IAN HAWKEY'S PREDICTION: HOLLAND, CAMEROON
HOLLAND (FIFA RANK 3)
Best World Cup: Runners-up 1974, 1978 The first Europeans to secure their ticket and if Robin van Persie is fit, Arjen Robben can believe he's fully fit and Edwin Van der Sar is persuaded to return to international duty, they are genuine contenders
Best player: Wesley Sneijder. Started well at Inter until hampered by injury. An imaginative delight when confident
Their anthem should be: Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division
Odds: 14-1
Manager: Bert van Marwijk
Killer stat: Holland didn't drop a point in qualifying
DENMARK (26)
Best World Cup: Quarter-final 1998 Will loudly make up for their absence four years ago because their fans are cheerfully noisy. Their team are not a vintage Danish XI, with no Laudrups featuring, but they qualified well from a tricky group
Best player: Nicklas Bendtner. Excellent for his country and not, apparently, short on self-belief
Their anthem should be: Dream On by Aerosmith
Odds: 80-1
Manager: Morten Olsen
Killer stat: Won 1992 European Championship after being called up as replacements for Yugoslavia
JAPAN (43)
Best World Cup: 2nd round, 2002 The first team to qualify, bar the hosts, and impatient to translate their status in Asia on to the grander global stage. Their group gives them a small chance of matching their best run at a World Cup, when they reached the second phase in 2002
Best player: Shunsuke Nakamura. Loved at Celtic, still finding his feet at Espanyol. Excellent at dead balls
Their anthem should be: House of the Rising Sun by The Animals
Odds: 200-1
Manager: Takeshi Okada
Killer stat: Okada was in charge during Japan's first visit to the finals, in 1998
CAMEROON (11)
Best World Cup: Quarter-final 1990 Made heavy weather of qualifying but are at their sixth World Cup, armed with a brilliant centre-forward in Samuel Eto'o, a good goalkeeper in Carlos Kameni and a methodical Frenchman as head coach
Best player: Samuel Eto'o. Devastating on his day and he has many of those, as well as an ability to rise to the big occasion Their anthem should be: Love Cats by The Cure
Odds: 80-1
Manager: Paul Le Guen
Killer stat: Who says they are a one-man team? Eto'o scored nine goals in 11 qualifiers
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FIXTURES
Holland v Denmark June 14, 12.30pm
Japan v Cameroon June 14, 3pm
Holland v Japan June 19, 12.30pm
Cameroon v Denmark June 19, 7.30pm
Denmark v Japan June 24, 7.30pm
Cameroon v Holland June 24, 7.30pm