World Cup 2010: Part One - Powered with Spicebets

GROUP A

Uruguay
Sprinkled with players from Europe’s major leagues, his young side are determined to impress in South Africa, and in Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez they have the star quality to advance beyond the group phase and into the knockout rounds for the first time in two decades.

Strengths
Strong defence and aerial power are Uruguay's main attributes.

Weaknesses
Uruguay is an extremelly inconsistent and unpredictable team. Despite having its best stars at the front, Uruguay are a team that waste too many chances.

The Coach
Oscar Washington Tabarez has been questioned as coach, despite reaching qualification. He is a manager that adapt his strategy according to the rival: he's a 4-3-3 man, but you can often see his teams playing 4-4-2 or 3-4-1-2 as he looks to counter the opponent.

South Africa
The hosts will be relatively happy with their draw. Under experienced coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, the side are faced with high expectations from a demanding public but should be buoyed by a solid performance in the Confederations Cup.

Strengths
Skillful and quick, a number of the South African players are technically gifted and are confident enough to go for the dribble when others may not. Goalkeepers have always been of a high quality in the host nation, and the present crop is no different.

Weaknesses
At the moment, the main problem that Bafana have is finding the back of the net. A number of their matches end in goalless draws, and the side has struggled to score goals in friendly matches.

Coach
The man trying to lead South Africa to glory is Carlos Alberto Parreira. He seems to have a way with the Bafana players, and may be the right man to improve the team.

Mexico
Their qualification campaign saw them impress after ditching Sven Goran Eriksson and, under new leadership, they will also provide a test for their rivals.

Strengths
Individual talent, expecially through the middle. The Mexican team has a band of quality players, such as Rafael Marquez in the defense, Cuauhtemoc Blanco in the midfield, and Guillermo Franco up front, elements that are the backbone of coach Javier Aguirre's side.

Weaknesses
Mexico's main weakness is the lack of firepower. The Mexican national team create the chances but can fail to make them count.

Coach
Javier Aguirre is a coach who motivates his players, and proved it by rejuvenating matters after Eriksson's departure. His general approach is 4-3-3, but may vary depending on their opponents' movements.

France
The French should have enough to see off the others, but are notorious slow starters and will not want a repeat of the 2002 game against Uruguay when they drew 0-0 and had Thierry Henry sent off.
The generation of players that included Zinedine Zidane, Laurent Blanc, Didier Deschamps and Fabien Barthez finally found a way past the obstacles that had blocked the route of earlier vintages. Les Bleus can still call upon some of the biggest names in world football, with a seemingly endless production line of young talents like Franck Ribery, Karim Benzema and Yoann Gourcuff in recent seasons.

Strengths
France have a great attacking team with Nicolas Anelka, Franck Ribery, Thierry Henry and Yoann Gourcuff.

Weaknesses
Les Bleus have not found a good balance in central defence.
Coach
Domenech might be most hated person in the world of football. He has made a lot of errors in the past, fewer now than previously, though his management style is very unpredictable.

GROUP B
Nigeria
A solid set of players, the Africans will be boosted by the fact they are on their own continent and, despite struggling in their qualification group, they will want that second spot. Obafemi Martins will lead the line and should cause South Korea and Greece no end of problems.

Strengths
Attacking play has been the trademark of Nigerian football. The team are blessed with several top-rate strikers such as Yakubu (Everton), Obafemi Martins (Wolfsburg), Osaze Odemwingie (Locomotiv Moscow), Victor Obinna (Malaga), Chinedu Obasi (Hoffenheim) and Ikechukwu Uche (Real Zaragoza).

Weaknesses
The defence, and more specifically the heart of the back line, has proved to be the Achilles' heel of this team. They have also struggled to play as a team and so have often relied heavily on individual brilliance to get by.

The Coach
The swedish Lars Lagerback resigned after failing to take his own national team to South Africa, a steady rather than spectacular pair of hands, the affable European may just be what a fractious Nigerian team needs as it prepares for a first World Cup on African soil.

Argentina
Diego Maradona is not popular and only a last-minute qualification saved him from being fired as manager.
Despite a tortuous qualification, Argentina are travelling to South Africa with serious designs on winning the title after 24 years. The team is a star-studded squad, one that features several survivors of the team that reached the quarter-finals at Germany 2006, not to mention Lionel Messi and a host of other young stars with several youth titles to their name.

Strengths
The attack can score anytime, the midfield is solid.

Weaknesses
Argentina does not have a clear style of play. Its defence is not secure and attacks with disorder.

Coach
Maradona has little coaching experience, he play with a traditional 4-4-2 formation, but you can often see his team playing 4-3-1-2.

Greece
Accused of playing some of the dullest football around, the Greeks will want to grind down the opposition and won't be an easy test to overcome. After seemingly coming from nowhere to triumph at UEFA EURO 2004, Greece failed to reach Germany 2006 and they made a group stage exit at EURO 2008.

Strengths
Greece have been accused as being one of the most boring and anti-football teams ever but their biggest strength lies in its solid defence.

Weaknesses
When it comes to creative football, Greece suffers greatly.

Coach
Otto Rehhagel became again the 'Rehhakles' of Euro 2004 after he won yet another qualification for the Greek team in the finals of a major tournament. The German coach is definitely the most successful manager with the most unlikely squads.

Korea Republic
The Koreans may have provided a shock in 2002 on home soil, but there should be little chance of a repeat. A tough draw for them alongside former European champions, Nigeria and a side who have one of the best squads around. Greece could be a place to pick up points, but, without Guus Hiddink in charge, there is little to suggest that the Koreans will make a similar impact.

Strengths
Korea has good team chemistry which is comes from the characteristics of the Korean people who like to focus on the co-workers and the community.

