World Cup 2018 Group F Preview
GROUP F
Sean O'Conor
Germany
Coach: Joachim Low
Formation: 4-2-3-1
FIFA World Ranking: 1st
Best World Cup: Winners 1954, 1974, 1990, 2014
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Germany Kit 1 |
Germany Kit 2 |
Germany v Mexico 17 June; Rostov-on-Don
Germany v Sweden 22 June; St. Petersburg
Germany v South Korea 27 June; Moscow
A double for Deutschland?
Germany already broke the hoodoo of European teams winning in South America four years ago and ranked number one in the world on the eve of the tournament they could well become the first back to back winners since Brazil in 1958 and '62 and the first European side to do it since Italy back in the thirties.
Die Mannschaft qualified winning every match with ease, finishing with a goal difference of plus 39 and they added last year's Confederations Cup to their cabinet too with effectively a B team.
Most World Cup holders relax and get a little complacent but Jogi Low has impressively maintained their high level, blending the new personnel into a successful evolution.
Bayern Munich essentially man the back with only left-back Jonas Hector from relegated Cologne the exception. The club communication between goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels and Joshua Kimmich gives them a solid base.
Toni Kroos is the heart of the midfield, a polished water-carrier perhaps but well-positioned and reliable to a tee. Beside him is Sami Khedira, whose career has recovered impressively since being left out in the cold at Real Madrid.
Both are strong and hard-working rather than creative but they have the wily sprite of Mesut Ozil floating ahead of them supplying the brains.
The wide attackers are two real drivers no defence will relish meeting - Julian Draxler and Thomas Muller, back for his third World Cup finals.
Timo Werner should be the lone front man and although lacking experience with the Mannschaft has netted seven times in 13 outings.
The Leipzig man might not yet be classed in the great German forward tradition of Gerd Muller, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Jurgen Klinsmann but is quick and at 22 is a decade younger than the alternatives Mario Gomez and Sandro Wagner.
The system is based on circulation from the back four and a ball-playing goalkeeper, flankers who raid with abandon, sound distributive midfielders and a marauding centre-forward. Ozil remains the fantasista who has licence to drift and pop up unexpectedly with a killer pass. Many are hoping Leon Goretzka, the 23 year old attacking midfielder who starred in the Confederations Cup campaign, will get some playing time.
The fact Low could afford to leave the Premier League's young player of the year Leroy Sane at home almost smacks of arrogance but is in fact testament to having already found a winning formula and the amount of top talent available.
The DFB's plan to rejuvenate German football in the wake of the ignominious 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 exits is now bearing ripe, sweet fruit and in terms of professional tournament preparation and application, nobody in the world can touch them.
Can they be stopped? Rivals will be scouring their tapes in hope of finding weaknesses but this group has all the air of the impregnable sides which won Italia '90 and Brazil 2014.
Manuel Neuer has been injured most of the season so might be lacking a little sharpness, though there is always Barcelona's Marc-Andre ter Stegen to deputise.
The full backs have not always been error-free and there are questions about how injury-prone some players are and which of them have leadership qualities on the field of play.
Since they qualified with such ease, it is hard to know how much to read into their recent friendly results, which on paper look like those of a lesser nation: Draws with England and Spain, losses to Austria and Brazil and a narrow win over Saudi Arabia.
Perhaps it is more instructive to see how they played at the Euros - beating Ukraine, Slovakia, Northern Ireland and Italy (on penalties) and drawing with Poland before final elimination 2-0 by hosts France.
That side contained seven of those who had won the World Cup two years earlier while this year's vintage has six, an apparently successful transition.
The spine - Neuer, Boateng, Hummels, Khedira, Kroos, Muller and Ozil average 28 years of age, a little over the optimum of 26 but packed with experience.
The World Cup is full of unforeseen events so it is premature to etch their name on the trophy already.
Yet even before the first ball has been kicked and whistle blown, it is inconceivable looking at the draw to see Germany not reaching at least the semi finals.
