Preview for Thursday June 17th

 VERSUS

Time: 1330h
Match: Argentina v South Korea (Group B)

Overview: South Korea has one of the best performances during the first round of matches, Argentina not necessarily. Will the Argentine technicians  master the silly Jambulani ball or will this be another messy 1-0 or 1-1 game or a Messi 4-0?

Regardless Korea’s scintillating play could mean serious trouble for Argentina especially down their vulnerable right defensive side.

Venue: Johannesburg - Soccer City Stadium


Referee: Franck de Bleeckere (Belgium)
Date of Birth: 01.07.1966
Height: 182 cm
Place of residence: OUDENAARDE
Occupation: PR manager
Mother tongue: Dutch
Other languages: French, English, German
International since: 1998
First international: Portugal-Wales (02.06.2000)
Hobbies: Tennis, travelling
Fondest memory: FIFA U-17 World Cup Peru 2005 (Final) Brasil v. Mexico; FIFA World Cup Germany 2006; UEFA Euro Austria-Switzerland 2008 (Semi-final) Spain v. Russia

Analysis: Korea showed that they are organized and capable in getting the ball forward. If they can hold the individual efforts of Tevez, Messi or Di Maria then they could get something out of this game. The effort of Argentina’s defensive midfield, which thanks to Maradona’s arrogance means only Mascherano will make a difference here. Important also is wether Jonas Rodriguez has learned to play right back yet.

Key Players: 

Leo Messi, of course. If anyone can master the Jambulani ball and show something special its him.

Park Ji-Sung, the Korean schemer will have to defeat Mascherano in their midfield duel and create dangerous attacks for Korea. Will he manage?

Danger Men:

Lee Chung Yong,  Korea’s best right winger could start on the left just to better exploit Argentina’s problem, but wether right or left he will certainly be able to cause problems for the Southern South Americans.

Walter Samuel was the real man of the match against Nigeria for his defensive performance, and if he play as well against South Korea it will be very difficult to score against Argentina.

Previous Matches: 2 Games played, 2 won by Argentina who outscored the Koreans 4-1.

Weaknesses: Argentina are vulnerable at the back, especially down the right defensive side, where inexperienced winger Jonas Guttierez is being played instead of surprisingly absent veteran captain Javier Zanetti. Another weakness of Argentina could be lack of replacement for Javier Mascherano the defensive midfielder, who will start looking exhausted at some point soon.

Korea lack the class of the Argentine players, even though they are good and capable professionals. They could find themselves thrown off by the Argentina dribbling and fast paced attack and lose all of their new found confidence if a couple of goals roll into their goal.

Strengths: Argentina is an attacking machine, at least on paper so far. Their technique, speed and dribbling dominates games and is dangerous to any opposition.

Korea is disciplined and hard working, and this can mean 90 minutes of danger to their opponents who should stay concentrated and respect their threat.

Playing style: Maradona field a rather offensive team, with little midfield support to the defence. This did not pay off against Nigeria, and could be a detriment in a World Cup with very few goals scored so far. The trident of attacking midfielders, two wingers and Messi is a tempting style for Argentina, but it needs to start earning dividends.

Korea attack through the center and in the wings. Their defense looked very good and prepared at quickly getting the ball forward to counter-attack. Can they hold off Argentina’s pressure?

Most likely scenario:

In a normal world, both teams at the top of their game Argentina wins this 3-1.

A slight surprise would be:

A small win for Argentina 1-0 or a draw.

A real shocker would mean:

South Korea humble Maradona and Argentina.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 VERSUS

Time: 1600h

Match: Greece v. Nigeria (Group B)

Overview: The Greeks were week in their opening match, but are capable of a lot more. The Nigerians were strong in their opening match, and deserved a draw against Argentina, so they are the favourites to sweep away the Greeks and advance to the second round. Their key game will  be against Korea, but they must secure 3 points today.

Venue: Mangaung/Bloemfontein - Free State Stadium

Referee: Oscar RUIZ (COL) Country:Colombia  

Date of Birth: 01.11.1969

Height: 185 cm

Place of residence: Villavicencio

Occupation: Lawyer, University teacher

Mother tongue: Spanish

Other languages: Portuguese, English

International since: 1995

First international: Paraguay-Venezuela (12.07.1995)

Hobbies: Music, reading, watching sports on TV

Fondest memory: FIFA World Cup Korea/ Japan 2002 FIFA World Cup Germany 2006

Analysis: Greece knows how to defend, although their defence was shaky against South Korea, Rehhagel should fix this for today’s match, and this means Nigeria has to be lethal in front of goal. Of course a Greek win is not impossible, if the Super Eagles fail to create and score.

Key Players: 

Theofanis Gekas is a goalscorer, and if he finds out how to hit the Jambulani properly, he can be a lethal danger to the Nigerian hopes.

Vincent Enyeama had a fantastic game against Argentina, will he be able to remain consistent in his performance?

Danger Men:

Luckman Haruna of Monaco had a decent match against Argentina, can the young player mark his name on a goal against Greece?

Soitirois Kyrgiakos should be back for Greece, his defensive abilities were missed in the first match, and he is good enough to be a catalyst for his team.

