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BRAZIL, GERMANY, ARGENTINA AND ITALY
World Cup football 2006 home page
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BRAZIL Champions in the World Cup 2002, Brazil are favourites to lift the trophy again. Ronaldo and Ronaldinho are still in the first team four years on and the Kaka and Adriano make up a very strong attacking quartet. They beat England in the quarter finals in 2002 and the two sides could meet again at the quarter finals this time around. Their only major injury is to Barcelona's defender Edmilson who has pulled out of the World Cup squad. Brazil beat New Zealand 4-0 in their last warm up game on 4 June 2006 with goals from Ronaldo, Adriano, Kaka and substitute midfielder Juninho (Lyon). The first team could well be Dida (AC Milan, goalkeeper), Cafu (AC Milan, right back), Lucio (Bayern Munich, defender), Juan (Bayer Leverkusen, defender), Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid, left back), Emerson (Juventus, midfield), Ze Roberto (Bayern Munich, midfield), Kaka (AC Milan, forward), Ronaldinho (Barcelona, forward), Ronaldo (Real Madrid, forward), Adriano (Internazionale, forward). GERMANY Germany are the hosts and usually do well at the finals (reaching the final in 2002) but do not look quite as strong as they have been in the past. They play the first game of the World Cup against Costa Rica on 9 June but will be without their most influential player Michael Ballack (Chelsea, attacking midfielder) who has a calf strain. Germany could play England in the second round (if one team wins their group and the other team comes second in theirs) but both teams will want to avoid each other. The first team when fit may well be Lehmann (Arsenal, goalkeeper), Friedrich (Hertha Berlin, right back), Mertesacker (Hannover, defender), Noworthy (Bayer Leverkusen, defender), Lahm (Bayern Munich, left back), Schneider (Bayer Leverkusen, right wing), Frings (Werder Bremen, midfield), Ballack (Chelsea, midfield), Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich, left wing), Klose (Werder Bremen, forward), Podolski (Cologne, forward) ARGENTINA Argentina beat England in the World Cup 1986 and the World Cup 1998 but England beat Argentina 3-2 recently and also beat them 1-0 at the last World Cup. Argentina have brought a very strong team to Germany and are arguably a better team than four years ago. They are in the toughest group with Holland, Ivory Coast and Serbia and Montenegro but are favourites to top it. Midfield playmaker Riquelme (wearing the number 10 shirt) is a great player and Argentina also have top strikers in Crespo, Messi, Saviola and Tevez. Only two of the four are likely to start with Messi just returning from injury. Manchester United defender Heinze has now recovered from injury and will probably start in central defence. The first team will probably be Abbondanzieri (Boca Juniors, goalkeeper), Coloccini (Deportiva, right back), Ayala (Valencia, defender), Heinze (Manchester United, defender), Sorin (Villarreal, left back), Rodriguez (Athletico Madrid, midfielder), Gonzalez (Porto, right wing), Cambiasso (Internazionale, left wing), Riquelme (Villarreal, midfielder), Crespo (Chelsea, forward), Messi (Barcelona, forward) ITALY Italy are concerned over the fitness of their midfield star, Totti and Del Piero (Juventus) is likely to take his place at the start of the tournament. Gattuso (AC Milan) and Zambrotta (Juventus) will probably also miss the first game against Ghana with thigh injuries and Nesta (AC Milan) may miss this game too. Despite the injuries Italy have not been beaten in the last 18 games before going into the World Cup and their last match was a 0-0 draw with Uruguay. Their strongest team is probably be Buffon (Juventus, goalkeeper), Oddo (Lazio, right back), Nesta (AC Milan, defender), Cannavaro (Juventus, defender), Zambrotta (Juventus, left back), Camoranesi (Juventus, midfield), Pirlo (AC Milan, midfield), Gattuso (AC Milan, midfield), Del Piero (Juventus, midfield), Toni (Fiorentina, forward), Gilardino (AC Milan, forward)
Look at the teams from FRANCE, HOLLAND, SPAIN and PORTUGAL here
See the latest odds to win the World Cup here
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