FIFA World Cup: Group E Review

Honduras and Ecuador will be wary of the threat French and Swiss players pose to their dreams.

SWITZERLAND:

Switzerland

From 1966 to 2006, Switzerland had qualified only once for the World Cup in 1994, which was held in the US. But their entry in the 2014 edition of the tournament sees them qualifying for the third consecutive time. They beat Albania 2-1 in their second-last qualifier to guarantee their place in the event with a match to spare.

With promising players making the cut, the satisfaction among the squad is palpable. But judging from their inexperience, it seems they have come four years too early in the tournament.

Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld may be happy with his team topping their qualification group, but the task at hand will prove to be a much tougher test.

With Gokhan Inler – who plays for Napoli – leading the pack of the Swiss, they come into the tournament with only a few big names such as defenders Stephen Lichtsteiner (Juventus) and Philippe Senderos (Valencia). In the midfield, Inler and Bayern Munich’s midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri will be holding possession for the side. Meanwhile, forward Granit Xhaka, who has forged a very good reputation for himself in the Bundesliga with Borussia Monchengladbach, is being courted by a number of top European clubs, including Liverpool and Juventus. He is one player who can be tasked with rejuvenating the front line.

Ecuador

Ecuador are coming into the 2014 World Cup as a surprise package. This will be their third appearance in the tournament after they finished fourth in the South American qualification. La tri may have arrived with little historical success, but they beat Uruguay, their more well-known neighbours on the penultimate match in Quinto for a spot in Brazil.

Coach Reinaldo Rueda has been playing his team in an economic style, with major emphasis on teamwork, which they are hoping will see them qualify for the second round. They will have an advantage of playing in familiar conditions as two other teams in the group, France and Switzerland, come from a more moderate European zone.

Their best World Cup result was qualifying for the round of 16 in 2006, and they will be looking to equal, if not improve, this record.

With only one famous player, Antonio Valencia of Manchester United, who will also be wearing the red band for the country, they will be unhappy about the lack of lustre in their team.

France

World Cup 1998winners France hung by a thread during their qualification for the 2014 tournament. They went down 2-0 to Ukraine in the first leg of a qualifier and were forced into a win or walk-away situation. But Les Bleus came back with a 3-0 performance to aggregate a win.

Didier Deschamps’ side do not provide their fans with high hopes, but they will be striving to improve after a bad run at the 2010 tournament.

The team will fight with a mix of youth and experience this year, but most of the responsibility will be on the shoulders of Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery. However, if we look at the goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris, midfielder Paul Pogba and strikers Karim Benzema and Olivier Giroud, France do have a strong spine. They also form a strong defence line with Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Bacary Sagna (Arsenal) and Raphael Varane (Real Madrid). But in a group containing mostly underdogs, it is beyond any doubt that they won’t be tested much.



Deschamps will face concerns while choosing his goal-scoring options. Ribery was the top scorer with five goals in qualifiers, while Giroud and Benzema could only muster a brace apiece. However, Deschamps will most likely prefer Benzema over Giroud as he possesses the pace that the latter lacks.

Honduras

The least fancied team of the tournament, Honduras come into the 2014 World Cup by taking much heart from the defeat they inflicted upon Mexico in the qualifiers at the Azteca. The win earned them a third place in their group.

However, Luiz Fernando Suarez’s side has a dearth of star names and will be relying on a collective effort of the team. Full-back Maynor Figueroa of Hull City is the only player worth mentioning in a side mostly comprising local players, a few from Chinese second division and a contingent that play in England who have had very little game time for their respective clubs.

The team, which lost to Spain and Chile and drew against Switzerland in the 2010 edition, is wanting in experience and talent. The most probable result for the team seems to be a group stage knockout, and anything other than that will be a shock for the football fans.

Summary

Switzerland topped the European section of qualifying with a margin of seven points to the closest chasers Iceland, and the team seems to be the most promising to qualify for the second round behind France. Despite some serious performance issues with France, Deschamps’ side has some big names in its squad and they showed glimpses of their greatness against European and world champions Spain by pushing them to a draw and finally sweating it out against Ukraine in the qualifications. Honduras and Ecuador, who barely made it through the qualifiers, will surely be wary of the threat French and Swiss players pose to their dreams of qualifying for the second round.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 6^th, 2014.

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