Today I’ll take a look at Group G and Group H, but first a link for any soccer fans out there.

If you want to set up a bracket for the World Cup, and compete against myself and some of my friends, click here.  Create your entry, then click ‘create or join a group.’  Do a search for group name ‘SHARKEY’ (original, right?), and then enter the password ’shark’ to join.  Then you’ll get to see firsthand just how bad all of my picks were.

Group G

(Brazil, Ivory Coast, North Korea, Portugal)

Since the draw was announced over six months ago, immediately everybody referred to this as the Group of Death.  To be fair, the #1 and #3 teams in the FIFA World Rankings are in this group.  I do not believe this is the group of death, though.  For starters, any group of death has to have four teams that can legitimately finish in the top two.  I don’t care how you spin it, North Korea is not advancing out of group play.  Secondly, as good as Ivory Coast is (or Cote d’Ivoire, which you’ll see abbreviated as CIV for the next month), they are not on the same level as Brazil or Portugal.  Even when they’re fully healthy, they probably wouldn’t beat either of those teams.

That leads us to Didier Drogba, the electrifying striker for CIV.  Last week, in his country’s last friendly, Drogba broke his elbow, and immediately declared himself out for the World Cup.  His country said not so fast, he had a quick surgery, and is now back with the team.  It’s unclear when he’ll return to the pitch, and while it’s likely to be sooner rather than later, it probably won’t be in time for Ivory Coast’s first match with Portugal.  And that’s a shame, because that was the one game that is probably most important to Ivory Coast’s fortunes in this World Cup.

If they could have beaten Portugal, or even tied them, they very likely would have found themselves in 2nd at the end of group play.  Without Drogba, I just don’t see it happening.  Portugal is a great team.  I’m not of the belief that they’re Top 3 in the World, but they are great nonetheless.  They’re led by Cristiano Ronaldo, arguably the best player on the planet.  Ronaldo, at 25 years old, is already the captain of his National Team, and has recorded 22 goals in 72 caps.  But, much like Argentina’s Lionel Messi, it seems the brighter the world light shines, the worse he performs.  Ronaldo may be under more pressure than any other player in the entire tournament to deliver.  He doesn’t have to win the championship for his team, but he certainly cannot afford to be the reason Portugal doesn’t win the championship.

Korea is awful.  They’re rated 105th in the world, and haven’t been to the World Cup since 1966.  They made some headlines in that World Cup, though, when they beat superpower Italy 1-0; and they’ve recently made headlines when their captain Hong Young-Jo announced his team would finish Top 2 in this group of death, and make it to the next round.  Of course, that’s all publicity, and nobody expects it to actually happen.  But it’s encouraging to at least see a little fight in the North Koreans (at least on the pitch; no fight needed in other aspects of global society).

That leaves Brazil, the heavy favorites to win the World Cup.  Brazil is undoubtedly the New York Yankees of the World Cup.  The won the titles in ’02 and ’94, while finishing 2nd in ’98.  They’ve won 5 titles, more than every other country.  They’re reached the semifinals of the World Cup in 12 of the last 16 tournaments, dating back to 1938.  And they are the only country to play in every single World Cup.

This years edition of the squad is just as good as all the great Brazilian squads from the past.  Immediately following the ’06 World Cup, where they finished a disappointing 5th place, the squad announced ’94 World Cup hero Dunga would be their new head coach.  In 63 international matches since taking over, Dunga has only lost 5 times.  Since losing one match in the ’08 Olympics two years ago, Brazil has won 21 of 26 games, with1 loss and 4 draws.  That most recent stretch includes victories over 2010 World Cup finalists Chile (twice), Portugal, Italy (twice), Uruguay, Paraguay, the United States (twice), South Africa, Argentina, and England.  The only lose came a year ago to Bolivia in World Cup qualifying, after Brazil had already clinched a berth in the WC and did not play any of its regulars, or even any of its regular subs or reserves.

