An outbreak of World Cup fever

By Cillian O'Donoghue and Niall Waters

For the Post

All eyes are on South Africa this month as one of the world's biggest sporting events - the FIFA World Cup - kicks off. This year's tournament is the 19th World Cup and the first to be held on the African continent.

In 1977, Brazilian soccer legend Pelé predicted, "An African team will win the World Cup by the year 2000." Since that prediction, African teams have brought skill, passion and heart, but quarterfinal appearances by Cameroon (1990) and Senegal (2002) remain the continent's best showings.

South Africa is in focus this time around, and soccer fans are anxious to see how smoothly the tournament will run and how well the host nation will perform. South Africa kicks off the tournament June 11 against Mexico. Classified a lowly 83rd in the world according to the FIFA rankings, South Africa is among  the lowest-ranked teams in the tournament, and it is generally held that the team will struggle to win a single game at this year's cup.

Elsewhere, Ivory Coast will be seen as the African team most likely to leave an impression. Although possessing one of the most physically powerful teams in the tournament, a difficult group draw and an elbow injury to star player Didier Drogba mean the team has their work cut out for them to make history this time around.

The tournament is likely to again be dominated by the major European and South American teams, with pundits divided between Spain and Brazil for the pre-tournament favorite.

Spain is the European champion and probably possesses the best squad out of all 32 teams competing in the finals. It waltzed through the qualifying stages, demonstrating that it may well be replicating its European Championship on the world stage this month. Perennial favorites Brazil have a squad that is more an embodiment of the highly organized practical-minded head coach Carlos Dunga rather than the attacking, swashbuckling, jogo bonito Brazilian teams that have lit up previous tournaments. Dunga's pragmatic approach and decision to leave former World Player of the Year Ronaldinho out of the squad is seen by many Brazilian football fans as dour and somewhat "un-Brazilian."

Chasing the two co-favorites is a group of European contenders and Argentina. The Argentines huffed and puffed en route to South Africa, before eventually qualifying. In Lionel Messi they possess the tournament's best player, who at the age of 22 is already being touted as potentially the best player ever. In tandem with Higuain, Tevez, Aguero and Milito, Messi undoubtedly possesses the most dangerous attacking force of the tournament, but the erratic nature of coach Diego Maradona and a porous defense may prove their downfall.

England qualified in style, and with Italian tactician Fabio Capello at the helm, the team is finally playing with real focus. It seems to have its best chance in years. However, minus the services of defender Rio Ferdinand and with doubts over the form of John Terry and stand-in captain Steven Gerrard much depends on the talismanic Wayne Rooney.

Others who foster realistic hopes of lifting the trophy include the Netherlands, Portugal and Germany, while current cup holder Italy looks unlikely to progress as far this time around. The Italians, seeking to win their fifth World Cup are an aging side with many question marks.

Out of all the underdogs, North Korea will garner the most attention. For the next couple of weeks, supporters hope that the face revealed to the world will not be that of leader Kim Jong Il but instead of their soccer team.

Of a special interest is the story of Jong Tae-Se - nicknamed "the People's Wayne Rooney" - a professional player of North Korean origin born and raised in Japan. Jong's background and financial status - he is believed to earn $4,000 a week - is in sharp contrast to a squad that consists almost exclusively of players from the North Korean league who earn a minimal state allowance.

Jong, who refuses to answer any questions about politics, is grounded with regards to expectations.

"Nobody really expects us to do much at the World Cup, and there will be little criticism even if we lose all the games. If we win, that will be beyond our wildest dreams," he told reporters.

Few North Korean fans are expected to travel to the finals.

The writers can be reached at features@praguepost.com