BRAZIL

Fixtures

Brazil v Turkey June 2 Ulsan 6pm
Brazil v China June 8 Seogwipo 8.30pm
Brazil v Costa Rica June 13 Suwon 3:30pm

Coach: Luis Felipe Scolari

Record: 1930, 1934, 1966 First round; 1982 & 1990 Second round; 1954, 1986 Quarter Finals; 1938 & 1978 Third place; 1974 Fourth place; 1998 runners-up; 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 Champions.

FIFA Ranking: 2

Brazil struggled even to qualify and went through 62 players and four coaches on the rocky road to Korea/Japan. New coach ‘Big Phil' Scolari is not a advocate of the ‘beautiful game' and his teams tend to rely on organization and brutal spoiling tactics. Still Brazil have been lucky in the draw and any team that can boast Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Roberto Carlos must be in with a chance.
Men to watch: Ronaldinho is now beginning to show his potential at Paris St Germain. Quarter-finals at least for such a gifted squad.

On the sidelines

Coach ‘Big Phil' on sex: ‘Any individual who cannot control this aspect of his life is not a human being, but an irrational animal.'

The squad

Goalkeepers
1 Marcos (Palmeiras) Age 26, 15 caps
12 Dida (Corinthians) Age 28, 50 caps
22 Rogerio Ceni (Sao Paulo) Age 29, 13 caps
Defenders
2 Cafu (AS Roma) Age 31, 103 caps
3 Lucio (Bayer Leverkusen) Age 24, 15 caps
4 Roque Junior (AC Milan) Age 25, 17 caps
5 Edmilson (Lyon, France) Age 25, 12 caps
6 Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid) Age 30, 84 caps
13 Belletti (Sao Paulo) Age 25, 10 caps
14 Anderson Polga (Gremio) Age 23, 5 caps
16 Junior (Parma) Age 28, 6 caps
Midfielders
7 Emerson Ferreira (Roma) Age 26, 43 caps
8 Gilberto Silva (Atletico Mineiro) Age 25, 6 caps
11 Ronaldinho Gaucho (Paris St-Germain) Age 22, 24 caps
15 Kleberson (Atletico Paranaense) Age 22, 5 caps
18 Vampeta (Corinthians) Age 28, 36 caps
19 Juninho Paulista (Flamengo) Age 29, 42 caps
23 Kaka (Sao Paulo) Age 20, 2 caps
Forwards
9 Ronaldo (Internazionale) Age 25, 57 caps
10 Rivaldo (Barcelona) Age 30, 58 caps
17 Denilson (Real Betis) Age 24, 53 caps
20 Edilson (Cruzeiro) Age 30, 14 caps
21 Luizao (Gremio) Age 26, 7 caps

TURKEY

Fixtures

Turkey v Brasil Ulsan 3 June
Turkey v Costa Rica Incheon 9 June
Turkey v China Seoul 13 June

Coach: Senol Gunes

Record: 1950 Qualified but withdrew; 1954 First round

FIFA Ranking: 22

Young Turks Hakan Sukur and his teammates will be looking forward to a second round berth at least, even though this is only the second time the Turkish team has ever qualified for the World Cup (the first time was in 1954). Expectations are high after recent European successes at club level by Galatasaray and at national level by the Euro 2000 quarter-finalists.

On the sidelines

There are no hooligans in Turkey - and that's official. Responding to a request from Japan for information on Turkish troublemakers, Turkish police said there were none. Trouble in the past was made up of 'isolated incidents' and therefore there will be no violence at the World Cup involving Turkish fans.

The squad

Goalkeepers
1 Rustu Recber (Fenerbahce) Age 29, 63 caps
12 Omer Catkic (Gaziantepspor) Age 27, 5 caps
23 Zafer Ozgultekin (Ankaragucu) Age 27, 1 cap
Defenders
4 Fatih Akyel (Fenerbahce) Age 24, 35 caps
2 Emre Asik (Galatasaray) Age 28, 15 caps
3 Bulent Korkmaz (Galatasaray) Age 33, 67 caps
5 Alpay Ozalan (Aston Villa) Age 28, 61 caps
16 Umit Ozat (Fenerbahce) Age 25, 13 caps
Midfielders
10 Yildiray Basturk (Bayer Leverkusen, Ger) Age 23, 12 caps
21 Emre Belozoglu (Internazionale, Italy) Age 21, 11 caps
7 Okan Buruk (Internazionale) Age 28, 25 caps
22 Umit Davala (Galatasaray) Age 28, 23 caps
19 Abdullah Ercan (Fenerbahce) Age 30, 69 caps
14 Tayfur Havutcu (Besiktas) Age 32, 38 caps
13 Muzzy Izzet (Leicester City) Age 27, 6 caps
8 Tugay Kerimoglu (Blackburn Rovers) Age 31, 68 caps
18 Ergun Penbe (Galatasaray) Age 30, 20 caps
20 Hakan Unsal (Blackburn Rovers) Age 29, 24 caps
Forwards
6 Arif Erdem (Galatasaray) Age 30, 49 caps
17 Ilhan Mansiz (Besiktas) Age 26, 5 caps
11 Hasan Sas (Galatasaray) Age 25, 14 caps
9 Hakan Sukur (Parma) Age 30, 72 caps
15 Nihat Kahveci (Real Sociedad) Age 22, 10 caps

COSTA RICA

Fixtures

Costa Rica v China June 4 Gwangju 3.30pm
Costa Rica v Turkey June 9 Incheon 6pm
Costa Rica v Brazil June 13 Suwon 3.30pm

Coach: Alexandre Guimaraes

Record: 1990 Second Round

FIFA Ranking: 29

In Britain, Manchester City's Paolo Wanchope is the best-known of Costa Rica's playing staff. He will partner Winston Parks or Ronald Gomez at the front of a 'snake tongue' attack with Rolando Fonseca in the hole. Los Ticos have been under fire since their 2-0 loss to J-League team Nagoya Grampus Eight. They look vulnerable to a pacy attack. The Republic of Costa Rica has no military, only domestic police forces - it therefore cannot defend itself from attack.

