Group A
- Germany
- Poland
- Costa Rica
- Ecuador
Germany: The hosts of the 2006 Fifa World Cup. But are they the favourites? The mighty Germans seem to have taken a big fall from the previous '02 World Cup in Korea-Japan, where they were beaten by the Brazilians in the final. Things haven’t been quiet going for them since then. They were knocked out in the group stages of Euro 2004 followed by the resignation of their coach Rudi Voller. Jurgen Klinsmann was then appointed the coach. The ex-German striker immediately drew an uproar because (a) he wasn’t living in Germany,(b) he had zero coaching experience. He drew even more stick from the German media when he started coaching the team while living in California. After tremendous pressure from all corners did Klinsmann only recently decide to coach Germany while staying in Germany. Klinsmann’s former German teammate, Oliver Bierhoff, is the current “manager” of the team. Germany managed to finish third in the 2005 Confederations Cup. Klinsmann was brought in for the sole purpose of making the once mighty 3 time world champs in to world champs again. But will he succeed? They have been helped by a relatively easy group.
Squad:-
Goalkeepers:-
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LEHMANN Jens (First Choice)
-
KAHN Oliver
-
HILDEBRAND Timo
Defenders:- -
JANSEN Marcell
-
FRIEDRICH Arne
-
HUTH Robert
-
NOWOTNY Jens
-
LAHM Philipp
-
MERTESACKER Per
-
METZELDER Christoph
Midfielders:- -
KEHL Sebastian
-
SCHWEINSTEIGER Bastian
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FRINGS Torsten
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BALLACK Michael
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HITZLSPERGER Thomas
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BOROWSKI Tim
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SCHNEIDER Bernd
-
ODONKOR David
Forwards:- -
HANKE Mike
-
NEUVILLE Oliver
-
KLOSE Miroslav
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ASAMOAH Gerald
-
PODOLSKI Lukas
In all fairness, if Germany are to make an impact on this tournament their captain Michael Ballack will have to rally his young troops around him. Also, watch out for Miroslav Klose. Only time will tell if being the home team will provide more pressure on this young team or provide that extra boost in their bid to pacify their critics. But they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Afterall, they are ranked 19th according to latest FIFA rankings.
Prediction: Germany will top Group A. Make the second round. Will get past the second round and get knocked out in the quarter-finals.
Poland: The Poles have promised alot in the '06 World Cup. And expectations are running high, courtesy of their successful qualification run. They ended up being second in their group to England. They even had a better goal difference than England, but they did lose both home and away games against England. But will a good run in the qualifactions translate to a good run in the World Cup? In the past, the Poles have promised alot but never delivered. They were knocked out of the group stages in the '02 tournament and never made it to the Euro 2004. They are currently ranked 29th in the world.
Squad:-
Goalkeepers:-
-
BORUC Artur
-
KUSZCZAK Tomasz
-
FABIANSKI Lukasz
Defenders:- -
JOP Mariusz
-
GANCARCZYK Seweryn
-
BASZCZYNSKI Marcin
-
BAK Jacek
-
ZEWLAKOW Michal
-
DUDKA Dariusz
-
LEWANDOWSKI Mariusz
Midfielders:- -
KOSOWSKI Kamil
-
SOBOLEWSKI Radoslaw
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KRZYNOWEK Jacek
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SZYMKOWIAK Miroslav
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MILA Sebastian
-
SMOLAREK Ebi
-
RADOMSKI Arkadiusz
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GORAWSKI Damian
-
GIZA Piotr
Strikers:- -
ZURAWSKI Maciej
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RASIAK Grzegorz
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JELEN Ireneusz
-
BROZEK Pawel
Notable ommissions from the squad are goalie Jerzy Dudek and forward Tomasz Frankowski.
Prediction: Poland will be one of the first teams to book a flight home.
Costa Rica: They are currenty ranked 26th in the world, but have the potential to surprise. They didn’t have a smooth qualification, but they qualified. Even beat the US on the way, not that US is a soccer powerhouse. In the past, they have performed reasonably well in the world cup. Their only defeat in the '02 World Cup was against Brazil, yet they failed to qualify for the second round courtesy of an inferior goal difference to Turkey.
Squad:-
Goalkeepers:-
-
MESEN Alvaro
-
PORRAS Jose
-
ALFARO Wardy
Defenders:- -
DRUMMOND Jervis
-
MARIN Luis
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UMANA Michael
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MARTINEZ Gilberto
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GONZALEZ Leonardo
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WALLACE Harold
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BADILLA Gabriel
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RODRIGUEZ Michael
Midfielders:- -
FONSECA Danny
-
BOLANOS Christian
-
SOLIS Mauricio
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CENTENO Walter
-
AZOFEIFA Randall
-
HERNANDEZ Carlos
-
SEQUEIRA Douglas
Strikers:- -
WANCHOPE Paulo
-
GOMEZ Ronald
-
BERNARD Kurt
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SABORIO Alvaro
-
NUNEZ Victor
Costa Rica’s hopes lie with their all time leading scorer Paulo Wanchope, albeit he is bothered with a knee injury.
Prediction: Costa Rica will be second placed in group A, and will be knocked out in the second round.
**Ecuador: **The 39th ranked team that plays its home games at the high altitudes, and wins most of them. This is their second appearance at a World Cup, the first was in '02. In Korea/Japan they lost to Italy and Mexico but managed to defeat Croatia. They are a rapidly improving team, but still have a long way to go.
Squad:-
Goalkeepers:-
-
VILLAFUERTE Edwin
-
MORA Cristian
-
LANZA Damian
Defenders:- -
GUAGUA Jorge
-
HURTADO Ivan
-
DE LA CRUZ Ulises
-
PERLAZA Jose
-
AMBROSSI Paul
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ESPINOZA Giovanny
-
REASCO Neicer
Midfielder:- -
URRUTIA Patricio
-
LARA Christian
-
MENDEZ Edison
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CASTILLO Segundo
-
AYOVI Marlon
-
VALENCIA Luis
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SARITAMA Luis
-
TENORIO Edwin
Forwards:- -
BORJA Felix
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KAVIEDES Ivan
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DELGADO Agustin
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TENORIO Carlos
-
BENITEZ Christian
Prediction: Ecuador will put on a fight, but will be one of the first teams eliminated.
Overall, Germany has an upper edge in this group. The fight will be for the second place in the group.
Schedule:-
09-Jun-06 GER:CRC
09-Jun-06 POL:ECU
14-Jun-06 GER:POL
15-Jun-06 ECU:CRC
20-Jun-06 ECU:GER
20-Jun-06 CRC:POL