Weaknesses
Defended set pieces has been a problem. Also there is a huge gap between regular players and substitutes in terms of performance.

Coach
Huh Jung-Moo was one of Korea's legendary players who had plied their trade in Europe (PSV) in early 80’s. He established a 27-match unbeaten streak during his second stint in the Korean national team. (It ended in the friendly match against Serbia in 2009)

GROUP C
Algeria
A great game against Egypt shown all the progress of the team, now it looks more solid with interesting young talents. They should have enough to beat Slovenia but they will find hard to beat more experienced teams.

Strengths
Discipline and freshness, the defence looks solid.

Weaknessses
Inability to travel. Sadly, that's exactly what Algeria suffer from. In addition, this squad doesn’t have a true striker yet. Ghezzal and Djebbour are not viewed as world-class.

Coach
There can only be one: Rabah Sadaane. He was even already present in 1980 when Algeria entered the Olympic football tournament.

England
Capello about the group: "I think it is one of the most balanced groups. Algeria have beaten Egypt so they are a dangerous side. I remember there have been groups that looked easy but then became really complicated," he told to Sky Italia.
With the best manager, most competitive players, loads of supporters in South Africa... this will be now or never

Strengths
Tactics. England have leaders in a few areas and an impressive tactical approach built around these key players.

Weaknesses
Worryingly, England seems to struggle to create and control against the best sides. France, Spain and Brazil in particular all stifled Capello's England.

Coach
Fabio Capello will be remembered as one of the greatest coaches of all time. His strength has always been leagues rather than cups, but he, despite not being an Englishman, will want this victory in South Africa as much as all of his players.

USA
The target for David Beckham and the MLS was to raise the profile of American soccer, now that they have drawn England that task is achieved. Under the careful guidance of coach Bob Bradley, a well-drilled Stars and Stripes' blend of proven internationals and up-and-coming stars never looked in danger of missing out, and will be keen to build on their second-place finish at the FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009.

Strengths
As the U.S. showed during their run to the finals of this summer's Confederations Cup, when the team stays compact, hustles, and scraps, they can beat anyone... including Spain.

Weaknesses
The Stars and Stripes struggle to generate offensive chances during the run of play.

Coach
Although criticised for being too conservative at times, Bob Bradley has led the U.S. to a 34-16-6 record since January 2007.

Slovenia
They are ranked 33rd in the world and England had very little trouble beating them in a recent friendly.

Strengths
We simply cannot overlook a rock solid defence. Including the two playoff matches, Slovenia only conceded six goals in 12 games.

Weaknesses
The wings and in midfield doesn't seem to be so effective.

Coach
When he was appointed in January 2007, Matjaz Kek was far from a popular choice, but after securing qualification his popularity sky rocketed.

GROUP D
Serbia
Their first World Cup as an independent nation, Serbia do have a host of skilled players. However, without the experience they could suffer and should stutter against Germany for certain.

Strengths
The defence is the strongest part of the Serbian squad, Nemanja Vidic and Branislav Ivanovic commanding the backline to perfection and their attacking instincts at set pieces proved valuable in Serbia’s qualifying campaign. The two attacking midfielders, Milos Krasic and Milan Jovanovic, were exceptional on the wings throughout the campaign and their performances caught the eye of Europe’s best clubs.

Weaknesses
Serbia may struggle to compete against some more physical and experienced sides

Coach
Radomir Antic is one of the most well-known managers around, having taken the reign of the big three Spanish clubs. His appointment was greeted with mixed reactions from the demanding Serbian media and public. In the team’s first home game against Lithuania, there were only 15,000 fans, which angered Antic. But as games went on and Serbia’s growing dominance over their opponents grew, the whole nation was behind 'Raddy'. He is like a father figure to the players.

Germany
Traditionally, the Germans have always been solid at major tournaments and it would take a brave man to predict them to miss out on the group stages. The Germans' consistent success is based on deep reserves of experience, finely-honed tactical know-how, and the ability to rise to the occasion when the chips are down. Apart from Ballack, German hopes rest largely on striker Miroslav Klose, a goal-getter with the uncanny ability to hit peak form bang on time for the FIFA World Cup, and former talented youngsters turned senior pros Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski.

Strengths
Fitness, motivation and organisation are the key driving forces for the German national team.

Weaknesses
The Germans have been unable to pick up victories lately against 'big nations' like Brazil, Spain and Italy. In the 2006 World Cup, they lost in the semi-finals against Italy and in Euro 2008, Loew's men lost in the final against Spain.

Coach
Loew has the assistant coach to Juergen Klinsmann during the 2006 World Cup. The media speculated that Loew took care of the tactics while Klinsmann was only the motivator.

Australia
Four year ago Australia qualified via Oceania group with a dramatic play-off against Uruguay. This time in the Asian group they could qualify without problems.

Strengths
Very well organized, enough international experience and good fitness.

Weaknesses
Goal scoring will be a problem: african, american and european team are much more hard to beat than asian teams.

Coach
Pim Verbeek wasn't the first choice of the Australian Federation, his coaching style is a conservative one that prioritises discipline over aesthetics.

Ghana
The only African side to get out of the group stage at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™ and the first to qualify for South Africa 2010, Ghana are anxious to prove themselves as the cream of the continent. With added experience since their 2006 adventure, where they lost to Italy and Brazil but beat the Czech Republic and USA, Ghana are set to be a major threat at Africa's first FIFA World Cup.

Strengths
Ghana’s midfield is star-studded and serves as the distribution centre for the wings towards its strikers.

Weaknesses
The team needs strikers that can create their own chances and score at any given time.

Coach
Milovan Rajevac assumed this post in August 2008, most of his career has been spent in his homeland Serbia with Red Star Belgrade being the highest-profile club he managed.