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Perhaps the new Jabulani ball will be the deciding factor, because on current form, it’s tough to tell which of Asia’s four representatives will do the most damage. The Socceroos are slowly improving, but will they be the kings of Asian football at the World Cup?
As much as I recognise that Australia are in a tough group, our Group D rivals aren’t exactly setting the world on fire with their current form.
Germany are obviously red-hot favourites to finish top – not least after they thumped Hungary 3-0 in a friendly in Budapest last Saturday – but Ghana and Serbia haven’t fared quite as well in their pre-World Cup friendlies to date.
The Ghanians looked shell-shocked as the Netherlands ran riot in a 4-1 victory in their farewell friendly in Rotterdam, while Serbia have failed to score in each of their past two matches – going down 1-0 to New Zealand, before being held to a scoreless draw in the pouring rain by Poland.
“We must be better in front of goal,” midfielder Zdravko Kuzmanovic was quoted by leading German sports magazine Kicker as saying, with the goals having suddenly dried up for a side that was free-scoring in qualifying.
But if Australia has a tough group to negotiate, just how many fans expect North Korea to return to the capital Pyongyang with three straight defeats in the bag?
Clashes with Brazil, Portugal and the Ivory Coast could hardly represent a more difficult prospect, and the Chollima will need to rely on their opponents’ ignorance to gain a competitive advantage.
They can also call upon the goals of Chong Tese – surely destined for a move away from J. League club Kawasaki Frontale sooner, rather than later – with “the Asian Wayne Rooney” on fire in the build-up to what will surely be his greatest stage.
The bustling front man has an uncanny knack for conjuring a goal out of nothing, and woe betide any complacent defenders who feel that a clash with the little-known North Koreans represents a mere walk in the park.
Their southern counterparts from Seoul are more worried about submarine attacks than the threat of any North Korean strikers cutting inside, and Huh Jung-Moo’s team are in the easiest group of the four Asian teams.
The Taeguk Warriors are more than capable of accounting for Greece in their opening match, and while Argentina should represent a tougher challenge, I’d put my money on the battle-hardened South Koreans seeing off Nigeria in their final group-stage game.
In fact, I’d go as far as saying that South Korea have been the best international side in Asian football for some time, and although veteran goalkeeper Lee Woon-Jae now looks an achilles heel, I believe that the skillful South Koreans will still reach at least the Round of 16 if they manage to keep things tight at the back.
That just leaves the human headline that is Takeshi Okada and his hapless band of hopeless footballers, who somehow managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory against an utterly dreadful England side last Sunday.
Okada might as well polish up his resumé ahead of what will be a predictable first round exit, despite the fact that Japanese national team has plenty of talented players to call upon back home.
But when the likes of Yoshito Okubo makes way for the mystifying Keiji Tamada or the plodding Kisho Yano off the bench – players who make the Shimizu S-Pulse back four look like world beaters – then it’s time to concede defeat and admit that Japan has little chance of competing with Cameroon, the Netherlands and Denmark.
So it’s South Korea who look the biggest threat to me, with the well-drilled and compact unit more than capable of matching it with their group rivals in South Africa.
The jury is still out on Australia – fingers crossed that the bounce of the new Jabulani ball goes our way come June 13.