Making predictions for the 2014 World Cup at this juncture is not easy. With so many club and international matches yet to happen, we do not know what players will be match fit, what players will have found their form, and what coaches might be there come Brazil.

But there is a reason why FIFA makes these announcements so early in the juncture (aside from travel and administrative reasons because it gets the fans talking. Sitting at the Laughing Man Tavern on Friday with the American Outlaw Supporters, the wave of emotions from sheer enjoyment to despair to reasoning to cautious optimism as the United States was seeded was intoxicating from an outsider’s prospective. The level of despair and enjoyment that people get from something as simple as old men ping pong balls was an amazing sight to see. It is the predictions and rationalizing that makes this game so great. I know that from my perspective, I look forward to sitting at the water cooler this week talking to the Mexican fans and comparing our different situations.

So with that in mind, let’s take a look at each group

“The Group of Brazil’s Shadow.”

Most Exciting Match: Brazil v Croatia (06/12/2013). With this being the first match of the World Cup, it is unquestionably the most exciting match of the tournament and the first round. This is not a very easy first game for Brazil: although Croatia had some difficulty in qualifying for the World Cup, this is a team that features Mario Mandzukic (Bayern Munich) and Nikica Jelavic (Everton.) It will also be interesting to see how Croatian Forward Eduardo (Shaktar Donetsk) is treated in Sao Paulo. He is a naturalized Croatian citizen and was born in Rio De Janero.

Best Player That You Have Probably Never Heard Of: Raul Jimenez, Mexico. I am just going to show you this goal that he scored against Panama in October and let you come up with your own opinions.

Early predictions: 1.) Brazil 2.)Mexico 3.)Croatia 4.) Cameroon

It would be a tremendous catastrophe if Brazil did not win this tournament and if they finished anything less than first.

In regards to second-place, this seems to be a two-horse race between Croatia and Mexico. Cameroon unfortunately did not show anything during qualifying that leads me to believe that they can marginal sides like Mexico and Croatia. Plus with their heavy reliance on aging superstars like Samuel Eto’o and Kevin Prince-Boateng, I am not sure that they will be able to keep up.

As for Croatia, one of the things that concerns me the most with the European teams in this tournament in this weather. Unless your team is stationed in the south where it will be much cooler, teams are going to have to play in sweltering conditions. Experience playing in such conditions will be key. Plus, it seems like Mexico finally has an idea of which players should feature in their squad.

“The Real Group of Death”

Most Exciting Match: Chile versus Spain (06/18)

Popular consensus holds that Spain versus Netherlands is the best group of the match. And they are not far off. But for me the most exciting match will be played in Rio de Janeiro on the 18^th. Although many people remember the 2010 World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands, it seems that very few people remember how good the match between Chile and Spain had in the group stages of that tournament. During that match, Los Rojas used their speed on the wings with Alexis Sanchez (Barcelona) and Arturo Vidal (Juventus) to defend more aggressively. Chile head coach Jorge Sampioli, who is a disciple of Marcelo Bielsa the manager who coached Chile in 2010, will look to attack Spain with a similar strategy. Chile also recently tied Spain 2-2 in Switzerland in September with Spain only rescuing a draw with Jesus Navas’ (Manchester City) goal in the 90^th minute.

Best Player that You Have Probably Have Never Heard Of:  Forward Eduardo Vargas, Chile. Although Vargas’ time in Napoli was rather lackluster, he has been lighting the world on fire playing for Gremio in the Brazilian First Division, scoring 7 goals in 13 matches. A solid tournament could get him back in the good graces of Napoli or another European team come the July transfer window.

Early Predictions: 1.) Spain 2.) Chile  3.)Netherlands 4.) Australia

Let’s get this out of the way first: there is no way Australia comes out of this group. The Socceroos made the World Cup based off of the work of their experienced players like Defender Lucas Neill (Omiya Ardija-Japan) and Forward Tim Cahill (New York Red Bulls.) They made a terrible Goalkeeping decision throughout qualifying by playing Mark Schwarzer, who has since retired, over Mitchell Langerak (Borussia Dortmund,) who now comes into Brazil with only 9 appearances combined for club and country. They have also lost 4 of their last 6 matches, including twin 6-0 whippings by Brazil and France. Australia has a very good young crop of players coming up, but they will not be ready for this World Cup. Expect lots of uneven results.

Between the top 3 teams in Group B, there is very little difference in the strength of their squads or in their potential once they leave the Group stage. It would seem the major difference between Spain and Chile and my number three team, the Netherlands, is experience. Although the Dutch have a very clear advantage at striker with Robin van Persie (Manchester United,) Klaus Jan-Huntelaar (Schalke 04,) and Arjen Robben (Galatasaray,) their defense is very young and inexperienced. Stefan de Vrij (Feyernoord,) Daley Blind (Ajax,) and Joel Veltman (Ajax) are all under the age of 23 and would be expected to log major minutes. Against two experienced sides in Chile and Spain, I am not sure if the Netherlands have it in them to hold off the likes of Sanchez for Chile or Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid) for Spain.

“The Revenge of World Cup Pasts Group.”

Most Exciting Match: Cote D’Ivoire versus Greece (06/17, 5pm)

A classic case of the irresistible force versus the immovable object, to say that these two teams have different styles is an understatement. While Core D’Ivoire is known for their goal scoring prowess, scoring 19 goals during qualifying, the Greeks are renowned for their stinginess on defense. They allowed only 4 goals during qualifying, which was the second lowest in UEFA. Their ‘bend, but don’t break’ system allowed them to capture the 2004 European Championships and will help them in Brazil.

The key difference between these two teams is that while Cote D’Ivoire does not have a great defense, it is at a sound defense, one that is capable of making key stops when necessary. Defender Cheick Tiote (Newcastle ) finally looks like he is healthy and able to live up to his hype. On the other hand, Greece is not a very good attacking team, only scoring 12 goals during qualifying. Forward Konstantinos Mitroglou (Olympiakos) has long been tabbed as the savior for the Greek problem up front, but so far has only scored 8 goals in 28 matches, with 3 of those coming in their recent two-legged playoff against Romania. He is going to need to step his game up to get Greece past Cote D’Ivoire and into the second round.

Best Player that You Probably Have Never Heard Of: Defender Atsuto Uchida, Japan.

Early Predictions: 1.) Colombia 2.)Japan 3.)Cote D’Ivoire 4.) Greece

This is the most difficult group to predict because all four teams are so even. While each team may play a different style, each of them has a quality group of players and have shown in their respective regional tournaments that they are some of the best teams in the world.

The biggest advantage that Colombia and Japan have over Cote D’Ivoire and Greece is that they seem to be more complete squads. Colombia, who has risen from the ashes of international football in recent years, has two fantastic strikers in Radamael Falcao (Monaco) and Jackson Martinez (Porto,) and allowed the least amount of goals during CONMEBOL qualification (13). Meanwhile, Japan has shown this year both in qualifying and at the FIFA Confederations Cup that they are a team who has the right amount of experience and skill to win the tough games.

