Route clear for European kings
Had Vicente del Bosque, the Spain coach, been able to hand-pick his country’s opponents in the group stage of the World Cup, he probably would not have come up with a much more favourable trio.
The tournament favourites have been handed a relatively straightforward path to the knockout stages. Chile are 50-1 to win the competition, Switzerland 150-1 and Honduras 500-1.
Should Spain top the group, as expected, they will be faced with a much tougher prospect in the next round, though, because they will come up against the runners-up of group G, which features the Ivory Coast, Portugal and Brazil.
Honduras may enter the tournament as one of its biggest outsiders, but they will arrive in South Africa with little pressure on them and not a great deal to lose. They could quickly emerge as the neutral’s choice, given their limited experience at this level and even more limited expectations.
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Only recently Chile’s participation was under threat after Rangers, a club side in the South American country, launched a legal action against the Chilean FA. Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, warned Chile that unless they sorted out their mess, they would not be allowed to take their place in the finals. The problem has since been resolved and Chile, who finished one point behind the group winners, Brazil, in the qualifying stages, will look to prove that their status as dark horses is merited.
Switzerland won one of the least challenging groups in European qualifying, losing only once, but they will have their work cut out to reach the next round.
Expect Spain to top the group and Chile to be runners-up.
SPAIN
Player to watch Andr?s Iniesta, the midfield player, was a driving force behind Barcelona’s treble last season and finished fourth in the Ballon d’Or voting
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Coach Vicente Del Bosque is a more stable character than Luis Aragon?s, his predecessor. Continuity is his watchword
Best XI (4-1-3-2): I Casillas — S Ramos, G Piqu?, C Puyol, J Capdevila — M Senna — F Fàbregas, Xavi Hern?ndez, A Iniesta — F Torres, D Villa
Celebrity fan Julio Iglesias — permatanned crooner
Population 40.22 million
Fifa ranking [1]
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World Cups 12 1934, 1950, 1962, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006
Best performance Fourth, 1950
How they qualified Winners of European group five. Euro 2008 win carried them to ten victories out of ten
Won 10 (Home 5, Away 5)
Drawn 0 (Home 0, Away 0)
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Lost 0 (Home 0, Away 0)
Form W W W W W
Goals scored 28 Goals against 5
Top scorer: David Villa 7
SWITZERLAND
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Player to watch Alexander Frei, whose international strike-rate is 40 goals in 71 matches, the fourth-best among players at this tournament Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, who won the Champions League with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund
Best XI (4-4-2): D Benaglio — S Lichtsteiner, S von Bergen, S Grichting, C Spycher — V Behrami, G Inler, G Fernandes, T Barnetta — A Frei, B N’Kufo
Celebrity fan Ursula Andress — big up front
Population 7.32 million
Fifa ranking 18
World Cups [8] 1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1994, 2006
Best performance Quarter-finals 1934, 1938, 1954
How they qualified Won European group two, the weakest group, only five points above fourth place
Won 6 (Home 3, Away 3)
Drawn 3 (Home 1, Away 2)
Lost 1 (Home 1, Away 0)
Form W W D W D
Goals scored 18 Goals against 8
Top scorers: Blaise N’Kufo, Frei 5
HONDURAS
Player to watch Hendry Thomas, the Wigan Athletic midfield player whose role is to protect the Honduras back four, as much through an ability to read the game as his athleticism
Coach Reinaldo Rueda is a footballing academic who has worked as a university professor. Took charge in 2007
Best XI (4-4-2): N Valladares — E Norales, E Izaquirre, M Sabillon, J Palacios — J Leon, W Palacios, H Thomas, A Guevara — D Suazo, C Pav?n
Celebrity fan America Ferrera — aka Ugly Betty Population 6.67 million Fifa ranking 38 World Cups 1 1982
Best performance First round 1982
How they qualified Third in Concacaf group. Through at death with win in El Salvador as Costa Rica drew
Won 10 (Home 8, Away 2)
Drawn 2 (Home 0, Away 2)
Lost 6 (Home 1, Away 5)
Form W W L L W
Goals scored 32 Goals against 18
Top scorer: Carlos Pav?n 7
CHILE
Player to watch Humberto Suazo, South America’s top scorer in qualifying. Looks a worthy heir to Marcelo Salas and Iv?n Zamorano, the Chile legends
Coach Marcelo Bielsa, 54, known for his disciplinarian approach. The Argentinian coached his native country at 2002 finals
Best XI (4-3-3): C Bravo — G Jara, W Ponce, G Medel, A Vidal — M Fern?ndez, C Carmona, J Beausejour — A S?nchez, H Suazo, M Gonz?lez
Celebrity fan Fernando Gonz?lez — top tennis type
Population 15.6 million
Fifa ranking 17
World Cups 7 1930, 1950, 1962, 1966, 1974, 1982, 1998
Best performance Third 1962
How they qualified Second in South American group. Showed consistency in some high-scoring games
Won 10 (Home 5, Away 5)
Drawn 3 (Home 2, Away 1)
Lost 5 (Home 2, Away 3)
Form W D L W W
Goals scored 32 Goals against 22
Top scorer: Humberto Suazo 10
Did you know?
? Spain have won their past seven World Cup group games, straddling the past three finals, scoring 23 goals in the process.
? Discounting their loss on penalties to Ukraine in 2006, Switzerland’s only defeat in their past 24 World Cup games, including qualifiers, was at home to Luxembourg, No 128 in the world.
? Honduras’s forwards in the qualifying campaign included the splendidly named George Welcome and Carlos Costly.
? Chile’s seven red cards in their 18 qualifying games was the most among the finalists.
Star player: Fernando Torres, Spain
There were plenty of doubts about Torres when he joined Liverpool from Atl?tico Madrid for £26.5 million in 2007, but 48 goals in the Premier League have answered any questions, and the way he has scored them has proved that he has the perfect combination of power, speed, skill and courage. Indeed, Spain have reaped the rewards of his development in the testing environment of the Premier League.
So Torres has answered all the original doubts, but a new one has emerged: over his fitness. His hernia problem can be cured by an operation that guarantees long-term health but puts a player out for six weeks.
It would not be ideal for Liverpool, but for Spain it would make sense. Do you feel patriotic, Rafa?
Spotlight on ... Honduras
It has been 27 years since their first appearance in the finals, and they have qualified this time only by the skin of their teeth. Heading into the last round of qualifying matches, Honduras knew that they would miss out on an automatic place in South Africa if Costa Rica beat the United States. Honduras gave themselves a chance with a 1-0 win over El Salvador and their place in South Africa was sealed when Jonathan Bernstein scored deep into stoppage time to give the US a 2-2 draw.
This Honduras team are regarded as the best in the country’s history and have the ability to secure the victory that eluded their predecessors in the 1982 World Cup in Spain. They boast four regular starters from the European leagues, with Wilson Palacios, of Tottenham Hotspur, and Edgar ?lvarez, of Bari, joining Maynor Figueroa and Hendry Thomas, the Wigan Athletic players, in Reinaldo Rueda’s first-choice squad.
Fixtures
Wednesday, June 16 Honduras v Chile (Nelspruit, 12.30pm); Spain v Switzerland (Durban, 3pm)
Monday, June 21 Chile v Switzerland (Port Elizabeth, 3pm); Spain v Honduras (Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg, 7.30pm)
Friday, June 25 Chile v Spain (Pretoria, 7.30pm); Switzerland v Honduras (Bloemfontein, 7.30pm)