World Cup Preview Group C Group C

World Cup Preview Group C Group C

Next up is Group C and Englands group. It perhaps isnt the most competitive group in the Seth Curry Jersey tournament but there is still the potential for some shocks.Group CEnglandStrengths: I hate to admit it but it is easier to talk about Englands weakne ses than their strengths, having said this though England still have one of the strongest squads in the competition. If Frank Lampard and Stephen Gerrard can finally click in the midfield and re-create their respective club form England have a centre midfield pairing that is amongst the strongest in the competition. England also have experience on their side The Three Lions have the oldest squad, measured on average age, in the competition. Fabio Capello also knows how to win trophies; his C.V boasts an impre sive nine titles with four different clubs.Weakne ses: The defence is susceptible to pace and, Ashley Cole excluded, none fill supporters with confidence. John Terrys form has dropped after his off-the-field antics and Rio Ferdinands injury has hampered Englands chances further. Ledley King looked an ideal replacement for the injured Ferdinand but was not comfortable against Mexico and Glen Johnson, as good as he is going forward, is poor defensively. Many of the players also dont replicate their club form for England and despite winning many of their latest fixtures; Englands performances have been le s than convincing. Oh and Capello seems to have taken a shine to Emile Heskey, worryingly.Key Player: Its obvious but it has to be Wayne Rooney. The Manchester United forward is now a talismanic figure for his country and is now one of the most feared strikers in the World. Rooney can drop deep to create chances for himself or play on the shoulder of the last defender. He has developed his aerial ability this season meaning he is a perfectly rounded striker. The only worry is his temperament which still hasnt been totally calmed.United States of AmericaStrengths: The U.S.A have a very attacking midfield unit that threatens to score goals. Landon Donovan 42 goals in 123 appearances and Clint Dempsey 18 goals in 62 appearances are both familiar with English fans and are good goalscoring threats for their country playing on either flank Dorian Finney-Smith Jersey . Michael Bradley, Bob Bradley the USAs managers son, hasnt made too much of a name for himself yet but looks set to become a very good player in the future and may be one of the stars of this World Cup, playing in centre midfield.Weakne ses: The strike-force isnt one that is particularly impre sive. Edson Buddle is relatively unproven at international level with only two caps to date. Jozy Altidore, despite showing plenty of promise, has never lived up to expectations when he was younger and Da Marcus Beasley has a poor record at international level as well 17 goals in 92 caps.Key Player: Landon Donavon. The winger that has spent most his career in the MLS, after two poor spells in the Bundesliga, he recently went on loan at Everton where he shone. His goalscoring threat has been talked about but equally impre sive is the fact is he has played 132 times for his country at the age of 28. The winger is very quick and good on the ball and will be crucial for Americas progre s in the competition.AlgeriaStrengths: Boban Marjanovic Jersey Nadir Belhadj and Karim Ziani are both creative influences for the squad and are the two really talented Algerian players. They seem to have a drive and determination about them as well, managing to knock out Egypt in their qualifying campaign. Defensively they appear a good unit as well; they conceded 4 goals in 12 qualifying games.Weakne ses: In keeping with many African teams they have a very poor goalkeeper in Faouzi Chaouchi who can go from the sublime to the ridiculous; he is certainly an entertaining character he was booked for head-butting a referee Josh Green Jersey in a game in the most recent African Cup of Nations. Abdelkader Ghezzal and Karim Matmour, the two Algerian first choice strikers, are both no-where near international standard. A random bit of information is that reserve goalkeeper Lounes Gaouaoui has the only registered surname in the World that has seven vowels in a row.Key Player: Karim Ziani. The versatile Wolfsburg midfield player is the real creative spark in the Algerians team and his form will be vital to the Algerian teams progre s. He has the ability to be a match-winner but, unfortunately for him, others around him dont.SloveniaStrengths: A well organised team with great team spirit. Probably caused the biggest shock in the group stages when they qualified for South Africa at the expense of Ru sia. Without having a stand out player the team gels well together and they are fairly dangerous on the attack, scoring in all but one of their qualifying games. They have some good youth prospects coming through in Tim Matavz and Rene Krhin and Samir Handanovic is a good goalkeeper. They are the smallest country, population wise,to qualify for two, non-consecutive, World Cups.Weakne ses: A lack of a World-cla s talent will hamper their chances. Indeed, their star player Robert Koren, was released by West Bromwich Albion this summer after failing to break into the starting line-up. Their defence is also worrying as many of their defensive line-up are not used to playing at a standard anywhere near what they will be playing against during the World Luka Doncic Jersey Cup.Key Player: Robert Koren. The captain of the side has plenty to play for, including a new club, after being released from West Brom at the end of the season. Good on the ball he provides the creativity for the team and without him Slovenia are nowhere near as big a threat as they are with him pulling the strings.Prediction For Final Group Standings1) England2) U.S.A3) Slovenia4) Algeria

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