1) Holland
The Flying Dutchmen are one of the few elite teams still searching for their first World Cup title, but this could quite possibly be the year of firsts in the Cup between Clockwork Oranje and the Red Fury’s great lineups. Arsenal man Van Persie gives them a consistent scorer up top and Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben are both coming off of very successful seasons as well. The defense is still a bit questionable, but the Dutchmen were perfect in the WCQ and could quite possibly earn nine total points.
2) Cameroon
Sameul Eto’o is probably the best African player left due to the untimely injuries of Didi Drogba and Michael Essien and the African squad could potentially go further than any other African nation in the World Cup due to health and a more favorable draw, but Eto’o seems to have struggled finishing the ball at times this year and is probably best on the wing. Also they have lacked good form recently in exhibition matches, but the squad should be able to squeak by on goal differential with four points earned.
3) Denmark
The Danish Dynamite have a cool name and a young Arsenal star in Nicolas Bendtner to rely on this summer, but the underrated squad will need a few breaks to bounce their way to be a serious threat in the tournament. They didn’t qualify for the World Cup 2006 or Euro 2008, so many of their key players are new to the big international stage and most of their club is made of lower league players, but they did beat out Sweden and Portugal initially for a spot in the tournament and that means they should earn at least three or four total points.
4) Japan
Two of Japan’s finest footballers are questionable going into the Cup and the national team has never won a single World Cup final match away from home soil, so I’d say that considering this and their challenging group you can bet on the Blue Samurai saying sayonara this summer. They are an above average Asian zone team which means really nothing towards the competitive scale of football around the globe. Japan will be lucky to earn a single point this summer.
photo credit: IsakAronsson
