Group F: Of Course! Brazil To 2nd Round; Aussies Surprise
1>>>BRAZIL 9 points. Predicting Brazil's fate is about as easy as forecasting when the sun will come up. More of the same in this weak group. Question do emerge, though. The age of the Brazilian backline is worrisome. Cafu and Roberto Carlos may not have the pace to defend against some of the more talented winger in the next rounds. How Adriano and Ronaldo coexist?
2>>>AUSTRALIA 6 pts. 95,000 fans sent off the Socceroos last week with a victory over Greece. The Aussies are ready to explode with football fever. After tanking two successive playoffs in qualifying, this deserving team sprinkled with veterans with European experiece should be one of the feel-good stories of the tournament. They also possess a coach, Guus Hiddink, with a very successful World Cup pedigree
3>>>Croatia 3 pts. This is team that screamed when the coach named his 22-year-old son to the squad and then became its star player. Croatia will suffer more from an Austrailian team that should bring back memories of their own surprise run in 1998 through heart and grit than by any problem on the pitch.
4>>>Japan 0 pts. Like Sweden, the Japanese are in caos. Their stars are questioning the manager's tactics and teammates just days before the opener. They struggled in a weak Asian qualifying group and have should very little since.
Pivotal Match: Jun 22. AUS 2-0 CRO. The Socceroos do more than score their first goal, they advance with a two-nil shutout in their final match.
2>>>AUSTRALIA 6 pts. 95,000 fans sent off the Socceroos last week with a victory over Greece. The Aussies are ready to explode with football fever. After tanking two successive playoffs in qualifying, this deserving team sprinkled with veterans with European experiece should be one of the feel-good stories of the tournament. They also possess a coach, Guus Hiddink, with a very successful World Cup pedigree
3>>>Croatia 3 pts. This is team that screamed when the coach named his 22-year-old son to the squad and then became its star player. Croatia will suffer more from an Austrailian team that should bring back memories of their own surprise run in 1998 through heart and grit than by any problem on the pitch.
4>>>Japan 0 pts. Like Sweden, the Japanese are in caos. Their stars are questioning the manager's tactics and teammates just days before the opener. They struggled in a weak Asian qualifying group and have should very little since.
Pivotal Match: Jun 22. AUS 2-0 CRO. The Socceroos do more than score their first goal, they advance with a two-nil shutout in their final match.
