The Americas

Ok. Due to popular demand, I shall have to do a blog on the America's... *hmph*... ;-) But don't worry, this should be short... *chucklz*... I'll be speaking about co-favorites Brazil & Argentina and the other South American countries plenty in the forthcoming weeks so I won't add them to this particular blog. Instead, I'll quickly concentrate on the North American countries. The biggest "threat" from here may very well be the U.S.A. Yeeees, I know, I know. And it pains me to say it too. But what does have to be said is that ever since the '94 World Cup was staged in the U.S. the team and nation has begun to grow, improve it's academies and even enlarge it's support for "soccer". But the age old argument and excuse of "ooo, well, it's not our main sport though" is starting to bore the rest of the world and now it really is time for them to stand up and deliver on the world stage. And maybe all this has been getting through to the players in the last couple of years too with an impressive string of results coming from the national team of late. Much credit has to be given to they manager Bob Bradley who, since picking up the team in 2006, has really started to push a lot of young players into the senior squad and experimenting until he could find the winning formula. And last year, that almost paid off in the 2009 Confederations Cup when they reached the final, eliminating Italy and beating Spain along the way, only to lose to Brazil in the last game. And this year they may even have a full squad to pick from whereas in previous years, it's been more like being able to pick from 50 world class goalkeepers and... well, no one else really (no disrespect to Cobi Jones of course). So this year, lets look out for their new young "prodigy" Jozy Altidore who will be supported by the very respectable Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan in midfield, both having had pretty good spells in the Premiership of late. They've got England, Algeria and Slovenia gunning at them in Group C, all of which will fancy their chances of picking up a full 3 points off them so they'll have their work cut out if they're to get through to the next round. Personally... I don't think they stand much of a chance but who knows, maybe on June 12th, they'll make me eat these words of mine ;-)

The U.S.A.'s close rivals Mexico gave them a good old spanking in last year's Gold Cup, smacking 5 past them in their own back yard in the final of the competition (that must have been embarrassing). Still remembered by many Brits for hosting the wonderful '86 World Cup (!), Mexico have been one of those teams that, on their day, could probably beat anybody... but unfortunately, those "days" only seem to appear once every 50-odd games or so. A joy to watch, for sure. I'd rarely change the channel if they were playing someone (unless Aliens was on Channel 4 or something!) and maybe this year, the South African climate will come to their aid a little. Drawn in Group A with hosts South Africa, Uruguay and France, I reckon this is a tough group to call. France will have to be favorites for this one but you could probably just pick a name from a hat for deciding who'll be going through with them. So, (sorry South Africa) I rate their chances here. I really believe this is actually the kind of time and stage in which Arsenal's Carlos Vela could blossom. He's show moments of brilliance for the Gunners in the last couple of years but just needs to pick up a little more consistency. Maybe this is the 21 year olds moment to shine though. Mexico have picked a lot of home-based players so will probably have a strong sense of unity and, with the ever present and super-strong Barcelona centre-back Rafael Márquez in there, they could be a force to be reckoned with. Also, I'm sure the world will be keeping a close eye on new Manchester United signing, 22 year old striker Javier Hernández.

Finally, Honduras! What do we think of when we mention the country of Honduras. Tropical climate and rainforests. Beaches on the Caribbean. The 1969 "Football War" between Honduras and neighbours El Salvador or maybe the current strife with Zalaya and the ongoing constitutional crisis? Not me! I think of Tottenham's Wilson Palacios, Torino's Julio César and Wigan's Maynor Figueroa (typical! Always thinking football...). Honduras don't have much of a record in recent World Cups and when they have taken part, they've mostly been comprehensively beaten. And, sorry to say but, this year may very well be more of the same. And although I've always been fond of Central and Latin American football, it has to be said that merely bringing these 3 players to this years competition, isn't gonna bring you much in the way of World Cup glory. I hope they have something special in the locker that I'm not aware of because, drawn in Group H with European Champions Spain, Switzerland and Chile, I can't even see them getting a point this year. Sorry Honduras :-(