Group A
England
- With their first-choice XI on the field, England have strength in depth in all areas
- Terry and Ferdinand make an experienced central defensive partnership
- Gerrard and Lampard are star players in midfield, although there's some doubt about how to play both in the same team to maximum effect
- Gerrard's likely to be tired having played 60+ matches this season, but others will have benefited from early exits from European competition and other recent rest periods
- In attack, Owen and Crouch have started to click, although fans won't be fully confident until a recovering Rooney returns
- Their defence and goalkeeper lack some height, and this could be exploited by the other teams in the group
- Paraguay now boast a blend of veterans who have played in many recent major competitions along with a few new rising stars
- Paraguay are a resilient team who can't be written off until the final whistle
- They are a threat from set-pieces, with striker Santa Cruz of Bayern Munich being their most dangerous star player
- As ever, their defence is the strongest part of the team, although they've struggled to find consistency with their choice of back four
- Sweden are excellent at suffocating an opposing team's attack, conceding only 11 goals in their last 36 qualifying games
- In attack, they boast Ibrahimovic of Juventus and an ageing Henrik Larsson, fed by the wing play of Freddie Ljungberg
- The Caribbean islanders tend to suffer from bouts of poor concentration, slowness in transforming defence into attack and losing their shape under pressure
- Trinidad's few well-known players are of a generally high standard, e.g. Dwight Yorke and Coventry's Stern John
- A number of players have been tried out on the left wing, although Dundee United's Colin Samuel may play as a natural left-footer
- Many of T&T's players can be found playing their club football in Scotland, Wales and the lower leagues of England, including Jason Scotland of St. Johnstone, strangely...
Argentina
- Suffered a first round exit in 2002, so the expectations are lower this time around, but that could work in their favour as the pressure will be off...
- Argentina have suffered from a number of injuries to well-known players including Ayala, Heinze, Aimar and the returning star striker Lionel Messi
- Argentina have reverted to their old style of play where the ball is allowed to run more and possession is the key to building attacks
- Keeper Abbondanzieri is good at facing penalties and setting up counter-attacks but can lack confidence at set-pieces
- Their defence isn't much more inspiring, largely due to the number of injuries they've had to deal with of late
- Look out for their two star players - midfield engine Riquelme and the aforementioned Messi of Barcelona.
- They find themselves in the 'Group of Death' which isn't a good start for an African nation making it's debut at the World Cup...
- Ivory Coast will be heavily relying on the attacking skills of Chelsea's Didier Drogba around whom the team is based
- Elsewhere, they can boast Arsenal's Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue in defence and a midfield made up of several players from France and Holland
- Coach Henri Michel hasn't yet cracked a way to make his side play sparkling football, so in the meantime they've resorted to lumping the ball directly to the forwards as quickly as they can
- Though the Ivory Coast's defensive record is good, their goalkeeper Jean-Jacques Tizie often has his nervous moments.
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