Group E Preview
Brazil plus one (hopefully Switzerland)
COSTA RICA
This is the 5th World Cup the Central American country (pop 5M) has reached. They first qualified in 1990 and, thanks to a win over Scotland, came second in their group, behind Brazil, before coming unstuck against the Czechs in the knock out stage. Their best performance came last time out in Brazil when they won a group containing Uruguay, Italy and England. They then knocked out Greece before falling to Holland in the ¼ Finals.
Many of the same players are in the 2018 squad. Their most famous player is Keylor Navas the goalkeeper at Real Madrid. Others you may have seen in England are Brian Oviedo who missed 2014 after breaking his leg playing for Everton. He is now at Sunderland. The captain is Byan Ruiz who had some good seasons at Fulham and now plays for Sporting in Portugal. Finally, up front they have Joel Campbell who, seemingly, has been at Arsenal forever. He has had more loans than I've had hot dinners and just finished a second stint at Betis in Seville. I can't believe he is only 25!
Costa Rica didn't have the easiest qualifying as former manager, Paulo Wanchope, was obliged to resign after getting into a fight at and U23 game. Oscar Ramirez was appointed and steadied the ship. His team are experts at parking the bus and have pacey front-men who can break away and score. This worked perfectly in Brazil. Could lightning strike twice?
SERBIA
The messy breakup of Yugoslavia saw (the substantially Serbian) FR Yugoslavia qualify for France 98 and reach the last 16. As Serbia and Montenegro in 2006 they lost all 3 group games. Finally, as Serbia they got to South Africa in 2010, but again went out at the group stage. They didn't qualify for Brazil.
Looking at this squad, they should be much better than they are. All the defenders play for top European clubs and there is a mix of youth and experience. Best known to us are Ivanovic, formerly Chelsea now Zenit, and the captain, Kolarov, who had 6 great years at City before joining Roma. They have 4 UK based midfielders – Matic from United, Palace's Milivojevic and Cardiff's Grujic as well as our own Dušan Tadić. Leading the line, they have Mitrovic who had a storming spell at Fulham but is still registered at Newcastle.
You'd expect Serbia to see off the minnows and only come unstuck against the Big Boys but failing to beat Costa Rica in their first game could put them on the back foot. This would make their 2nd match, against Switzerland, massive.
BRAZIL
Having appeared at all 20 previous World Cups, Brazil do not lack experience. Their record (5 wins, 2x2nd, 2x3rd, 2x4th and 4xquarterfinalists) is unmatched.
There are 4 players in their 23 I haven't heard of. The remainder all play for top European clubs and, I expect, they have more Champions League appearances than any other squad. British based Brazilians are not certain starters: they are Ederson, Danilo, Fernandino and Jesus (City), Willian (Chelsea) and Firmino (Liverpool).
At 26, Neymar is just 22 goals shy of Pele's all-time scoring record. A good world cup could put a dent in that. Another thing that intrigues me is why Brazil bother to nominate a 2nd kit: do they really expect to play Australia in the latter stages?
SWITZERLAND
Having worked for and with the Swiss for a great chunk of my life, I always have a soft spot for Die Nati. I saw them play a couple of times in Euro 96 including the Opening Game at Wembley. Long before England deigned to enter the World Cup it was the countries of South America and Central Europe that dominated the international game. Switzerland competed at 6 of the first 8 tournaments, reaching the last 8 twice. Then, between 1970 and 2002 they only qualified for USA94 but have now qualified for the last 4 tournaments, reaching the last 16 twice.
They finished 2nd behind Portugal in their qualifying group then beat Northern Ireland to reach Russia. That was some group as Portugal are ranked 4 and Switzerland 6 in the current FIFA list. Michael Lang (Basle) is their sole Swiss based player. Nine of the squad play in Germany and 5 in Italy. The 2 Premier League footballers are Xhaka (Arsenal) and Shaqiri (Stoke - but wants out).
Swiss success depends on a good result against Serbia. They won't expect anything from their opening game (Brazil) but something from their next match gives them hope.
