Group H: Our Infallible Prediction

Last and certainly least, here is a look at Group H. Lacking the glamour and sex appeal of most groups, when these teams face off in Germany you might be thinking you’re going to take a night off from watching football and to reintroduce yourself to your loved ones. But that would be a mistake because even though none of these teams is going to win the World Cup they should offer games that are more entertaining than your loved ones. Goals should be aplenty in this group.

Spain is the big name in Group H and as always it has the talent to go deep into the tournament. The team hasn’t lost since coach Luis Aragones took over in 2004. It has a big time striker in Raul. It has great young talent in Cesc Fabregas and Fernando Torres. All signs are pointing up for Spain, except this is the World Cup and Spain always underachieves in the World Cup. I don’t see that changing this time around either. Spain will be fun to watch and will score a bunch of goals, but it will also be sent home in group play.

Saudi Arabia is a better team than it was in 2002 when it lost all three of its games including an 8-0 spanking by Germany. Saudi Arabia is also a better prepared team this time with an ambitious pre-tournament schedule that should benefit its players who don’t get to play against top notch competition often enough (only two Saudis have ever played for European teams). Saudi Arabia has one of the tournament’s top keepers Mabrouk Zayed, who should be kept busy because despite the improvements in his team, Saudi Arabia will still struggle. The beatings won’t be as bad as 2002, but I see three games and out for the Desert Falcons.

Ukraine is best known for having one of the top strikers in the world, Andriy Shevchenko, but this is a team that is more than just a one man show. Alexei Belik, Andrei Vorobey (both Shakhtar), Andrei Voronin (Bayer Leverkusen) and Oleg Venglinksy (AEK Athens) are all competing to join Shevchenko up front. The midfield is anchored by Dynamo Kiev’s Ruslan Rotan and Andrei Gusin who plays for Samara in Russia. The backline is centered around Dnepropetrovsk’s Andrey Rusol, a young player who may be the Ukrainian with the most to gain from a breakout World Cup performance. Oleg Blokhin’s team will score goals and it will have just enough defensive strength to win this group.

That leaves the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia. Perhaps looked down upon because it lacks pedigree, Tunisia is an experienced team that is extremely well coached by Roger Lemerre. Tunisia rarely looks disorganized and does not give up bad goals. For this reason alone, I like them to come out of this group. Throw in Francileudo dos Santos, one of the best strikers you don’t know, and Tunisia has just enough of an offensive attack to edge out a Spain team that is better on paper.

Group winner: Ukraine
Group runner-up: Tunisia

Here is the complete listing of Our Infallible Predictions.

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Group H