The one thing that gives me pause right now is Didier Drogba. Major superstar players always seem to come through in the clutch, so I am a little hesitant to give Japan the edge over Cote D’Ivoire.  Cote D’Ivoire has never really come through during international competitions and this may be their last chance with this current set of players.

“The Groupies Group”

Most Exciting Match: Italy v Uruguay (06/24)

I am not sure if you can consider either Italy or Uruguay to be “dark horses,” given their history in this tournament. But in a tournament where the likes of Argentine, Brazil, Germany, and Spain are considered to be the front-runners to hold the cup, it feels like the Azzuri and Los Charruas are being overlooked. That is a very dangerous thing to do.

Although Italy and Uruguay both struggled some during qualification neither team is a minnow. For Italy, both Mario Balotelli (A.C. Milan,) and Giuseppi Rossi (Fiorentina) are coming into form for both club and country. Rossi’s return from injury is vital for Italy as he is able to some of the pressure off of Balotelli. The one major concern that Italy will have is the health of Goalkeeper Gigi Buffon (Juventus) and Midfielder Andrea Pirlo (Juventus.) Both will be 35 when tournament play begins and with Juventus making deep runs in both Serie A and the Champions League, I wonder how much tread will be in their tires come Brazil. Pirlo’s current hamstring injury, which will have him sidelined for 6 to 8 weeks, may be a blessing in disguise.

For Uruguay, it all comes down to whether or not they can get their defense in order. Captain Diego Lugano is not seeing much time for West Bromwich Albion, which has to be a concern for Uruguayan Coach Oscar Tabarez.  If Tabarez continues to play Lugano and 37-year old Andres Scotti (Nacional-Uruguay) like he did in CONMEBOL Qualifying then Uruguay is going to have a difficult time against Italy. Introducing Jose Maria Gimenez (Atletico Madrid) to the national team system will be vital to the success for Uruguay. At 19, it may be a bit much to expose him to such a large stage. But he should be given additional minutes in the coming months for an Atletico Madrid squad that has ambitions of winning the Champions League.

Best Player You Have Probably Never Heard Of: Defender Bryan Oviedo, Costa Rica.

Although Oviedo may not be very well known to the casual fan, he is certainly well known in England. Just last week Oviedo scored the game-winning goal for his club Everton in their 2-1 defeat of Manchester United. This was Everton’s first victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford in 21 years so you can imagine that he is player who will never have to buy a beer near Goodison Park for the rest of his life. Oviedo is more than a one trick pony, though. As a defender he is excellent at boxing out stronger and faster attackers and has a very good partnership with Junior Diaz (Mainz 05).

Early Predictions: 1.) Uruguay 2.) Italy 3.) Costa Rica 4.) England

As stated above, I fully believe that both Uruguay and Italy are the dark horses of the tournament. With both sides featuring sounds squads with very few blemishes, they should make short work of both Costa Rica and England.

Having Costa Rica over England might sound like a bit of a stretch, but if you look at the details it is not that big of stretch. First, the only reason why Costa Rica finished second in CONCACAF is because they were forced to play a qualifier in a blizzard back in February. Had they played in a regular match, they would have either beaten or drawn with the United States.

Second, this is a golden generation of Costa Rican football. With the likes of Oviedo, Goalkeeper Keylor Navas (Levante-Spain,) Forward Bryan Ruiz (Fulham,) Midfielder Christian Bolanos (Copenhagen-Denmark,) and Forward Joel Campbell (Olympiakos-Greece) all playing prominent roles for top flight European teams they will come into this tournament with seasoning and experience against the players in the world. A large number of their players also play in Major League Soccer which has given them the chance to play against a higher quality of opponent than what can be found in the Costa Rican first division. Costa Rica also has a very similar climate to that of Brazil so playing in the Amazon jungle of Manaus should not be a problem.

As for the English, it seems that there are too many questions and not enough answers with this squad. What is the situation with Goalkeeper Joe Hart (Manchester City?) Will they continue with a 4-4-2? Are they going to start their younger players like Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur,) Chris Smalling (Manchester United.) and Adam Llana (Southampton?) What will their training schedule be like to deal with the change in climate? At this point, out of all the teams in this group, it is England that has most to work out over the next few months. With all three teams in this group you can see progression from three years ago. With England this feels very much like 2010, with the same problems and same questions as before.

The 2014 FIFA World Cup draw has finally been announced and we know the fate of our favorite (and least favorite) nations. The tournament won’t start until June, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take an early look at all eight groups and some of the story lines presented by each one. Let’s get started!

Group A: Brazil, Croatia, Mexico, Cameroon

Biggest Question: Who will finish 2nd?

Must See Match: Brazil-Mexico

Best Player: Neymar (Brazil)

Most Likely To Land A Big Summer Transfer: Dejan Lovren (Croatia)

Predicted Finish: 1) Brazil 2) Mexico 3) Croatia 4) Cameroon

It’s a fairly easy draw for the hosts, but there’s legitimate confusion over who could take second. Croatia probably has the most individual talent, but they didn’t look convincing in qualifying and outside of their 1998 semifinal run they haven’t had much success since gaining their independence. Mexico also looked weak in qualifying, but they’ve got Brazil’s number at the moment having defeated them twice in 2012; once in a friendly and once at the gold medal match of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Cameroon have qualified more than any other African nation, but they fail impress when they get to the final and star striker Samuel Eto’o is a shell of his former self.

Look for Mexico to finish second and keep an eye on Croatia center back Dejan Lovren who has impressed with England’s Southampton so far this season.

Group B: Spain, Netherlands, Chile, Australia

Biggest Question: Who fails to advance?

Must See Match: Spain-Chile

Best Player: Alexis Sanchez (Chile)

Most Likely To Land A Big Summer Transfer: Matthew Leckie (Australia)

Predicted Finish: 1) Spain 2) Netherlands 3) Chile 4) Australia

This is about as close as it gets to a true “Group Of Death”. We open with a re-match of the 2010 final while Chile, led by Barcelona star Alexis Sanchez, will challenge for second place and the Aussies will be a difficult matchup for the favorites. The Dutch breezed through qualifying and are still a bit of an unknown quantity because of it. Spain and Chile finished 2-2 in a recent friendly and should provide another thrilling match when they meet again in June.

Spain are advancing out of this group, it’s simply a question of who will join them. I like the Netherlands to beat Chile in what will prove to be the decisive match in this group and advance with the defending champions. This would give us Spain-Mexico and Brazil-Netherlands in the Round of 16 and that’s an incredibly enticing prospect!

Group C: Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast, Japan

Biggest Question: Who is the favorite?

Must See Match: Colombia-Greece

Best Player: Falcao (Colombia)

Most Likely To Land A Big Summer Transfer: Konstantinos Mitroglou (Greece)

Predicted Finish: 1) Colombia 2) Greece 3) Japan 4) Ivory Coast

This group is completely up for grabs. All four are capable of advancing and they all have very different playing styles. Colombia are led by strikers Radamel Falcao and Jackson Martinez. Greece have a rock solid defense and one of the hottest strikers in Konstantinos Mitroglou. Ivory Coast are led by veterans like the Toure Brothers (Kolo and Yaya) and Didier Drogba. Japan have a very technical side that values possession and features creative playmakers Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa.

