In previous blogs I went out on a limb and made some predictions.  While I picked Holland and Spain to win their groups I honestly didn’t think that the final would be contested by these two European teams.

I am pleased that whoever wins, there will not only be a new World Champion – but the champion will be a country that has never been champion before.

When the Quarter Finalists were determined and there were 4 South American countries (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay), 3 European countries (Germany, Holland and Spain) and one African country (Ghana), I was thinking that it was looking like a Brazil v Argentina final.  European teams had never won the World Cup outside Europe, and while Brazil had failed to impress, they have a habit of success and Argentina seemed to be in good shape.

But Germany and Holland played great games to beat Argentina and Brazil respectively – the Germans being especially impressive.  Uruguay did get through to keep South American interest, but Spain beat Paraguay fairly comfortably for all three European teams to advance to the Semi-Finals.

The Dutch then beat Uruguay in a game where the final result of 3-2 didn’t really show how the Dutch dominated, and Germany ran out of steam allowing Spain to go though to the final.

So who will win this all European contest. 

Spain have played good solid football, but they really haven’t clicked yet.  Without Torres in the semi-final they dominated possession but didn’t really look like scoring for long periods of the game – and needing an excellent headed goal from a corner to win 1-0. 

Holland have managed to keep their egos in check and work effectively as a team.  They are not as good as the team of the 70’s (Cruyf Neeskens et al) which lost 2 World Cup finals or the Team of the 90s’ (Bergkamp, Kluivert, de Boers et al) which played beautiful football but failed at the semi-final level in many tournaments.

I think this is Holland’s year.  It would be really depressing for the Dutch to lose a third World Cup final, and their support is strong in South Africa.  Either way I am hoping for an entertaining game between Europe’s two top teams (based on Fifa’s current rankings).

In previous blogs I went out on a limb and made some predictions.  Now, after all teams have played one game its time to review those predictions.

Group A

France, Mexico, Uruguay and hosts South Africa make up this group.  I originally predicted Mexico and Uruguay would qualify from this group.  All the teams in this group have 1 point after the first game as both games were ties, but I am still sticking with my original prediction.

Group B

Argentina, Greece, Nigeria and South Korea make up this group.  I predicted that Argentina would likely win this group and Nigeria  would qualify as runners-up.  In their first games Argentina beat Nigeria 1-0 and South Korea beat Greece 2-0.  Argentina should win all three games so the important game in this group will be the South Korea v Nigeria game.

Group C

Algeria, England, Slovenia, and USA make up this group.  I predicted that England and the USA would qualify from this group in that order.  England and the USA tied their first game 1-1, while Slovenia beat Algeria 1-0.

Group D

Australia, Germany, Ghana and Serbia make up this group.  I stuck my neck out and predicted that Ghana and Serbia will qualify from the group.  Well Ghana made a good start beating Serbia 1-0 in the opener, but Germany demolished Australia 4-0, so I have suspicion that my prediction will not come true.

Group E

Cameroon, Denmark, Netherlands and Japan make up this group.  I predicted that the Netherlands and Cameroon would advance.  The Netherlands opened with a 2-0 win against Denmark and Japan beat Cameroon 1-0, so I don’t think my prediction will come true, with Japan in the driver’s seat for the second place.

Group F

Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay and Slovakia make up this group.  I predicted Italy and Paraguay would qualify. Italy and Paraguay opened with a 1-1 tie, as did Slovakia and New Zealand.

Group G

Brazil, Ivory Coast, North Korea and Portugal make up this group.  I predicted Brazil should win the group but the runner-up is a crap-shoot between Portugal and the Ivory Coast.  In their first game Brazil beat North Korea 2-1 and Portugal and the Ivory Coast was a 0-0 tie, which leaves this group poised for some interesting games.

Group H

Chile, Honduras, Spain and Switzerland make up this group.  I predicted that Spain would win this Group but that the runner-up was a crap-shoot. Well, Spain lost their opening game 1-0 to Switzerland, while Chile beat Honduras by the same score, which leaves Switzerland in a strong position, but means Spain has to win both their remaining games to guarantee advancing.

The biggest surprise of this round of games was Spain’s loss to Switzerland.  Before Euro 2008 Spain were a perennial underachiever, but their win in Euro 2008 followed by winning all 10 of their qualifying games lulled everybody into thinking that they had beaten that jinx.  Losing to Switzerland indicates that maybe they have not completely solved that problem – the next round of games will be critical in their campaign.

None of the other “favorites” lost although England, Italy and France all had disappointing draws, while Argentina, Brazil and Germany all won fairly comfortably.

There was a disappointing lack of goals, but hopefully now everyone has their first game under their belts the competition will pick up.

Its now 5 days until the World Cup starts in South Africa.  As promised in my previous blog, I will continue my thoughts about past World Cups and make some predictions about World Cup 2010.

I remember the 1990 World Cup in Italy as the one that got away for England.  England seemed to be riding their luck when the won their second round and quarter final games in extra time, but they cam up short in the semi-finals losing to West Germany, who went on to win the final, on penalties.

England then failed to qualify in 1994 in the United States and as a result I cannot remember much about that tournament at all.

I remember the final of the 1998 World Cup held in France as the French crushed Brazil, which in itself was quite a surprise.  Not that France didn’t deserve to win, but to beat Brazil 3-0 was quite a shock, and England yet again went out on penalties – this time to Argentina in the 2nd round.

The 2002 World Cup was memorable as 1998 champions France didn’t even manage to advance from their Group – England were in a group of Death with Argentina, Nigeria and Sweden, but they were able to advance by virtue of a 1-0 defeat of Argentina.  England were defeated by eventual champions Brazil in the Quarter-Finals, with the surprise of the tournament being the South Korean co-hosts who advanced to the semi-final (losing 1-0 to Germany).

The 2006 World Cup yet again saw England go out in a penalty shoot-out – this time to Portugal, but the memorable moment for me was in the final when Zinedine Zidane lost his cool and was sent off – Italy going on to win in a penalty shoot out.

And so we come to 2010.  In my previous blog I previewed Groups A-D, so I will continue with the final 4 groups.

Group E

Cameroon, Denmark, Netherlands and Japan make up this group.  The Dutch are one of my favourite teams to watch, with their brand of “total football”.  They qualified quite easily and if they manage to keep together as a team should win the group, with probably Cameroon advancing as runner-up.

Group F

Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay and Slovakia make up this group.  Italy are notorious slow starters in tournaments.  I remember being in Italy during the 2008 European Championship, where they just made it through the group stage, going on to be runners up to eventual winners Spain.  They should qualify from this quite weak group with Paraguay, but I am not going to predict what order they will be in.

Group G

Brazil, Ivory Coast, North Korea and Portugal make up this group.  This is the “Group of Death” of the tournament, especially if Ivory Coast play as a team.  Brazil should win the group but the runner-up is a crap-shoot between Portugal and the Ivory Coast.

Group H

Chile, Honduras, Spain and Switzerland make up this group, which is Spain’s to lose.  Spain are the class of this group, although they do have a reputation of choking in the big tournaments – which in my opinion has only been partially lifted by winning Euro 2008.  The remaining three teams are fairly evenly matched and whoever is “good on the night” will go through with Spain.

So there it is – my predictions for the group stages.  In a couple of weeks when we know who actually does make it through, and how the teams are performing, I will try and predict who the final winner will be.