World Cup Preview – Group B
According to ESPN, on paper, this is one of the less compelling groups. There is little in the way of natural rivalries. The group did not draw one of the elite European sides. There is a clear front-runner in Argentina and a clear No. 2 in Nigeria, which isn’t necessarily better than Greece or South Korea (the latter three squads are bunched closely together between No. 32 and No. 38 in the SPI rankings). But the Nigerians will benefit from playing on their home continent.
With Lionel Messi on the field, arguably the best player in the world, Argentina is the clear favorite in this group, But with Diego Maradona at the helm – he seriously may be insane – there’s no telling what could happen with this team. Maradona went through 78 players on the roster during the qualifying rounds and, when it came time to name the final squad, left off defender Javier Zanetti and midfielder Esteban Cambiasso, who both just happened to win the Champions League with Inter Milan. Their toughest match, against Nigeria, is their first one, and if they were to drop it, one can imagine Maradona panicking and giving away what should be relatively easy points against South Korea and Greece.
Nigeria looks like the safe pick to grab the second qualifying spot from this group. The Super Eagles like to play it safe, putting up five 0-0 draws in the span of 12 months and not scoring more than a single goal against another World Cup qualifier since 2008. The Nigerians may try to play for the draw against Argentina, figuring they can pick up at least four points in their matches against South Korea and Greece. Of course, they did fire their coach after qualifying for the World Cup, so this is another team where you just never know.
South Korea has added a goal-scoring edge to its lineup with Park Chu-Young joining striker Lee Dong-Gook. And don’t forget about Man United’s Park Ji-Sung. They were the only unbeaten team in Asian qualifying, but since then have been inconsistent, losing 3-0 to China but beating Ivory Coast.
Greece is bringing many of the players from its Euro 2004 championship squad, the same group that lost all three of its games in Euro 2008. The Greeks play deliberate soccer, they seldom attack except on counters and free kicks. Playing such a methodical style requires players who know the system, which is why there aren’t that many squad members who ply their trade overseas and there are nine who play at Greece’s best known club team, Panathinaikos. They were also helped by a qualifying group that included Luxembourg, Latvia and Moldova.
Information for this preview was researched, and more team information is available, here, here, here and here.
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