Forecast: Going home soon.

On the sidelines

Coach Alexandre Guimaraes appeared twice as a substitute for Costa Rica in the 1990 World Cup.

The squad

Goalkeepers
1 Erick Lonnis (Saprissa) Age 36, 73 caps
18 Alvaro Mesen (Alajuelense) Age 29, 17 caps
23 Lester Morgan (Herediano) Age 26, 6 caps
Defenders
22 Carlos Castro (Alajuelense) Age 23, 22 caps
15 Harold Wallace (Alajuelense) Age 26, 56 caps
4 Mauricio Wright (Herediano) Age 31, 42 caps
14 Juan Jose Rodriguez (San Carlos) Age 33, 2 caps
21 Pablo Chinchilla (Alajuelense) Age 23, 13 caps
2 Jervis Drummond (Saprissa) Age 25, 38 caps
5 Gilberto Martinez (Saprissa) Age 22, 26 caps
3 Luis Marin (Alajuelense) Age 27, 74 caps
Midfielders
6 Wilmer Lopez (Alajuelense) Age 30, 67 caps
8 Mauricio Solis (Alajuelense) Age 29, 83 caps
10 Walter Centeno (Saprissa) Age 27, 48 caps
19 Rodrigo Cordero (Herediano) Age 28, 27 caps
13 Daniel Vallejos (Herediano) Age 20, 3 capsForwards
7 Rolando Fonseca (Alajuelense) Age 27, 79 caps
20 William Sunsing (Herediano) Age 25, 22 caps
11 Ronald Gomez (OFI Crete) Age 28, 53 caps
12 Winston Parks (Udinese) Age 20, 4 caps
9 Paulo Wanchope (Manchester City) Age 25, 47 caps
16 Steven Bryce (Alajuelense) Age 24, 32 caps
17 Hernan Medford (Saprissa) Age 34, 87 caps

CHINA

Fixtures

June 2 - China v Costa Rica, Gwangiu 3.30pm
June 8 - China v Brazil, Seogwipo 8.30pm
June 13 - China v Turkey, Seoul 3.30pm

Coach: Bora Milutinovic

Record: First time qualifiers

FIFA Ranking: 50

China has at long last made their first finals and will bring tremendous support with them on the short journey to South Korea. Short on international experience against the top sides, China will struggle to make an impression. The defence has a British feel to it with Fan Zhiyi (Dundee) and Sun Jihai (Man City) hoping to keep out Renaldo and Sukur. Li Tie, current Chinese Player of the Year is the midfield fulcrum.

Prediction: Should be going home after the group stage but that may not be true of all their fans.
On the sidelines

Coach Bora Milutinovic is making his fifth consecutive trip to the World cup with his fifth team after Mexico (1986), Costa Rica (1990), USA (1994) and Nigeria (1998). Who next in 2006?

The squad

Goalkeepers
1 An Qi (Dalian Shide) Age 20, 7 caps
22 Jiang Jin (Tianjin Taida) Age 33, 55 caps
23 Ou Chuliang (Yunnan Hongta) Age 23, 75 caps
Defenders
2 Zhang Enhua (Dalian Shide) Age 28, 68 caps
3 Yang Pu (Beijing Guoan) Age 24, 14 caps
4 Wu Chenying (Shanghai Shenhua) Age 27, 51 caps
5 Fan Zhiyi (Dundee) Age 32, 108 caps
7 Sun Jihai (Manchester City) Age 24, 59 caps
13 Gao Yao (Shandong Luneng) Age 23, 3 caps
14 Li Weifeng (Shenzhen Ping'an) Age 25, 53 caps
17 Du Wei (Shanghai Shenhua) Age 20, 6 caps
21 Xu Yunlong (Beijing Guoan) Age 27, 19 caps
Midfielders
8 Li Tie (Liaoning Bodao) Age 25, 74 caps
9 Ma Mingyu (Sichuan Dahe) Age 29, 90 caps
10 Hao Haidong (Dalian Shide) Age 31, 90 caps
15 Zhao Junzhe (Liaoning Bodao) Age 23, 4 caps
16 Qu Bo (Qingdao Beer) Age 20, 16 caps
18 Li Xiaopeng (Shandong Luneng) Age 26, 25 caps
20 Yang Chen (Eintracht Frankfurt, Ger) Age 28, 25 caps
Forwards
6 Shao Jiayi (Beijing Guo'an) Age 22, 16 caps
11 Yu Genwei (Tianjin Taida) Age 25, 14 caps
12 Su Maozhen (Shandong Luneng) Age 29, 52 caps
19 Qi Hong (Shanghai Zhongyuan) Age 25, 36 caps