2010 FIFA World Cup: Group A Preview

Charles Klein

With the 2010 FIFA World Cup a mere eight days away, it is time to start previewing what we may expect to see in the best event in sports. Group A is an interesting group for more than a few reasons. The first - and most obvious - is that the host nation might, I repeat might have a chance to qualify for the knockout stages of this tournament.

The other members of this group are notorious chokers who usually fail to live up to expectations. Most will recall that in 2002 France failed to qualify out of their group, including an historic loss to Senegal. Mexico do not really have the players to mount a serious challenge in this tournament and Uruguay, while it has an impressive attacking duo of Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez, their defense begs more than a few questions.

Enter South Africa. The host nation usually plays better than expected in these types of tournaments the emotional energy that will surround this team through its first three matches of this tournament will be incredible. While they certainly lack the star power of a team like Spain or England, South Africa does have a few star players of its own. Steven Pienaar, Teko Modise and Bernard Parker are all good players in their own right. Kagisho Dikagcoi plies his trade at Craven Cottage for Fulham and will be the steel in midfield for South Africa.

If this tournament were played anywhere else, I would not have any reason at all to pick South Africa to advance, but given the location and what this competition means to the host nation, the pressure will either galvanise this team to heights heretofore unknown or crush them. Here's to hoping it's the former and not the latter.

Predicted XI's

France

GK: Hugo Lloris

DEF: William Gallas (CB), Eric Abidal (CB), Bacary Sagna (RB), Patrice Evra (LB) (C)

MF: Flourent Malouda (RW), Franck Ribery (LW) , Jeremy Toulalan (CDM) , Abou Diaby (CDM) Yoann Gourcuff (CAM)

ST: Andre-Pierre Gignac (CF)

South Africa

GK: Shu-Aib Walters

DEF: Matthew Booth (CB), Aaron Mokoena (CB), Siboniso Gaxa (RB), Tsepo Masilela (LB)

MF: Kagisho Digkacoi (CDM), Teko Modise (C) (CAM), Steven Pienaar (LW), MacBeth Sibaya (RW)

ST: Bernard Parker (RF), Katlego Mphela (LF)

Mexico

GK: Guillermo Ochoa

DEF: Rafael Marquez (CB), Oscar Osorio (CB), Carlos Salcido (LB), Efrain Juarez (RB)

MF: Israel Castro (CM), Gerardo Torrado (CM), Giovani (RW), Jose Andres Guardado (LW)

ST: Guillermo Franco (RF), Carlos Vela (LF)

Uruguay

GK: Juan Castillo

DEF: Diego Lugano (CB), Diego Godin (CB), Jorge Fucile (LB), Bruno Silva (RB)

MF: Cebolla (LDM), Walter Gargano (CDM), Sebastian Eguren (RDM), Ignacio Gonzalez (CAM)

ST: Diego Forlan (ST) Luis Suarez (ST)

Players to Watch: Diego Forlan (Uruguay), Luis Suarez (Uruguay), Franck Ribery (France), Yoann Gourcuff (France), Steven Pienaar (South Africa) and Bernard Parker (South Africa).

Predicted Group Standings

1. France
2. South Africa
3. Mexico
4. Uruguay