Sweet Wisdom

People want to be happy. That's a simple straight up fact that no one can deny. You can go out on a street and survey 100 people, and ask them "do you want to be happy?", not a single person will respond with a "no". Furthermore, for the most part, a lot of things that people do in their life time relate back to, at least eventually, them being happy. But really though, how do you achieve happiness?

See, when I was younger, well actually, even up until recently, I used to believe happiness is something that just comes to you naturally. If you are meant to be happy, then you'll be happy - if not, then you won't be. That's just it. Or at least so I believed. But, I came to realize that's not true at all. As the matter of fact, if you want to be happy, you must learn how to be happy. After all, happiness is a state of mind, and only you can achieve it for yourself; it is all a matter of perspective. Let me tell you why this is the case.

Like I said before, I used to believe happiness is something that naturally comes to people. Sometimes that might seem to be true. You look around, you see people being happy when something good happens to them, or when they obtain something nice. For an instance, you just won a lottery for $1,000 - OMG you must be so freaking happy! Well, there's no denying them. But, that kind of happiness is just a temporary one, and it is not a true long lasting (or rather permanent) kind of happiness, which is what happiness is really all about. You are happy because you just instantly got free money, but what happens when you lose that money? Are you still happy? The answer probably will be, no. That goes same for all the other cases where happiness just "naturally" comes to you. You became best friends with this super cool dude, you are so happy. But times pass, and you guys drift apart and you are no longer friends, are you still happy now? Or what if you are happy because you were offered a nice job? But what if it's taken away.

See, different situations might bring or take away happiness to/from you. But at the end, it is your mind set that determines whether you are happy or not. It is not the situation itself, but it is the mind set you get under that situation that determines your happiness. At the end of the day, only YOU can determine your own happiness, no one or nothing else. Sure, there might be other people around you that make you happy, but it's because you allow them to make you feel happy. If you set your mind up that they are just annoying you, then even if they were trying, you'll still be annoyed rather than happy.

That's why I say you have to learn how to be happy, in order to be happy. How do you learn it? Well keep remind yourself to find good side in every situation or in every object, find something, even if it's a little thing, that'll make you happy. Let's use an example. Just a couple of days ago, I went to my bank, and I found out that I had been paying extra $8.50 per month for 10 months that I didn't have to pay. Of course I was upset at my bank. But, it was also my fault for not checking my bank statements. So, I talked to the clerk and she said that most refund she can make is for the past 90 days, so 3 months. I was like, "ok, well it's better than nothing". Then, she talked to her manager, and worked things out and actually gave me a refund for the past 6 months! I was actually really happy. When I walked out the bank, I was thinking "I could be happy right now or be upset right now, but let's just be happy." The thing was, I could've been all grumpy about that fact how I lost $34 for the 4-months refund I didn't get back. But, I chose to be grateful and be happy for the $51 I got back! The choice was up to me, and I CHOSE to be happy.

Of course, when you will often find yourself in tough situations where it's really hard to find any bright side. Or you might compare your life to someone else's and it just might not look as fantastic. But, with time and a little bit training of your mind-set, you'll be able to find true happiness that is within you. As my favorite ice-cream store's slogan says "Find Happiness Within". So, next time you get stressed out, perhaps try to write down what stresses you out, and also something that is at least, even a little bit, positive - and try to focus more on the positive points!

Erich Fromm was a German psychologist and social philosopher from early and mid 1900s. He is most well-known for his international bestselling book The Art of Love. You see, he is not exactly someone you'd call a romantic, if anything he's more of a realist who believes that love is a skill-set you must obtain - that it is not as magical and mysterious as it's made ought to be. However, he does make valid points that could perhaps help people to love better.

