Friday, June 4, 2010
Group A - France, Mexico, South Africa and Uruguay
7:14 PM | 
Posted by
Ray Park
Group A consists of France, Mexico, South Africa, and Uruguay.
This group does not appear to be a group that is hard to make predictions for, even though at any given moment anything unexpected can happen. (That is the beauty of the game.) With that being said this group consists of fairly strong teams, but not a team I would consider to be a top competitor in the later stage of the tournament. So, let's take a look.
Pride of the HostFor an obvious reason, South Africans will hope their team will perform great, especially considering the history of the World Cup, where the host nation very often perform nice enough to pass through the group stage, in addition to the fact that they, among the nations in Group A, are the team that is most prepared for the climate. However, it appears very unlikely for South Africa to perform better than the other 3 teams to move forward.
Player to Watch: Steven PIENAAR (MF) - This midfielder from Everton is the player that will open up the ways for the South African Offense. If South Africa scores in this tournament, this is the player that will start the movement.
Expected Result: Group Stage
High Expectation, Low QualityOn another hand, France is one of those teams that always enter the tournament with high expectations. There are very few teams for whom anything less than winning-it-all is less than satisfactory, and France is definitely one of those teams. However, I just do not believe this is their year. This team does consist of rising talent for Les Bleus, but they are just not there yet. They do not have the team that they had for 1998 and they do not even have the team they had for 2006, event though there are players who participated on both of those tournaments still remaining on the squad.
Player to Watch: Yoann GOURCUFF (MF) - There are many world-class players on this team, but the player that will shine in this tournament is this Bordeaux midfielder. Though he might not be as well known as some of his teammates, he is a force to be reckoned with in the midfield. His strong presence and sharp passes will definitely bring badass-ness to Les Bleus' offense.
Expected Result: Quarter Finals
The best of CONCACAFMexico is without a doubt the strongest team in North, Central America and Caribbean, even if the Americans disagree, the fact speaks for itself. This is also a nation that has very many young talents who can create magical touches on the field. Overall, this team might not be what you would call a World-Class team, but at the same time you cannot count out this Mexican team. Composed of experienced players such as Blanco, who participated in 1998 World Cup and rising talent such as Giovanni Dos Santos who, only a couple of years ago, was the biggest star of their youth team, Mexico is not coming to South Africa, just to "chill-out" and participate. But, will they be able to hold the cup on the last day of the tournament? Not likely.
Player to Watch: Carlos VELA (FW) - This young striker from Arsenal is definitely one of the super-stars of this Mexican team, despite only being young-age of 21. In recent friendly matches, he has definitely proven the value of his presence on the field. Especially along side Giovanni Dos Santos, this Mexican forwards will definitely provide a few goal ceremonies their fans can enjoy.
Expected Result: Round of 16
Former GloryHere is a nation, that was once very strong and renowned for their great football team. Uruguay is one of a few nations in the world who has held the World "Cup". As the matter of fact, they have done it twice. That is double the record of France. However, those victories came a LONG time ago. In recent tournaments, they were just happy to be participating. So, the question is will they be able to bring the gold and glory back to their nation or will they remain to be that "less-than-good" modern Uruguayan team? While, I do recognize strong talents on their team, I think most of the world already knows the answer is leaning towards the latter.
Player to Watch: Diego FORLAN (FW) - Do you remember that guy, who was the back-up striker for Manchester United, but was not really good enough and was sold-off to Villarreal and all of sudden became a top striker in La Liga? Yeah, this is that guy! He is a phenomenal striker, and even though he has not be as successful with his new team Atletico Madrid, he still is a player who can surely score goals!
Expected Result: Group Stage
Predicted Group Result
Match-Ups:
RSA vs MEX - 0:2
URU vs FRA - 1:3
RSA vs URU - 0:1
FRA vs MEX - 2:1
MEX vs URU - 2:2
FRA vs RSA - 3:1
RSA vs MEX - 0:2
URU vs FRA - 1:3
RSA vs URU - 0:1
FRA vs MEX - 2:1
MEX vs URU - 2:2
FRA vs RSA - 3:1
| Team | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| France | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 9 |
| Mexico | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Uruguay | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 4 |
| South Africa | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | -5 | 0 |
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