Ultimately I think Colombia are the only team good enough to score on Greece (thanks mostly to Falcao’s ability) and the winner of that game could wind up deciding who wins and who comes in second. If you’re high on tactical variety this is your group.

Group D: Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy

Biggest Question: Which Mario Balotelli Shows Up?

Must See Match: Uruguay-England

Best Player: Luis Suarez (Uruguay)

Most Likely To Land A Big Summer Transfer: Nicolas Lodeiro (Uruguay)

Predicted Finish: 1) Uruguay 2) England 3) Italy 4) Costa Rica

If you ask me, this is the best group from top to bottom. Costa Rica came in second in CONCACAF qualifying and feature a handful of players playing in Europe while the other three members of this group are very much known quantities. The key to this group is how Mario Balotelli plays. If he performs like he did at the Confederations Cup, Italy can win this group. If he loses his cool and can’t score, Italy will have a tough time advancing past England and Uruguay. All eyes in England will be fixed upon their match against Uruguay and their polarizing striker Luis Suarez. Keep an eye on Uruguay central midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro who, somehow, still hasn’t made a big money move to Europe and currently plays for Botafogo in Brazil.

The potential Round of 16 matchups would give us Luis Suarez against what is possibly the best defense in the tournament as well as England and Colombia doing battle.

Group E: France, Ecuador, Honduras, Switzerland

Biggest Question: How Good Is Switzerland?

Must See Match: France-Switzerland

Best Player: Franck Ribery (France)

Most Likely To Land A Big Summer Transfer: Granit Xhaka (Switzerland)

Predicted Finish: 1) Switzerland 2) France 3) Ecuador 4) Honduras

I’m sure I’m in the minority on this, but I think Switzerland are pretty darn good. They’ve got a great mix of veterans (Juventus’s Stephan Lichsteiner, Fulham’s Philippe Senderos) and youth (Borussia M’Gladbach’s Granit Xhaka, Bayern Munich’s Xherdan Shaqiri) and I think they’ll shock us all by winning this group; assuming they get the necessary result when they face France. France are easily the most talented team, but they’re national team fortunes have been on a steady downturn ever since the 2006 Final when they lost to Italy. I’m not sure they’ve put it together enough to win this group.

Group F: Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran, Nigeria

Biggest Question: Will Lionel Messi finally shine at the World Cup?

Must See Match: Iran-Nigeria

Best Player: Lionel Messi (Argentina)

Most Likely To Land A Big Summer Transfer: Uche Nwofor (Nigeria)

Predicted Finish: 1) Argentina 2) Bosnia-Herzegovina 3) Nigeria 4) Iran

Will all due respect to those involved, this is the the worst group in the tournament. Argentina and Bosnia-Herzegovina should advance comfortably. Nigeria and Iran help open this group and I’ve highlighted it only because Iran have qualified before back in 2002 and should manage to shock Nigeria and steal three points it could make this group a bit more interesting.

The real story line from this group isn’t about the group itself as much as the tournament. We’re all waiting for Lionel Messi to have his World Cup “moment” and this draw gives him a great opportunity to do so. If predictions hold, we get a tantalizing France-Argentina showdown in the Round of 16.

Group G: Germany, Portugal, Ghana, United States

Biggest Question: How Good Is Portugal?

Must See Match: Portugal-United States

Best Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

Most Likely To Land A Big Summer Transfer: Aron Johannsson (United States)

Predicted Finish: 1) Germany 2) United States 3) Portugal 4) Ghana

Another “Group Of Death” that is stacked from top to bottom. Germany should have no issues winning this group, but who comes in second is still up for grabs. The US got the best of Portugal in 2002 and will look to do so again this time around. They need to get a win in their first game against Ghana and that’s entirely possible given they’ll want revenge after the Black Stars knocked them out of the Round of 16 in South Africa. Much like Italy, Portugal are dependent upon their one proven star: Cristiano Ronaldo.

If anything happens to him between now and June (and for some reason I have a sneaky suspicion it will) they will be left with a lot more questions than answers.

Group H: Belgium, Algeria, Russia, South Korea

Biggest Question: How far can Belgium go?

Must See Match: Russia-South Korea

Best Player: Vincent Kompany (Belgium)

Most Likely To Land A Big Summer Transfer: Faouzi Ghoulam (Algeria)

Predicted Finish: 1) Belgium 2) Russia 3) South Korea 4) Algeria

Belgium should win this group, but everyone wants to know how far they can go in the knockout rounds. The battle for second between Russia and South Korea should be a lot of fun to watch and Algeria has done a good job producing players via France. If my predictions hold we’ll get some great Round of 16 matchups between USA/Belgium and Germany/Russia.

There are very few things in life more beautiful than seeing your home country qualify for the World Cup. The joy of the fans, the relief of the players and the coach, there are very few things as emotionally intense as the end of World Cup Qualification. When it is done properly, the audience is witness to scenes like those in Panama and Costa Rica, where every man, woman, and child is nervously waiting to hear the result of a game.

As much as I love World Cup Qualifiers, the process has to change. Globally, far too many teams are being qualifying based on their position on a map rather than the quality of the team. Although having a global presence is always important for the World Cup, it should be the goal of FIFA to have as many of the best teams in the world playing in the competition. A tournament without the likes of Senegal, Sweden, and the Ukraine, all top teams in the world seems to point to a system that values global dollars over quality. I think that the World Cup can have both.

So before I get to my recommendations, I wanted to make a few things clear first. First, I am making these recommendations based off of the assumption that FIFA will be increasing the number of squads. As recently as last month, the head of UEFA and presumptive future President of FIFA Michel Platini told The Times that, “‘I totally agree with Mr. Blatter that we need more African and Asian. But instead of taking away some European [bids,] we have to go to 40 teams.”

Second, I am assuming that however FIFA chooses to allocate their qualification spots that Confederation of African Football (CAF) will be a benefactor. This seems to have been on the docket for quite some time now and thus talking at length would seem redundant

#1 Make all playoff matches inter-continental.

At the beginning of the playoff rounds, I tried to find some reasoning as to why Portugal could be able to play Sweden. But it got me thinking to why UEFA (Europe) should be the only continent that has a playoff system independent of the others. AFC (which represents greater Asia,) CONCACAF (North and Central America,) CONMEBOL (South America,) and OCEANIA (New Zealand and the Pacific Islands) all have their representatives face one another in inter-continental playoffs.  This system seems to be more in the spirit of the World Cup so it would only seem reasonable that FIFA should implement a true intercontinental playoff system with seeding determined by the FIFA World Rankings. Games would be scheduled on home versus home two-legged playoff with goals determining who qualifies for Brazil. If the 2010 tournament were to play out this way, this is how the matchups would have played out.:

Upon looking at the table, of course you still see that Jordan would have to play against Uruguay and probably would have lost by the same score-line. And Sweden will still have to play against a very difficult Ukraine team and may still lose. But under this system, Mexico is not awarded for their terrible qualifying campaign and thus would have to earn their qualification the hard way, playing against France. Also, Iceland-Greece is a much better matchup than what happened this year with Iceland-Croatia and may have given the World Cup another great story.