He has this quote: "Immature love says, I love you because I needs you; but, mature love says, I need you because I love you." This sounds perfectly legitimate and just plain amazing. I would not dispute his claim for any reason or whatsoever. However, I think there is something beyond that. I think there is something beyond Fromm's mature love. That is the plain simple "I love you". There is no conditions; you could call it, "Unconditional Love". That I think will be the true definition of genuine and real love, which is very rarely found these days. See, Fromm's definition of mature love is great, and perhaps he didn't mean it this way, but it would see like there is still that condition of "need". And, I believe that in a true love, sometime you have to give up that need for "need" as well.

A lot of relationships you look at these days are based on "conditions", whether it's a friendship, a romantic relationship or even a marriage. So, does love exist in those relationships? Yes, most certainly. But, is it a true unconditional love, probably not. A lot of romantic relationships between most people in our current society are based more so on its physical aspect, rather than the emotional aspect even though they both do exist. Trust me I know, I was one of those people who cared a little more about the physical aspect - and now I've learned that really isn't the most important thing. And, I'm not just talking about sex, I'm talking about just need for physical proximity or need for some sort of solid stuff - you know what I'm talking about. However, it a true genuine relationship where more genuine love exists - emotional aspect becomes the high priority of that relationship, and it feels good. You see, if you solely rely on the physical aspect of a relationship and you get your pleasure solely from that, then that pleasure won't last long, and you'll constantly need more, and when you don't get it for a while, you don't feel happy - you are just not satisfied. However, the emotional connection you have in a relationsihp and pleasure you get from it will last for a long time!

This is where the importance of a genuine "unconditional love" kicks in. One day, I was listening to this talk from a Catholic Priest, who was renowned for healing people's [emotional] wounds. Obviously, we often hear about G-d's unconditional love. But, he wasn't just talking about that, rather he was focusing on how people get hurt - how people get hurt in a romantic relationship or a marriage, or even other forms of relationship. He said that people get hurt because when they give something to their partner, they want something in return. Even if it isn't the feeling of want, they are still expecting something. People get hurt from this, because sometimes that something would not return to them. It could be the case that the partner purposedly won't return the "favor" (let's just say that), but more than often it will be the case that the partner just doesn't realize that they need to. But, either way it hurts your feelings.

But, if you love someone genuinely, and unconditionally, then you won't be hurt by that. You see, when you love someone without expecting anything in return, then you won't get hurt. As the matter of fact, people who can love truly, will be happy simply from the fact that they can love this person that much. They'll find happiness in loving them, and giving them their love.
I was amazed by how true this is. However, I also knew how hard it is to love like this. As human beings, we do look out for self-interests. So, this isn't an easy task, but if, nay, when you love someone so dearly to the point where you just want to make them happy - then it will all seem to make sense. Perhaps it will take some practices, as Fromm argues that love does. In then end though, it all comes from your heart -as cheesy as that may sound.

So, next time you hear the phrase - "never make someone a priority who only makes you only an option", well think again about it - if you truly love that person, then none of that "priority" stuff will matter. You just love them unconditionally.

A Self Fulfilling Prophecy (SFP) is a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true, by the very terms of the prophecy itself, due to positive feedback between belief and behavior. At least that is the Wikepedia definition of it. So, why did I want to talk about it? It's because I realized that our behaviours in our daily lives are heavily influenced by SFP through my own experience. I might have heard of the term a long time ago, but I didn't realize how much influence it had on my actions in the recent past. Along with this I also learned that SFP has its beautiful side, the good (or rather average) side, and its UGLY side, which I also believe to be the most common side among many people or at least it was for me.

So, to talk about Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, I want to start off with the Good/average. You see, SFP is not necessarily something that only happens to and influence specific people. It happens to everyone on daily basis, pretty much regardless of who you are. Even our body functions that way. Don't believe me? Ok, well let's take an example of eating breakfast. You wake up in the morning and you feel "hmm, I'm hungry, I think I should eat", and 15min later, you are eating your breakfast. Or maybe you wake up and you don't feel any hunger, and you think not eating until lunch time will be good enough, then you can go until lunch time without feeling any hunger, and without a doubt you'll skip breakfast. Sounds pretty stupid eh! But look at the definition of SFP, you set out a certain prediction of what's going to happen, and it actually happens! See this is the good side of self-fulfilling prophecy, because it's something that we do everyday, even with every small actions we take. That's obviously why I called it the average side as well. But, clearly SFP does not end here, otherwise I would not have set myself out to write this.

