WORLD CUP TRIVIA: Since the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, FIFA have nominated the best young player of the World Cup. Although the talent of these players aged under-21 has been noted, an award was not actually given until 2006 to the Best Young Player - as chosen by the Fifa technical study group. OTHER NEWS; The countdown is getting tight, the excitement is building and teams have already made it to Brazil. Group E will be a struggle to watch for a passive fan, though the French seem to promise a dramatic showdown since they are favorites to go through. Group E comprises of France, Switzerland, Ecuador and Honduras. The FRENCH Squad is Coherent and Balanced and if France have any hope of going far they will require a fully fit Ribery and all his wing wizardry to achieve their objectives but the Bayern Munich genius was ruled out of the World Cup with a nagging back injury. Now Juventus’ Paul Pogba, just 21, will need to step up even more. If Deschamps sticks with his favoured 4-3-3, the main concern becomes who slots in for Ribery on the left though defensively the team is sound, with a Hugo Lloris in goal and Varane keeping things tidy at the back. Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille) will likely be employed on the right and one of Loic Remy (Newcastle) or blossoming star Antoine Greizmann (Real Sociedad) could be shifted over to the left forcing a 4-4-2. Look for a central defence pairing of Raphael Varane (Real Madrid) and Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal) with Newcastles Mathieu Debeuchy and Manchester United veteran Patrice Evra at full-back. Then one of Greizmann or Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) could start up front with Real Madrid hitman, Karim Benzema. Player to watch in the French team will be Paul Pogba, a midfielder who excelled since defying Sir Alex Ferguson and leaving Manchester United for Juventus in 2012. Dynamic and powerful, Pogba mixes all these attributes. He was voted Europes best Under-21 player for 2013. On the other hand, Switzerland’s defence is something to be envied featuring Wolfsburg’s Ricardo Rodriguez and Juventus’ Stephan Lichtsteiner. They represent a rock solid pair of full-backs. Switzerland will need to work much harder on finding the back of the net more often, with four young forwards who between them have 9 goals from a combined 50 caps. The Swiss attack will be led by Bayerns Xherden Shaqiri. Gifted with flair and pace. Hes often compared to a younger version of club teammate Arjen Robben. Their key players will be; Kosovo-born Xherdan Shaqiri, 22, who will be creative force. Gokhan Inler the starting captain, 29 year old Napoli midfielder given the armband on the retirement of Alexander Frei in 2010.
Posted on: Mon, 09 Jun 2014 07:26:20 +0000
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