World Cup Group B Preview
Attention in Group B will be on Diego Maradona and Argentina. Many punters have backed the South American side to lift the World Cup trophy for the third time. Perhaps they forgot Spain and Brazil are in this tournament? There are three other nations in this group that make it competitive for progression. Nigeria are looking in good shape but need to keep their concentration and not concede late goals. Greece and South Korea look past their peak, but with disciplined coaches in charge shouldn’t be written off.
Argentina
A nation that has produced many great players over the years, Argentina look set to start the World Cup as joint-third favourites with England. Great players don’t make great managers is a famous saying in this country. Diego Maradona is no exception to the rule. The eccentric 1986 World Cup winning captain struggled to qualify for this tournament, but rewarded their saviour Martin Palermo, 36 with a place in his final 23 man squad.
Argentina have a lot of talent in attack, with Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez, Diego Milito, Sergio Aguero to name but a few. Defensively and tactically is where they are likely to be caught out. There’s no Esteban Cambiasso to protect the back four, and the experience and leadership qualities of Javier Zanetti have not been taken along either. Added problems in defence is the lack of experience in goal; the 3 goalkeepers have just 12 caps between them. AZ Alkmaar goalkeeper Sergio Romero leads the way with 5. Indiscipline may be another factor in Argentina’s elimination from the tournament. Expect a physical game between them and Nigeria, while both Greece and South Korea will look to their tactical expertise to beat Argentina. When you have players like Messi and Milito, you have players who can win you a match out of nothing. For that reason, Argentina should be assured of progression from the group. After that Diego Maradona will be out of his depth.
South Korea
There’s a number of ageing players continuing on from their success in 2002. But 8 years down the line they may have past their peak. A good record in qualification through the years, South Korea will be looking to progress from the group stage outside of their own country for the first time.
37 year old shot stopper Lee Woon-Jae enters the tournament with 130 caps to his name. Kim Nam-Il, Park Ji-Sung, Ahn Jung-Hwan, Lee Young-Pyo and Cha Du-Ri are all familiar names from 2002, all selected in Huh Jung-Moo’s squad in 2010. With slick movement in attack, one thing this nation lacks is a rock at the heart of their defence. The Greeks will enjoy both playing long balls against this defence, while favouring their chances at set pieces. Group B is a tough ask for South Korea to qualify from.
Nigeria
Fortunate to make the African Nations semi final at the start of the year, coach Shaibu Amodu was booted out for the second time just before a World Cup. In comes Swedish coach Lars Lagerback to coach some discipline into the side. They have a solid defensive unit, but the Swede needs to find goals from this team if they want to make it out of the group stage.
Kanu is selected up front once again despite a lack of goals since leaving Ajax more than a decade ago. His lack of closing down up front shouldn’t be the biggest issue for Nigeria, but they need a goalscorer up front, with their midfield lacking goals and creativity. Yakubu isn’t coming off a goalscoring season with Everton, Obafemi Martins only played half a season at Wolfsburg, so Lagerback’s best choice up front could be Lokomotiv Moscow’s Peter Odemwingie. Joseph Yobo and Danny Shittu may struggle against the pacey and flair players Argentina and South Korea throw at them, but no one should beat Nigeria in a physical game in this group.
Greece
Another ageing squad with a number of Euro 2004 champions included. However, none of them are goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis. They won’t win any fans over for their football this summer and qualifying from Group B is a tough ask for the nation that has qualified for its first World Cup since 1994.
One player included this squad is 31 year old Sakis Prittas who has yet to make his international debut. Greece are a squad of tall, muscular players who play effective football that isn’t pretty on the eye. Their main problems are coming from behind in games and how to score goals against sides who can compete physically and in the air with them. There quite literally isn’t a plan B for Otto Rehhagel’s side.