Spain to reign supreme in Group H
December 9th, 2009 by Phil Lythell
Group H at South Africa 2010 has a distinctly latin flavour to it with Spain being accompanied Chile and Honduras. Switzerland are the sole non-hispanic nation.
The reigning European champions will be quietly pleased with the hand that fate has dealt them as they bid to win the greatest prize in sport for the very first time. A peerless qualifying campaign saw them win every single match with only England finding the back of the net more often out of all the other UEFA members. Spain are the pre-tournament favourites alongside Brazil and it is easy to see why. A solid looking back four featuring Carlos Puyol and Sergio Ramos will sit behind a quite staggering midfield of Xabi Alonso, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas though one of those quartet will almost certainly have to make way for the more defensively-minded Marcos Senna. And to top it off they have arguably the best strike partnership in international football with Fernando Torres lining up next to David Villa. They will win the group and, as long as luck does not desert them, they may well win the competition itself.
Chile completed a stunning qualifying campaign by beating Colombia 4-2 in their own back yard and came second to Brazil by a single point. They have been regular participants at the finals and that pedigree should help them to make it to the second round at least. Chile lack the star names of the past such as Ivan Zamorano and Marcelo Salas but they have plenty of goals in them which is a quality every successful team needs.
Switzerland took advantage of a favourable qualifying group to seal an automatic spot to South Africa. They could even afford a humiliating 2-1 defeat to perennial whipping boys Luxembourg on their way to topping their group ahead of Greece which shows that they are far from being the finished article. However, they are currently marshalled by two-time Champions League winning manager Ottmar Hitzfeld who will no doubt galvanise his team into a tough unit before they take the field in June.
Honduras will be competing in their first World Cup tournament since 1982 and they wil hoping to avoid the heavy defeats they suffered in Spain. They secured their place in the most dramatic fashion when USA scored an injury-time equaliser aginst Costa Rica that gave Honduras an automatic place at the expense of their Central American neighbours who would go on to lose in a playoff to Uruguay. The predatory instincts of David Suazo and the midfield leadership of Tottenham’s Wilson Palacios will give them the platform from which to launch their campaign.
Prediction: Spain to cruise through with Chile finishing second.
