Group F Preview

Group G is fantastic!...  And could just be where the champions reside!  It shows promise to be a hard fought group with a lot of goals and tough tackles.  Here's your preview:

Argentina:
The one name any soccer follower will already know is Leonel Messi. The little forward, who took growth hormones as a youth, has proven to the world that no matter your size you can be world class.   He's a respectable young man on and off the pitch and has lead his club team, Spain's La Liga side Barcelona, to glories throughout his career.  But he has immense pressure on his shoulders.  He's yet to lead his country to a World Cup...even more, he's yet to really show any of his usual magic on the world's biggest stage.  He needs to this year.

But Messi is not the only guy on the team.  Just up front alone he has fellow strikers Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero.  Both these guys, when starring for their club teams, are themselves enough to make opposition back lines shudder in fear. If this attacking powerhouse can combine with midfielders, like the very productive Maxi Rodrigues, then their attack will be an enormous force to reckon with.  Their weakness is the defense.  They are starting a goalkeeper who has been riding the pine for his club and only have one "star" on the defensive line; the enforcer Pablo Zavietta.  But all that said, if they can "out-offense" their opponents with their fire-power then they could go all the way.  And I mean all the way to holding up the trophy!

Bosnia-Herzegovenia:

This is Bosnia's World Cup debut. That in itself is something to celebrate.  (Which they did!) Coming from such a tiny country (4 million) the fact that they made it through European Qualifying is a major achievement.  Their triumphs there could be a glimpse at things to come. Don't let their debut status fool you., these guys are talented and their group draws seems to be a promising road to extended play.  These guys will be very watchable...and so will their passionate fans!


One player to watch is Manchester City's Edin Dzeko.  The tall strong striker is deceivably speedy, has a ton of tricks up his sleeve, possesses a rocket of a shot and is a huge target on set pieces.  They are also good in the back.  They conceded only 6 goals over their 10 qualifying matches and are backed by a trustworthy keeper, Amir Begovic. They are going need both the strikers and defense to be at their best to get past Argentina.  But even if they don't get it done against the South Americans they could still sweep their way through the rest of the group to a second place advancing spot.

Iran:

Iran isn't  a newcomer to the World Cup. They have made it into the tournament three times in the past but they never have gone any farther than the group stage. The most experienced member at success on the world stage is their coach Carlos Quieroz, who took Portugal to around of 16 run in 2010. Is he ready to take Iran to its next level? Well, he's put everything into it that he could. He devoted his last three years to scouring the globe for Iranian citizens can contribute to this cause.
Even though they didn't make it into the 2010 cup in Africa they seem to have improved. They only lost two matches in that cycle's qualifying journey. Hopefully Quieroz has been able to use the three years of hard work to put together a team with some talent. He was recently quoted as saying "We are not among the favorites... I know that before the final draw, there were 31 teams all wanting to get Iran in their group. But it's our goal now to see if we can make someone wish they hadn't!" Iran isn't necessarily a bad choice if you're going for some underdogs in your bracket but they are definitely a team on the rise who might be better left for putting your money on in the future.
*Note; it would be pretty fantastic to see Iran and the US meet somewhere in the knockout rounds. Pretty unlikely but quite the story if it could happen.

Nigeria:

Nigeria have been on the radar when it comes to African teams for quite a while. At one point they seemed to be the darlings of the continent with the best chance of making an impact on the world stage. But things haven't always gone the way they hoped. They fell in the group stages of the 2002 in 2010 tournaments and missed the 2006 World Cup altogether. They are the favorite to capture second in this group but it is going to take a lot of effort and a drastic improvement from recent their performances.

In last weeks warm-up game against the United States they were thought to be the team that would come away with the win. But the US was the better team on the day. The Yanks were able to limit the attacking ability of Nigerian wingers like Victor Moses. They even shut down midfielder and Chelsea star Jon Obi Mikkel. If the US can have their way with Nigeria then surely Argentina will, Bosnia possibly can, and even Iran might look at the tape and say they too have a chance. There still the favorite for second in the group but need to prove they deserve it!

Happy picking!