So, up next is the Beauty. A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy can be a wonderful tool, if you use it properly. You could achieve pretty much everything as long as you believe it's going to happen, unless it is something that defies the laws of physics (who knows, maybe you could even defy them). It was a couple of years ago, a friend of mine at the time texted me in the middle of a night, and told me he was going to do this "adventurous thing" that I wish to not get into specifics of on my blog. I told him that there was no way he could actually pull it off. But then he told me that it was going to happen, he could just see it happening. Then I told him, yet again, that it was an impossible task. Then he told me not to be a hater, and he also told me how people thought Neil Armstrong was crazy for wanting to go to the moon, but then he built a freaking rocketship and flew himself to the moon. That was pretty much the conversation ending message for me, I was just thinking to myself "he needs to go to bed". Now, the next morning, he told me he actually pulled it off, then he told me something along the line of "hahaha in your face sucka!". I was quite amazed, but until now, I still don't believe that he actually managed to do it, there was no way. The point I wanted to make from that story was not so much about my friend, but about what my friend said about Neil Armstrong. Yes, the story was not as simple as my friend's text to me - but the point is, that there were people who believed that something could happen, nay, something WOULD happen even if it was against all odds - then they landed human beings on the moon. What this tells you is exactly the beauty of SFP. If you have a strong belief that you WILL do something or you have a faith that something is going to happen, then, well, maybe it won't happen, but the chances are highly in favor of you pulling it off. That's what SFP does to you, for you.

However, on the other end, a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy can be your worst enemy and nightmare. This is the UGLY side! What's terrible about this is that, this is what happens to many people, a lot more common than the Beauty. You see, when I was running for the University Students' Council President at the University of Western Ontario. I did not really have faith in myself to win. Surprise! I was telling everyone that I liked my chances, and how it could be anyone's game at the moment and etc to put up my "politician's face". However, deep inside, I was thinking that I was probably not gonna win. That's the prediction I had made. Now, there were reasons behind - much later start to the preparation in comparison, just poor preparation in general and a few others. But, even before the election really started, I was rather discouraged. When the campaign period started, I felt like I was much behind other candidates and my confidence level, at least internally, went down really low. See, I had already lost the fight before it even really started, and I didn't even really try to put up a decent fight half way through the campaign period. The end result? I ended up losing the election, terribly too! This is a horrible impact SFP can have on your actions. There is another example, possibly even worse than my USC Presidential election experience - which by the way meant everything to me at the time. It's still hard for me to talk about it in detail, so I'll just put it this way. Not too long ago, I had lost [another] one of the most important things in my life, even more important now than I thought before I lost it. But to simplify the story, I lost this "thing" because of the ugly, ugly side of SFP. I was at the lowest point of my life, at least top 3 lowest points. Even when I had "it", I believed that I hadn't. I believed I was losing "it", so I pushed and acted in a way that was leading me to actually start losing "it". Then, next thing I know, I was losing "it" even more, because I was very sure that was going to be the final outcome. I even got to a point where I was like "Ok, I've tried my best, and if I'm going to lose "it", I'm gonna lose "it", it's out of my hand now." Then I just completely gave up. The end result? Of course I lost "it". The thing was, it was all in my mind from the beginning, then that forced me to act in terrible ways that was hurting both me, another party, and the "thing". If I look back now, I didn't "try my best", I didn't even try my worst, I just didn't try at all. This is when I realized that Self-Fulfilling Prophecy had become my own worst enemy.

