Road to World Cup – Group E

Netherlands

Robben, van Persie and Sneijder are the kind of players every team would wish to have.

One of the favorite teams to win the World Cup and definitely my favorite. Recently they have been rated only as underdogs but with the talented players they have, they should definitely do well this time. They have always played entertaining football and surprisingly never won a World Cup. They were twice runners-up in 1974 and 1978, the time which their style of playing was referred as “total football”. Their recent performance in the group stages of Euro 2008 was almost similar but went on to suffer a shock exit in the next round by losing to Russia. But the players would have very well gained experience and wouldn’t repeat that mistake. Sneijder, van Bommel, Robben, Van der Vaart have all had a great season. van Persie missed most part of last season, but his performances in the recent friendly matches have been like as if he was never injured. The only concern right now is whether Robben will be fit in time. He is ruled out of at least their opening game against Denmark. He is working very hard to be fit in time and the good thing is he is confident that he will be there in South Africa. It will be a pity to miss such a talented star at the World Cup.
9 goals in 3 matches group stage of Euro 2008 and a shocking defeat against Russia in knockout round. Amazing play by the Dutch players.
Key Players: Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder, Robin van Persie, Rafael Van der Vaart, Mark van Bommel.

Cameroon
One of the best footballing nations from Africa and has constantly produced few talented players. Currently their best player is obviously their captain and their star striker Samuel Eto’o. The gifted striker has suffered a lot due to racial discrimination in Spain and Italy and playing in South Africa will be much better. They had previously reached quarter-finals once in 1990 but never got past group stage any other time. Having missed out in 2006 and playing in their home continent will be a big boost. They aren’t as strong as Netherlands but still can give their opponents a tough time.
Key Players: Samuel Eto’o, Alexandre Song, Pierre Webo, Jean Makoun, Carlos Kameni.

Denmark
They were once a strong team during the 80’s and 90’s when they had players like Michael Laudrup, Peter Schmeichel. Considering that this will only be their fourth World Cup, this is a team that hasn’t got much in them. However, they did surprise everyone by finishing at the top of their group in the qualification ahead of Portugal and Sweden. There are very few top players in this team and the rest really aren’t that good. Bearing in mind their performance in qualification, they can progress to next round but their recent defeats against Australia and South Africa in friendly matches show otherwise. The team is also hit with injuries. Their top strikers Nicklas Bendtner and Jon Dahl Tomasson are both struggling to stay fit.
Key Players: Daniel Agger, Nicklas Bendtner, Jon Dahl Tomasson.

Japan
This is their fourth consecutive World Cup but they have reached the knockout round only once. They have to be prepared for yet another first round exit as they neither do have easy opponents to face nor do they have players who make a big difference. Former Celtic player Nakamura is surely their best player and he will be looking to push his players to at least end their campaign on a decent note.
Key Players: Shunsuke Nakamura, Kaisuke Honda.

Netherlands will be the team that will finish at the top of this group. Second place fight wont be that interesting as Cameroon look much better than the other two teams.