World Cup Wildes

I have been reading some really tasty works of literature in the past couple of months. Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. An epic poem about a guy who travels through the bowels of hell in order to see what awaits a soul if they live a faulty life. Another favourite of mine is the Confessions of St.Augustine. Which was a biography of Augustine's life, a life filled with constant sin and remorse. In both stories we see both men going through a journey where at the begining they were at the lowest points in their lives and as far away from purification as pagan baby killer. What was incredible about both stories is that the main characters Dante in the Divine Comedy and St. Augustine in the Confessions turned it all round.Dante achieved that pure figure he sought and Augustine well became a saint. In my reading of these to accounts I remember how far they had came to reach their ideal positions. Simply the message is no matter how dire the state one can always redeem thyself. Ironically all the teams in Group C in the World Cup are on some kind of quest and have a lot to repent for but as Augustine and Dante teaches salvation is just around the corner.

Group C
Algeria
England
Slovenia
United States of America

Algeria


What if Zinedine Zidane suited up for the country of his parents birth instead of France? Would we know him as the icon he is today? Would he have played for Juventus and Real Madrid? The answer is no. That means he wouldn't have won France 98 or would Materazzi be rammed in the chest like an ibex in the 2006 World Cup in Germany. If you didn't know, Zindane is of Algerian descent, so is Karim Benzema. Two world class players essentially are Algerian. Now if they are making that type of footballer in Algiers, Algeria has a wonderful chance of getting very far in this their third World Cup appearance. Like their former colonial masters the French their pass to South Africa was marred by incident. In a two leg play off with their regal neighbors Egypt who are the premier African team,saw them defeat them in the hotly contested match up. The Algerians were attacked in Egypt by the supporters of the Pharaohs with blood even being shed. Going to Cairo and beating the African champs is not an easy feet and that is why I am perplexed when pundits write off the Algerians. They beat Egypt in Cairo and they have some wonderful players with proven pedigree. Hassan Yebda a gun ho midfielder, Nadir Belhadj an even more gun ho player than Yebda. Karim Ziani I call him the Berber butcher a really fantastic midfielder and they have more, in fact a lot more than some of their African counterparts and some of their rivals in the group. I'm backing Les Fennecs for a quarters birth at least.

Key Man- Nadir Belhadj: How can a fullback be a key man, well I guess you never say Belhadj play. He is so exciting he makes you watch him. His energy will be a pivotal reason why Algeria goes far.

England


In 1966 England lifted their first and only World Cup to this date. Their coach was Sir Alfred Ramsey. He did it, the thing that England had craved for since the beginning of the tournament in 1930. Since then the Three Lions have had 13 coaches, all promised but only brought failures and false dawns but it is the 13th coach since Sir Ramsey who offers the most promise. Before this 13th disciple England were a power than seemed destine for mediocrity but in step the Don and that feeling has seem to have rescinded. That man is the Italian Fabio Capello. After failing to qualify for Austria/Switzerland 2008 under Steve McClaren the FA hit the panic button and Capello was brought in to quell the storm. Under Capello they are no longer the bumbling idiots I have enjoyed laughing at for years nor are they the boring over paid douchebags I have come to hate. Now they are just overpaid but their good. I said in my previous post I do think England have the best defense in the world the options in defense are really superb. In the midfield there is a flux of good players and up front they have some pretty useful guys I won't call names. I am going to say they are one of my faves to go on and win the whole thing. I see no real weakness within the squad besides being overpaid peacocks. I really like England's chances and they will do extremely well in this show piece. Oh I should probably tell you guys how they got to South Africa, they basically kicked Ukraine, Croatia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Andorra's asses to advance to the finals.

Key Man- Wayne Rooney: If Rooney doesn't get injured or red carded they should win the whole thing.

Slovenia


I am extremely happy for Slovenia as am I for any small nation who qualifies out of UEFA. Europe is a really tough place to clinch a birth to a World Cup but somehow they did it. If you have a good memory like me you would know that this isn't Slovenia's first dance. The nation featured in the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan. I remembered Zlatko Zahovic and his vampire like demeanor. Now they are back and how they got here is very amusing. They weren't placed in a terribly diffcult group stage in Europe. A group that included San Marino, Poland, Slovakia, Northern Ireland and the Czech Republic. Who by the way did not qualify (major disappointment) but the Slovenians did, they came second right behind Slovakia which meant they had to defeat the mighty Russians in order to get here and you know what? They did. I'm glad they did and again I feel absolutely sparkly for them but they really don't have much of a chance. They could sneak some points here and there but outside there is not much hope for them. To be honest I only know two of the Slovenian players, Robert Koren a West Bromwich Albion man and Samir Handanovic a goalkeeper who plays for Udinese, he is pretty good. They will need him if they aren't to be blown away in this group.

Key Man- Samir Handanovic: Needs to be on form if his side to be given even a glimmer of hope.

USA


A couple of years ago I was really pulling for the Americans I didn't mine when they raped Barbados and made my cousin who plays for the islanders look like a dribbling cone. I didn't mine that at all but it seems that America is getting a bit to big for her britches. They don't deserve their lofty rank given to them by FIFA a top 20 side I think they are not and they are not better than Mexico. They did beat some pretty good teams like Spain and Egypt and I give them credit and no matter where your nation is it is hard to dominate a region and they do dominate Concacaf but beating up on Jamaica and her lackey islands like St.Vincent does not make you elite. You beat up Costa Rica and I say SO WHAT? I am really starting to get annoyed by America's attitude. America have excellent players and I rate some of them highly but you guys aren't the great northern gods last time I checked that title belonged to the Scandinavians. I actually pick Algeria to bring them down to earth. All that being said their path was pretty much routine, they raped a couple of island nations and thumped some Central Americans then they topped Concacaf's Hexagon to make it Africa. How do I gauge their chances? I really don't any more. I would have said a couple of months ago America has what it takes to go far into this competition but now they don't have a pray. You see America likes to be the underdog and in this group they are one of the faves the pundits say to advance to the second round. I honestly think that is a role America doesn't know how to play, when pressure is on them to succeed I don't think they can cope with it. I don't hate America I live here, its great country but I think their national team will be found out this summer.

Key Man- Landon Donovan: I have always liked him and without a doubt the reason why USA has become the force they are in this current day.

Predictions- England 1st, Algeria 2nd, United States 3rd and Slovenia 4th. England is different class. United States will not be able to cope with Algeria's intensity and will be pipped for 2nd. Thanks for coming Slovenia.