The important thing to take out of is this though: Self-Fulfilling Prophecy can be your strongest weapon or it can be your internal weapons of mass destruction. In the end, it is up to you to decide which one it will be. The reason why SFP, more than often, becomes the latter of the two options, is because many people lack in self-belief. They lack in faith. Even the most confident person sometimes gets scared. But, when you have that self-belief and faith, then SFP can bring you wonderful things. Yes, it is a lot easier said than done. You are not gonna easily get to the point where you'd be able to freely control SFP in your favor, and take it away from screwing up your actions - unless you have a complete faith that you can do it ;). So, why don't you start from an easy stuff. When you wake up in the morning tomorrow, think 'today is gonna be a wonderful happy day!', and smile. The end result? More than often, you will have a fantastic day with bright smile on your face!!!

So, when I was a kid, my parents used to tell me that Korean was the most scientific language in the world. I never really understood why, and I still don't quite get it - but I just believe it to be true, because they said so. But, also when I was a kid, my sister used to tell me that Korean was the most beautiful language in the world as well. I never really understood that either when I was little, but now I think I get it.

This summer, I feel like I have been more exposed to Korean language more than ever before - just from dealing with my family, but also attending the only Korean Catholic Church in Toronto as well, since my parents started attending there. I just have been exposed to it a lot this summer, but finding the true beauty of the language came from my exposure to K-Pop. You see, my sister [and my parents] love it, and as I spent more time around at home, I just got to listen to it more and more. Then, as I started to get what the lyrics were saying, it just hit me - 'wow, this language is beautiful'.

The thing is, a lot of these K-Pop songs that my sister listens to are supposedly romantic songs that hit Top 40 in Korea (or something equivalent). To get the attractions of the fans, it is obvious that these songs were composed of words and phrases that are as romantic as possible. So, after hearing a few songs, I got to understand what they were saying, and what they were supposed to express. It was the most beautiful thing ever. It seems like there are 100 different ways to express one single feeling, thus creating various impacts on the ones who listen to them.
Sure, for instance, in English language, there could be many ways you can describe the feeling of love. You could use different metaphors and similes and what not. However, you couldn't possibly come up with more different ways than you could do with Korean.

Another interesting thing is, you could try to translate the language into English - word-by-word - but it just would not hold the same impact. Perhaps that's what makes the language itself to be so beautiful and romantic. I just fell in love with some of these lyrics, and how sometimes I could emotionally relate to them. See, when I was a kid, I used to be embarrassed that I knew Korean, because I felt like it made me different from all the other kids. As I grew up, I realized it's something to cherish and I also realized it gave me some advantage - since knowing a second language always helps. But now, I'm actually really glad that I can understand this language and even speak this language to an extent - mind you I got WHOLE lot better at in over the summer as well.

This group is composed of some very interesting teams, and the final outcome of the group at the end of stage-one seems pretty clear, but not quite clear enough. One of the best teams to never win the world cup, the Oranje, will most likely come out as the number one of this group, and it would appear as the Cameroon will be able to take the second seed and proceed to the next round, but the challenges that will be put up by very talented Danish side and Asia's powerhouse Japan cannot be ignored.

Roar of African Lions!

Arguably the strongest African nation in this tournament, Cameroon is hoping to carry the hopes of the continent onto the Round of 16. Composed of very talented players, they have the best record in the World Cup history amongst African nations, and they are willing to perform the best again in their mother-continent. All of the atmosphere surrounding South Africa will make these lions to roar even louder than ever before.

Player to Watch: Samuel ETO'O (FW) - This former Barcelona striker, once again, had a very successful year with his new club Inter Milan, winning the tremble. Now, he is ready to show off his world-class talent on the biggest stage of all, to represent his country.

Expected Result: Quarter-Finals

Last of the Vikings

Denmark is the only Scandinavian country to have advanced to World Cup 2010, and they are here to show everything they have! This team might not have as many "well-known" players on the squad compared to some of their competitors in the group as well as in the tournament, but they have many young talents who are rising to the challenge, and their qualifier stage proved that this team is not to be taken lightly. However, it does not seem likely that they are ready to shine this year. They are going to fall a little bit short to their top competitors and most likely going to remain on the third spot of the group.

