World Cup Preview - Poland
By David Walker
Outright Odds: 125/1
Group A Winners: 4/1
Following a disastrous 2002
world-cup campaign in which coach Jerzy Engel talked up his side’s prospects only for them to be beaten 2-0 by South Korea and hammered 4-0 by Portugal,
Poland will be keen to recreate their former World Cup glories.
Under coach Pawel Janas, Poland made short work of their qualifying group, enjoying home and away victories against Austria, Azerbaijan, Northern Ireland and Wales. Two narrow 2-1 defeats to England prevented a clean sweep but eight wins out of 10 matches was more than enough to cement their place in the finals.
In qualifying they proved their ability to beat average teams convincingly and they will need to repeat this on the grand stage if they are to repeat their glorious campaigns of 1974 and 1982 in which they finished third. However, they also need to prove they have what it takes to beat the stronger sides as they did in 1974, when Argentina, Italy, Sweden and Yugoslavia were dispatched before beating Brazil to claim third place.
They certainly have the firepower to do so and Poland’s main strength lies in
attack. During qualifying they cracked in 27 goals, notably the 8-0 thrashing of Azerbaijan and scored at least once in all 10 of their qualifying matches. More importantly, they scored 10 more than group winners England managed for all their multi-million pound’s worth of strikers and only three sides scored more goals than the Poles during the European qualifying campaign.
Elche striker Tomasz Frankowski, nicknamed “The Goals Hunter” and Celtic forward Maciej Zurawski fired in 14 goals between them during qualifying while Southampton’s Grzegorz Rasiak is also in contention.
Poland are also a side that is not short of experience. The expected starting line-up has an average age of over 30 while Jacek Krzynowek, Jamil Kosowski and Radolsaw Kaluzny have all played in the German Bundesliga. Four years ago the team struggled to cope with the climate in Korea and Japan but will have no such issues this time when making the short trip over the border into Germany.
Their only real weakness is at the back where they have developed a habit of conceding soft goals which will not go unpunished when they face a team in clinical mood.
Recommended Bet:
Poland have received a favourable draw in which they should arguably beat both Ecuador and Costa Rica with the local “derby” fixture against Germany sandwiched in between. The dismal failure of four years ago means the Poles cannot be backed confidently to win Group A, although they are strong enough to qualify from it.
Poland to qualify from Group A @ 8/15
Poland to beat Costa Rica @ 4/5
David Walker runs a popular free World Cup bets website. A free 45-page World Cup preview guide is available from the website and features a "free World Cup football shirt for every reader" offer.
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World Cup 2006 Preview - Germany
By David Walker
Outright Odds: 8/1
Group A Winners: 4/9
Former national favourite and Tottenham Hotspur diving enthusiast Jurgen Klinsmann takes control over the next generation of
Germany players who are keen to end 16 years of hurt and win the
world-cup for a fourth time on their own soil.
Klinsmann has thrown the traditional playing style manual out of the window. Gone is the patient, tight gameplay, his teams are sent out to play a "fast-paced, attacking and very aggressive"
game which has significantly improved their goal tally. However, this strategy, along with a number of inexperienced defenders (none have played at a World Cup finals before) has seen a once resolute back line concede almost as many goals as the
team score at the other end.
The current squad is void of any true
superstar names, with only Michael Ballack offering real world class status. Per Mertesacker, Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger hope to prove there is life after former heroes Lothar Matthaus, now-manager Jurgen Klinsmann and Andreas Moller.
While there are question marks over the defence, Schweinsteiger forms part of an outstanding midfield alongside Ballack and the more experienced Sebastien Diesler and Torsten Frings. These players will have to work hard to ensure their untested defence (bar veteran goalkeeper Oliver Kahn) does not get caught out and that a sufficient supply line meets their equally World Cup virginal strikeforce of Kevin Kuranyi and Podolski.
As always, host nations will have their critics about how ready they are to perform on the biggest stage of all after playing only friendly matches for over a year. Germany did participate in last year’s Confederations Cup which offered a decent level of competition. The Germans finished third but a 2-2 draw against Argentina and narrow 3-2 defeat against World Cup favourites Brazil suggests they are on the right track. Strikers Kuranyi and Podolski also rattled in five goals between them.
German sides appear to relish being criticised and seen as the “underdog”, yet are always there or thereabouts at the business end of the tournament. Indeed, they were dumped out of the 1998 tournament in the quarter-final stage by Croatia, their worst result at the World Cup since 1958, but reached the final four years later.
Klinsmann’s side has learned to accept their limitations but combat this by working for eachother as a team. Rudi Voller lead his much-criticised Germany team to the final of the 2002 World Cup so the message here is, never write off the Germans, especially on their home turf.
Recommended Bet:
Expect Klismann’s side to come out all guns blazing during the tournament and with home advantage they should ease through the group stage. A much criticised German side reached final four years ago, so why not this time aswell?
Germany to win Group A @ 4/9
E/W Germany to win the World Cup @ 7/1
David Walker runs a popular free World Cup bets website. A free 45-page World Cup preview guide is available from the website and features a "free World Cup football shirt for every reader" offer.
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Football World Cup News
Author: John Francis
The
football fever is back and is slowly gripping the football
crazy nations around the world. The 2006
FIFA world-cup, also
known as World Cup Football, is to take place in
Germany. News
regarding world cup football is coming in thick and fast. The
finals are scheduled between 9 June and 9 July 2006. The teams
for the finals have been identified and grouped. Tickets sales
have already started and are receiving enthusiastic response
from around the world. Tight security arrangements have been
made taking into account the conditions prevailing in certain
parts of the world. Team preparations, injury worries of the
teams, top players, the preparations of the stadiums and
security measures are some of the hot topics for world cup
football news.
Expert opinion on the different teams that are taking part in
the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals are an important column in many
websites, magazines and newspapers. The form of important
players and their injury worries are updated taking into account
their current performances in the major leagues around the
world. Young and new players are introduced to the football
fans. Latin American and European teams are the most discussed
teams. Earlier it was hard to get news about little known teams
participating in the world cup finals. But with the Internet
revolution, it is now easy to get news about African and Asian
teams participating in the finals. The expectation from the home
team and their preparation is another important news item
discussed exclusively.
Information regarding world cup football ticket sales is another
important news item that is featuring in most of the media
around the world. Traveling to Germany during the world cup is
another important area dealt. Visa issues, the venues,
transportation, accommodation and other nuances involved with
traveling during the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals is finding space
in many of the top journals. Hooligans and the problem created
by them are favorite news items for several agencies. The
measures taken to deal with hooligans have already started
appearing.
The most important resource to collect
news about 2006 FIFA
World Cup finals is the Internet. There are several sites
providing all the latest information on world cup football
finals. Some of them also help in purchasing tickets. Travel and
accommodation arrangements are also offered by several websites.
They also provide details about the products related to world
cup football. Regularly updated news is the greatest advantage
that the Internet provides.
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World Cup Football
i offers information about the soccer world cup.