Five Players To Watch:

1. Kaka (Brazil), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), and Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) – It’s nearly impossible to narrow this Group down to just 5 players, due to the crazy amount of talent and superstars that play here.  I’ll lump these three together, because they’re three of the 10 best footballers on the planet, and all must be watched when they’re on the pitch.  But having them take up 3 of 5 spots on this list is unfair to the 89 players in this group.
2. Hong Young-Jo (Korea DPR) – Not close to one of the best players in this group, he’ll be interesting to watch based only on his comments this past week.  He’s definitely the most talented footballer for North Korea, and he’s the only one of the 23 men on the roster who plays professional outside of North Korea.
3. Liedson (Portugal) – The 32 year old forward was actually born in Brazil, but has lived in Portugal for nearly a decade and has stated time and time again he’s wanted to play for their national team.  Less than a year ago, he finally got his Portuguese citizenship finalized, and immediately began starting for the national team, getting 10 caps and scoring 3 goals in preparation for this World Cup.
4. Salomon Kalou (Ivory Coast) – Along with now injured Didier Drogba and lesser known striker Gervinho, Kalou forms Ivory Coast’s first line of attack in their 4-3-3.  If Drogba is out, the 24 year old is going to have to reach the next level.  Kalou scored 13 goals this year for Chelsea of the EPL, but he only had 1 goal in all of World Cup qualifying the last two years.
5. Julio Cesar (Brazil) – The 30 year old goalkeeper recently led Inter Milan to three titles this year, and some believe he has surpassed Gianluigi Buffon as the greatest keeper on the planet.  If he adds a World Cup title to his already unbelievable season, he may just cement his place as the best on the planet.

Schedule: (All times Eastern Daylight)

• June 15, 10:00 AM:  Ivory Coast vs Portugal
• June 15, 2:30 PM:  Brazil vs North Korea
• June 20, 2:30 PM:  Brazil vs Ivory Coast
• June 21, 7:30 AM: Portugal vs North Korea
• June 25, 10:00 AM:  North Korea vs Ivory Coast
• June 25, 10:00 AM:  Portugal vs Brazil

If you were to only watch one match in this group, there is no question as to which it should be; you must watch Portugal vs. Brazil on June 25th.  This is likely to be the best match of all of group play.

Projected Finish: (3 points for win, 1 point for draw)

1. Brazil 9 points
2. Portugal 6 points
3. Ivory Coast 3 points
4. North Korea 0 points

Group H

(Chile, Honduras, Spain, Switzerland)

Ah, the final group.  Not a lot of drama in this one, as Spain should coast to victory, Chile should have no problem getting out of group play, and Honduras and the Swiss should enjoy the experience.

Honduras is playing in its first World Cup since 1982, and if their recent play is any indication, this is a team that is very happy to just be here, as the saying goes.  In their last five tune-up games before the World Cup, Honduras has tied Azerbaijan and Belarus, while losing to Turkey, Venezuela, and Romania.  None of those five teams are in the World Cup this year.  There’s a good chance Honduras will finish 32nd of 32 in this years WC final.

Switzerland has a very young team, one of the youngest in the entire tournament, and has high expectations.  In 2006 they qualified for their first World Cup since ’94, and they went on to finish first in Group G, ahead of Togo, South Korea, and France.  They lost in the round of 16 to Ukraine, in the shootout, and were eliminated.  They were the only team in the entire ’06 WC to not allow a goal in regulation time in any match.  In Euro ’08, they failed to make it out of group play, but they did beat Portugal.  The talent is there for Swiss to make some noise, but I think they’ll be overpowered by Chile and Spain when push comes to shove.

Chile hasn’t won a World Cup match since 1962, and this is their first appearance in the WC final since 1982.  They are extremely young, but they are very talented.  In qualifying they finished second in South America to Brazil, while winning 10 of 18 matches and showing great poise off their home soil.  Because of this, their FIFA ranking flew up to #18, the highest since 1997.  If everything goes right for this team, they could be the biggest sleeper in the entire tournament.

Spain, on the other hand, is not a sleeper at all.  They are a power.  Their lineup is filled with players from among the best in the world, and their results show that.  Their recent results, that is.  But, Spain has never won a World Cup.  And since winning Euro ’08, it seems like the country has been on a two year journey towards winning this title, and the expectations may be getting to their heads.  At least, that is what everybody seems to be saying.  The fact is, immediately following Euro 2008, Spain went on a 15 game winning streak before losing to the US in the semifinals of last June’s Confederation Cup.  Since that loss, Spain has played 12 matches, and has won all 12.

