England’s World cup campaign will have interesting match ups. England’s group consists of Uruguay, Italy and Costa Rica. This group is very interesting, as there are two spots that grant the ability to go through to the next round, and three serious contenders for the opportunity to qualify to the later rounds.
Italy
One of the strongest and historically successful outfits of the group. Being the World Cup winners in 2006 brings up a lot of good memories for the Italian side. Italy has a really good central midfield with Marko Verrati, the ever green Pirlo, and Danielle De Rossi. A promising attacking line with the likes of Ciro Immobile who had an impressive season, and Mario Ballotelli.
England has a promising squad, even though, this squad is following England’s Golden Generation, they will have a lot to prove. Having a strong attacking line up with Daniel Sturrigde, who had a brilliant season at Liverpool, followed by Wayne Rooney and Raheem Sterling. England’s attacking line up will be dependent the way Wayne Rooney plays and it will decide the way the world cup will pan out for England. Having a shaky defense compared to the previous golden years of Ferdinand and Terry, it will be interesting to see how they play against Italy.
Italy will be defending and playing counter attacking football, which England also likes to play. We saw that during the match between the teams at Euro 2012. England would want to use their speedy wings and try to hurt Italy from those areas. Nevertheless, the game will either finish towards Italy edging it or drawing the game.
Uruguay
The last World Cup performance by Uruguay was phenomenal. They finished fourth and Diego Forlan was named the best player of the tournament. This year, Diego Forlan would not be as effective. However, when you think about Uruguay, the first thing that comes to mind is Luis Suarez.
Suarez had a brilliant season with Liverpool and a good performance in the World Cup would definitely put him on the top three contenders for the Ballon d’or. The match against England and Uruguay’s whole campaign will be based on the way Suarez plays and if he plays. However, Uruguay does not have much to offer except for their phenomenal striking partnerships. Having Diego Forlan, Edison Cavani and Luis Suarez upfront is scary and it’s their main strength.
Forlan, for whom this might be his last World Cup and Cavani, who had a difficult season at PSG, while both have a lot to prove, but one can’t doubt their quality. Without Suarez, Uruguay will seem weaker, but they still are a threat. Even though their midfield and defense is not as strong as England’s, fast counter attacks and one single moment could tilt the game toward Uruguay clinching victory.
Having a good back four with Diego Godin, Atletico Madrid’s main power horse, and Juventus’ Martin Cacerez in defense, Uruguay have a fairly competitive squad. However, they lack a midfielder General- a person who can control the ball, that’s their main concern. Coming up against England’s experienced players like Gerrard, Lampard and Henderson- who had a good season with Liverpool, would be difficult.
England should win the midfield and control the game, handling the ball in the center. However, one mistake and they could get punished. If Rooney can perform at his best, he should and could lead England to victory. Nevertheless, Uruguay are still group favorites and even if Suarez is not playing, their other deadly strikers could punish England.
Costa Rica
Costa Rica is an obvious outsider of the group. Even though they finished second in their group qualifications for the World Cup ahead of Mexico and Honduras, they have little chance against the other three teams in their World Cup group in Brazil.
Having a young talent in Joel Campbell that almost upset Manchester United in the Champions League and PSV’s Bryan Ruiz as their main stars. Costa Rica will have a difficult time and would probably be the second team on the ball during all of their World Cup matches.
England should dominate the game, as this is their one game that they are seen as clear favorites. England should win this match if not by showing a beautiful game, but just on pure class. Costa Rica will defend a lot and have a chance of going home without a single point gained. As England will be playing their last game with Costa Rica, it will have some kind of impact on the table. Costa Rica could consider leaving the tournament with their heads up, so the game should show some promising football from the Costa Rican side, nevertheless, England should win and get all the three points.
