World Cup Ponderings

Well it is only 93 days until the start of the cup, and given I have not written anything for a little while, I thought it would be nice to ponder of what I am personally expecting from the Aussies at Germany in June.

Our first match against Japan is obviously critical to our overall chances to progress. The Japanese team are a side that should not be taken lightly, though I am glad we are meeting them at the start as it will undoubtedly affect the way we will play later on, knowing how we have performed against the weakest side of the three we are facing. Result-wise, I would be hoping for a 1 or 2 goal victory. A draw would make it tough for us, though it would it not be impossible for us from there.

So with a win under our belt we all get a nice little break to enjoy what Germany has to offer before we head over to Munich. It will be a party atmosphere there with the Aussie and Brazilian fans enjoying the famous beer halls and celebrating life. However, in the Alliance Stadium is where the action will be focused and obviously against the best in the world in a critical game for them, I think the realistic aim for us is to not get belted. Perhaps a goal from us would not be too much to ask for, but I think a 3-1 loss is the most likely result.

So it will be the Croatia match in Stuttgart that will determine our World Cup destiny. They are a great side, and who would forget the belting they gave us leading into the previous WC campaign? This time around however, we are a vastly improved side, and depending on how we perform against Brazil may impact on the respect the Croatians show us. Hopefully, they will be full of confidence and expect an easy win. This will play right into our hands... just ask Uruguay! If they adopt this attitude, I think we can take them by surprise and pull off an unlikely win. Though the most likely result is a draw.

So with this in mind, it will really depend on if we can beat Japan by a better margin than Croatia does, and not get belted by Brazil by as much as Croatia does. On that analysis, you would have to think we are a better than even money chance to progress, but the next stage does not look good having to probably face Italy.

Of course, being 93 days out, you can be guaranteed that there will be hundreds of things that will happen between now and then that will change my opinion. But at this point in time, I think this is how it will all pan out.