If Brazil is playing better than any team in the world, then Spain is right behind them, and there is no other country that even comes close to achieving the level of play that these two have reached in the last 24 months.

Five Players To Watch:

1. The entire Spanish Starting 11 – Are you kidding?  Even if I dedicated this list of 5 to the Spaniards, there is no way I could only pick five.  Iker Casillas in goal, Ramos, Puyel, Pique, Capdevila in the back, Iniesta, Xavi, Xabi Alonso, and David Silva in the middle, and Fernando Torres and David Villa up front.  LOADED.  Recently, ESPN ranked the Top 50 players in this years World Cup, and Spain had 5 of the top 11, 7 of the top 16, and 9 of the Top 50.  Just watch Spain.
2. Cesc Fabregas (Spain) – Sorry, Spain’s starting 11 wasn’t enough to cover all the Spanish players you should be watching.  Fabregas doesn’t start for Spain, but that’s not because he isn’t good enough.  ESPN has him ranked as the 16th best footballer on the planet.  At 23 years old, he has already been the captain of Arsenal in the EPL for 2 years.  This is not his first World Cup, he played in ’06 at 19 years old.  As a midfielder, he scored 19 goals this year for his club team.  And it appears he’s on the move after the World Cup, from Arsenal to Barcelona, which will propel him even higher up the list of top footballers in the world.  It’s only a matter of time before this guy is mentioned with Ronaldo, Rooney, Messi, and Kaka.
3. Alexander Frei (Switzerland) – The 30 year old forward led the Swiss in scoring in the 2006 World Cup, and is their highest scoring player in their National Team’s history, with 40 goals in 73 matches.  Frei also recorded 15 goals in 19 matches this year for his club team.
4. Alexis Sanchez (Chile) – The 21 year old is ready to explode onto the scene, and I think this will be his coming out party.  Sanchez scored 8 goals for Udinese in Serie A this year, and rumors are flying around that some of the bigger clubs in Serie A, or even La Liga or the EPL, may look to sign him after the World Cup.  In 28 career international caps, Sanchez has scored 11 goals, and the forward will be counted on to score early and often for this team as it aims to make it out of group play.
5. David Suazo (Honduras) – Suazo played for Cagliari of Serie A 225 times between 1999 and 2007, scoring 95 goals.  Following the 06-07 season, Suazo signed on with Inter Milan, and just when it appeared he was going to become one of the best strikers on the planet, injuries destroyed his careeer.  Over the next three seasons, Suazo played in only 57 matches (a regular season is 38 matches long plus national & international cup tournaments), and scored only 15 goals.  He says he’s fully healthy and ready for this years World Cup.  We’ll see if the 30 year old can regain the form that made him so lethal, or if his career is truly in its twilight.

Schedule: (All times Eastern Daylight)

• June 16, 7:30 AM:  Honduras vs Chile
• June 16, 10:00 AM:  Spain vs Switzerland
• June 21, 10:00 AM:  Chile vs Switzerland
• June 21, 2:30 PM:  Spain vs Honduras
• June 25, 2:30 PM:  Switzerland vs Honduras
• June 25, 2:30 PM:  Chile vs Spain

Obviously, I recommend watching every one of Spain’s matches.  Besides them, I’d definitely tune in to June 21st Chile/Switzerland match, as it’ll likely determine who finishes 2nd in Group H.

Projected Finish: (3 points for win, 1 point for draw)

1. Spain 9 points
2. Chile 6 points
3. Switzerland 3 points
4. Honduras 0 points

Round of 16

In the second round, 1st place in Group G will play 2nd in Group H, while 1st in Group H will play 2nd in Group G.

June 28, 2:30 PM:  Brazil (1G) vs Chile (2H)

While I do love this Chile team, their road will end here unless they find a way to not play Brazil in this game.  That’ll only happen if they finish ahead of Spain, which also won’t happen, or if somehow Portugal beats Brazil for first in Group G.  That’s possible, but then Portugal should beat Chile, anyway.

I see Chile keeping it competitive, for awhile, but they lost 3-0 and 4-2 to Brazil in WC qualifying, and in the end the result will be much of the same in this match.  Brazil moves on to the quarterfinals.

