Germany – The wounded giant
Germany, 32 years after the gaining the World Cup in Munich, a team in disarray, a coach under heavy fire, humilations on and off the field. A host without a chance? Well, think again. This German team is wounded, hurt and downtrotten, but….home field advantage, some world class individualists and a huge portion of fighting spirit…well, a dangerous combination indeed.

However, it can go both ways. If players like Ballack, Podolski and not least Lehmann starts off well, they will be dangerous to anyone carried away on a possible wave of euphoria. On the other hand, the team has obvious flaws, especially defensively, so absolute failure is by no means impossible. The first match against Costa Rica will show the direction.

Players to look out for:
Michael Ballack
Lukas Podolski
Jens Lehmann

Prediction:
Germany is the clear cut group favourite, but a great deal will depend on their first match and whether the team can create the essential spark which means the whole German nation will be behind them. All in all; only a fool would understimate Germany as the World Cup host.
1st place – 7 or 9 points

Poland – A repeat of 1974?
Poland has fond memories from the World Cup being staged in Germany, as they quite surprisingly took bronze medals in 1974. It should however be highly unlikely to see the Polish team repeat this performance, as a spot among the final 16 should be the realistic target. This would compensate for the massive dissapointment of the World Cup 2002, where Poland suffered an early exit.

Coach Pawel Janas has created a team going through to Germany without major difficulty even though 2 defeats were suffered against England. This is probably the key to the Polish team: they can play with anybody, but they will eventually meet their limitations when the run into the favourites. And…they should prepare themselves for a real battle for second place in this group.

Players to look out for:
Maciej Zurawski
Tomasz Frankowski
Jacek Krzynowek

Prediction:
Poland will most likely have to fight it out with the Ecuadorians for second spot in this group. A battle which seems very hard to predict, as also the Costa Ricans will intervene and most probably gain some points against the two. The european conditions and a last match against Costa Rica could give Poland the small but needed edge.
2nd place – 4 or 5 points


Ecuador – Home sweet home….
28 points – that was the total of the Ecuadorian team in South American World Cup qualification. 23 of those points were gathered at home soil, where the Ecuadorians could benefit from the high altitude among other things. Now Europe is calling, and conditions are going to be different, the question remains: How good is this team really when playing the world elite and without the all important home advantage?

Coach Suarez has build a strong unit with a nice mixture of young and old, e.g. players like Lara and Delgado. What could provide their failure is likely to be their goalscoring ability away from their safe haven in the high altitude, but on the other hand discipline and good defending might just as well be enough to ensure a place among the last 16. However they will surely need to gain at least one point from their encounter with Poland on the opening day of the World Cup.

Players to look out for:
Christian Lara
Franklin Salas
Agustin Delgado

Prediction:
Having failed qualification to the second round when participating in a World Cup tournament for the first time in 2002, the Ecuadorians will try everything possible to set sails for further qualification this time around. Poland will be quite some obstacle on their way, but Ecuador will by no means find this task impossible to overcome. It is going to be very, very close, perhaps a failed qualification on goal difference?
3rd place – 4 or 5 points

Costa Rica – Past glory and present……?
The Costa Ricans have made thiings difficult for themselves. How? By twice before having delivered absolutely splendid World Cup displays really making a great mark on the World Cup tournaments of 1990 and 2002. They will indeed have something to live up to this time around, and they will probably find it difficult to repeat these acheivements, even though coach Guimaraes ability as a motivator and tactician should not be underestimated.

The Costa Ricans struggled to find their way to Germany until Guimaraes, the coach of 2002, returned to the team in April 2005. From that time the team improved rapidly but further improvement will be necessary, if qualification from this group is to be achieved. However, discipline hand in hand with individual skills could see Costa Rica deliver a surprise or two, but realistically it will be hard to avoid 4th place in the group. Remember though, this was said also in 1990!

Players to look out for:
Paulo Wanchope
Gilberto Martinez
Walter Centeno

Prediction:
Costa Rica plays the World Cup opener against the hosts, and everything but defeat will be a major surprise. My guess is that the Costa Ricans will struggle to score goals, that they will gain a point or two against Ecuador and/or Poland, but that they will leave Germany without a win. Still, a magnificent result to be qualified for the World Cup for the third time in 16 years.
4th place – 1 or 2 points