Group E
Brazil (2)
Switzerland (6)
Costa Rica (25)
Serbia (35)
Brazil
headlines Group E in this summer’s World Cup. Brazil comfortably finished first
in the CONMEBOL qualification with a 10-point lead over their closes rivals,
Uruguay, who finished second. The 2014 World Cup was hosted in Brazil that
ended in a manner that most Brazilians wish didn’t happen. There were protest
on the streets by the Brazilian people who preferred improvement in social
services than FIFA’s white elephant gift. Adding to the devastation Brazil went
on to infamously lose 7-1 to Germany in the semi-finals. I am pretty sure as
the tournament looms closer none of the Brazilians need a reminder of their
painful exit from the previous world cup. Brazil are favorites to come out as
the winners of group E given that they are an improved team and that their competition
isn’t up to par with the selecao. Not
only are they favorites to come out first in their group Brazil is also -as in
most, if not every world cup- favorites
to win the tournament.
Brazil’s
most difficult hurdle to get through will be Switzerland. I don’t necessarily believe
Switzerland is the currently the 6th best team in the world, but
they provide a different challenge to the Brazilian national team. Switzerland has
players such as Xherdan Shaqiri, Stepham Lichtsteiner, and Ricardo Rodriguez
that play in big clubs or in Shaqiri’s case a league with a high-quality level.
Switzerland isn’t the most exciting national team to watch, but they have been consistent
qualifying for their fourth consecutive world cup. Which is impressive given
that the UEFA qualifications can come down to a bit of luck for smaller nations
based on which of the more traditional powerhouse teams are in the group. In
Switzerland’s case it was Portugal. Both teams finished with 27 points, but
Portugal finished first due to tiebreaker rules. Switzerland can maneuver their
way into finishing second and reaching the round of 16.
Costa
Rica were a breath of fresh air last world cup. Los Ticos finished 1st
in a group that was made up of 3 previous world cup winners; England, Uruguay,
and Italy were the three teams that made up the “Group of death.” Costa Rica reached the quarter-finals in Brazil
only to be eliminated by the Netherlands in a penalty shootout. Could Costa
Rica perform a repeat of their miracle run? Of course, but it is less likely.
If Costa Rica manages to get second place they will play the winner of group F,
which will most likely be Germany. The Costa Rican side has more experience
coming in as most players will return from the 2014 squad, yet from what I seen
there are plenty of players that haven’t had a good campaign this season to
reinforce them as legitimate giant slayers.
Serbia
finished first in their world cup qualification group. I wouldn’t put to much
emphasis on the first place due to the strength of the group. As I mentioned
before the UEFA qualifications could be brutal or giving to smaller footballing
nations. In Serbia’s case it was a gift. Their group consisted of Republic of
Ireland -who finished 2nd- Wales, Austria, Georgia, and Moldova.
Georgia and Moldova had a combination of zero wins. This shouldn’t be a knock
on the Serbian national team. They were drawn in a group and they did what they
planned out to do which was qualify for the World Cup in Russia. In the
analyzing aspect it is difficult to say Serbia will come out as first or second
without saying it simply to be as giving as Serbia’s UEFA qualification group.
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