There are some problems with this system of course. The FIFA World Rankings system often rewards teams who rack up wins against cupcake teams (read: Greece) over teams that are able to get difficult draws or lose narrowly to stronger opponents (Sweden and France.) I am all in favor of creating a far more analytical method of ranking all of the national teams in the world, but for now it would still seem that this system gives fans a decent picture of who are the best teams in the world.

Of course the other major problem is that there are no representatives from Africa in the playoff system and OCEANIA has one spot. But that problem can be resolved by…

#2 Move OCEANIA into the AFC, and give their playoff spot to CAF.

OCEANIA, the as I previously mentioned, is a Confederation made up of footballing nations in the Pacific Islands, most notably New Zealand. Although New Zealand did make the World Cup back in 2010 and was the only team outside of Spain to go undefeated, they were crushed by Mexico this month by a score of 7-2 over two legs.  This on top of Tahiti’s spirited, but disastrous performance in the FIFA Confederations Cup (three losses, only one goal scored and twenty three allowed) showed that this is not a Confederation worthy of a playoff spot. The Kiwis are already considering a move to the AFC, joining Australia who left OCEANIA back in 2005. Perhaps it is time that the rest of the Pacific islands do the same.

So how would this work out? It is obvious that adding 14 nations to the AFC’s already massive 47 member body would require some serious restructuring. Due to the limited resources of these island nations perhaps the best thing would be to create a preliminary round where these clubs would play against one another and then have two to three teams move on to the next round of qualifying. New Zealand (91^st in FIFA World Rankings) would be entered into the second round of qualifying, where it would likely play teams of equal strength like Saudi Arabia (101^st,) and China (102^nd.)

Ideally, it would seem that one day the AFC would need to break their countries down to those  who are in the Far East and those that are in the Middle East. Although having such a large group has meant teams get to play in vastly different environments and play different styles, two things that can only benefit players and their country, it can be very expensive for poorer countries like Afghanistan or Nepal to fly their players thousands of miles away. Having preliminary rounds based upon region would cut down on some of these expenses and reinforce already strong rivalries in the region.

Ideally, the OCEANIA World Cup Qualification spot should go to a member of CAF. Although AFC would be adding a large number of teams, the fact that CAF does not already have a World Cup Qualification spot puts them at the head of the line for allocation. It is far too strong of a Confederation to only have four qualification spots.

Based off of the results of New Zealand’s two legged playoff and Tahiti’s spirited but futile Confederations Cup run it is apparent that OCEANIA’s existence does not benefit FIFA or the World Cup.  Having these teams play against AFC opponents who are of are equal talent level.

#3 Add a preliminary round of qualifying  for UEFA.

Although OCEANIA may sport some of the poorest teams in the world, I will give them credit: at least they try to weed out their worst teams through multiple rounds of qualification. In fact aside from CONMEBOL, which only has 10 teams, every Confederation has multiple rounds of qualification. Except for UEFA. UEFA only has one round of qualification, with a playoff at the end of qualification. So instead of having gripping matches at the end qualifying, supporters of countries with World Cup aspirations have to hope that the likes of San Marino and Liechtenstein are not crushed by more than 8 goals.

Supporters of this system will argue that it gives countries like Iceland or Slovenia, who qualified for the 2010 World Cup, the chance to play against some of the best teams in Europe. But if you look over time, there has been very little deviation in the results over time for the minnows in UEFA.

Let’s first take a look at the success of the UEFA country Malta, which is ranked #140 I FIFA’s World Rankings.

Two wins in twenty-four years of qualifying. Now look at the lack of progress this team has made in comparison to Grenada who only started playing as a nation in 1998 and is only eight spots higher than Malta on the FIFA World Rankings.

Although we are unlikely to see Grenada qualify for the World Cup anytime, what you do see a team in Grenada and a Confederation in CONCACAF that is able to put together a system that encourages development in their small members. And the smaller teams do improve. Look at Panama or Trinidad and Tobago. Even Grenada was able to get a draw 2-2 against Costa Rica in 2009 and narrowly lost to the United States 2-1.   Qualification for the final round of qualifying is not handed to them on a platter. It is earned through development and hard work.

Now to be clear, I am not blaming the Malta Football Federation or any other minnow who is the punching bag for the major powers of Europe. But I do put blame on the head of UEFA who has essentially set up a glass ceiling for many of its members.

So how would a Preliminary Round in UEFA work? It would seem that the best way to do it would be to take Pot 5 and Pot 6 from this year’s UEFA qualifiers (plus Gibraltar) and have these teams play one another in home-home two legged playoff. Here is a list of the teams that would have played in this year’s two-legged playoff had UEFA established this system:

The nine remaining teams would join the remaining 36 in a nine group second round with five teams in each group. The likes of Germany, England, and Spain would remain unaffected as only the lowest level teams would have to play the first round matchups. Furthermore, the major clubs in Europe would be happy as it would mean less qualifiers for their players (with the exception of Garreth Bale and Real Madrid,) and less opportunities for them to have injuries against the likes of San Marino. For the fans, it would mean less throwaway matches and make each game count more. No team could rely on being able to beat the Faroe Islands to pad their box score.

The World Cup, as it is, is one of the best major tournaments in all of sports. Time after time it is always seems to be able to pull together the best and brightest talent on the pitch from the far reaches of the globe and deliver a quality product. But like any good company, it has to change with the times. FIFA in recent years has tried to make up for decades of ignorance for failing to follow the trends of international soccer by allocating more spots in continents like Africa, Asia, and North America. Further restructuring of their qualification process will not only ensure that the best teams make it Russia (2018) or Qatar (2022,) but that their global audience will continue to expand.

And now that the field of 32 is set after Uruguay tied Jordan 0-0 in the second leg of their playoff, we can starting to look ahead to some potentially mouth watering groups. Let’s get to it!

Group Of Death (Host Edition)

Brazil, Japan, Ivory Coast, Netherlands

There will probably be two legitimate “Groups of Death”. Since Brazil is the host, they get one of the top seeds. Japan is the best team from Asia, Ivory Coast is the most talented team from Africa, and the Netherlands are the best team in Pot 4, which is comprised entirely of European teams who aren’t one of the Top 8 seeds. The last two were paired in a “Group of Death” in 2006 with Argentina and Serbia, but this group might just top that one. Japan is better than people give them credit for and the Ivory Coast is full of veteran stars like Didier Drogba who will likely be playing in their last World Cup and will want to go out on a high note.

Group Of Death (Non-Host Edition)

Spain, South Korea, Chile, Italy

This one doesn’t look like a traditional Group of Death on paper, but it’s stacked from top to bottom. Here we have a rematch of the 2012 Euro final as well as two of the world’s most underrated teams. South Korea is a very disciplined, cohesive unit and Chile feature some of the best players you may not have heard of; not to mention they might be the most entertaining team in this field. The last hurrah of Spain’s “golden generation” squaring off against Asia’s second best team, South America’s most thrilling, and the ever polarizing Mario Balotelli. Every match in this group is must see and all four have a legitimate chance to advance.

