Br. Singfred Sinior, BSM
From June 9, 2006, Germany will be the world’s biggest collective talking point as the 18th edition of the world’s soccer fiesta kicks off. The tournament promises four weeks of drama and intrigue by 32 teams, 64 matches, 736 players and hundreds of goals in the world’s most expensive four-yearly rendezvous.
Millions of spectators and billions of tele-viewers are hoping for a successful and memorable World Cup as debutante nations like Togo, Ukraine, and Ivory Coast seek to compete with established giants such as Brazil, Holland and Argentina.
The German organisers are pulling out all the stops to ensure that the event’s official slogan “A time to make friends”, will be more than mere plenitude. David Campell of the Observer Newspaper has reported that more than 200 German towns and cities will show matches on big screens in parks and squares. City centre streets will be fan zones.
Even fans without tickets who have always been seen as potential troublemakers, are being encouraged to come anyway. The 12 host cities will each have an alternative venue for non-ticket holders called the fanfest, likely having in mind the English fans whose behaviour has scarred countless previous tournaments.
Inevitably, some of the weak will punch above their weight and a few giants might likely be humbled, to add that vital element in the game of football: the unexpected. This will underline football’s unique status as the world’s only truly global obsession.
Who claims the Cup?
Out of the 205 FIFA member countries, only seven, namely: Germany, Uruguay, Italy, Brazil England, Argentina and France have ever won the planet’s most prestigious trophy, and with the exception of Uruguay, all these countries will hoist their flags in Germany come June 9.
Brazil, tipped as one of the hottest favourites, has won the trophy five times. Italy and Germany have each won it twice. Brazil is the only country that has won the trophy outside its continent and repeated the feat in Korea/Japan four years ago.
No country has produced such and endless supply of fantastic talent - all the way from Leonidas in the early years through the likes of Garrincha and Pele to the modern day crop of Rivaldo, Ronaldo and Ronaldhino.
Brazil’s World Cup record leaves no doubt of this country being the best football nation on the planet. Little wonder then, that the Brazilian Samba rhythms are rocking Africa’s flag bearers such as Tunisia, Togo and Angola, even if the most important thing for some will be to answer present in Germany and breath the world cup air.
Should Brazil win the trophy this time around, it will have broken new records, including an astonishing fourth world cup in a row.
Argentina is another Latin American team to watch out for in Germany. With great players like 27-year-old Juan Roman, strikers Herman Crespo and Lionel Messi who will just be turning 19 during the tournament, there are many other expectations.
Messi’s performance in La Liga has invited comparison with the great Maradona who led his side to victory in 1986.
Although the German team has not been fancied in recent times, it is difficult to write off a team that has made the last six world cup finals, including the fact that they will be playing at home. Jurgen Kinnmann is surely moulding a squad that will rewrite the German success scripts of 1970 and 1980.
England, with only one world cup final despite giving birth to the modern game, will be out for a kill in Deutschland. Coach Sven Goran Erikson has quality to choose from particularly in the midfield and attack lines. He can count on Frank Lampard, David Beckham, and Steven Gerrard, who are the envy of most coaches, and there are yet strikers like Michael Owen and the 20-year old Wayne Rooney to top off the formidable line-up.
France, the 1998 champions will be in Germany to atone for their shocking performance in 2002, when the defending champions failed to win a game or score a goal. The return of the midfield maestro, Zinedine Zidane, will surely boost “les blues”. Thierry Henry, the Arsenal goal machine has to show his entire goal-scoring prowess this time around.
Holland, masterminded by Ruud van Nistelrooy will want to avenge their failure to reach the last world cup finals. Italy, now marshalled by champions’ league winners, Marcello Lippi and Azzurri, will have to live up to the expectations of their fans, who are hoping to get the best of high quality players like Francessco Totti, Antonio Cassano and Fabio Cannavaro.
While these nations approach the World Cup with hopes of victory, reducing the number of goals to receive is the most important thing for others, but happily enough, “Football is more than a game and above all, much more than an opportunity to stockpile money and prestige.
It is also about hope, about opportunity for many young people who have few opportunities,” says FIFA president, Sepp Blatter. It is a sport and a social question. Come June, Germany will be the place to be.
Group A:
Germany, Costa Rica, Poland, Ecuador
Group B:
England, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden
Group C:
Argentina, Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro, Netherlands
Group D :
Mexico, Iran, Angola Portugal
Group E:
Italy, Ghana, USA, Czech Republic
Group F:
Brazil Croatia, Australia, Japan
Group G:
France, Switzerland, South Korea, Togo
Group H:
Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia Saudi Arabia
Comments