Player to Watch: Nicklas BENDTNER (FW) - This young striker from Arsenal is a rising star for both his club and for his country. He had a very successful club with one of the English giants this year, and now he is ready to show himself to the world on the biggest stage of all.

Expected Result: Group Stage

Pride of the Samurais

Apart from the host nation, Japan was the very first country to advance to the World Cup 2010 taking an early first place from their group in Asia. However there remains a question as to if this Japanese squad is good enough to advance to the next round, there is also a question as to if this sqaud is even as good as their past squads. Surely, they do have a few talented players on the team but, especially as their recent results have shown, this team is not quite prepared enough for this tournament, and they will most likely taken an early flight back to their island.

Player to Watch: Shunsuke NAKAMURA (MF) - The Japanese #10 is not new to this stage, and he has had his share of competing against some of the world class players. His time as a Celtic in Scottish Premier League was probably the highlight of his career, and we'll see if he can bring the same light to his international career this time around.

Expected Result: Group Stage

The Oranje

Netherlands is one of those teams that were always considered as a heavy favorite going into the world cup yet never victorious. They are once again entering the tournament with abundunce of talented players on their side. I mean, where do I even start? Experience defender Giovanni Van Bronchost? A powerful captain Van Bommel? Dirk Kuyt? Wesley Schneider? There are just so many of them. However, they always had talented squads yet failed to show all of their worth, and it might just be the case that the history will repeat itself. Especially now with the possibility of their star player Arjen Robben, due to a hamstring injury.

Player to Watch: Robin VAN PERSIE (FW) - This Dutch striker had a very successful season with Arsenal, until he received a serious injury. However, he started to make recovery and now he's fitter than ever to compete. This player will be deadly from any areas within and surrounding the penalty box, and all the defenders should watch out for him.

Expected Result: Quarter-Finals


Match-Ups:
NED vs DEN - 3:1
JPN vs CMR- 0:2
NED vs JPN - 4:0
CMR vs DEN - 2:1
DEN vs JPN - 2:0
CMR vs NED- 1:2

Team	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Netherlands	3	0	0	9	2	7	9
Cameroon	2	0	1	5	3	2	6
Denmark	1	0	2	4	5	-1	3
Japan	0	0	3	0	8	-8	0

The competition in this group will be interesting to watch. While it seems like there is a prominent presence of Germany that could overwhelm their competitors, the other three cannot be underestimated. Since being part of AFC, Australia has become a strong force in Asia. They did not face too much difficulties in qualifying to the World Cup, and considering their last performance on this stage, it appears that they are not to be taken lightly in this group. Serbia is one of those European countries that have to live under the shadow of a few other powerhouses of Europe, but when the right opportunity comes along, oh boy they will shine! Ghana is also a strong African nation composed of quite a few players playing in the big leagues, and they are not to be overlooked either.

Soccer-oos!

In 2006, the Aussies returned to the big stage for the first time in 34 years, and their performance was definitely something they could be satisfied with. Ever since then, they never slowed down their gear and started preparing strongly for the next opportunity, and they succeeded without too much trouble. This is a fairly well experienced team led by veterans Tim Cahill (MF) and Mark Schwarzer (GK). However, their chances of advancing to the Round of 16 does not look too bright as they were put into the other 'group of death' in this World Cup. (The most obvious one being Group G)

Player to Watch: Harry KEWELL (FW) - This well experienced former Liverpool striker was the most integral part of Australia's offense in 2006 World Cup, and he will be, once again, for this tournament. His ability to strike might not be as sharp as it once used to be, but he is not to be taken lightly by any of the defenders in this group.

Expected Result: Group Stage

Not Quite There Yet!

