Group G - Analysis

Teams: Brazil, Portugal, Ivory Coast, North Korea

Predicted qualifier: Brazil, Ivory Coast

Brazil will definitely win the group. They stand out of the rest. Solid defence and sharp finish, they are good enough to break the shaky Portugal and impatient Ivory Coast. The matter is how far they can go. No doubt Julio Cesar, Lucio and Maicon are fantastic, but I am not particularly impressed with Juan who probably will start along with Lucio. Bastos has improved greatly, especially his free-kick taking; however I still think he could be vulnerable when facing some intelligent wingers. Gilberto is another worry in the defensive midfield role. Melo doesn’t have a good season. Kaka is not in good shape physically. This midfield would rely a lot on no-ball movements of their forwards to create through balls; however they could not really provide some excellent diagonal ball. As long as their opponent defenders stay on their position with discipline, Brazil would face some deep problems. Fabiano and Robinho are not Messi and Tevez or Milito, I don’t think we should expect too much magic from them without excellent assists. Though lot of people favour them to at least reach the quarter and even win the cup, I would foresee they will face some tough challenges from Chile in the second round, and would fall to Netherlands in the quarter final. If Portugal’s manager is Jose Mourinho, I would put my money on them to win the cup. Unfortunately this Portugal looks slow and clumsy to me. Ronaldo is quick and wonderful, but the movements of the whole team doesn’t seem compatible to his speed. Liedson is far from a world class standard, Deco is aged and slow, and their defence doesn’t look solid with the half-fit Pepe and Carvalho together with uninspiring Ferreira. Their keeper doesn’t look good as well. They would struggle against Ivory Coast. Drogba would be too tough to handle if he recovered from his injury in time. Yaya Toure provides some good cover in the midfield and Kolo Toure look to be in good shape to resist Liedson. I would favour them to go through. North Korea has a very long period of time to train together, and they are not a bad team. But I don’t think they have the quality to pick up a win in this group. But a point or two could be possible for them. Hong and Jong are dangerous in counter attacks and I firmly believe they will do much better than the Chinese did in 2002.

Below are the squad lists for the teams:

BRAZIL

Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan/Italy), Doni (AS Roma/Italy), Heurelho Gomes (Tottenham Hotspur/England)

Defenders: Maicon (Inter Milan/Italy), Daniel Alves (Barcelona/Spain), Michel Bastos (Olympique Lyon/France), Gilberto (Cruzeiro/Brazil), Lucio (Inter Milan/Italy), Juan (AS Roma/Italy), Luisao (Benfica/Portuagal), Thiago Silva (AC Milan/Italy)

Midfielders: Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos/Greece), Felipe Melo (Fiorentina/Italy), Ramires (Benfica/Portugal), Elano (Galatasaray/Turkey), Kaka (Real Madrid/Spain), Julio Baptista (Roma/Italy), Kleberson (Flamengo/Brazil), Josue (VfL Wolfsburg/Germany)

Forwards: Robinho (Santos/Brazil), Luis Fabiano (Sevilla/Spain), Nilmar (Villarreal/Spain), Grafite (VfL Wolfsburg/Germany)

PORTUGAL

Goalkeepers: Eduardo (Braga/Portugal), Daniel Fernandes (Iraklis/Greece), Beto (Porto/Portugal)

Defenders: Miguel (Valencia/Spain), Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea/England), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea/England), Bruno Alves (Porto/Portugal), Rolando (Porto/Portugal), Ricardo Costa (Lille/France), Duda (Malaga/Spain), Fabio Coentrao (Benfica/Portugal)

Midfielders: Pedro Mendes (Sporting/Portugal), Pepe (Real Madrid/Spain), Tiago (Atletico Madrid/Spain), Deco (Chelsea/England), Raul Meireles (Porto/Portugal), Miguel Veloso (Sporting/Portugal)

Forwards: Simao Sabrosa (Atletico Madrid/Spain), Danny (Zenit St Petersburg/Russia), Liedson (Sporting/Portugal), Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen/Germany), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Spain), Nani (Manchester United/England)

IVORY COAST

Goalkeepers: Boubacar Barry (Lokeren/Belgium), Aristides Zogbo (Maccabi Netanya/Israel), Daniel Yeboah (ASEC Abidjan/Ivory Coast)

Defenders: Souleymane Bamba (Hibernian/Scotland), Arthur Boka (VfB Stuttgart/Germany), Guy Demel (Hamburg SV/Germany), Emmanuel Eboue (Arsenal/England), Steve Gohouri (Wigan Athletic/England), Siaka Tiene (Valenciennes/France), Kolo Toure (Manchester City/England), Benjamin Brou Angoua (Valenciennes/France)

Midfielders: Jean-Jacques Gosso Gosso (Monaco/France), Abdelkader Keita (Galatasaray/Turkey), Emmanuel Kone (International Curtea Arges/Romania), Gervais Yao Kouassi (Lille/France), Christian Koffi Ndri (Sevilla/Spain), Cheik Ismael Tiote (Twente Enschede/Netherlands), Yaya Toure (Barcelona/Spain), Didier Zokora (Sevilla/Spain)

Forwards: Aruna Dindane (Lekhwiya/Qatar), Seydou Doumbia (Young Boys Berne/Switzerland), Didier Drogba (Chelsea/England), Salomon Kalou (Chelsea/England)

NORTH KOREA

Goalkeepers: Kim Myong-gil (Amrokgang/North Korea), Kim Myong-won (Amrokgang/North Korea), Ri Myong-guk (Pyongyang City/North Korea)

Defenders: Cha Jong-hyok (Amrokgang/North Korea), Nam Song-chol (April 25/North Korea), Pak Chol-jin (Amrokgang/North Korea), Pak Nam-chol (Amrokgang/North Korea), Ri Jun-il (Sobaeksu/North Korea), Ri Kwang-chon (April 25/North Korea), Ri Kwang-hyok (Kyonggongop/North Korea)

Midfielders: An Yong-hak (Omiya Ardija/Japan), Ji Yun-nam (April 25/North Korea), Kim Kyong-il (Rimyongsu/North Korea), Kim Yong-jun (Pyongyang City/North Korea), Mun In-guk (April 25/North Korea), Ri Chol-myong (Pyongyang City/North Korea), Pak Nam-chol (April 25/North Korea), Pak Sung-hyok (Sobaeksu/North Korea)

Forwards: An Chol-hyok (Rimyongsu/North Korea), Choe Kum-chol (April 25/North Korea), Hong Yong-jo (Rostov/Russia), Jong Tae-se (Kawasaki Frontale/Japan), Kim Kum-il (April 25/North Korea)