Mexico
Coach: Juan Carlos Osorio
Formation: 4-3-3
FIFA World Ranking: 16th
Best World Cup: Quarter Final 1970 and 1986
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Mexico Kit 1
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Mexico Kit 2
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Mexico v Germany 17 June; Rostov-on-Don
Mexico v South Korea 22 June; Kaliningrad
Mexico v Sweden 27 June; Novgorod
Ah Mexico, the second round specialists.
That is where the Mexican campaign has ended for the past six World Cups. Perhaps FIFA might consider renaming the Round of 16 the 'Mexican round'.
Theories circulate among the 128 million footy-mad Mexicans as to why the side can navigate the first round so happily but then invariably hit the rocks. To be fair, they had the Dutch on the ropes in 2014 but were cheated by Arjen Robben's blatant dive to win a spot kick.
This time it looks a bit of an ask to even reach the last sixteen given the opposition. Mexico's unique ailment is perhaps the fact they are a medium-large fish in a small pond, CONCACAF, which cannot hope to provide them with adequate match practice.
For the 2018 North-Central American qualifiers, the field was especially insipid as the USA, who had formed a reasonable rivalry since the turn of the century, careered down and out.
The Mexican public are up for the cup as usual but well aware the spine of their team has started to wane. Attacking midfielder Giovani Dos Santos and strikers Javier Hernandez and Carlos Vela are all aged 29 and two of them play in MLS and one warms the bench at West Ham.
Looking at the squad as a whole one is struck by the absence of major European clubs as well as the number of caps.
Hirving Lozano is an exciting young prospect to look out for. The 22 year old's electrifying wing play for PSV has won him many plaudits in Holland as well as goals - 17 in 29 games.
The side took a blow however when highly-rated centre back Nestor Araujo withdrew through injury just before the tournament.
Guillermo Ochoa is still the man between the sticks and one of the world's best. With 94 caps however he is only the fifth most capped player in the roster.
Joint top is Andres Guardado, the skipper and midfield director with 145 caps, like Rafael Marquez who at 39 and at his fifth World Cup will be a poster boy for the older man who still collects Panini stickers.
Colombian coach Juan Carlos Osorio is very open-minded. He happily switches between three and four man defences and changes formations according to the opponent.
But fans are beginning to show their displeasure. Despite winning the CONCACAF qualifying group, some results have been worrying. Back in 2016, Chile thrashed Mexico 7-0 at the Copa America and last summer Germany swat them aside 4-1 in the Confederations Cup.
2018 form has been indicative of their FIFA Ranking (16th) - a draw with Wales, modest wins over modest nations (Bosnia and Scotland), defeats to Croatia and Denmark and a 3-0 standout win over Iceland.
Facing Germany in their opener is a baptism of fire they could have done without perhaps but deep down they must concentrate on beating the Koreans and Swedes.
Sweden
Coach: Janne Andersson
Formation: 4-4-2
FIFA World Ranking: 24th
Best World Cup: 3rd in 1994
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Sweden Kit 1
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Sweden Kit 2
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Sweden v South Korea 17 June; Samara
Sweden v Germany 22 June; St. Petersburg
Sweden v Mexico; 27 June; Novgorod
Swedish legends speak of trolls but their national team are giant-killers.
When historians look back and wonder why Italy and the Netherlands did not participate in Russia 2018, they can look no further than the blue and yellow kit of Sverige.
In the qualifiers, Sweden lost three matches out of ten but edged out the Dutch on goal difference before taking out another behemoth in Italy in the playoffs.
The 0-0 draw in Milan in the return leg was the stuff of Viking legend as eleven warriors frustrated and frustrated the four-times world champions who ended up imploding at their inability to breach the Scandi shield-wall.
Sweden can often be the toughest of tough nuts to crack, making up for a lack of attacking flair with all hands to the pump teamwork, but that night was something special.
Centre-back Andreas Granquist was the hero of San Siro and was duly handed the Swedish footballer of the year award, wresting the crown at long last from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who despite popular appeal will not be going to the World Cup.
The 33 year-old Granquist plays in Russia for Krasnodar so will feel at home in the finals.