The Snoozer (Most Boring Group)

Switzerland, Iran, Algeria, Greece

Switzerland is the least exciting of the seeded teams in Pot 1, Iran and Algeria might be the two least talented teams in the entire field, and nobody plays with more of a bunker-mentality than the Greeks. Next!

The Track Meet (The Fastest Group)

Colombia, Mexico, Nigeria, Portugal

There’s no real way to quantify this, so I’m just going to view it as the most “athletic” group. These teams have some of the fastest players and have the potential to score the most goals in one group. Colombia features the likes of Falcao and Jackson Martinez. Mexico, despite their qualifying troubles, are a very technical side with some great wingers like Andres Guardado and Javier Aquino. Nigeria trots out Liverpool winger Victor Moses and MLS prospect Bright Dike. Portugal gives us the great Cristiano Ronaldo plus Manchester United winger Nani. Usain Bolt would be proud of this group.

Group Of Stars (USA Edition)

Argentina, USA, France, Portugal

Yes, there is a possibility we could see Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the same group. Throw in the other Ballon d’Or candidate (Franck Ribery) and you have plenty of star power to satisfy casual American fans. Of course, advancing out of such a group would be a daunting task for the Yanks. This group also has some lesser known stars like Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero and Juventus wonderkid Paul Pogba. This one’s also a Group of Death candidate and it’s all thanks to the individual brilliance that would be on display.

Study Your Colonial History (Most Political Rivalries)

Germany, Australia, Ghana, England

The rivalry between Germany and England obviously stems from World War II. Australia was a British colony until the early 20th century as was Ghana, although they didn’t manage to secure their independence until after World War II ended. Colonialism and political animosity abound in this group for history nerds.

The Dark Horses (Least Talked About Good Teams Group)

Uruguay, Costa Rica, Cameroon, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Uruguay may have “snuck in” via a playoff after finishing fifth in South America, but they still have a very talented roster that is capable of repeating their 2010 run to the semifinals. Luis Suarez might be the hottest striker on the planet, Edinson Cavani is a proven threat, and the midfield is anchored by 24 year old Nicolas Lodeiro, who (shockingly) plays his club ball in Brazil. Costa Rica finished second behind the US in CONCACAF and finished with a goal differential of +6; just one off from USA’s +7. Cameroon has made more World Cups than any other African nation and Bosnia-Herzegovina features the likes of Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, Roma’s Miralem Pjanic, and Stuttgart’s Vedad Ibisevic. 

World War II Group

Germany, USA, Algeria, Russia

In a different take on the Colonial History group, we have the three biggest forces from World War II as well as the only North African squad.

The Pope’s Favorite Group

Spain, Mexico, Ecuador, Italy

The current pope is from Argentina, but Spain gets the nod from Pot 1 as the more traditional Catholic power. You won’t find more fans of the Holy Father and one of the oldest denominations of Christianity outside of this group.

#1 Experience Matters

While it is always nice to see new teams break through the glass ceiling that is world football, there is a reason why it seems like the same teams always make the World Cup. When you look at the USA-Panama match from last night, there is no reason whatsoever why Panama should be celebrating in the 84^th minute in the manner that they did. There was still 6 minutes left in the match (plus stoppage time) and they were playing against the United States, a team that they had only beaten once before. If it was the 92^nd minute and there was no chance for the United States to even up, then dance until your heart is content. But you cannot let up against a team of the caliber of the United States. And that is just what they did.

The same can be said for Egypt in the Ghana match. Although Egypt had looked very sharp in World Cup Qualifying before Tuesday’s match, there is a difference between playing Lesotho and playing Ghana. Playing a lesser opponent you can hide weaknesses in your defense and general match fitness. But it was evident from the start of the first half that Ghana had a considerable advantage in the midfield and on the attack. As I said in the preview on Tuesday, most of Egypt’s defenders play in the Egyptian Premier League, which has not played since 2012 after the violence in the Port Said Riot, which left 179 people killed.  It is very difficult to go from playing in scrimmages and Lesotho to playing against Asamoah Gyan and Sulley Muntari of Ghana. That is why Ghana thrashed them 6-1. Egypt will need to make some considerable adjustments before the second leg of their playoff against the Black Stars to give them even a glimmer of a chance of qualifying.

I think that there are some lessons that both Egypt and Panama can take from Bosnia –Herzegovina. In the past two qualifying campaigns, Bosnia has come very close to making the World Cup, losing to Portugal both times in a two-game playoff. The country, much like Egypt, was in the process of recovering from a civil war that left their country divided (it still is in certain regards.)  Also like Egypt, Bosnia has a rich footballing history as a part of the Yugoslavia. Despite not making the World Cup, they continued to work on developing players, finding players outside of the country who could play for Bosnia (like Neven Subotic and Vedad Ibisevic,) and like Panama got their best players to play outside of their home country so that they can gain experience.  All of the hard work in developing a quality program paid for Bosnia, as they are heading to the World Cup in Brazil.

It is very difficult to qualify for the World Cup, and there are plenty of other countries that would like to be in the position that both Egypt and Panama find themselves in (Canada, China, and India, to name a few.) To make that next step, they should look to Bosnia-Herzegovina on how to get that experience to beat the better teams in their region.

#2 UEFA’s Qualification System Needs to Be Fixed

With the exciting qualifiers going on in Africa, North America, and South America yesterday it is pretty easy to overlook some of the qualifiers going on in Europe. Well mostly because so many of them involved incredibly poor teams. Oh, Poland v England was a good match. As was Armenia- Italy, and Iceland- Norway had its moments. But San Marino-Ukraine?  Greece –Liechtenstein? Hungary-Andorra? Three of these teams were in the running to qualify for the World Cup or a playoff spot. The other three had a combined record of 0-2-28 and a goal differential of -79. Although UEFA may have some of the best teams in the world, they also have some of the worst.

UEFA and CONMEBOL are unique among the different confederations in that they are they only two groups that do not have more than one qualifying round. But as opposed to CONMEBOL, which only has 10 countries, UEFA has one round with 53(!) countries playing. I find it very odd that UEFA and their fans, which constantly look down upon American club soccer for not a having promotion and relegation system would essentially employ the same system for international competitions. You won’t see Japan play Afghanistan or the United States play Dominica unless Afghanistan or Dominica qualify through many rounds of qualification, earning their spots by playing against teams of relative strength. But you can see in the final round of European Qualifying the Faroe Islands play Germany. Not because the Faroe Islands earned the spot, but because a man picked a ball out of a bowl and drew their name.

This needs to change. A preliminary round where smaller countries would otherwise be cannon fodder for the Netherlands would help address the problem. It would give the minnows an opportunity to play against teams on their level and be able to develop realistic standards for themselves. Occasionally, they will knock off a better team as well. North Korea and Trinidad and Tobago have both made recent World Cups and did not make it through to the final round of qualifying.  It will also foster competition within the lower ranks of European national teams and ultimately creates better teams. Furthermore, it would make qualification games matter more. Who would not want to see a final day of Germany v Austria or Italy v Czech Republic? The current system does not work and with plans to expand the European Championship in the next few years, I am not sure if they are moving towards my system.

