With this summer's 2014 Fifa World Cup now less than a week away, I will be bringing you part two of my official tournament predictions. For those of you that missed last week's column, I put myself out on a limb by stating Uruguay, backed by the mercurial talents of one Luis Suarez, would be the tournament's big surprise, projecting the English national team to once again disappoint and bow out at the group stages, while also deliberating over whether or not the Ivory Coast and host nation Brazil had what it takes to make a run for the gold.
This week, I will be bringing you the four teams I believe stand the most chance of claiming international glory. Having largely dominated both the international and domestic scene over the past five or six years, the Spanish have been fortunate to be able to call upon some of the best players the world has to offer in recent tournaments.
The Spanish reign of dominance started at Euro 2008 when, after going almost 50 years without an international medal, the team led by the late Luis Aragones swept all aside to lift the trophy in Austria. Since then, the team has gone on to win the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the 2012 European Championships hosted by Poland and Ukraine.
Led by Barcelona lynchpins Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta, the Spanish certainly has as good a chance as any at reclaiming their world title.
Another country that seems to be flying under the radar heading into the tournament is Belgium. Having qualified for its first World Cup in more than a decade, the Belgians have an exciting crop of youngsters maturing at just the right time – something that may see the team make an extended run in Brazil.
Having secured a relatively easy group – alongside Russia, South Korea and Algeria, for the first time in a long time Belgian football fans can dream of progressing to the knockout stages of the World Cup. Led by their inspirational captain Vincent Kompany and backed up by the attacking talents of Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and Adnan Januzaj I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Belgium getting better and better as the tournament progresses.
Of course though, whenever we discuss favourites for an international tournament the Germans are always right in the mix. Having reached at least the semi-finals in each of the past three tournaments, Germany have advanced to the knockout stages of the World Cup every year since 1978, claiming gold on one occasion and finishing as the runner up in three others.
It's clear for everybody to see that the Germans certainly have the pedigree to compete on the grandest stage and in coach Jogi Low they have a tactician who knows exactly how to get the best out of his players. Expect the likes of Mesut Ozil, Mario Gotze and Bastian Schwiensteiger to step it up in Brazil, while the World Cup's all time leading scorer Miroslav Klose will want to impress in what will be his final tournament.
Although each of those teams could very well return home from Brazil with World Cup winners medals, I'm tipping Argentina to go all the way on their home continent to claim a first international trophy since 1986.
In recent years, the Argentineans have largely failed to impress, famously losing 4-0 to Germany in 2010 when they were many peoples' pick to go on and win the entire thing. After taking charge of the national team in early 2011, the classy Alejandro Sabella has made it his mission to ensure there are no distractions for the upcoming tournament. That means there is no place in the squad for the controversial Carlos Tevez, despite the striker having an incredible 21-goal season with Italian champions Juventus.
Instead, La Albiceleste will have to rely on the likes of Lionel Messi (the best player in the world), Sergio Aguero (one of the best players in the Premier League) and Gonzalo Higuain (the fourth top scorer in Serie A) to fire them to glory. Not a bad group of forwards to call upon.
I just think everything has fallen into place at just the right time for Argentina. In Messi they have a player capable of producing absolutely anything at any moment in the game, while this year they seem to have concentrated on drafting in a sturdy midfield which includes the likes of Javier Mascherano and Angel Di Maria, while calling upon Manchester City duo Pablo Zabaleta and Martin Demichelis to keep things tight at the back. A combination of a fantastic team, classy manager and playing a tournament on their home continent in my opinion will lead to a third World Cup triumph for the Argies.
Make sure you tune in on Thursday as the World Cup kicks off with a tantalizing tie between Brazil and Croatia. Kick off is set for 5 p.m. local time, 2 p.m. for us in Canada. And check back into the Nouvelle next week for the next installment of World Coverage. Enjoy!
