Group C

Teams:
England
USA
Algeria
Slovenia

The good thing about Group C is that it is quite an open group. Don’t be fooled by the average man on the street or the English media, England aren’t as strong as they are made out to be. There’s no getting away from the fact that England have a good side, no team can go through qualification suffering only one defeat if they don’t have some class about them.

The squad, as always, has no real surprises to it – though how Joe Cole managed to get a seat on the plane after so little playing time is quite incredible.

After a great deal of progress the Americans now have a side which, if they aren’t taken seriously, could quite easily cause an upset or two through their campaign.

With plenty of household names in their squad such as; Tim Howard of Everton, Fulham’s Clint Dempsey and AC Milan’s Oguchi Onyewu – who has recently announced he will play next season for free - the US boast experience and flare in their squad.

The Algerian squad also features some well known names in European football; Karim Ziani of Wolfsburg, Rangers defender Madjid Bougherra and one of their star players, Nadir Belhadj are all players to be on the lookout for.

Algeria are another side which may look like an easy opponent to some but they certainly won’t be; they are strong at the back and through Ziani and Mourad Mehni, have a spark going forward. Though of course this is the World Cup, there won’t be any games which can be described as being ‘easy’.

Slovenia are the fourth and final team in Group C and are the underdogs of the group. West Brom’s Robert Koren will provide attacking flare in a side which scored 18 times on the road to qualification, conceding only four which is an impressive return and shows they are strong at the back.
Although Slovenia did well in qualifying, the group may just be a little bit too tough for them to get out of.

Final Standings Prediction
It’s as you were for this group I feel, with England leading the group. The US and Algeria will battle fiercely for second spot, though I think the United States will have enough to clinch second place.

Carl Leighton