SPORTS

The world's best teams will play 64 matches to decide the best soccer nation in the world

Gp Capt Achchyut Kumar

The eighty year old competition has only one country, Brazil, which has been present in all the finals since 1930. Irrespective of their chances of lifting the World Cup, this year, the Brazilian team remains my emotional favourite. Brazil has an enviable record at the World Cup. Having played 92 matches at the World Cup finals, this country has recorded 64 victories, has been held on equal terms on just 14 occasions and beaten an even number of times. The team has also recorded an unbeaten stretch of 19 matches. They have lifted the Cup five times and when they did so for the third time, they became entitled to keep forever what was then called the Jules Rimet Cup.

The Jules Rimet Cup had an interesting history. The 30 cm pure gold trophy weighed 1.82 kilos and was founded by the Frenchman Jules Rimet in 1930. The French sculptor Abel Lafleur was responsible for the art work. During the Second World War, the Cup was hidden in a shoe box in Italy to prevent it being taken away by the enemy. The trophy was re-named after its founder Jules Rimet in 1950. But it was stolen in 1966 and a ransom of £15,000 was demanded for its return. More by luck than anything else, the Cup was recovered in time and host nation England had the honour of winning it. However, when the Cup went into the final custody of Brazil as per the existing regulations, the present FIFA World Cup was designed in 18 carat gold by Italian Silvio Gazzanigi. Incidentally, the Jules Rimet Cup was stolen in 1983 and Brazil got a true replica made to perpetuate its enviable link with the Cup.

Coming back to the performers at the World Cup finals, the country with the second best showing at the games is the country that is responsible for the first cup's safety and the second cup's origin, Italy. The defending champions are the only other team after Brazil to have won the Cup twice in succession, having done so in 1934 and 1938. The Italians have been at the final stage 16 times, having won the Cup four times and having finished as the runner-up in 1970 and 1990.

Perhaps, almost as glamorous as Italy has been the performance of Germany at the World Cup. Having won the Cup in 1954, 1974 and 1990, Germany shares the record with Brazil in having made it to the finals on seven occasions. Other Cup winners have been Argentina (1978 and 1986) and France (1998). It is almost inevitable that the superstars of the FIFA World Cup 2010 will also emanate from these big guns of the soccer world.

Leading the pack of stars would be the most brilliant footballer from Argentina, Lionel Messi. However, it does not necessarily mean that he will be the most prolific scorer. Messi's skill and speed are simply unquestionable which only means that all his opponents will have a specific strategy to check and contain his scoring opportunities. The situation, therefore, is bound to open the way for Messi's teammates Javier Mascherano and Juan Sebastian Veron to finish the openings provided to them. With Messi breaking loose once in a while, Argentina may turn out to be one of the better teams at the FIFA Cup.

English football has produced some soccer heroes though not necessarily equally brilliant players. This World Cup it will be Wayne Mark Rooney. The teenage debutant for England has come a long way since 2003 when he played for his country for the first time in the Euro Cup. Rooney has been a regular scorer at all levels but an injury that is keeping him out of practice for six weeks just before the big event may not be the best thing to happen to English football.

Germany may have to depend more on its defence than its attack to have a favourable day at the contest. Short-statured Philipp Lahm may not have the robust structure that we often relate to a defender but he has been there long enough to establish that he is one of the best in business and then there would be the veteran Ballack to feed the German forwards to carry the day for their nation.

Brazil will depend more on their man under the bar, Julio Cesar, than anybody else in keeping their reputation intact. It is not without reason that this man with a 6'1" frame has been Brazil's first choice for the last three years. Brazil has a big name in more than one sense in its mid-field, Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, and if you haven't got it, we will call him Kaka for short!

France seems to have lost most of its experienced players but newcomers like Yoann Gourcuff and Franck Ribery in the company of Nicolas Anelka may just prove to be a handful against any defence. However, on the current reputation of its players, France may not be a favourite to win the FIFA Cup.

The defending champions may suffer from too much of experience. The Italian captain, Fabio Cannavaro is 36, their best midfielder Gennaro Gattuso is also on the wrong side of 30 as is the so-called 'finest goalkeeper on the planet', Gianluigi Buffon.

The World Cup has on many occasions sprung surprises and the one in recent memory is the manner in which lowly-rated Cameroon beat defending champions Argentina in 1990. Roger Milla emerged as a new hero and though the veteran could not repeat his brilliance four years later, he did set up a record of becoming the oldest player to score a Cup final goal at the age of 42 years and 39 days when he scored a goal against Russia.

Will there be some surprises in this World Cup, too? I guess that one of the Koreas may spring a surprise or two. However, the dominance shall continue to lie with the European and South American nations. My heart would always stand by Brazil for the high quality of clean football that its players play but my mind would vote any day for Argentina, and it is because of just one man called Lionel Andres Messi.

Gp Capt Achchyut Kumar is General Manager with Forbes & Company Ltd, Mumbai. Since he began writing for THE TEENAGER in 1974, he has contributed over 70 articles and 10 cover stories even while moving all around India during his tenure with the IAF.