And now part 2 of my preview for the World Cup...3 days to go!!! 1) France to bring back the swagger. 2) Argentines on the way to final 3) Bosnia find their respect 4) Germans to do what Germany does. 5) USA! USA! 6) Beware Belgian Bravado. Group E FRANCE SWITZERLAND ECUADOR HONDURAS Fixtures 15 June 2014 Switzerland v Ecuador, Estadio Nacional, Brasilia, 17:00 (ITV) 15 June 2014 France v Honduras, Estadio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre, 20:00 (BBC) 20 June 2014 Switzerland v France, Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador, 20:00 (ITV) 20 June 2014 Honduras v Ecuador, Arena da Baixada, Curitiba, 23:00 (ITV) 25 June 2014 Honduras v Switzerland, Arena Amazonia, Manaus, 21:00 (BBC) 25 June 2014 Ecuador v France, Estadio do Maracana, Rio de Janeiro, 21:00 (BBC) France, while hampered by the loss of Franck Ribery, go into group E as the clear favourites ahead of Switzerland, Ecuador and minnows Honduras. The French have an energetic, youthful team with some genuine talent (although with Ribery and Nasri, surely they would be stronger) and look to be progressing in a manner that allows for a certain amount of optimism amongst Les Bleus. The spirit seems to have returned and they should emerge from this group unbeaten where they could face Bosnia in the 2nd round. The Quarter finals for the French looks a good possibility. Switzerland and Ecuador will fight it out for the final qualifying position and again this is very hard to predict who will emerge. Ecuador have the so called home continent advantage while the Swiss have some fine young talent and are very good defensively but have performed rather poorly of late. I expect their fixture to be the most crucial in the group and entirely decisive to who qualifies behind France. Honduras look to be the weakest outfit in the tournament and also one of the dirtiest having watched their encounter with England at the weekend. Look for red cards and conflict in all 3 of their fixtures. The very fact that Rangers Arnold Peralta was initially selected in their 23 for this tournament, only to be later ruled out through injury would suggest they are hardly blessed with talent. I expect this group to be one of the lowest scoring in the competition, and I have a feeling it will be Switzerland who join France in the last 16 to leave their Latin counterparts taking the relatively short trips home. Bo's Best Bets France to win the group 3/4 France to reach quarter final or better 1/1 Group F ARGENTINA BOSNIA-HERCEGOVINA IRAN NIGERIA Fixtures 15 June 2014 Argentina v Bosnia-Hercegovina, Estadio do Maracana, Rio de Janeiro, 23:00 (BBC) 16 June 2014 Iran v Nigeria, Arena da Baixada, Curitiba, 20:00 (BBC) 21 June 2014 Argentina v Iran, Estadio Mineirao, Belo Horizonte, 17:00 (ITV) 21 June 2014 Nigeria v Bosnia-Hercegovina, Arena Pantanal, Cuiaba, 23:00 (BBC) 25 June 2014 Nigeria v Argentina, Estadio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre, 17:00 (ITV) 25 June 2014 Bosnia-Hercegovina v Iran, Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador, 17:00 (ITV) Argentina are widely expected to storm through group F and while they should have little difficulty in winning one of the weaker sections in the tournament, I am not quite so sure it will be as easy as some people including myself initially, might have thought. While possessing an embarrassment of riches up front, the Argentines were not always convincing in the qualification campaign and only won 9 out of 16 matches in a competition minus hosts Brazil. I do expect them to come into form in the tournament, and can see them making it all the way to the final but I think they will need to play their way into the competition and I can see them struggling to see off Bosnia in the opening fixture but following that victories against Iran and Nigeria would appear to be relative formalities. I am confidently backing Bosnia to qualify ahead of the Nigerians and Iranians in their breakout tournament with star striker Edin Dzeko a candidate for the golden boot at very large odds of 66/1. Bosnia is undoubtedly a small nation, and as Asmir Begovic, the Stoke and Bosnian keeper remarked, people only associate the name of Bosnia with war but following this summer, that could change, at least to some extent. They possess a fine team spirit and will take a tremendous, vocal and passionate support with them to Brazil and I believe that this is a country and a people that deserve a special moment in the sun. Bosnia to qualify for the second phase is one of my best bets of the summer at 5/6 odds and I fancy them to capture the hearts of neutrals across the World as one of our newest nations looks to make it's mark in the best way possible. Bo's Best Bets Bosnia to qualify 5/6 Group G GERMANY PORTUGAL USA GHANA Fixtures 16 June 2014 Germany v Portugal, Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador, 17:00 (ITV) 16 June 2014 Ghana v United States, Arena das Dunas, Natal, 23:00 (BBC) 21 June 2014 Germany v Ghana, Estadio Castelao, Fortaleza, 20:00 (BBC) 22 June 2014 United States v Portugal, Arena Amazonia, Manaus, 23:00 (BBC) 26 June 2014 United States v Germany, Arena Pernambuco, Recife, 17:00 (BBC) 26 June 2014 Portugal v Ghana, Estadio Nacional, Brasilia, 17:00 (BBC) Group G brings us perhaps the toughest, most competitive of all the sections in Brazil as Germany come face to face with Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal, while Ghana come to the tournament regarded by many as the strongest of the African nations and USA while having few stars and even fewer still having dropped Landon Donovan, possess a tremendous team ethic and under the guidance of Jurgen Klinsmann will represent difficult opponents for the more fancied nations in the group. Germany should go far in the tournament, and it is hard to imagine them not qualifying for the 2nd phase which leaves the other 3 to battle it out for a last 16 spot. Portugal still have Helder Postiga in attack and for me this is one of their major downfalls. If they had another striker even half as good as Ronaldo, you would have to consider them strong candidates for the title but as we stand, the World footballer of the year is struggling with injuries and they don't seemingly have anyone capable of filling his rather ample shoes or at least a foil to aide the planet's most lethal footballer should he prove his fitness. A fit Ronaldo would give Portugal half a chance, in much the same way Diego Maradona did for Argentina in Mexico in 1986 but he seems to be struggling now and with a Ghanian Witch Doctor claiming responsibility for the Real Madrid man's fitness, or lack of, you wonder if his chance to shine at the highest level has gone. Let's hope not as he is the most fabulous machine of a player and the World Cup would be lacking without his presence. Ghana and the USA look evenly matched and I think one of the 2 could edge out the Portuguese for the 2nd position but undoubtedly this depends a lot on the fitness of Ronaldo. This is a group that will be filled with competitive, close encounters and I for one would be hesitant about placing much cash on any outcomes from Group G. G is for Germany but even the certainty of their qualification has been tempered with the loss of star winger Marco Reus and the fact their only central striker in the squad is the 36 year old Miroslav Klose. This leaves certain questions for the Germans to answer but I expect them to do so in some style. I quite fancy Klose to get some goals and break the great Ronaldo's record (the other one) and become the all time top goalscorer in World Cup history. He only needs 2 and I will be backing him to find the net in any game he starts. Bo's Best Bets USA to qualify 3/1 (dependent on Ronaldo's fitness) Group H BELGIUM RUSSIA SOUTH KOREA ALGERIA Fixtures 17 June 2014 Belgium v Algeria, Estadio Mineirao, Belo Horizonte, 17:00 (ITV) 17 June 2014 Russia v South Korea, Arena Pantanal, Cuiaba, 23:00 (BBC) 22 June 2014 Belgium v Russia, Estadio do Maracana, Rio de Janeiro, 17:00 (BBC) 22 June 2014 South Korea v Algeria, Estadio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre, 20:00 (ITV) 26 June 2014 South Korea v Belgium, Arena de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, 21:00 (ITV) 26 June 2014 Algeria v Russia, Arena da Baixada, Curitiba, 21:00 (ITV) Group H holds the official Dark Horse and hipsters choice Belgium in what looks a relatively weak section where all 4 will believe they can qualify for the last 16. Belgium hold all the aces with a litany of talent in their ranks and while many expect them to make a good run in this competition, it is worth remembering that they came through a particularly easy qualifying group (albeit in some style) and while they have talent in abundance, they are still untested at this level and their squad is full of Premiership players who have been playing to the limit this season, a league without a winter break and whether this affects the likes of Hazard, Lukaku et al remains to be seen. Of course, it could just be a good excuse for the English when they crash out of tournaments, but Belgium will look to prove their quality and fitness with a run to the quarter finals where they could come up against Argentina. Whether they can go further, I am skeptical. Russia under Fabio Capello will be disciplined and hard to beat and should join the Belgians in the second phase but I am certainly not ruling out the Koreans or Algeria who Diego Maradona has been talking up in recent weeks. "High" praise indeed... Whatever Diego thinks, Algeria should be able to take points in this group and I would be hard pushed to make any big predictions about who will take that 2nd position. Russia is my tip to qualify but the stakes won't be high and with Germany likely to await in the next round, it could well be a case of bad memories for Capello against a formidable German outfit as he learned in South Africa 4 years ago. Bo's Best Bets Belgium to win the group 4/6 Comments are closed.
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