World Cup Group H preview
Group H
Spain
Switzerland
Honduras
Chile
All eyes will be on Spain when the 2010 World Cup kicks off in South Africa at the beginning of June. The 2008 European Champions have never won the World Cup and are amongst the favourites to triumph in the summer. With a team containing stars all over the pitch, few would bet against Spain going all the way. A world class goalkeeper in Iker Casillas is well protected by the experienced Carlos Puyol and Carlos Marchena whislt Xavi and Andres Iniesta marshell the midfield. Fernando Torres and David Villa lead the line in what is arguably the most fearsome international strike partnership on the planet. All in all, Spain don’t seem to have a noticable weakness and have quality in reserve in case of injuries. They will have no problem in emerging from a particularly straightforward group. However, it will be interesting to see whether or not the Spaniards can handle the pressure in the latter stages or if they will buckle like they have done in previous tournaments.
As with several of these World Cup groups, second place is up for grabs between three teams. Switzerland qualified from a relatively weak group to make it to South Africa 2010. Even a 2-1 defeat to Luxembourg didn’t stop them topping the group by a point over Greece. Experience manager Ottmar Hitzfeld will look to lead them to Round Two although key players such as Alexander Frei will have to perform to achieve this goal. From watching the Swiss in previous tournaments, they tend to be well organised but lack the creative spark to win matches. Hitzfeld is a talented manager and may be the secret ingrediant needed to get through to the knock out stages. However, I’m tipping them for an early exit as the majority of their players are those who also previously flattered to deceive at Euro 2008.
That leaves Chile and Honduras in the battle for second place. Both sides are relatively unknown to the casual football fan but neither are going to be a walkover either. Honduras have qualified for their first World Cup since 1982. They are currently going through a golden generation of players by their standards with Tottenham midfielder Wilson Palacios, highly rated Wigan full back Maynor Figueroa and former Inter Milan striker David Suazo leading the way. As they are not a leading light in world football, many will have them down for an early exit but they may just surprise a few. Ironically, they beat Chile 2-0 in a friendly during January 2009. As for Chile, they qualified in impressive style with former Argentina manager Marcelo Bielsa at the helm. Their squad contains a vast number of players performing in the top european leagues and for some of the best South American clubs. What they really lack is a star performer who will be able to pull a result out of nothing if the team is having an off day. However, Bielsa has them well organised and they are capable of playing some attractive football. Therefore, I believe Chile will follow their performance from the 1998 World Cup with a last 16 appearance.
TEAM – Spain
MANAGER – Vicente Del Bosque
QUALIFIED – 1st in Europe
STAR PLAYER - David Villa
VERDICT – Qualified
TEAM - Switzerland
MANAGER – Ottmar Hitzfeld
QUALIFIED - 1st in Europe
STAR PLAYER – Alexander Frei
VERDICT – Group Stage exit
TEAM – Honduras
MANAGER – Reinaldo Rueda
QUALIFIED – 3rd in CONCACAF
STAR PLAYER – Wilson Palacios
VERDICT – Group Stage exit
TEAM – Chile
MANAGER – Marcelo Bielsa
QUALIFIED – 2nd in South America
STAR PLAYER – Matias Fernandez
VERDICT – Qualified