#3 There are going to be some very interesting playoff matchups

November 19^th cannot come soon enough. With a lineup that includes playoff matches in CAF, UEFA, and continental clashes between Jordan and Uruguay, and New Zealand and Mexico, World Cup Qualifying looks like it will end with a bang.

One of the great things about World Cup Qualifying is that every so often you get one or two teams that shock the world and qualify over a more established opponent. With countries like Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Iceland, Jordan, and New Zealand still with a shot to qualify, we could still see one or two upsets.

There has been some resolution with first set of matches in the CAF playoffs. Unless Ghana capitulates on itself, I don’t see Egypt going through. It also looks like Cote D’Ivoire is going through after beating Senegal 3-1. Unfortunately for Senegal their home match will be played in Casablanca, Morocco, a penalty for the fan violence after a home match last year. Another wasted opportunity for the likes of Papiss Cisse and Demba Ba.

But the other three matches are up for grabs. Although, a tie was not ideal, Tunisia showed tremendous poise against an aging Cameroon squad and have at least given them a shot in the second leg in Yaounde, Cameroon. Burkina Faso put them in a decent position to qualify, having beaten Algeria 3-2 at home. And Ethiopia still has a chance, though not a great one, to get a decent result against Nigeria.

Despite most pundits believing Mexico will defeat New Zealand, I am still not sure. I think that they have been given a tremendous advantage by having the first match played in Mexico City, but bear in mind this is a team that will have their fourth manager in a calendar year. There seems to be tremendous strife within the Mexican F.A., which has shown up on the pitch. New Zealand is not a great football team. Their last win against a team ranked in the top fifty in FIFA’s world rankings was against Honduras in May of last year.  They do have Marco Rojas (Stuttgart) and Winston Reid (West Ham,) but the rest of the team is made up of players from New Zealand’s first division or the A-League. Mexico has a clear advantage in talent, but as they have shown through qualifying, that matters little if they cannot work together.

I am also really interested to see how Jordan does against Uruguay. Uruguay are the kings of the playoff system, having entered two of the past three World Cups through the playoffs. Jordan should be a much easier task than their two previous opponents (Australia and Costs Rica,) but I wonder how they are going to do in Amman. Remember: this is the same Jordan team that beat Japan at home in March. Winning in Uruguay may be near impossible, but if they can sneak out a favorable result at home, Jordan may at least make things interesting in the second leg,

Of course, the more interesting matchups are still yet to be determined in Europe, with their matches being announced on Monday. Without knowing how UEFA picks the names out of the hat, it at least looks like the teams who have qualified are quality squads. Greece, France, Portugal, Ukraine, Sweden, Iceland, Romania, and Croatia would all make excellent additions to the World Cup field.

Please continue checking out the Global Football Today page for the latest and World Cup news and information!

World Cup Qualifying can bring out the best and worst in football. Because of the dynamics of playing within one’s continent the sharks and minnows are more present than ever. The critics are right: rarely do we get a match where the teams are even, where the millionaires of the sport care enough to work for ninety minutes and give their all. For those who were able to be in the park in Colombia or watch the match from their homes, be it on the computer or beINSPORT, the fans of the international game got their money’s worth with Colombia v Chile on Friday night.

Colombia came into the match with everything working in their favor. A home match in Barranquilla, a place which South American expert Tim Vickery stated on the World Phone In is a place where, “it is so hot that it is even sweltering in the shade with a fruit drink” provided Colombia the spot where their ravenous fans can show their passion. The job seemed simple: get a point and they are in the World Cup for the first time since 1998. It has been a long time since the 1994 World Cup, the golden generation of Colombian where expectations were to win the win World Cup.

I do not necessarily believe in curses, but I do believe that Colombia has needed a change in philosophy since their teams from the 1990s. Players like Radamel Falcao, the striker from AS Monaco striker, and Forward Jackson Martinez, who plays for Porto in Portugal, have shook up the foundation of Colombian soccer and brought the team back to relevance in South American and international soccer. Friday’s match showed how far they have come as they came back from a 3-0 deficit to tie Chile to claim a spot for Brazil.

Losing a player as prestigious as Andres Escobar in such an unfathomable situation will do that to a team and culture within a country. Football is a large part of the reason why Colombia has been embroiled in civil conflict since the 1980’s. Drugs are also another factor. But things are improving. According to the United Nations Human Development Index, which measures economic and social development in developing countries, Colombia has seen a marked improvement in health, education, and income. The football team has also improved, defeating Uruguay 4-0 at home and drawing 0-0 with Argentina in Buenos Aires during World Cup Qualifying.

Chile is no pushover though and showed it. Chilean manager Jorge Sampaoli has played an aggressive style of attack that showed the team going to the round 16 in the 2010 World Cup and on the cusp of the World Cup. Within 15 minutes of the first half, Chile had already gone up 3-0 on a pair of goals by F.C. Barcelona midfielder Alexis Sanchez and a penalty by Arturo Vidal, who plays for Juventus.

For the first 40 minutes, Chile was owning Colombia on all aspects of the game. They were strangling all Colombian attacks in the midfield by playing a tight marking system. Their defense, which has been suspect all during qualifying, was giving a serviceable effort. And of course Chile was doing what Chile does best: pushing the ball to the outside so that they can spread the field for long crosses into their dynamic attacking options. This plan of attack worked for most of the match, but by the end of the second half you could see that Colombia had some glimmer of hope in them.

One of the funny things about soccer is how quickly tempo and confidence can change. We may not be able to quantify it, but it can change with just one simple moment. That happened in the 58th minute when Chilean midfielder Carlos Carmona was ejected from the match for an incredibly reckless challenge. Although he is a young player, such ignorant fouls like the one that he put on should be avoided at all costs. Colombia is not a minnow and giving them an opportunity to have some leverage, even with a deficit of 3-0 going against them, is a costly and foolish decision.

With a man up, Colombia began to show people what they can with some advantage and a bit of life. With a few minutes of the sending off, Forward Jaime Guitierrez scored off of a rebound to give the team some life. Though Colombia’s goal came off of an extremely questionable call, what matters is that Falacao buried the shot in the lower left corner to climb within one. With that goal and the improved play, the roar that the crowd in Barranquila had shown at the beginning of the first half was back. It sounded like 15 years of frustration coming out in one loud rush of emotion. There was joy in the crowd, like people could finally celebrate. As the great Ray Hudson during the match, “What was once a graveyard is now Studio 54.”

After the second goal, Chile looked shocked. They could barely muster a defensive against Falcao’s diving header that went wide in the 77th minute. You would thought that the roles were reversed and that Chile was the team vying for their first World Cup in a generation and Colombia were the seasoned vets. Chile’s poise and confidence was done and another goal for Colombia seemed inevitable.
Clutch goals come from either moments of brilliance or defensive lapses. Colombia’s tying goal came from both. In the 82nd minute, Colombian striker Jaimes Rodriguez took a sprinting cross into the box and was taken down on a very late challenge by the Chilean goalkeeper, Claudio Bravo. Goalkeepers always take a risk by taking out a forward, but with an advantage in the box, he made an incredibly poor choices. Falcao finished the penalty shot and tied Colombian legend Faustino Asprilla for third all-time in goals for Colombia. He also cemented Colombia’s spot in the 2014 World Cup.

