Monday, May 26, 2014

Group B

Spain (FIFA #1)  The defending champions are stacked.  Other teams wish they had the players that Spain left off the team.  The Spanish midfield is one of the best ever.  Seriously, so much fun to watch.  Their first game should be a great one as it will be a repeat of the last World Cup final against the Netherlands.  This teams should win this group and go real deep in the tournament.

Players to watch: I could really name anyone on their team.  To pick a few though...Xavi and Iniesta.  These two make incredible passes all the time.  Their style of play is so good that your forget that what they can do is extremely hard.  Sergio Ramos - A very good and very aggressive defender who has a knack for scoring header goals on corners and free kicks.

Netherlands (15)  It is really too bad that they lost in the finals in the last World Cup.  I believe that was their prime year for it.  This team is still really good and shouldn't have any trouble beating Chile or Australia but I don't see them making it as far as they did four years ago.  Now that is not to say that they are any kind of pushover.  They have some world class players who are at the top of their game.

Players to watch: Robin Van Persie (RVP) - He has become one of the top strikers in the world.  The dickhead left Arsenal and went to Manchester United where he played extremely well until getting hurt.  He will be fine for the tournament and should score a number of goals.  Arjen Robben - Although he looks like he is 42 he is only 30.  Extremely talented and very creative.

Chile (13) This is the first time that Chile has qualified for two World Cups in a row.  In the qualifiers they started off hot, lost a few games, fired their coach, hired a new one, and got hot again.  They are a purely attacking team.  They score lots of goals but they also get scored on a lot.  I don't see that playing out well for them against the two teams mentioned above.

Player to watch: Alexis Sanchez - This forward plays for Barcelona and knows how to score.  Since 2011 he has scored 39 goals while appearing in 88 games.  That is pretty darn good.

Australia (59)  The Socceroos are going to have a rough World Cup.  They struggled to qualify against some pretty bad teams and this not much for a reward.  Play three games, then fly home.

Player to watch: Tim Cahill - A 34 year old forward who plays in the MLS.  Yup, that's all they got.

No comments: