World Cup Preview: Group A

Every week until the start of the 2014 Fifa World Cup in Brazil, I am going to preview each group which entails talking about the teams in the group and giving my prediction as to who will advance and who will go home. The first game of the world cup will be played on June 12TH and by tradition the very first teams to play are from Group A which includes the host nation as one of those teams. The three teams that qualified for the group besides host nation Brazil are Croatia, Mexico, and Cameroon. Of course I will start with Brazil who hasn't been Brazil in the world cup since 2002. I know it's a bold statement to make considering they are one of the best soccer nations in the world, but it's true. This world cup is very important to the Brazilians because they have to prove that not only are they the football kings, but the samba kings as well. All eyes will definitely be on them in this world cup because they are expected to move on from the group. Neymar needs to continue to play at the level he has been at with the national team because he is lacking for his club team Barcelona. The rest of the team will have to step up like Oscar, David Luiz, etc for Brazil to have a chance to move forward in the second round.

Not only does Croatia have a new coach, but they have a new outlook as they return to the world's biggest stage after missing the world cup in 2010. Through the first half of qualifying it looked as if there was no stopping this Croatian side as they went in the halfway mark with five wins, no losses, and one draw which gave them 16 points. The second half of the qualifying round was a nightmare for the team who managed to salvage 1 point in the last four games. The team had to play a two leg playoff against Iceland in order to qualify and a 2 to 0 win was all they needed. The upside for this team is that their toughest match is against the host nation Brazil, from there I think it should be a breeze for them, but they need Draijo Srna and Ivica Olic to step up big time in the tournament.

Mexico to me is a team that is heading for disaster in this world cup to the point that I am a non-believer in this team. They started off strong with six wins, but it was after that they started to drop games or they couldn't find the back of the net. If it wasn't for the United States beating Panama in the last game, Mexico would not be in the world cup today. Can you imagine how the press in Mexico treated that scenario? All three forwards in Oribe Peralta, Jimenez, and Chicharito need to have big tournaments which means finding the back of the net if Mexico wants to have an inkling of a chance of advancing.
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Cameroon has not advanced out of the group stage since 1990 and I think they are about to add this one to the list. Cameroon qualified for the tournament finishing on top of their group with 13 points and some incredible olay from Alex Song and Stephane Mbia who seem to be there strongest links on the team. It would be nice to see Samuel Eto'o try to lead his team past the group stage, but not in their group they were dealt with. The team showed the world exactly what their weakness was when they were demolished by the Portuguese in an exhibition game earlier this year and that's their defense. Look below to see who I picked to win and how many points they would have.

Brazil 9 pts
Croatia 6 Pts
Cameroon 3 Pts
Mexico 0 Pts

Brazil will Play in the finals against Spain
Croatia gets bounced out in the first second round match by Spain