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Plenty of storylines in World Cup qualifying

October 15, 2009 09:46 AM | Posted by   Jason de Vos  

World Cup qualifying is coming to an end, with only a few places still up for grabs. We've gained some interesting insight into the contenders and pretenders for next year's big event in South Africa, so here's the lowdown on a few things I've seen over the qualifying process:

Coaching Matters

Under the guidance of Sweden's Sven Goran Eriksson, Mexico were dead and buried. They stumbled into the final round of qualifying in CONCACAF, and after winning only one of their opening three matches in the final stage, Eriksson was sacked in favour of Javier Aguirre.

Despite losing his first game in charge away to El Salvador, Aguirre guided Mexico to five victories in a row, clinching a berth in South Africa next summer. Along the way, he also led them to a 5-0 thrashing of an under-strength U.S. team in the final of the Gold Cup. Winning is as much a habit as losing, and Aguirre has ignited the Mexicans' belief that they can be competitive.

Some other coaches who have had an impressive influence on their charges: Guus Hiddink with Russia, Marcelo Bielsa with Chile, Bob Bradley with the U.S., Morten Olsen with Denmark and Fabio Capello with England.

Is England's Wait Nearly Over?

As for England, (dare I say it) they might actually have a chance to end 43 years of hurt!

It's been that long since England had their hands on the World Cup, and Fabio Capello has certainly turned their fortunes around. He has brought in a disciplined, tactical approach to the English game that was previously lacking. He has managed to integrate two of England's most influential players, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, into a midfield that many feared was too one-dimensional.

Up front, Wayne Rooney is in exceptional form. If Rooney plays to the best of his abilities, England could go far next summer. Unfortunately, I feel that England is too reliant on Rooney in attack, with little help up front from his supporting cast. I'm sorry, but you will never convince me that Peter Crouch is a world-class striker.

Unless England can get some tremendous scoring from the likes of Gerrard and Lampard in midfield (it's not a stretch), I have a feeling that they will come up short in Africa.

Not the Sum of Their Parts

Much has been said and written about those teams who have struggled in qualifying. The likes of Argentina, Portugal and the Czech Republic - to name a few – have all come in for criticism for having less than stellar qualifying campaigns.

So who is to blame? Why are these talented squads struggling to overcome the obstacles that their individual talents suggest they should?

Truth be told, they just aren't great teams.

Having a team full of great players does not make you a great team. You need balance, chemistry and tactical awareness to take advantage of all that talent. Teams like Argentina and Portugal - who boast two of the world's best players in Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo respectively - have struggled to live up to the expectations that their fans have created because they rely too heavily on individual talent.

Argentina does not have one world-class defender in their ranks. You would struggle to name a genuine World Cup contender about whom you could say the same thing. All the attacking prowess of Messi and company is of little advantage if you can't keep the ball out of your own net.

Portugal's only wins on home soil in qualifying came this week, when they needed to beat both Hungary and Malta to clinch a playoff berth in Europe's Group 1. They still need to negotiate the playoffs, and they will be hopeful that Ronaldo can finally reproduce his electrifying club form for his country. Worryingly for them, he has thus far failed to deliver.

Ghana Contenders?

Ghana breezed through qualifying, becoming the first African nation, apart from the hosts, to clinch their spot in South Africa next summer. Impressive as that may seem, we won't have an accurate indication of whether or not they can be competitive with the likes of Brazil, Germany, Spain or England until next summer.

Ghana has a talented squad of players and they will benefit from the World Cup being played on African soil, but they were never really tested to any extent in qualifying. In fact, a loss in their most recent qualifier to Benin suggests they may have some way to go to be a true contender next summer.

Congratulations

Finally, I would like to congratulate the United States, Mexico and Honduras, the three qualified nations from CONCACAF. They have shown us just how far we need to go in Canada in order to be competitive in the qualifying campaign for the next World Cup, which gets under way in 2012.

I have to admit to being more than a little envious when I look at the progression of the United States, in particular.

It wasn't that long ago that Canada was competitive with our neighbours from the south, but they have left us trailing in their wake. There are numerous reasons for that, not least of which is money. But the Americans have shown a willingness to change, and they have reaped the benefits of doing just that. Hopefully, we will soon see some changes to the game in our country that will have a positive impact on our fortunes at the national team level.

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