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As you may or may not know, I’m a huge football fan. Yes it’s football. To the initiated it’s football. If you’re a casual fan, you can call it soccer, but expect to be looked down upon by the true fans. For the next three weeks, just call it football. Now, I have an Italian bias so when we get to that group, expect my bias to come through a bit. I’ll try to be as impartial as possible otherwise.

Oh, and all my preview blogs are brought to you by the great people at Boston Pizza – Yonge+Sheppard! If you’re in the area (There’s a movie theater right next door. Perfect for a date!) check them out! Tell your server to tell Calvin that Zach sent you! You’ll get 15% off!

Group A

South Africa  (RSA)
Ranked 86th
Odds of winning the World Cup 151-1 (via bwin)
Nickname: Bafana Bafana (The Boys, The Boys)

South Africa made it to the World Cup simply by being the host nation. Interestingly, never in the history of the World Cup has the host nation NOT made it through the opening round! There’s a first for everything and I think this will be it. While optimism is high in the country and being that they are hosts, you may see a little bit of football magic, ultimately I think the better opponents will outplay the home country. They just don’t have the firepower to score some goals.

Key Players: FW Benni McCartney, MF Steven Pienaar

Mexico (MEX)
Ranked 15th
Odds of winning the World Cup 101-1 (via bwin)
Nickname:  El Tri (The three coloured)

This is Mexico’s 5th consecutive appearance in the World Cup and if you look at the prior 4, they made it through the group stage. They are younger than usual, having decided to drop some veterans that are usually there. Without the old faces, it will be interesting to see the younger players step up with some creativity offensively.

Key Players: DF Rafael Márquez, FW Cuauhtémoc Blanco, FW Carlos Vela, FW Giovani dos Santos

Uruguay (URU)
Ranked 19th
Odds of winning the World Cup 126-1 (via bwin)
Nickname:  Le Celeste (The Sky Blue)

Oh Homer Simpson and how you’ve ruined a country for me… “U R Gay hahaha”. Jokes aside, look for Uruguay to be in a tough battle with Mexico for that second spot. The Mexico vs Uruguay game will be a must see as both sides know that game will decide who moves on. It’s going to be fast, accurate passes and some clever ball handling that will lead to great goals. They lack in the midfield and that hole will be the difference between moving on or not.

Key Players: DF Diego Lugano, MF Alvaro Pereira, MF Diego Pérez, FW Sebastián Abreu, FW Diego Frolán

France (FRA)
Ranked 7th
Odds of winning the World Cup 17-1 (via bwin)
Nickname: Les Bleus (The Blues)

France barely managed to qualify which was shocking. Their playoff game against Ireland ended in their favour after a controversial hand ball situation by Thierry Henry, who’s the last remaining player from the 1998 World Cup champion team. Les Bleus are not the powerhouse they once were and while they will dominate this group, they will not win the World Cup. In my opinion the French defense is their strongest asset (Cue the jokes), so don’t expect to see too many goals scored against them in the group.

Key layers: DF William Gallas, DF Patrice Evra, MF Franck Ribéry, MF Florent Malouda, FW Thierry Henry, FW Nicolas Anelka

So who goes through?

1 – France
2 – Mexico
3 – South Africa
4 – Uruguay