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World Cup
Preview: Group E
6th June 2006
The FIFA 2006 World Cup kicks-off on June 9th in Germany,
so The
Forgotten Imp
is here to provide a concise guide to the tournament; we
continue by looking at Group E.
Group E consists of Czech Republic, Ghana, Italy and the
United States of America.
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USA - Group E should finish with
the Czech Republic and Italy qualifying but the USA
cannot be discounted too quickly from altering this
expected outcome. The bookmakers agree and offer World
Cup odds of 6/4 for the USA to qualify.
Gone though, are the days when the average American
looked bewildered at the mention of the word
"soccer" - even when they were hosting the
tournament in 1994. Now, soccer is hugely popular across
the Pond, with many of the USA squad plying their trade
in Europe.
Sadly for the Americans, the American World Cup of 1994
came a decade too early for them. Had this tournament
been hosted in the USA, then we could have seen the USA
progress to the last eight.
Without this home advantage combined with their tough
draw, the USA will struggle to qualify for the next
round. However, if they do succeed in qualifying, then a
final eight placing could be theirs, as this squad is
their most talented ever.
Many of the USA squad such as Kasey Keller, Tim Howard
(Manchester United & Everton) and Brian McBride
(Fulham) are already familiar to English fans. A player
to watch out for is striker Josh Wolff, who has
considerable talent yet still plays in America with
Kansas.
Please click to view cheap soccer merchandise for Everton, Fulham, Manchester
United or USA.
Czech
Republic - The Czech Republic are the team most
threatened by the USA. The fact that they are ranked
second in FIFA's rankings, yet are only 25/1 to win the
tournament indicates a problem. This problem is finding
consistency at the big occasion. If they can overcome
stage fright then they could even win the tournament, as
the Czech Republic has considerable talent in their
squad.
However, should stage fright strike, then their dream
will vanish as it did during the European Championships
of 2004 when they unexpectedly lost to Greece. Several
key players are also battling to overcome injuries, which
will give the USA renewed hope of qualifying. However,
the Czech Republic are 2/5 to qualify from Group E.
The team often relies on the goals of Aston Villa's Milan
Baros and Jan Koller (Borrusia Dortmund). A player to
watch out for is Arsenal's Thomas Rosicky, as the bulk of
the midfield work could fall upon him due to injuries to
others.
Please click to view cheap soccer merchandise for Arsenal, Aston Villa or Czech
Republic.
Italy - It appears a foregone
conclusion that Italy will qualify from this group. The
Italians are not always the most exciting to watch but
they are very effective at winning matches.
This tournament could see a change of Italian tactic to a
more attacking based style. The reason for this is that
Italy possess one of the most in-form strikers in the
World, in the shape of Fiorentina's Luca Toni, who has
scored 31 goals this season.
Obviously Toni is the player to watch out for, and you
could be seeing quite a bit of him, as Italy are quoted
at 1/4 to qualify from Group E.
Please click to view cheap soccer merchandise for the Italy.
Ghana - Ghana, like Angola, are
another African nation making their World Cup Finals'
debut during this tournament. With World Cup odds of 7/2
to qualify, the bookmakers are expecting an early exit
for Ghana.
Things have not gone well for Ghana during their early
warm-up matches, although they have defeated both Jamaica
and South Korea during the past week. Prior to this, they
had lost to French club side Nice, which saw many from
that squad axed ahead of the final World Cup squad
announcement.
Among those who failed to make the final squad are former
Lincoln City strikers Junior Agogo and Derak Asamoah. Had
Asamoah made the squad then technically, Lincoln City
would have had a representative in the World Cup Finals
because Asamoah's contract has not yet expired even
though he has been released by Lincoln.
A player to watch for is the highly rated midfielder
Stephen Appiah of Fenerbahce. His midfield partner
Michael Essien is already a familiar name to English
football fans as he plays for Chelsea.
Please click to view cheap soccer merchandise for Angola, Chelsea, Ghana or Lincoln
City.
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Republic, England, Everton, Fulham, Germany, Ghana, Italy, Lincoln
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