Soccer

2006 WORLD CUP
GROUP E

By Jim Allen
Outsports.com

SUMMARY

There's two keys to this group: 1) Can Italy forget about the betting/match fixing scandal that's engulfed the Italian Serie A and 2) Which United States team will show up: the scrappy pluggers of 2002 or the mediocre plodders with little skill and no flair of every other World Cup year?  Sadly, I think it's the latter that will be on display in Germany, as I expect the Czech Republic and Italy to go through to the round of 16.  The subplot in this group is: Do Not Finish Second.  Whoever finishes second will almost certainly have to play Brazil (who are sure to win Group F) in the Round of 16.

CZECH REPUBLIC

Hot Player: Petr Cech FIFA Ranking: 2 Manager (nationality): Karel Bruckner (Czech Republic) Key Players: Jan Koller, Milan Baros (forwards); Pavel Nedved, Tomas Rosicky (midfielders); Tomas Galasek, Zdenek Grygera (defenders); Petr Cech (goalkeeper) Overview: I love the Czechs.  Oh, and their football team is good too!  I'm looking for this team to make some noise in Germany.  They have a superb goalkeeper in the gorgeous Petr Cech, one of the best creative midfield players in the world in Pavel Nedved and a good pair of complementary strikers in Milan Baros and Jan Koller.  The Czechs scored more goals than any other team in the European qualifiers and they've been in good form for the last two years.  I wouldn't be surprised to see them make the quarterfinals but one thing that's troubling is that they rely a little too much on the genius of Nedved to make things happen for them.  They need another player or two to provide those moments of genius that can turn a match around.  They'll no doubt be motivated, like everyone else in this group, to avoid finishing second in the group as that's 99% certain to mean a date with Brazil in the Round of 16.

GHANA

Hot Player: Sammy Adjei FIFA Ranking: 48 Manager (nationality): Ratomir Dujkovic (Serbia) Key Players: Matthew Amoah, Asamoah Gyan (forwards); Stephen Appiah, Michael Essien (midfielders); Habib Mohamed, Samuel Osei Kuffour (defenders); Sammy Adjei (goalkeeper) Overview: On paper, the Ghanaians don't have much of a chance.  In reality though, Italy and the United States have issues surrounding them, so if Ghana can get a few shock results, they could book their passage to the Round of 16.  Of course, this is their first World Cup, so anything they accomplish will be a first. The Ghana strategy will be clear: control midfield.  With Michael Essien, Stephen Appiah and Sulley Ali Muntari patrolling the middle of the pitch, there's a good chance they'll do that.  Ghana will be playing with a lone striker, Amoah, so expect a lot of tough, defensive play and quick counter attacks.  Ghana seem out of their depth, but with the quality of that midfield, they can cause some headaches for the other higher rated teams.

ITALY

Hot Player: Gianluigi Buffon FIFA Ranking: 13 Manager (nationality): Marcello Lippi (Italy) Key Players: Alessandro del Piero, Lucca Toni (forwards); Daniele De Rossi, Francesco Totti (midfielders); Alessandro Nesta, Gianluca Zambrotta (defenders); Gianluigi Buffon (goalkeeper) Overview: What a frustrating team Italy is.  The Serie A boasts some of the best players in the world and the Italian national team is overflowing with talent:  Toni, Totti, Nesta and Buffon are all world class players and the rest aren't far behind.  What spoils Italy is their tactics: for reasons I'll never understand, they often choose to take the air out of the ball and play a very defensive style.  With all that attacking talent, no less!!  Italy crashed out of Korean/Japan in spectacular style in 2002 and a repeat north of the Alps will simply not be tolerated back home. Another factor going in this tournament is the ongoing betting/match fixing scandal that's engulfed the Serie A and top clubs Juventus and AC Milan.  It's troubling that goalkeeper Buffon, one of the best in the world, has been implicated in a betting scandal.  If he gives up a soft goal, expect the knives to come out for him in the press.  Of more pressing concern for the Azzuri, however, is winning this group so that can avoid the probable winner of group F, Brazil, who plays the runner-up in this group.  As always, expect the Italians to be one of the more fascinating teams to watch.  Oh, and they're not bad looking as a group either!

UNITED STATES

Hot Player: Landon Donovan FIFA Ranking: 5 Manager (nationality): Bruce Arena (United States) Key Players: Brian McBride, Eddie Johnson (forwards); Landon Donovan, Claudio Reyna (midfielders); Eddie Pope, Oguchi Onyewu (defenders); Kasey Keller (goalkeeper) Overview: Team USA dredges up conflicting emotions for me.  As much as I loathe flag waving rah-rah stuff, I did get a buzz out of the Americans run to the quarterfinals in Korea/Japan in 2002.  On the other hand, I'm an England supporter through and through as that's the country I learned about football from.  Another factor is the bizarre attitude of most American sports fans of taking pride in not caring about the biggest sporting event in the world.  I despise bandwagon hoppers, and oh man, were those bandwagons creaking under the weight of the clueless pilers-on four years ago. Sadly, I don't think I have to worry about that this time around.  Team USA has been profoundly mediocre both in the qualifying stages and in the friendlies leading up to their matches in Germany.  The U.S. relies heavily on midfielder Claudio Reyna to provide service to the strikers, but he's been injury wracked for years and this tournament is no different.  As for true goal scorers, the United States has exactly two: Brian McBride and Landon Donovan.  Past that, well.....  If the United States is to advance, they'll have to duplicate how they played in Korea/Japan in 2002: superior athleticism, desire and a tight midfield controlling things.  As it stands, even if they make the Round of 16, they'll probably just be swept aside by Brazil.  Thus, most Americans can go to sleep about the real football for another four years.