World Cup Review Group E

This week Graeme Clark looks at the potential Group of Death

Although Group E includes Holland, a team steeped in World Cup folklore if no ultimate glory, it also has Denmark, Japan and Cameroon – all of whom could upset the Dutch applecart, each having claims for a good World Cup campaign.

Denmark qualified from their own group stage of death by comfortably beating off the challenges of Sweden, Portugal and Hungary – no mean feat in itself – losing just once in the process, the very last game of the group stages by which time they had already achieved qualification. However only 16 goals from 10 games tells a story of few attacking opportunities.

At the heart of their defence they have Christian Poulson of Juventus and Daniel Agger from Liverpool plus Stoke´s Thomas Sorenson (who will celebrate his 34th birthday just two days before the start of the tournament) in goal whilst up front there is Nicklas Bendtner of Arsenal – maybe not the most elegant of strikers but certainly not lacking in self confidence. Could this be his place and time? They also have the experience of Rommedahl and Tomasson to call upon as attacking forwards, but these two stalwarts of the Danish team are showing signs of their age and their pace has diminished.

Japan have threatened in the past and often flattered to deceive but could this be their year? The Japanese league grows stronger every year and with a growing and ever more enthusiastic population behind them (Japan has around twice as many people as the UK) they have the ability, if not the experience, to cause the upset of this tournament.

Few of their team will be recognizable to fans in Europe, in fact the only name that might be known is Shunsuke Nakamura, now 31 and a former Celtic player, he is their prime playmaker and inspiration. But others could be on the horizon, including Shinji Kaguwa, a 20 year old attacking midfielder and potential match-winner who has been linked with a move to Spain, possibly even to Real Madrid or Barcelona. Then there is Marcus Tulio Tanaka who lacks overseas experience but shines in the J League as a powerful defensive midfielder.

In qualifying they finished well behind Australia, winning eight and drawing four.

Cameroon have been in the World Cup Finals for as long as most of us can remember – who can forget Roger Milla´s hip swinging celebrations and the climactic quarter final against England in 1990 – but now they have Samuel Eto´o, formerly of Barcelona and now at Inter Milan, and a serious goal threat.

The Indomitable Lions limped through the recent African Cup of Nations, conceding eight goals in four matches and winning only once before being knocked out by Egypt. Perhaps the return of Benoit Assou-Ekotto from injury and a call up for his Spurs team mate Sebastien Bassong will shore up the leaking defence.

The rest of the squad is made up of bit part players, Rigobert and Alex Song at Arsenal plus Newcastle´s Geremi spring to mind but do they have the capability to cause an upset? Head coach Paul le Guen from France is an accomplished tactician and disciplinarian, but I have my doubts as to whether he can mould the few talents at his disposal.

He only became head coach after two of the qualifiers had been played and Cameroon had only two points yet he then guided them to four straight wins to secure a sixth visit to the World Cup Finals – a record for any African nation.

And so to Holland. They ouse class and are calmness personified. They won their group at a canter, (a perfect eight wins from eight games tells its own story) albeit that it was one of the weakest groups ever in European qualification history.

In midfield they have the experience of van Bommel and van de Vaart, plus the ever improving de Jong. Whilst up front they can call upon Arsenal´s van Persie and Liverpool´s Kuyt with Bayern Munich´s Robben waiting on the wings. Can they really be defeated en route to the knock out stage? Personally I doubt it.

At the back they will miss Edwin van der Saar who has announced his retirement from international football and there is no real candidate as a replacement and that could be crucial.
But can they do what no Dutch team has ever done before and claim the biggest prize of all? Again, personally, I doubt it.

In the past, Dutch teams have imploded with player-power coming to the fore so it will be interesting to see whether temperamental talents such as van Bommel react, especially bearing in mind that head coach Bert van Marwijk is his father in law. Admittedly since taking the job in 2008 van Marwijk has done wonders for the team.

I have Holland to finish top of Group E with three victories, even if not by much, whilst the other teams will have to compete very hard to accompany them. Japan simply do not have the experience and Cameroon lack the overall class so I will plump for Denmark in second place.

My Prediction – 1st Holland, 2nd Denmark, 3rd Cameroon, 4th Japan.

Graeme Clark

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