Romero: France is the team with the pedigree

World Cup Group A Preview

Prost Amerika is delighted to welcome former Seattle Times football correspondent Jose Romero back to Seattle and back to football. He was tempted out of retirement in the land of the home run and that infernal tune they play on the organ (listen to Eddie Izzard talk about it) when nothing is happening, to write about the World Cup. In this first piece to launch our coverage, Jose looks at Group A which contains his beloved Mexico, France, South Africa and Uruguay.

My heart says no, but my mind says France

By Jose M. Romero

Let’s just start this with first impressions/gut reactions from when the group was first announced with the help of the lovely Charlize Theron:

South Africa: Will be tough at home and the vuvuzelas will not be silenced, that is until Team Unity gets bounced from the tournament in the group stage and even then, the incessant noise will remain at other games. That said, underdog host teams have had some measure of success. I think of Mexico in 1986 (quarterfinals), South Korea in 2002 (fourth place) and Japan in 2002 (Round of 16).

France: Lucky to be in South Africa, but loaded with great players. This could very well be Ireland’s spot if not for a handball that was not called against Thierry Henry and the Irish team’s inability to bury just one more if its many scoring chances. The French better score because that back line can at times look like more like the Maginot Line (see World War II history).

Uruguay: The fifth and last team out of South America. Good history in the World Cup, but nothing stands out about this side.

Mexico: This writer’s favorite team. Probably will get out of the first round, then will need an amazing run to go further. I was pretty happy with the group Mexico landed in at first, now I see that it’s going to be quite competitive.

Now let’s look a little deeper at the group.  To me, there is no clear-cut favorite to win and/or grab the second spot.

France is the team with the pedigree and most World Cup success in the group and will have some great talent on the pitch.  Florent Malouda, Nicolas Anelka, Henry and Franck Ribery are high-quality offensive threats and Les Bleus are solid in goal with Hugo Lloris. Just looking at the roster makes one wonder how France barely escaped from the qualifying playoff round. This team is always intriguing, as many players have non-French ethnicity, but the key could be the coaching moves of oft-criticized head man Raymond Domenech. His decision to not include Karim Benzema and veteran Patrick Vieira on the roster could hurt the team.

Uruguay won the World  Cup in 1930 and 1950 but has only been to five World Cups since 1970 and never past the Round of 16 after placing fourth that year. The Uruguayans will be led by captain and center midfielder Diego Lugano and strikers Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez. Forlan, who was with La Celeste in 2002’s World Cup, just led Atletico Madrid to the Europa League title with two goals against Fulham and will command plenty of defensive attention in South Africa. Uruguay probably won’t win this group but it wouldn’t be a shock if it moved on past the group stage.

Mexico. Such high expectations from a nation of futbol aficionados. It’s almost delusional and simply too much to ask that El Tri rolls into the World Cup final or even semifinal. You rarely know what you’re going to get from Mexico, but coach Javier Aguirre has his team playing well as a unit and has brought a settling and calming influence to a national team known for turbulence and quick-trigger coaching turnover. Mexico surged in CONCACAF qualifying after Aguirre took over and earned second place, and along the way, the leadership of veteran Cuauhtemoc Blanco, the long-awaited contribution of Giovani Dos Santos and plenty of spreading the ball around led to success. And a new national team star could shine in South Africa, striker Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez.  For these reasons – and maybe those ultra-cool black road kits – El Tri can win Group A and at the very least get to the Round of 16.

South Africa kicks off the World Cup with its game against Mexico on June 11 in Johannesburg. While it is not the best team on paper in Group A, riding the emotion of being the host nation with the adoration of the public everywhere the team goes could make a big difference in its group stage fortunes. And RSA has some accomplished players, too, notably Everton star Steven Pienaar. One to watch is big defender Matthew Booth, who will resemble more of an NBA player at 6-6 than a footballer. This is only the third World Cup for South Africa, though it has only existed as a national team for 14 years. The big key could be the coaching of Brazilian Carlos Alberto Perreira, who led Brazil to the World Cup title in 1994. But Bafana Bafana doesn’t appear to have the talent to get out of group play and if it loses its first game, will face even more of an uphill battle.

Prediction:

Group winner: My heart says no, but my mind says France.

Runner-up: Mexico. Crossing my fingers. Let’s hope Rafael Marquez struggles so that he won’t be on the next World Cup team. So overrated.

Out: Uruguay, South Africa. Two teams can’t advance.

World Cup 2010

Jose Romero Joins Prost Amerika World Cup Team!