1st: Colombia- 7 points (Goal Differential)
World Ranking: 5
Key Players: Mario Yepes, Luis Perea, James Rodriguez, Teo Gutierrez
Sadly Colombia will be coming to Brazil without their lethal weapon, Falcao due to a serious injury he suffered earlier in the year. However, they still have plenty of talent in their squad to make it past the group stages. With a brilliantly skilled midfielder: James Rodriguez, Colombia displays a confident and strong team that can take on anybody in the world. They have been praised for their ability to simply outscore their opponents, yet the strength of their defense is just simply underestimated. Colombia has shown that its greatest weakness is getting off its game and attempting to exhibit a more relaxed style of play. They come to Brazil with hunger to battle for the title of best nation in the world of soccer.
2nd: Cote d’Iviore- 7 points
World Ranking: 21
Key Players: Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure, Salomon Kalou
They are known in the football world as “The Elephants”. They come with some of the best talents of Africa in their disposal. Yaya Toure to control the midfield whiles the lethal Drogba to put them behind the net. This squad is something to watch out for as they will most likely make it passed the group stage. They breezed through their qualifying group with four wins from their six matches. They scored 15 goals but only conceded five. With explosive wingers and top notch defense, it seems that they are more than ready for Brazil. Are the others ready though?
3rd: Japan- 3 points
World Ranking: 47
Key Players: Keisuke Honda, Shinji Kagawa, Atsuto Uchida, Yasuhito Endo
Keisuke Honda has quickly established his place as the team’s new leader, filling the void left by Hidetoshi Nakata and Shunsuke Nakamura. Atsuto Uchida has also established himself as a key component of the Japanese defensive line. Leading the attacking line alongside Shinji Okazaki will be Manchester United’s Shinji Kagawa. They have recently stood toe to toe with Belgium and even Netherlands. Japan has improved over the past couple of years and is considered as the Alpha Dog of the Asian countries. The key component for the Japanese for Brazil is gioing to be the midfield which will be led by Keisuke Honda and Yasuhito Endo. How will the Japanese perform in Brazil?
4th: Greece- 0 Points
World Ranking: 10
Key players: Giorgos Karagounis, Dimitrios Salpingidis, Theofanis Gekas, Giorgos Samaras
They made it to the Quarter finals of the Euro 2012 only to be eliminated by European giants, Germany. Despite their array of attacking talent, it was also thanks to Greece’s defence that stole the show in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup and for laying the foundation for success by conceding just four times in ten matches. Even though they are a strong force of Europe, the Greeks haven’t had that much good luck when it comes down to the World Cup. They can force up an attack but at the same time the Greeks can build up a defense which might seem impenetrable. They aren’t one of the best teams but it gets frustrating when they bunker down and slow down the offenses of the other teams.
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