Although football fans are often inundated with meaningless matches and uneven World Cup Qualifying matches, Friday’s match between Chile and Colombia proved that there are exceptions to the rule. For a country that has been mired in a football depression for fifteen years, and suffered enough internal strife and terror for a lifetime, it was good to see one of South America’s football powers back to prominence.

Hotter than a summer in Rio, World Cup Qualifying picked up in September with teams from UEFA, CONMEBOL, and CONCACAF qualifying for next’s showcase in Brazil. Here is the list of teams that have already qualified thus far for Brazil 2014.

With that in mind, let’s get to Friday’s games!

(Note: I did not include any of the friendlies that are being played over the weekend. Since this article is about World Cup Qualifying, it did not seem like a strong fit. Plus I am not sure why Brazil is playing Zambia in China.)

Matches You Will Most Likely Be Watching

Mexico v Panama (9:30pm ESPNews, UniMas)

If you had said to me seven months ago that this would be a “must-win” match for El Tri, I would not have believed. Mexico finds themselves in the dubious position of being in fifth place in the CONCACAF Qualification bracket, behind Panama on goals scored (7-4). Although they should have the advantage playing at home against Panama, fans of El Tri should not sleep on “The Canal Men.”  Panama should actually be ahead of Mexico on points but the club drop two points against Jamaica in a 0-0 draw at home September. Having had the chance to watch them grow over these past few years, you can see that this is a team that believes in themselves and wants the chance to go to Brazil. Their captain, Felipe Baloy, has extensive experience playing in Mexico for Santos Laguna and should provide composure on a very young backline. Also look out for their goalkeeper Jaime Penedo. Although I was a bit skeptical of him in my piece on the Los Angeles Galaxy, that was more to do with him acclimating himself to a new club. With the Panama national team, he has been superb with making key saves and providing leadership for the other players.

I am very concerned about Mexico in this match. Although history tells us that Mexico at home is one of the most surefire bets in professional soccer, this is not the same Mexico team that has terrorized CONCACAF since its inception. It always felt like when I would watch Mexico play that they liked it when the other team scored, that it meant there was a real competition. Well now there is real competition in CONCACAF and Mexico seems to be failing. Although they played very well in the first half against the United States in their last qualification match, their confidence just evaporated after the first goal was scored.  New head coach Victor Vucetich has been successful  with Monterrey, winning the Apertura 2009 and 2010 and is a 4-time winner of the CONCACAF Champions League (2010-2011, 2011-2012, and 2012-2013) so he has some understanding of how football is played within the region. I also like that he was able to convince Goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa to come back and play. Mexico’s goalkeeping has been terrible for months and Ochoa, who plays for Ajaccio in Ligue 1, should be an upgrade. Mexico needs three points in this match, especially with their final match of qualifying being played at Costa Rica on Tuesday.

United States v Jamaica (6:30pm, ESPN)

I hesitate to put this match as a match worth watching because  it is a match where very little is at stake (the United States has already qualified and Jamaica is all but eliminated,) since it is the United States and it will be shown at every bar during happy hour on Friday it is worth taking a look at. With two matches remaining, the United States will probably use this match as a means to test the team’s squad depth and to see what sort of chemistry can be created. Although international breaks are often criticized (and rightfully so) for being useless, the matches that a team has between the end of qualification and the start of World Cup play are important and very few.  So for the United States, these next two matches are great opportunities to play against teams that are still have a shot at qualifying.

It will be interesting to see how certain players step up given some of the injuries on the team. With no Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Brad Evans, and Jermaine Jones, players like Sacha Kljeistan and Mix Diskerud will be given opportunities to show what they can do and show that they deserve to be in the 18 that is named to play in the World Cup. I am also interested to see how U.S. National Team Jurgen Klinsmann chooses to use winger Aron Johansson. The AZ Alkmaar striker has shown in limited appearances so far that he can be a spark plug off of the bench and provide that little bit of creativity in the box from the forward position that the U.S. has not had in 20 years.

For Jamaica, needing three points and A LOT of help in other matches, I hope that they come out of the box swinging. I am not sure what happened between this time last year, when they beat the United States at “The Office,” their home stadium in Kingston, and now. They looked like they were going to be a very difficult team to get points off of when they drew with Mexico in Mexico earlier this year.  The lineup that they will be bringing to Kansas City on Friday night is stacked with players playing in MLS and in England. Players like Defenders Jermaine Taylor (Houston Dynamo) and Adrian Mariappa (Crystal Palace,) and Forwards Ryan Johnson (Portland Timbers,) and Darren Mattocks (Vancouver Whitecaps) are all quality players who will make life difficult for the United States. The one player to really watch out for though is Forward Deshorn Brown. The 23 year old forward for the Colorado Rapids has had a great rookie season with the club, scoring 7 goals and has helped lead the Rapids back into relevancy.

England v Montenegro (3pm Fox Sports 1)

It is fairly easy to knock the English for their lackluster play thus far in World Cup Qualifying. I am sure that any person in London can pick up a magazine on the street corner and read about how terrible the team is. But I would like to give some credit where credit is due: beyond Moldova and San Marino, England is playing one of the more difficult groups in Europe. Poland, Ukraine, and Montenegro, have all proven to be very capable opponents for one of the “top teams in the world.” Although the English do have two home games to finish off qualification, neither Montenegro nor Poland will be an easy three points.

For the English to win they are going two things to happen. First, Joe Hart is going to have play like one of the best goalkeepers in the world. His play has really suffered since being humiliated in the Euro’s last year against Italy. His play for England has been at best spotty, and he has looked lost for Manchester City. Hart has shown in the past that he can be a dominant goalkeeper, that he can make game-changing plays and dictate the flow of a match. They will need him at the top of his game against the likes of Hart’s teammate at Manchester City Forward Stevan Jovetic.

Second, the Three Lions need for Wayne Rooney to be Wayne Rooney. Rooney has been quite effective for England scoring 5 goals during Qualifying. Although his form his time with Manchester United this season has been turbulent (when is it not?) he always seems to use the international breaks as a release for his frustrations with his club. England has scored 25 goals during Qualification and Manager Roy Hodgson seems to have found a role for the likes of Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge, and Frank Lampard, with each playing an important part in the English attack. But it is Rooney with his creativity and ability to make plays in small spaces that drives this English attack and will be the deciding factor on Friday’s result.

