The 2010 finalists are drawn in this group and it would take a fool to bet against both qualifying.
I'm a fool.
I'm tempted to plump for SPAIN to do a FRANCE 2002 and fail to make it through the group stages as cup holders, but I really can't see it. They're still too good a team to make a mess of it.
But something tells me the DUTCH have had their day and are on the wane, unlike Spain, which rhymes nicely.
CHILE qualified third in the CONMEBOL (this could do with a few more letters to make it snappier) and are ranked 12th in the world. Which all equals no pushovers.
And with the tournament based in their sort of climes, I can see them running Spain closer than Holland for first place in this group.
I haven't mentioned AUSTRALIA yet, the fourth of this group. Always plucky performers, capable of pulling a surprise which they certainly did in 2006, but their best players are ageing and no longer playing at the very highest level, so I'm confident that the team will be holding up the rest of the sides, much like their nation does with the rest of the world on the old map.
GROUP B: 1: SPAIN 2: CHILE 3: Holland 4: Australia
I'm a fool.
I'm tempted to plump for SPAIN to do a FRANCE 2002 and fail to make it through the group stages as cup holders, but I really can't see it. They're still too good a team to make a mess of it.
But something tells me the DUTCH have had their day and are on the wane, unlike Spain, which rhymes nicely.
CHILE qualified third in the CONMEBOL (this could do with a few more letters to make it snappier) and are ranked 12th in the world. Which all equals no pushovers.
And with the tournament based in their sort of climes, I can see them running Spain closer than Holland for first place in this group.
I haven't mentioned AUSTRALIA yet, the fourth of this group. Always plucky performers, capable of pulling a surprise which they certainly did in 2006, but their best players are ageing and no longer playing at the very highest level, so I'm confident that the team will be holding up the rest of the sides, much like their nation does with the rest of the world on the old map.
GROUP B: 1: SPAIN 2: CHILE 3: Holland 4: Australia