The three-time champions, Germany, is always a force to be reckoned, and in recent tournaments, they have been proving their name-value. However, they were always just a little bit off from taking home their fourth trophy. In 2002, after a fantastic run, with the help from their MVP goalie - Oliver Kahn, they had to settle for the runner-up position as they fell powerlessly to the greatest soccer nation - Brazil. 2006 was not too different. Until they reached the semi-finals, their performance was fantastic. Well, in all honesty, their performance in their match agasint Italy was fantastic as well, they were just out-performed by their opponent who eventually became the Champions. So, how will they perform this year? They are still very much a strong team, and there are a few returning players from 2006, and some from 2002 such as their top scorer in the World Cup, Mirsolav Klose. However, they were dealt a deadly blow when it was announced that their captain, Michael Ballack, will not be joining to due to a serious injury he picked during English FA Cup. They are most likely to advance from this group, but we'll have to wait and see how they will be able to perform once they get out of the group stage.

Player to Watch: Philipp LHAM (DF) - This Bayern Munich left-back was a crucial part of Germany's defence (and offence occassionally), and he will definitely need to perform at his top level once again if Germany wishes to win this tournament. I love him, because while he is a good defender, he can also be so quick in the transition to offence. In addition, he can also score, when he needs to. It is a joy to watch this little guy running up and down the entire field!

Expected Result: Quarter-Finals

No Essien!

Ghana was the first African nation to advance to the World Cup (well next to South Africa, but they technically did not 'advance') and they were also considered, by many, to be the other nation to advance from this group along with Germany [despite the tough competition]. However, I think this strong African nation will not be able to meet that expectation, and many of the fans' expectations were lowered as well when it was announced that their star midfielder Michael Essien will not be joining the team due to his injury. It is true that Ghana still has many players who play in the top class clubs in Europe, but the presence of Essien, or lack of it, will hugely influence them and their performance. If it was any other group, then they still might be able to get by, but considering the nature of this group being so competitive, even the smallest damage can deal a huge blow; and that is what I expect to see.

Player to Watch: Sulley MUNTARI (MF) - This midfileder had a successful season with his club team, Inter Milan, who became the UEFA Champions League champions. He is very powerful in keeping the midfield area strong for Ghana, and he did a great job doing it in 2006 as well. We will just have to wait and see how much he can do without his collegue Essien on the field.

Expected Result: Group Stage

White Eagles Will Fly

Serbia is not exactly a new comer to the World Cup, as the matter of fact you could consider them a veteran who already has 10-previous appearances (as Yugoslavia, and Serbia and Montenegro). They proved themselves to be worthy of entering this tournament by coming out first in their qualifying group stage after beating the 2010 runner-ups, France. They have a number of extremly talented players on the squad. An experience Inter Milan midfielder, Dejan Stankovic, along with Milan Jovanovic will lead their midfield to provide the right support for their forwards. They were put in a tough group, but they most certainly have the ability to fight through it and fly into the Round of 16.

Player to Watch: Nemanja VIDIC (DF) - This player's name should not be unfamiliar to you if you are a football fan and if you follow either the English Premier League or just European Soccer leagues in general. This world-class defender from Manchester United have had quite a bit of success with his club team and he made tremendous amount of contributions. It is now time for him to see if he can do the same for this mother nation!

Expected Result: Round of 16

Match-Ups:
GER vs AUS - 3:1
SRB vs GHA- 1:0
GER vs SRB - 2:1
GHA vs AUS - 2:1
GHA vs GER - 0:2
AUS vs SRB- 1:1

Team	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Germany	3	0	0	7	2	5	9
Serbia	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
Ghana	1	0	2	2	4	-2	3
Australia	0	1	2	3	6	-3	1

Making predictions for this group is not too much of trouble, at least on the surface value, it is pretty straight forward. There is a team that clearly appears to be the strongest within the group, and there is a team that clearly appears to be the weakest among them. As for the second advancement spot from this group, it is not too hard to determine who will take it, even though it could 'potentially' be contended. So, without even getting into too much analysis, the following conclusion can be made: 1) England 2) USA 3) Slovenia 4) Algeria.