COSTA RICA
This is the 5th World Cup the Central American country (pop 5M) has reached. They first qualified in 1990 and, thanks to a win over Scotland, came second in their group, behind Brazil, before coming unstuck against the Czechs in the knock out stage. Their best performance came last time out in Brazil when they won a group containing Uruguay, Italy and England. They then knocked out Greece before falling to Holland in the ¼ Finals.
Many of the same players are in the 2018 squad. Their most famous player is Keylor Navas the goalkeeper at Real Madrid. Others you may have seen in England are Brian Oviedo who missed 2014 after breaking his leg playing for Everton. He is now at Sunderland. The captain is Byan Ruiz who had some good seasons at Fulham and now plays for Sporting in Portugal. Finally, up front they have Joel Campbell who, seemingly, has been at Arsenal forever. He has had more loans than I've had hot dinners and just finished a second stint at Betis in Seville. I can't believe he is only 25!
Costa Rica didn't have the easiest qualifying as former manager, Paulo Wanchope, was obliged to resign after getting into a fight at and U23 game. Oscar Ramirez was appointed and steadied the ship. His team are experts at parking the bus and have pacey front-men who can break away and score. This worked perfectly in Brazil. Could lightning strike twice?
SERBIA
The messy breakup of Yugoslavia saw (the substantially Serbian) FR Yugoslavia qualify for France 98 and reach the last 16. As Serbia and Montenegro in 2006 they lost all 3 group games. Finally, as Serbia they got to South Africa in 2010, but again went out at the group stage. They didn't qualify for Brazil.
Looking at this squad, they should be much better than they are. All the defenders play for top European clubs and there is a mix of youth and experience. Best known to us are Ivanovic, formerly Chelsea now Zenit, and the captain, Kolarov, who had 6 great years at City before joining Roma. They have 4 UK based midfielders – Matic from United, Palace's Milivojevic and Cardiff's Grujic as well as our own Dušan Tadić. Leading the line, they have Mitrovic who had a storming spell at Fulham but is still registered at Newcastle.
You'd expect Serbia to see off the minnows and only come unstuck against the Big Boys but failing to beat Costa Rica in their first game could put them on the back foot. This would make their 2nd match, against Switzerland, massive.
BRAZIL
Having appeared at all 20 previous World Cups, Brazil do not lack experience. Their record (5 wins, 2x2nd, 2x3rd, 2x4th and 4xquarterfinalists) is unmatched.
There are 4 players in their 23 I haven't heard of. The remainder all play for top European clubs and, I expect, they have more Champions League appearances than any other squad. British based Brazilians are not certain starters: they are Ederson, Danilo, Fernandino and Jesus (City), Willian (Chelsea) and Firmino (Liverpool).
At 26, Neymar is just 22 goals shy of Pele's all-time scoring record. A good world cup could put a dent in that. Another thing that intrigues me is why Brazil bother to nominate a 2nd kit: do they really expect to play Australia in the latter stages?
SWITZERLAND
Having worked for and with the Swiss for a great chunk of my life, I always have a soft spot for Die Nati. I saw them play a couple of times in Euro 96 including the Opening Game at Wembley. Long before England deigned to enter the World Cup it was the countries of South America and Central Europe that dominated the international game. Switzerland competed at 6 of the first 8 tournaments, reaching the last 8 twice. Then, between 1970 and 2002 they only qualified for USA94 but have now qualified for the last 4 tournaments, reaching the last 16 twice.
They finished 2nd behind Portugal in their qualifying group then beat Northern Ireland to reach Russia. That was some group as Portugal are ranked 4 and Switzerland 6 in the current FIFA list. Michael Lang (Basle) is their sole Swiss based player. Nine of the squad play in Germany and 5 in Italy. The 2 Premier League footballers are Xhaka (Arsenal) and Shaqiri (Stoke - but wants out).
Swiss success depends on a good result against Serbia. They won't expect anything from their opening game (Brazil) but something from their next match gives them hope.
