil 2014 really marks the end of one as far as the World Cup goes anyway for the Ivory Coast. It is likely to be a swansong for Didier Drogba, Kolo Toure, Yaya Toure, Didier Zokora and experienced goalkeeper Boubacar Barry as The Elephants search for a new generation to take them forward to the next edition of the competition in Russia in 2018.
After going undefeated in the group phase of qualifying at the expense of Gambia, Morocco and Tanzania, they were drawn against 2002 quarter finalists Senegal in a play-off battle for a place in Brazil. After winning the first leg 3-1 in Abuja thanks to goals from Drogba, Sane and Kalou, The Elephants drew one apiece in Casablanca, Morocco (Senegal were not allowed to play at home due to violence in Dakar when the sides faced off 12 months earlier). The Ivory Coast bagged an injury time equaliser through Kalou.
The key men for the Ivory Coast, apart from the rampaging Yaya Toure, will be two men labelled as Premier League outcasts who have gone on to achieve greater success in other leagues. Salomon Kalou has scored 30 goals in 66 games for Lille in Ligue 1 since leaving Chelsea at the end of the 2011-12 season.
Gervinho, infamous for some horror misses during his time at Arsenal, has rekindled the form he enjoyed at Lille while at AS Roma under his boss from the French club, Rudi Garcia. Both these men will be key if Cote D'Ivoire are to finally surpass the group stages, something which has evaded the best generation the country has ever seen.
GREECE
The lay football fan’s immediate reactions when they hear the name Greece are either Euro 2004 or negative football. To be totally honest, I don’t quite think Greece have totally forgotten Euro 2004. For instance, Giorgios Karagounis, the 37 year old, recently relegated from the English Premier League with Fulham, will captain the side in Brazil and if they are to go far in the tournament he may surpass 140 international caps by the end of it. Kostas Katsouranis, another member of the Euro 2004 winning side will also be in the squad.
Greece usually get through qualifying with relative ease but it won’t be so simple this time. In qualifying the lack of goal scoring ability ultimately told as an inability to find the back of the net cost them top spot. They lost 3-1 away to Bosnia and drew the home tie against the group toppers 0-0. In total the Greeks only found the net 12 times in a qualifying group which contained Latvia, Liechtenstein, Slovakia and Lithuania. They made it through the group with something that never lets this side down, defensive resolve. They shipped three goals away in defeat to Bosnia but only conceded once in the other nine games, away to Latvia in a 2-1 victory.
Finishing second in the group meant a play-off against Romania, a test the Greeks passed with flying colours and with a hint of flair too. They won the first leg, at home, 3-1 and a 1-1 draw in Bucharest saw them score a third of their total haul in the group phase in just two games.
The key men for Greece will obviously come from the defensive areas of the side. Sokratis has been a revelation for Borussia Dortmund this season as the back up to Hummels and Subotic. He became an automatic choice in the starting XI for much of the season due to injuries to the aforementioned duo, the dependable rock in an out of sorts defensive line. Alongside him is likely to be Kostas Manolas, a 22 year old central defender playing with Olympiacos who has a big future.
JAPAN
The Samurai Blue have enjoyed a steady pattern to their World Cup campaigns, competing in four, coming out of the group twice, and twice losing out at the group phase. But this is a more talented side than has ever been assembled to represent Japan at a major tournament.
After receiving a bye to the third round of Asian qualifying, Japan finished second of four in their group, progressing to the fourth round ahead of North Korea and Tajikistan, with Uzbekistan topping the pile.
In the fourth and final qualifying round, Japan topped a five team group ahead of Australia, Jordan, Oman and Iraq. They lost just the once in that group, 2-1 away to Jordan. Their top scorer in qualifying was Shinji Okazaki of Mainz.
Key to the success of the blues at this tournament will be the quick moving, slick passing tandem of Keisuke Honda (AC Milan) and Shinji Kagawa (Manchester United). In these two, Japan boast two of the most talented attackers at the tournament. Kagawa is a stunning player on his day and Honda is legitimately world class.
Defensively, Japan are weak. Their main central defender is Maya Yoshida who is on the books of Southampton but only plays sporadically, and too often at full back for Zaccheroni‘s liking. Masato Morishige of FC Tokyo has a chance of starting alongside him, as does the experienced Yasuyuki Konno, with Japan likely to employ three central defenders with two attacking wing backs.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Colombia have in their squad, one of the top talents in World football today. Juan Fernando Quintero of FC Porto was the star of the World Under 20’s championships last year despite Colombia only making the quarter finals. He plays as an attacking midfielder but can also play out wide. A classy touch, great ability to take on a player and a low centre of gravity have drawn comparisons to Lionel Messi. High praise indeed for the young left footer. He is unlikely to start due to another star James Rodriguez, but Quintero will play at some point and it will be a joy to watch the infancy of a future world star.
In an old squad, the man looking to bring a more vibrant exuberance of youth will be Serge Aurier. The Ivory Coast have dropped the enigma of Emanuel Eboue in favour of Toulouse full back Aurier and they have not made a mistake. Equally adept in the air and on the ground, he is not dissimilar to the man he will likely replace at Arsenal, Bacary Sagna, and he will be a vital component of this Ivory Coast team.
With Greece likely to set up in a defensive manner, it is vital that their goalkeeper has a solid, mistake free tournament. In Orestis Karnezis, they appear to have just the man. In Euro 2012, Michalis Sifakis and the experienced, yet erratic Kostas Chalkias shared the gloves, playing two games apiece. Neither are in the squad this time round. Chalkias retired and Sifakis has been omitted from the squad since last November. Karnezis has had a quiet season at club level but has been promising on the international scene and this tournament could be when he begins to shine.
Apart from the obvious pair of Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa, Japan possess one of the competitions most in form strikers. Shinji Okazaki has scored 38 times in 76 games for Japan and was their top scorer in qualifying. Add to that he is coming off a season where he bagged fifteen goals in 33 appearances for Mainz and he is a dark horse for top scorer in this years edition of the World Cup.
WHO WILL QUALIFY?
This group is wide open and a lot will depend on how the first round of fixtures pan out. I think Japan will top the group due to their good individual form and bags of tournament experience and Colombia will probably join them.
HOW FAR WILL THEY GO?
Should Japan top the group they would probably face either England or Uruguay in the last sixteen. I think they have the beating of both those sides but I cannot see them progressing past the quarter finals where Spain, Brazil, Chile, Croatia or Netherlands would be waiting in the wings.
Colombia will face Italy in a last sixteen tie and I see that being the end of their journey. They do not match up well against the Italians stylistically or in terms of formation. The experience and defensive quality of Italy will pay dividends.
BETTING
Outright:
Colombia 33/1 Ivory Coast 125/1 Japan 150/1 Greece 300/1
To qualify from the Group:
Colombia 2/7 Ivory Coast 10/11 Japan 6/5 Greece 15/8
