This year we see the World Cup return to the country where the trophy has spent most of its time in the tournament’s 84 year history, due to this nation’s prowess in this competition – Brazil!
Whether you’re a fan of English football, Spanish football or whatever, it’s been a pretty hectic season even by the Beautiful Game’s usual standards so you’d be forgiven for allowing the World Cup to slip under your radar until mere days before the tournament begins. However, to compensate for that and to bring you all up to speed on what the landscape of the tournament is going to look like when it all kicks off on the 12th of June, here at Fortitude we’re going to be laying out group by group breakdowns, every other day, for the next fortnight; starting right now with the hosts’ group – Group A.
The Teams:
Brazil, Mexico, Croatia and Cameroon.
The Fixtures:
Brazil vs Croatia – 12/6/14 9PM (BST), Mexico vs Cameroon – 13/6/14 5PM, Brazil vs Mexico – 17/6/14 8PM, Cameroon vs Croatia – 18/6/14 11PM, Cameroon vs Brazil – 23/6/14 9PM, Croatia vs Mexico – 23/6/14 9PM
Brazil:
Strengths:
Let’s look beyond the obvious choice of Neymar here, shall we? For the first time, probably since they last won it in 2002, Brazil have a stupendously good defence. A back-four of Dani Alves, Thiago Silva, Dante and Marcelo should be enough to trouble even the most potent of offences and with the likes of Paulinho and Ramires sitting in front of the defence there’s going to be plenty more for oppositions to worry about than just Neymar!
Weaknesses:
Inexperience more than anything else. Especially in the situation they’re in being the hosts – handling the pressure will be a real test for these guys, even if they did manage it in the dress rehearsal last summer.
Key Player:
Again Neymar is the obvious choice here but a case could easily be made for Thiago Silva and, in my opinion, Fred – if Fred is on the kind of form he was 12 months ago then Brazil, and Neymar, will have it so much easier dealing with the pressure.
Where will they finish in the group?:
Anywhere but first would be somewhat of a shock wouldn’t it?
Mexico:
Strengths:
Plenty of players with top European experience such as Marquez, Hernandez, Guardado and Dos Santos and with these players featuring regularly in the side over recent years, expect their cohesion to allow for fast, fluid play that is sure to cause oppositions problems.
Weaknesses:
Calling in Salcido for the first time is a bit of a strange choice by Herrera and really brings into scrutiny the age of some of the defenders and midfielders – creaky legs towards the end of a game will do them no favours against the likes of Neymar’s Brazil or Modric’s Croatia.
Key Player:
Hernandez would be the most obvious choice given his history with the national side, however his lack of playing time at club level this year might hinder his performance. Look to the likes of Dos Santos or Peralta to add real spark to Mexico’s play.
Where will they finish in the group?:
Playing in a climate they’re more comfortable with than Croatia could help Mexico out drastically in their bid to qualify from the group, however I think a third-placed finish is on the cards.
Croatia:
Strengths:
An offensive trio of Mandzukic, Modric and Rakitic, each of whom are coming off the back of arguably the best seasons of their careers, is one more than capable of causing problems to any side in the tournament.
Weaknesses:
Plenty of options to choose from up front but behind that there isn’t really much to call on for Croatia – expect this to cause them serious problems.
Key Player:
Luka Modric will have to produce the exceptional form he’s produced so often for Real Madrid in the last nine months if Croatia are to have any chance of progressing to the knockout rounds.
Where will they finish in the group?:
As has been mentioned, Croatia’s defensive unit will probably leave much to be desired but Mexico aren’t in much better shape in that regard either – this is where Croatia’s forward line could secure them qualification. A second-placed finish looks to be on the cards.
Cameroon:
Strengths:
Defensively, they look like the second strongest side in the group. Alex Song and Jean Makoun will anchor the midfield adding support to the likes of ex-Liverpool goalkeeper Charles Itandje and the Galatasaray centre-back Aurelien Chedjou.
Weaknesses:
Having Samuel Eto’o and Ligue 1’s joint second most prolific striker (behind Zlatan, so no mean feat), Vincent Aboubakar leading the line is definitely good news for Cameroon but the lack of anyone of real quality to link the play from defence to offence means Volker Finke might struggle to get the best out of his forwards.
Key Player:
Samuel Eto’o. If he can produce anything like the kind of form that has led to him topping his country’s goal-scoring charts then this will compensate massively for their lack of attacking threat coming from midfield.
Where will the finish in the group?:
Whilst they’ve looked solid at the back in qualifying and have decent forwards, the other teams in this group have just a bit too much quality therefore I’m predicting a fourth-placed finish for Cameroon.