World's best soccer teams collide

THE GATEWAY/UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA, CANADA

The excitement is building as the 2010 World Cup in Johannesburg kicks off in eight days. While the World Cup Trophy will be hoisted 15,608 kilometers away from Edmonton, here at home, the Gateway staff forecasts on who will earn soccer glory.

Matt Hirji

Its been 44 years since England hoisted the World Cup, and while Alf Ramsey won’t be on the pitch to lead the Union Jack to victory, England’s winless drought will end this summer in Johannesburg.

Led by young veteran striker Wayne Rooney, England’s 23-man roster is strong and poised to break out of their championship slump. Italian born manager Fabio Capello seems to have his squad focused on the task at hand: hoisting the Golden Trophy and claiming glory for the homeland in their national sport.

England’s road to the World Cup has not been without setbacks. Last year, John Terry’s captainship was revoked because of his affair with a former girlfriend of national team teammate Wayne Bridge, who subsequently withdrew his intention to play in South Africa. While this incident was surely a distraction for the team, this year’s veteran squad seems more able to deal with the distractions that have haunted previous incarnations of the Three Lions.

Justin Bell

It’s a long way from Germany to South Africa, but Les Bleus, France’s national soccer team, will be looking for revenge after a bitter defeat at the 2006 tournament finals.

For those who don’t remember, France lost to Italy in the final during extra time, playing a man down when Zinadine Zidane went batshit nuts and headbutted Marco Materazzi, getting a red card in his last match.

That memory will surely haunt this team, replete with returning players. Hopefully, it will also propel them to victory this year.

Expectations on the French side have already been low; they barely squeaked into the World Cup with a draw against the Republic of Ireland on a questionable play. But they started the 2006 slowly as well, tying Switzerland and Korea in their first two matches, barely scraping into the round of 16.

France’s combination of speed and finesse will help them this year, with returning striker Thierry Henry up front and midfielder Frank Ribéry feeding him passes. And they’re going to need that combination to make it out of their group matches — Mexico and Uruguay could both make life difficult for Les Bleus, and home team South Africa may do better than expected.

But still, look for Henry to hoist the World Cup this year in Johannesburg.

Evan Daum

According to my colleagues, our European founding nations are the favourites to capture football’s biggest prize. While England should waltz through their pool, France surely won’t make it into the round of 16, let alone win the whole thing — they shouldn’t even be in South Africa. Sorry chaps, but the English will fall before hoisting that golden trophy just like the French.

My pick to bring home the title is a team that is familiar to football’s upper echelon. Having won the European championship in 2008 and being ranked second in the world heading into the tournament, Spain has yet to capture football’s greatest prize, but that will all change this time around.

The Spaniards are on an impressive run, having won all 10 of their World Cup qualification matches. Between November of 2006 and June of 2009 campaign, they won a record 15 consecutive matches.

Like other top contenders heading into the tournament, Spain features one of the most balanced attacks, with striker David Villa — the squad’s top offensive threat — having scored seven goals in his team’s 10 qualifiers.

All this, coupled with the fact that the Spanish have middleweights Switzerland, Honduras, and Chile in their pool, means that when July 11 rolls around, it will be the Red Fury that who finally get their World Cup title.