This group includes one of the top favorites of the German World Cup: Brazil. However, it also features a strong lineup of contenders for a spot in the qualifying round alongside the auriverde: Australia, Croatia, and Japan.
The first match will pit the Australians against the Japanese on Monday, June 12 at 3 PM, while the following day at 9 PM, the group’s main match will see Brazil face Croatia, who would relish the role of being a World Cup giant-killer.
The second matches (Japan vs Croatia and Brazil vs Australia) will already be worth their weight in gold, and the Brazilians will not have an easy task against teams keen to snag the round ball wizards for their German hunting trophy.
Ronaldinho and Ronaldo, the spearheads of the Brazilian attack, seem unbeatable, but Pelé warns the favorites: “Every time Brazil has been considered the favorite, it has lost. This was the case in 1950 against Uruguay and in 1982 against Italy.” The Brazilian team is certainly one of the most talented in recent years, and the individuals that make it up also have the merit of combining their talents to produce football that is as polished as it is spectacular. With Emerson, Dida, Cafu, Kaká, and Roberto Carlos, Perreira’s team “will not let any match slip by and will aim for three wins to confidently enter the coveted round of 16.”
Recent matches against Australia (3 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss), Japan (5 wins and 2 draws), and Croatia (1 draw) portend well, and recent major victories against Chile (5-0), Argentina (4-1), and Germany (3-2) mean that an elimination in the first round would be quite a surprise as well as a national catastrophe.
To celebrate its fifteenth anniversary, the Croatian team hopes to do at least as well as the 1998 squad, which surprised everyone by reaching the semi-finals, the team’s best result ever. Securing qualification at the top of its group ahead of Sweden, the Croatians did not lose any qualifying match, eliminating Bulgaria and Hungary. An interesting detail is that the spearhead of the Croatian team is none other than the coach, Zlatko Kranjkar’s son, Niko. Unlike the 1998 team, a majority of players playing abroad make up a more experienced Croatian roster.
The opening match between Croatia and Brazil will already be decisive for qualification, and teammates Prso, Tudor, Babic, and Simic won’t wait for the encounters with Japan and Australia to secure themselves from a bitter third place.
Already three consecutive World Cup appearances, and Japan has become a regular at the global football tournaments. By a turn of the draw, the Brazilians will find a familiar face on the Japanese bench as Zico is at the helm of the team.
The last performance of the Japanese in the World Cup remains a good showing with elimination in the round of 16 by a Turkey that would finish third in the 2002 edition. A significant number of Asian players play in the Japanese league, with only four plying their trade in Europe: Nakata (Basel), Nakamura (Celtic Glasgow), Ogura (Grenoble), and Takahara (Hamburg).
A second-place finish in the group would perfectly suit the Japanese, who will kick off against the Australians in a match they cannot afford to lose, risking early critical danger.
Australia owes its qualification to the arrival of Guus Hiddink, who delivers another World Cup to his compatriots waiting for 32 years. A regular of semifinal appearances, with the Netherlands and South Korea he managed, might not expect as much this year in a tough group and with a first decisive match against the Japanese in the same plight.
Most of the Australians play in prestigious European clubs such as Liverpool (Kewell), AC Milan (Kalac, Grella), Newcastle (Moore), or Eindhoven (Culina, Thompson), with only two playing in the Australian league, Beauchamp (Central Coast Mariners) and Milligan (FC Sydney).
Not so simple for a squad playing its World Cup qualification against Tahiti, the Solomon Islands, New Zealand, or Fiji to face opponents like the Brazilians or Croatians.
But who knows, the so-called miracle of the Cup!
Predictions by the editorial team at Nice Première:
1-Brazil 2-Croatia 3-Japan 4-Australia
Group F Schedule:
June 12 in Kaiserslautern: Australia – Japan (3 PM)
June 13 in Berlin: Brazil – Croatia (9 PM)
June 18 in Nuremberg: Japan – Croatia (3 PM)
June 18 in Munich: Brazil – Australia (3 PM)
June 22 in Dortmund: Brazil – Japan (9 PM)
June 22 in Stuttgart: Croatia – Australia (9 PM)