June 29, 2:30 PM:  Spain (1H) vs Portugal (2G)

This will be one of the biggest second round matches of all time if it happens.  The only thing bigger would be if Portugal somehow finished ahead of Brazil in group play, and Brazil and Spain were matched up in this game.  That would be incredible.

This could go down as one for the ages, but I don’t see Spain being dropped this early in the tournament.  They advance to the quarters.

Quarterfinals

In the quarterfinals, the winner of the of the 1E/2F matchup will face the winner of the 1G/2H matchup, while the winner of 1F/2E faces the winner of 1H/2G.

July 2, 10:00 AM: Netherlands (1E/2F) vs Brazil (1G/2H)

What a matchup this will be.  In the quarterfinals, we’ve already seen Mexico beat England, and Argentina beat the United States.  Now we get two of the four best teams in the World facing off.  Brazil has a knack for winning games like this, while the Netherlands has a history of losing them.  It really could go either way, but because of how they’re playing, I’m sticking with Brazil to move on.

July 3, 2:30 PM: Italy (1F/2E) vs Spain (1H/2G)

This matchup is just as good as Brazil/Netherlands, if not better.  Spain is explosive, and very exciting to watch.  Italy isn’t nearly as exciting to watch, but they’re unbelievably effective when it comes to shutting teams down.  I’d have loved to see the ’06 Italian squad take on this Spain squad.  Luckily for me, Italian coach Marcello Lippi is trying to arrange that by bringing back all his old and slow players from that team.  Lucky for Spain, because of that, they should be able to win this game, and move on to the semi-finals.

Semifinals

July 6, 2:30 PM: Mexico vs Brazil

I may be the only person alive predicting this matchup, but I think it could absolutely happen.  If the Mexicans make it to the semifinals, they’ll be playing with incredible emotions, and incredible confidence.  They absolutely would give the Brazilians a run for their money.  I think Brazil would hang on for a close win, though, and advance to the final.

July 7, 2:30 PM:  Argentina vs Spain

Lionel Messi vs the other 11 guys among the Top 12 footballers in the world.  That’s what this one will be dubbed.  Messi is incredible, but he’s not this great.  He’s not Diego Maradona, at least not as of June 10, 2010.  Argentina will not beat Spain, and will not set up an all South American final.

Third Place Game

July 10, 2:30 PM: Mexico vs Argentina

Lionel Messi may not be good enough to beat the Spaniards all by himself, but he can beat the Mexicans, and he will.  Argentina will finish third in the 2010 World Cup.

World Cup Final

July 11, 2:30 PM: Brazil vs Spain

Obviously my first choice is to have the United States in the World Cup Final.  After I wake up from that dream, though, I’ll immediately begin praying that Spain and Brazil meet in the Final.  If they do, the world will be in store for maybe the greatest football match of all time.  It will be truly epic.

It’s nearly impossible to predict who would win this one this far out.  Right now, I’m going to say Brazil wins.  That is my official world cup 2010 prediction, but I’m sure it’ll change 900 times between now and then.

2010 World Cup All Star Team

The All Star team are the 23 players judged to be the best of the World Cup.  Traditionally, the further your team advances, the more players you’ll have on the all star team.  Here is my prediction:

• Gianluigi Buffon, G, Italy
• Julio Cesar, G, Brazil
• Iker Casillas, G, Spain
• Dani Alves, D, Brazil
• Nemanja Vidic, D, Serbia
• Gerard Pique, D, Spain
• Lucio, D, Brazil
• Carlos Puyel, D, Spain
• Ashley Cole, D, England
• Maicon, D, Brazil
• Daniele De Rossi, M, Italy
• Landon Donovan, M, USA
• Giovani Dos Santos, M, Mexico
• Wesley Sneijder, M, Netherlands
• Andres Iniesta, M, Spain
• Xavi, M, Spain
• Kaka, M, Brazil
• Cristiano Ronaldo, M, Portugal
• Lionel Messi, F, Argentina
• Wayne Rooney, F, England
• David Villa, F, Spain
• Robin van Persie, F, Netherlands
• Javier Hernandez, F, Mexico