With Kim Kallstrom joining Ibrahimovic in quitting after Euro 2016, the Swedish game revolves around Emil Forsberg, the 26 year-old Leipzig playmaker.
Up front the striking duo is Marcus Berg, a conventional No.9 and Ola Toivonen, slighter and with more finesse. Both came through the U-21 team a together a decade ago and know each other's games well.
The other player to watch out for is Sam Larsson. Although not guaranteed to start, the lithe 24 year-old Feyenoord winger could be brought on to shake things up.
For years the spotlight was on the star striker - Ibrahimovic and before him, Henrik Larsson.
Now without superstars or even minor celestial bodies, the team can really be a collective, the epitome of the communal Scandinavian society.
An English-inspired 4-4-2 is in their DNA as is the aerial game and gritty commitment. With Gareth Southgate transitioning to a 3-5-2 passing game, the Swedes fly the flag for the football of yore.
If the environment counts for anything, the Swedes will feel more comfortable in the cool air and long light evenings of Russia than the Central Americans or Asians.
Those who feel the hand of history will be inspired by the fact Russia was founded by and named after Swedish Vikings, the Kievan Rus, while happily forgetting Sweden's disastrous invasion of 1708.
Germany will win group F but Sweden have a good a chance as Mexico or South Korea of taking second spot and a passage to the knockout stages.
The clash with Mexico in Yekaterinburg on the 27th of June looks like the make or break one.
South Korea
Coach: Shin Tae-Yong
Formation: 4-4-2
FIFA World Ranking: 57th
Best World Cup: Semi Final 2002
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South Korea Kit 1
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South Korea Kit 2
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South Korea v Sweden 17 June; Samara
South Korea v Mexico 22 June; Kaliningrad
South Korea v Germany 27 June; Moscow
The Hiddink mania of their home World Cup is 16 years in the past now but those heady days of ‘Be the Reds’ t-shirts and a nation on fire with patriotic fervour the likes of which FIFA had never seen before still resonate to an extent.
South Korea is a soccer nation and will be all fired up for Russia, but memories of 2014’s failure are fresh too and expectations at home are fairly low.
In Brazil, Hong Myung-Bo’s team lost to Algeria and Belgium and drew with Russia, ending up bottom of their group. A volley of toffees greeted their return to Seoul.
Reaching the Asian Cup final in 2015 showed signs of recovery but World Cup qualifying struggles saw coach Uli Stielike fired before Tae-Yong steadied the ship and hauled them into second in the the AFC qualifying group and won a ticket to Russia.
The Taegeuk Warriors are their usual quick-footed and fast-running selves and will be hopeful Son Heung-Min can bring some of his Tottenham magic to the finals.
While a deadly effective wide raider with Spurs, for South Korea Son usually plays more centrally as part of a forward duo.
The midfield is positive - Wide men Kwon Chang-hoon of Dijon and Lee Jae-sung of Jeonbuk have enjoyed good seasons and are attracting European suitors while Swansea's Ki Sung-yueng brings a decade of British experience to the anchor role.
If in need of some fight or a late equaliser, they might opt to field‘ The Wookie’ - 6’6” target man Kim Shin-wook to cause problems in the box.
Defence is their weakness with a lack of players with European employment leaving them exposed too often.
While they like to sprint forward en masse in the Korean tradition, the gaps left leave them vulnerable to the counter themselves.
The side has blown hot and cold since qualifying but mostly lukewarm. Of nine games in 2018, they have registered three wins (Honduras, Latvia and Honduras), two draws (Bolivia and Jamaica) and four defeats (Bosnia, Northern Ireland, Poland and Senegal).
Late last year they were beaten 4-2 by Russia but did win 2-1 against Colombia, the only quality side they have faced for a while.
A lack of tactical flexibility and a shallow player pool point towards a first round exit.
While they should be easy meat for Germany, they still have the attacking flair to disarm Mexico and even Sweden.
If they can summon the spirit of Guus Hiddink and 2002, the second round is within their grasp.