Weaknesses: Nigeria have shown lapses of concentration and consistency in the past, maybe Swedish coach Lagerback has managed to do something about that in his short spell in charge. They are vulnerable to hold and counter-attack tactics as was seen in the African Nations Cup, and waste a lot of chances in front of goal.

Greece are a bit slow on the temp and old, which is what caused their initial problems against Korea. If Nigeria manages to up the tempo against them they could really suffer. Another weakness is goal opportunity creation, which can sometimes run dry, and almost entirely depends on the aging Karagounis.

Strengths: Nigeria are physically powerfull and fast, and have some technical ability, a combination that could make life difficult for Greece.

Greece is clever on set pieces and can deploy a patient tactical approach well for 90 minutes, winning 1-0 very often.

Playing style: Nigeria attack on the wings in a 4-4-2 system, with two defensive midfielders supporting the defence, and one striker and one forward working together to do the hard work up front. They are physically strong and fast on the counterattack which makes them a dangerous opponent. Lars Lagerback’s favourite system plays well to these strengths, and the performance of the wingmen is key to their success.

Greece have a very solid defence-first approach, which didn’t work against Korea. They sit, catch the opposing team then score on the break forward. They depend on tall players to win high balls, like the long ball they tried without success against Korea. This advantage however is gone against Nigeria.

Previous Matches:

2 Games played, 1 Win each, 2 goals each. 

Most likely scenario: 

A 1-1 draw.

A slight surprise would be:

Either team win. Greece is slightly more suprising.

A real shocker would mean:

Either team win big.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 VERSUS 

Time: 2030h

Match: France v. Mexico (Group A)

Overview: Following Uruguay’s win last night, this game is an elimination game for both teams. France have to win against a tough, well integrated opponent that is Mexico. Mexico have to show that they are capable of beating the World’s best once again. This is a key match.

Venue: Polokwane - Peter Mokaba Stadium

Referee: Khalil AL GHAMDI (KSA) – The Saudi is a strange choice for what is bound to be a difficult match to referee. Does he have enough top level experience for this kind of game or is FIFA making another Jambulani?

Country:Saudi Arabia  

Date of Birth: 02.09.1970

Height: 177 cm

Place of residence: Jeddah

Occupation: Teacher

Mother tongue: Arabic

Other languages: English

International since: 2003

First international: Yemen-United Arab Emirates (08.09.2004)

Hobbies: Swimming

Fondest memory: FIFA U-17 World Cup Finland 2003 FIFA U-20 World Cup Netherlands 2005

Analysis:  France must win, but Domenech is not likely to change too much from the side that played Uruguay to a 0-0 as it was one of the best performances of his team in years, which is not saying it was a great performance. Mexico need to be covered in midfield, but not abandon their attacking options, which is a tough challenge for the manager Javier Aguirre in needing to strike the right balance. In other words, even though both teams must win, this promises to be a tight affair.

Key Players: 

Abou Diaby, was France’s best player in last game, bringing dynamism and danger to the offense, and covering in defence. It would take a dolt like Domenech to change him, but since a normal manager wouldn’t remove him we will assume the energy he brings to midfield is key for France.

Gerardo Torrado, does the same thing for Mexico as Toulalan for France, a defensive midfielder that relaunches attacks after good tackles, and has a vicious long shot, although we might never know that after the Jamboulani’s is making shooting tougher.

Danger Men:

Franck Ribery is off course a real danger man, but we are yet to see if it is to his own team or the opposition given his form lately. He has to rediscover his brilliant midfield play and shake off personal problems in order to create the goal opportunites his team need to advance.

Giovani dos Santos had a very good game against South Africa, and the young attacking midfielder can really re-earn his reputation with a good performance leading Mexico’s offense today His dribbling and crossing will be a threat to France.

Missing player:

France have lost Cedric Carrasso their third goalkeeper to injury.

Weaknesses: France are finding it very difficult to score lately, which is incredible given the talent in the team. They are also playing several players in unnatural positions which can cause confusion and mistakes in key situations. In short, France’s coach is their weakness.

Mexico find it tough to play physically strong teams, and can be outmuscled in corner kicks and freekicks, or in the midfield. They are also rather open and attacking as a team, meaning that they leave a lot of space which could be a major weakness that France will exploit.

Strengths: France are talented. Their players are capable of a lot in every position. Their defensive midfielder Toulalan seems to be in great form which should make life hard for Mexico.

Mexico have very effective attack based on dangerous wingplay. They can get the ball into the box with a good cross and score rather quickly. If they can beat of France’s physical presence to create the right kind of tempo in attack this could prove lethal.

Playing style: France have been playing with a single attacker and five midfielders of late. Anelka is the lone striker that needs to link up with the midfield and produce the movement that results in goals. This 4-5-1 formation is rather timid for a team with such attacking potential, but it makes France very hard to score on. 

Mexico are normally a 4-4-2 team, but here play a flexible 4-3-3 that works as a 4-5-1 when needing to hold a tough opponent like France. Their wing play is very important, and most of their goals come from high and low crosses.

Previous Matches:

The teams have played 6 games, France winning 5 outscoring Mexico 15-4 and 1 game has been a draw.

Most likely scenario:

France will win 2-1.

A slight surprise would be:

A draw.

A real shocker would mean:

A Mexican win.