Artem Sokolov, exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
The World Cup in Brazil is going on. In this article we will speak about roup C with Colombia, Ivory Coast, Greece and Japan
Colombia
Another representative of South America that has a chance to show itself at the World Cup. And even the injury of the main Colombian star Falcao should not interfere with it. The composition of the team allows to solve the task of getting out of the group. You can just look at where its football players work. Zapata (Milano), Guarin (Inter), Cuardado (Fiorentina), Marinez (Porto), Bacca (Sevilla), and James Rodrigez who plays for Monaco together with Falcao and is one of the team's stars. We should not forget about the new players of Borussia Dortmund Adrian Ramos and Teofillo Gutierrez, who scored 6 goals in the qualifications. The quality of the team allows it to get out of the group. They have luck. Greece, Ivory Coast and Japan do not seem a big obstacle for the wards of Pekerman. They should at least take second place without much trouble.
Japan
Japan is the strongest representative of Asia at this championship, which, like the other members of group C, can count on the last 16. The traditional advantage of the Japanese is their strict discipline and their character. How else could it be for the descendants of the samurai? These qualities, together with the high speed of the game, should give optimism to the fans of the team. The strong coach is also an advantage - Albert Zaccheroni used to train Inter, Milano and Juventus. The main stars of the team are Kagawa, Nagatomo and Honda, who is familiar to Russian fans because of his games for CSKA. The defense is one of the team's weak points, as most of its players work at home. Under certain circumstances, they can get into the play-offs.
Ivory Coast
Another team from Group C that can show itself at the championship. A ticket for them to the play-off seems quite plausible, although their later prospects are difficult. Their composition is good. The main stars are Yaya Toure and Didier Drogba, Kalou who played for Chelsea, Gervinho,Ya Konan, Bony, Tiote who are not the worst players in their clubs. The team also has some promising youngsters who can show themselves. Unlike the previous championships, this year they have luck. Group C is a group where any team can count on the play-offs. Most likely, it will be Ivory Coast and Colombia. What they lack is discipline, which is traditionally a weak point of the African teams. Much will depend on the coach Sabri Lamouchi, who is the youngest mentor at this championship.
Greece
This is the most mysterious team of the group. Its traditional strong point is pragmatic football from defense. This can be confirmed by their playing in the qualifications where the wards of Santos lost just 4 goals. Their main stake is with Samaras and Mitroglou. The captain, Karagounis, is extremely experienced. Their other advantage is their dark horse status. In a situation where nobody expects much from them they can shoot like they did at Euro-2004. They have strong character and discipline. Their disadvantage is the rather low level of players, none of whom is a star at their clubs. Their scoring results are also not brilliant - on average they score just a little more than one goal per game. Despite the good luck, it will be difficult for the Greek team to get into the play-offs. The class of their players is much lower than that of Colombia and Ivory Coast.