Not Such A Great Come-Back

For the first time in 24 years Algeria is making a come-back to the biggest stage for the sport. However, the odds of them advancing to the next stage seems to be next to none. The worse part is, it is not because they were simply put in the worst group, it is just because they are not prepared enough for this stage. They have suffered 3-consecutive losses leading up to the tournament, until they barely beat UAE. It is a good thing they are not entering South Africa with a losing streak, but can they compete against the other three teams? Only time will tell. One interesting fact is that Algeria has never played against any of the teams in their group, so maybe there are rooms for surprises [no matter how small].

Player to Watch: Karim ZIANI (MF) - This midfielder from Wolfsburg can be really dangerous when he is given some spaces in their attacking half. Ziani can provide some deadly balls to his forwards that can be easily convereted into a goal or two.

Expected Result: Group Stage

Heart Of A Lion

Will the drought be finally over for the mother nation of football? Hopefully! The last time England won the World Cup was in 1966, and that was also their only victory. Ever since then, England's performance has been, not disastrous, rather "never-good-enough-for-first". However, if any year was going to be theirs, this might be the closest one. Led by a true world-class coach Fabio Capello, this Englad team is determined to bring the gold back to the country it belongs to. The overall team composition looks great especially with fantastic midfielders who are capable of being both the spear and the shield. Also, you can never leave out the striking force of Wayne Rooney who. still at a young age, is one of the best players in the world. They should not have too much trouble advancing out of this group, and their chances for the gold does not look too bad either.

Player to Watch: John TERRY (DF) - With the recent injury to the captain Rio Ferdinand, England is in some serious trouble in terms of their defence. This is where Chelsea's captain - John Terry - will have to step it up and maintain a strong wall of defence to protect the goal from any of their opponents. He is definitely one of the best defenders in the world, it's time for him to prove his worth.

Expected Result: Semi-Finals (3rd place)

Barely Made It! Can They Barely Make It Again?

Slovenia is not exactly a team I am too happy with. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against them, I am just bitter because Slovenia beat Russia in the play-off round of European qualifications. I personally think Russia is the team that is more deserving to play in the World Cup, but since they are here, let's give them a benefit of doubt. But, the point is, they barely made it to the tournament on the aggregate, worse yet, they made it through thanks to an away goal advantage. So, their road to the World Cup was not exactly was not smooth, and it would appear their group stage will not be too smooth for them either. So, we'll have to wait and see if they can somehow make it through the the Round of 16 from this group. Perhaps on goal differentials?

Player to Watch: Rene KRHIN (MF) - He might only be a 20-year old youngster entering the tournament for the first time. But this Inter Milan midfielder is full of potentials, and it'll be interesting to see how much he can grow through out the tournament.

Expected Result: Group Stage

USA, USA, USA

Ah, another nation that is on the verge of being "good", and it kind of eats me up. With all the jokes aside, USA is definitely becoming a force to be reckoned with, even though they definitely cannot be considered to be a world-class team. They have a pretty solid team, and their win over Spain during the Confederations Cup [yes, against all odds, it happened] will prove that this team can pull off some amazing stuff when they need to. Fortunately enough for them, they are not placed in a group with too much competition, thus their advancement to the next round is not too far away from their reach.

Player to Watch: Clint DEMPSEY (FW) - This striker for Fullham can be fatal for the opponents if he gets the ball within the penalty box. His accurate shots will make the opponent goaltender look like a fool. Oh, and by the way, he is not too shabby just outside the box as well, so yeah, watch out for that!

Expected Result: Round of 16


Match-Ups:
ENG vs USA - 2:0
ALG vs SVN - 0:2
SVN vs USA - 1:2
ENG vs ALG - 4:0
SLV vs ENG - 0:3
USA vs ALG - 3:1

Team	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
England	3	0	0	9	0	9	9
USA	2	0	1	5	4	1	6
Slovenia	1	0	2	3	5	-2	3
Algeria	0	0	3	1	9	-8	0