Marquette University Athletics
World Cup Blog - Group G
6/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
June 9, 2006
by Jesse Rosen
World Cup champions in 1998 and European Champions in 2000, France's emergence as a true rival to Brazil's world dominance was derailed by an abrupt first round exit at World Cup 2002. In two years as head coach Raymond Domenech has employed several systems and a host of players, qualifying, but failing to find a formula to match the excellent standard the French have now set for themselves. Thierry Henry is at the peak of his powers and arguably the best forward in the world. Liverpool forward Djibril Cisse has been ruled out due to a broken leg, and finding the right match for Henry will be crucial if France are to make a true run this tournament. 1998 hero and former world player of the year Zidane is making his final appearance for le Blues. "Zizou" is past his prime, and whether he has enough left to inspire the French to success is doubtful, but would be a welcome gift to all from a man whose has already cemented his as place as a legend of the game.
South Korea stormed to the tournament semi-finals as co-hosts in 2002, and new Dutch coach Dick Advocaat feels his team is even stronger this time around due to the matriculation of the top players like Park Ji-Sung (Manchester United) to bigger clubs, and the emergence of young stars to watch like Park Chu-Young. An unconvincing qualifying campaign has some concerned, but the Koreans are physically overwhelming when on their game, and look to pose a threat to the whole group and anyone else should they advance.
Switzerland has made steady progress the last several years under coach and respected former player Kobi Kuhn. Emerging talents such as Arsenal's Philip Senderos, form a young and disciplined team (they tied France twice in qualifying) and their stingy, counter attacking style will be a threat to their group opponents should they lose their patience and get caught pushing too far forward in search of goals. Ambitious attacking players Ricardo Canbas, Tranquillo Barnetta, and Alex Frei will look to help this side to a surprise coup in group play in Germany.
World cup debutants Togo are hardly expected to make a dent, as they have a relative lack of quality in their team, and are entering the tournament with a new coach, Otto Pfister, as their old boss Stephen Keshi was shown the door after their early African Cup of Nations exit. The lanky and unpredictable Emmanuel Adebayor of Arsenal leads up front, but has little support from an unknown and unheralded cast in midfield. Pfister can be expected to employ a conservative tactical approach, as playing France, South Korea or Switzerland straight up could prove to be costly. On the other hand, Togo's lightweight status could position them for a huge upset should their opponnents come in too confident.
Players to watch
France - Henry (F) Makelele (M) Zidane (M) Ribery (M)
Korea - Park Ji-Sung (M), Park Chu-Young (F)
Switzerland -- Canbas (M), Barnetta (M) Frei (F)
Togo - Adebayor (F)
Match to watch in group G
France vs South Korea June 18th
Who will advance?
France and Korea
Group Schedule
Tue, June 13 -- FRA vs SUI -- Stuttgart
Tue., June 13 -- KOR vs TOG -- Frankfurt
Sun., June 18 -- FRA vs KOR -- Leipzig
Mon., June 19 -- TOG vs SUI -- Dortmund
Fri., June 23 -- TOG vs FRA -- Cologne
Fri., June 23 -- SUI vs KOR -- Hanover
Personal World Cup Memories
Seeing Ronaldo strike twice in the 2002 final against Germany to erase memories of his mysterious performance in 1998 was a victory for the game. After battling countless knee injuries and a two year layoff, finishing top scorer for the champions was validation for a man who until Ronaldinhos emergence set the standard for skillful, deadly and entertaining soccer.
