Our final look at the teams and shirts of the World Cup ends with two of the favourites, Brazil and Spain, who head up Groups G & H. If you want to buy a shirt, just click on the title link above the images……….

Group G

Brazil

Brazil have been placed in what has been marked the “Group of Death” alongside the Ivory Coast and Portugal, but in all honesty, it shouldn’t trouble the 5-time winners one jot. With their first group game being against North Korea, Brazil are likely to have a nice gentle start to the tournament, while the other two teams will have to dive straight in at the deep end. Packed with experience, the Brazil squad may not have the exuberance of previous years but they are excellent in defence, tough, wiley and play the counter-attack with clinical precision. It’s not many teams that would – or could afford to – leave out the likes of Ronaldhino and Milan’s Alexandre Pato, but manager Dunga has  – and that should serve as a severe warning for the rest of the world.

Brazil Home

Brazil Away

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Ivory Coast

The draw has been a bit tough on Ivory Coast yet again – but they will still be hopeful of qualifying from the group stages and will be lookng at their first match with Portugal as crucial. They have some tremendous talent in their side – Drogba and Kalou of Chelsea, and the Toure brothers are the stand-out names – and although they cruised through their qualification, a disastrous African Nation’s tournament saw manager Vahid Halilhodzic sacked, to be replaced by none other than Sven Goran Eriksson, who was obviously enticed by the prospect of a healthy pay cheque steering the Ivorians to potential glory. It’s hard to say how Ivory Coast will do – they could just as easily win every match as lose them – but their unpredictability will make them dangerous opponents. I fancy them to draw with Portugal, but still qualify in second.

Ivory Coast Home

Ivory Coast Away

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Portugal

Portugal had an absolute stinker in their qualification group, being beaten into second place by Denmark and forced into a play-off with Bosnia-Herzigovina, who they beat 1-0 in both games. Oil slick, key player and captain Cristiano Ronaldo failed to score throughout the whole campaign and Portugal will be looking at him to have a bigger impact in the finals  if they are to get out of their group. However, despite their poor showing, the Portugueuse are currently third in the FIFA rankings and with a wealth of experience and squad members selected from top culbs all around Europe, you would be stupid to write them off completely. Obviously, their opening match with the Ivory Coast will be key to qualifying, but even if they win that and come second in the group, their opponents in the next round are likely to be Spain. It is hard to see them going any further, unless luck is on their side.

Portugal Home

Portugal Away

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North Korea

North Korea haven’t qualified for a World Cup Finals since 1966, when they shocked the world by beating a highly-fancied Italy team 1-0 to reach the quarter-finals to play …… Portugal. The Koreans raced to a 3-0 lead in that match, before Eusebio and the rest kicked into gear, eventually triumphing 5-3. So, North Korea will certainly feel that they are due some payback and are likely to see the Portugal game as their World Cup Final. The Korean team is, as you would imagine, shrouded in secrecy, but what we do know is that they qualified after losing just 2 games and conceding only 7 goals in 16 matches – don’t expect them to be push-overs. The Koreans will be fit, organised and set up to protect their goal with 5 across the back – the other teams will need to be patient if they want to avoid red faces. Don’t expect any North Korean fans, though; they are banned from travelling by Kim Jong Il.

North Korea have just finalised a deal with kit maker Legia, who will provide them with a home and away strip and release them internationally before the tournament starts. As there are no replica kits sold in North Korea, shirts have been very hard to trace – now Legia are involved, it should make things easier for collectors. We’ll update this post as soon as we hear more……

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Group H

Honduras

Honduras aren’t fancied by many to get out of Group H but if they can replicate their performances against Mexico and the United States during the qualifiers, they could well be capable of spreading egg on the faces of over-confident opponents. Striker Carlos Pavon scores goals for fun and although he is getting on a bit, 57 goals from 98 games is a record any international forward would be proud of. He is backed up by another razor sharp finisher, Genoa’s Davis Suazo. On the down side, is their defending; Tottenham fans will be aware of the benefits of having Wilson Palacios in your side, but the defensive midfielder will have his work cut out sitting in front of a slightly shaky back four. Honduras will need to plug that back line if they are to upset the apple cart and get anything from their games against Chile and Switzerland. Unlikely to qualify, but tenacious enough to earn a bit of luck – definitely worth watching.

Honduras Home

Honduras Away (Coming soon)


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Spain

It’s usually around this time that the world starts saying that Spain are a supremely talented team, but never do well when it counts. After their victory in the European Championships, not many are saying that now. There is a supreme confidence in the Spanish side and rightly so; they are a magnificent team who play beautiful football better than I have ever seen, at such pace and with such grace that is so enchanting you sometimes forget to breathe – expect to hear plenty of Ole!‘s over the next few weeks. But they do the ugly things well, too. When they don’t have the ball, you’ll see them press, harry and chase it down, causing the opposition to make mistakes. They are supemely fit as well, highlighted by consistently scoring late, last minute goals over the last two years. Can they be beaten? On paper, you could only really see Brazil or possibly Argentina doing so at the moment. But of course, football isn’t played on paper and it’s worth remembering that even if you have no real challengers, the biggest danger could be yourself.

Spain Home

Spain Away

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Switzerland

Switzerland may well have qualified as group winners, but that doesn’t really tell the whole story. In reality, their group was weak and it’s worth pointing out that they were actually beaten 1-0 by European whipping boys Luxembourg – and even worse, it was at home. However, under the tutelage of legendary manager Ottmar Hitzfeld, they pulled themselves together and managed to qualify – you can only beat what’s in front of you – and will be reasonably confident of their ability to get through to Round 2. They do have some good players; Tranquillo Barnetta and Eren Derdiyok of Bayer Leverkusen both come to the finals with a decent season behind them and their Udinese midfielder Gökhan Inler is a class act. But a defence that relies on Phillipe Senderos is always going to have heart-in-roof-of-mouth moments and the quality of the opposition in the group suggests that any mistake will be swiftly punished. In recent years, Switzerland have been too defensive for my liking, particularly as they have some decent players – if they try the same tactics this time around, I fear they’ll be going home early.

Switzerland Home

Switzerland Away

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Chile

Watch out for Chile – they tipped as dark horses by many and could cause some serious problems to the big boys, as proven by them finishing second to Brazil in the South American qualifying group. Like Spain, Chile employ a pressing game high up the pitch and will chase you until you give up the ball – and they won’t give them back. Expect excellent passing, slick one-twos and inter-changing positions at pace from a team that doesn’t have the household names that others do – although that could well change after the tournament. If they can get through what is a very tricky group, they will be very capable of winning one-off matches. They’ll be great for the neutral and some of the football that will be on show in the game against Spain promises to be of an extremely high quality. An excellent team that should win some new fans….

Chile Home (Coming soon)

Chile Away (Coming soon)

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