Group E and the Never Ending Pain

Arjen Robben and Martin Skrtel are just two of the newly found Hurt Starting 11 of the World Cup. I want that team in Fifa 11 because it's just plain and simply scary how much talent is getting hurt before the games begin. Well, here Group E, my fingers don't hurt yet so I won't be out. Although I might have just pulled landscaping duty.

GROUP E

JAPAN

Well, the Asian countries have three of their four major countries involved with the World Cup this year. Doesn't mean success will follow. This team has bupkiss when it comes to wins versus world cup opponents. They played a 120 minute game vs Ivory Coast on Friday. 0 goals. Did I mention they've scored once in the last 4 games played? Actually they scored all three goals in a friendly loss to England's reserves 2-1. Ya two own goals and their own. Tale of this team.

Player to Watch: Nakamura - Free kick master is playing like Sir Struggles a lot since his leave of Celtic. Still the best player Japan's got.

Group Prediction: 4th. Bye bye. Hello Kitty.

NETHERLANDS

Der Dutch are the cream of the crop in my opinion. If they weren't fairies, they'd be my pick to win it all. Hell, they still might be (Ya that's a cliffhanger. Ya it's good.) They have some pretty high caliber players in the forward position, midfield and defensive line. That correlates to a damn good. Wesley Sneijder is a superstar in the making and might be already. Gio Van Bronckhurst, who will call it quits after the WC, is a gritty, left back that can get up the field and provide good crosses to guys who can flat out finish. Kuyt is greasy and Camiel wants an orgy with him so he must be mentioned. He runs, then runs, and then runs some more. Usually he scores by just running the ball into the net, never actually shooting it.

Player to Watch: Robin Van Persie - If Robben is unable to go, which is highly likely, Van Persie is gonna need to do heavy damage up front. HE NEEDS TO STAY HEALTHY. The clown is always in jured. He scores with his left foot often and could be the golden boot winner if he puts enough into it. This team is primed for a major run.

Group Prediction: 1st. Robben hurts, but this team is foreign and good. Smells like cabbage, small hands.

CAMEROON

The best chance South Africa now has to advance to the second round is through Cameroon and that task is tough with Denmark and the Dutch in the same group. This group has a bunch of high class athletes that play at high levels in Europe and need to find a new drive at the international level. Samuel Eto'o is the main man to watch out for in this squad as he is the driving force for this 11. He's scores goals and will be vital for their qualification to the second round.

Player to Watch: Eto'. Reasons explained. He's quick and where ever he goes, the Cameroon team goes.

Group Prediction: 3rd. After more and more thinking, this team depends heavily too much on Eto'o who can sometimes go into a funk. Although they have some talent around him with Song, Assou-Ekotto, and Geremi, it's not enough to get past the European teams.


DENMARK

Dah Danes have surprised many with their qualification and strong showcase of talent over the past few months. They got off to a strong start in the group phase of qualify and sort of had to hang on at the end. The team has solid defenders and young nucleus. Key role players with no real superstar is the core of this team and will be the main reason they go through. Goal scoring will be tight, but their defense is good enough to hang on in tough games.

Player to Watch: Nicholas Bendtner - There's plenty of veterans to surround this young lad up front and they'll need him to be all he can be since his development at Arsenal. Denmark's hopes rest on a 22 year old who looks like he belongs in a boy band.

Group Prediction: 2nd. Europe teams>SA teams. Tough qualification and all of the players are getting healthier. Not healthy, just er. Bendtner is key here as he hasn't played in their last two friendlies, both losses. If he gets in, he could make the impact needed. Otherwise, they are t3h fukedZors.


SET PIECES:

• Jonathan couldn't so he made Gio Go. Good.
• Do people slow down?
• Altitude IS a problem.

Sometimes, when I get the remote control, I have to play it back to play it forward.