Charles Klein
This is one of the simplest groups to predict in the World Cup (outside of Group H). We have one global footballing superpower in England and a team on the rise in the United States. The bottom two teams in this group both pulled off shock upsets in order to qualify for this year's tournament, with Algeria beating African Cup Of Nations winner Egypt and Slovenia knocking out Russia.
What could make this group more interesting is England's capacity to stutter out of the gates. As usual, there is a colossus of pressure on this year's England squad to bring home the trophy for the first time since 1966. And there is perhaps no more voracious media than the English when it comes to football. England have lost their captain Rio Ferdinand to a knee injury their star man picked up in training. While Ledley King may be able to deputize to extraordinary effect, Ferdinand's absence adds just one more question to whether or not this generation of English footballers are good enough to bring home the trophy.
All of that being said, England ought to have a pretty easy time of it in Group C. Their only potential trip up being the United States, who they play first on June 12th. England still have Wayne Rooney, quite possibly the best center forward in world football for the past year. Rooney has been in spectacular form with his club side Manchester United and England are counting on him to duplicate it in South Africa. Rooney is the odds-on favorite for me anyway to take home the Golden Boot (the award the highest goal scorer in the competition). Whether he brings home another trophy is entirely dependent upon how well England mesh together in the midfield and if the center of defense can remain stout in the absence of Ferdinand. I fully expect them to at least provide the answers to those questions in the first round.
The United States enters this tournament with a bit of guarded optimism. Certainly the run they made in the Confederations Cup last summer in South Africa has done nothing but boost expectations in the States of what this team is capable of doing. That being said, the United States has more than just a few unanswered questions. Will Oguchi Onyewu be fit enough to play the important role he has to play for this team in order for them to advance beyond the group? Can Jozy Altidore take the big step towards international stardom? Who will partner Altidore in the absence of Charlie Davies? And does the United States have enough talent to beat the top teams in this year's tournament?
Given that this group is a bit of a "softie" as compared to the others in this tournament, I do not expect those questions to really be asked very much during the first three games of Team USA's involvement in this tournament. Their opener agaisnt England will likely determine who wins this group and is therefore the most crucial match of the campaign. And yet I expect manager Bob Bradley wishes that the England match came at the end of the group stage when perhaps his team may be more prepared.
Both Algeria and Slovenia have some decent players on their squads, but I do not know all that much about them and I do not expect them to really do anything in this tournament. I could be completely wrong though. Both have players who play for well-known clubs (Rangers, Portsmouth, Wolfsburg, Siena, Chievo, Udinese), but judging by the number of Portsmouth players that play for Algeria, they could be in for some problems in this World Cup.
Predicted XI's
England
4-2-3-1
GK: Robert Green
DEF: John Terry, Ledley King, Glen Johnson, Ashley Cole
MF: Gareth Barry (CDM), Michael Carrick (CDM), Frank Lampard (RAM), Aaron Lennon (LAM), Steven Gerrard (CAM) (C)
ST: Wayne Rooney
United States
4-4-2
GK: Tim Howard
DEF: Oguchi Onyewu (CB), Carlos Bocanegra (CB) (C), Jonathan Spector (RB), Jonathan Bornstein (LB)
MF: Clint Dempsey (RM) Michael Bradley (RCM) Ricardo Clark (LCM) Landon Donovan (LM)
ST: Jozy Altidore and Edson Buddle
Algeria
4-5-1
GK: Lounes Gaouaoui
DEF: Rafik Halliche, Madjid Bougherra (C), Antar Yahia, Nadir Belhadj
MF: Djamel Abdoun, Yazid Mansouri, Hassan Yebda, Karim Matmour, Karim Ziani
ST: Abdelkader Ghezzal
Slovenia
4-3-3
GK: Samir Handanovic
DEF: Miso Brecko, Marco Suler, Bostjan Cesar, Bojan Jokic
MF: Aleksandar Radosavljevic, Robert Koren (C), Andraz Kirm
ST: Zlatko Dedic, Valter Birsa, Milivoje Novakovic
Players To Watch: Wayne Rooney (England), Frank Lampard (England, Steven Gerrard (England), Landon Donovan (USA), Clint Dempsey (USA), Tim Howard (USA), Abdelkader Ghezzal (Algeria), Karim Ziani (Algeria), Robert Koren (Slovenia) and Milijove Novakovic (Slovenia).
Predicted Group Standings
1. England
2. United States
3. Algeria
4. Slovenia
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