Montenegro will be a very difficult team to draw three points off of. Bear in mind this is the same Montenegrin team that secured a draw in qualification for the 2012 European Championships.  But they will be without starting forward Mirko Vucinic (Juventus-Italy,) goalkeeper Mladen Bozovic (Tom Tomsk-Russia,) center back Marko Basa (Lille-France,) and midfielder Miodrag Pekovic  (Hansa Rostock-Russia.) The Brave Falcons will have to rely on Defender Stefan Savic (Fiorentina-Italy,) Midfielder Nikola Drincic (Rapid Wien-Austria,) and Forward Dejan Damjanovic (F.C. Seoul) to pick up the slack. Damjanovic has scored 3 goals in Qualification thus far, including the one that secured a draw against England in March.

With injuries piling up, and an automatic three points against Moldova on Tuesday, Montenegro may just try and settle for a point in this match.

Game Worth Getting on the Big Screen At Happy Hour

Ecuador v Uruguay (5pm beINSPORT Spanish)

This is the most important match of this round of World Cup Qualifying.  In Uruguay’s last two Qualifying matches, they turned around what had been a very disappointing campaign. In the teams past two matches, they went on the road against Peru (playing at altitude) and  played  Colombia at home and secured 6 points. Coupled with Ecuador’s 1-0 loss at home to Colombia, both teams are now tied on points with 22.

However it may be too little, too late for Uruguay. They are still behind Ecuador on goal differential (+4,) and would have to secure some kind of result against Argentina on Tuesday. Although Uruguay sports some of CONMEBOLs best strikers in Luis Suarez (10 goals) and Edinson Cavani (4 goals,) Ecuador has only given up 14 goals during Qualification. Of those 14, only 3 were at the Estadio Olimpico Atahualpa, their home stadium in Quito. Their defense, which is led by Walter Ayoyi (Pachuca,) is excellent at man-marking and rarely loses their shape.

Ecuador does not have the players up front to go goal for goal for Uruguay, so look for them to try and take their opportunities on the counter when they can run a defensive strategy that emphasizes possession. Spain showed in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup that Uruguay can beaten by maintaining possession and limiting their chances in the final 1/3^rd of the field. I would imagine that Ecuador’s manager, Reinaldo Rueda, will try and employ a similar strategy.

Other Games Available to Watch on Television:

Germany v Austria (2:30pm ESPN2)

Sweden v Austria (2:45pm GolTV)

Honduras v Costa Rica (5pm beINSPORT)

Argentina v Peru (7pm beINSPORT)

Senegal v Ivory Coast (Saturday 1pm, beINSPORT)

Tunisia v Cameroon (Sunday 1pm, be INSPORT)

Games Worth Scouring the Internet For

Burkina Faso v Algeria (12pm beINSPORT play)

Although Burkina Faso and Algeria do not have the pedigree of Senegal and the Ivory Coast, or Egypt and Ghana (by the way, why the hell is that game not available on television?) the Stallions and the Desert Foxes should make for an interesting pairing. The two teams play very similar styles that focus on a solid defense and making their opportunities off of the counter-attack. While Algeria brings back a team mostly composed of veterans from their 2010 World Cup, Burkina Faso made it all the way to the final of the 2013 African Cup of Nations. A solid set of games between these two could further prove the need for FIFA to allocate more World Cup spots to CAF.

Burkina Faso rode this style to the final of the African Cup of Nations, where they were ultimately beaten by Nigeria. Their top defender is Bakary Kone who is a regular for Lyon in the French first division. He is a very tall, strong defender who showed in the Africa Cup of Nations that he can hold down tough, imposing forwards. They are going to have difficulty scoring though. The club only scored seven goals in the previous round of qualification, which in Africa’s final round. Burkina will rely on Forward Moumouni Dagano. The former Sochaux and Genk striker is Burkina Faso’s all-time leading goal scorer but has yet to score a goal during qualifying. Their other main target is Fortuna Dusseldorf Forward Artiside Bance, who has scored 2 goals in qualifying.

Although Algeria still prioritizes defense, they have developed a couple of scoring options. Forward Islam Slimani, who plays for Sporting CP in the Portugese Premier League, has scored 5 goals in qualifying and against Burkina Faso in a friendly in June.  They also have Ishak Befodil, who was signed by Inter Milan this summer. The 21 year old is one many Algerian who grew up in the French academy, but chose to play for Algeria. He has only made two appearances for the senior national team, but tremendous speed and upside. Their defense is anchored by Left Back Djamel Mesbah, who plays for Parma in Serie A, and Centre Back Carl Medjani of Olympiacos in Greece.

With Algeria’s attacking advantage, it will be difficult for Burkina Faso to make it through to the World Cup. But this is a team that showed by beating Mali and Ghana en route to the African Cup of Nations that they can play with teams that have skills advantages by remaining composed on defense and making the most of their limited chances on the attack. Despite their lack of football history, the Stallions can defeat Algeria.

Croatia v Belgium (noon, ESPN3 and ESPN Deportes)

There may be many other games this weekend that have much more at stake, but there are few matches that provide the quality of players like this Croatia and Belgium match. In order to receive the automatic qualification spot in Group A, Croatia would have to win their next two matches and Belgium would need to lose their next two matches.  Despite how unlikely this situation would be, Croatia is bringing all of their starters into this match. If nothing else, it will provide an excellent opportunity for their starters to have one more quality match before the UEFA playoffs begin.

Of course, when one looks at the roster of Croatia names like Mario Mandzukic of Bayern Munich, Luka Modric of Real Madrid, and Nikica Jelavic of Everton automatically pop out. Croatia has always been known for their outstanding offensive players. But it is this team’s defense that has really led the way. The team has only allowed 5 goals in qualifying and was able to secure a draw 1-1 against Belgium in Brussels in June. They are going to have their hands full against the likes of Kevin de Bruyne, Christian Benteke, and Eden Hazard tomorrow but they should have adequate resources up front to counter any Belgian attack.

Although the Belgians have been quite impressive in qualifying, losing Vincent Kompany to an injury on Sunday will make things more difficult for this squad. Belgium is immensely talented, but they are also very young and still gaining experience. In Kompany’s absence, they will look to Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen to replace him. That is a pretty good replacement, but they are going to need someone to step up and replace Kompany’s leadership and ability to keep a team composed under duress. The Belgians are lucky in that they only need to get a point in the next two matches to secure the automatic qualification place in Group A. But a loss against Croatia would make things interesting going into Tuesday’s match with Gareth Bale and Wales. If nothing else, this should be an excellent chance for anyone who wants to watch two of the best teams in the world try and prove who is better.

Other Notable Matches Available on Standard Internet Packages (Check out ESPN3 and beINSPORT Play for the Full Slate.)

Netherlands v Hungary (2pm, ESPN3)

Slovenia v Norway (2:40pm ESPN3)

Colombia v Chile (7pm beINSPORT Play)

After a weekend of thrilling matches and league-changing transfers, the good people at FIFA have decided to plug in two World Cup Qualifying matches and international friendlies. Although I do not want to get on a tangent, doesn’t this feel like a weird time to have World Cup Qualifiers? The club season is starting for the European clubs and the Central and South American clubs, Major League Soccer is entering its playoff stretch, and even the prominent Asian league teams are just starting. Although I know time is fleeting during the summer to complete these matches, perhaps if FIFA is looking into changing the 2022 World Cup from summer to winter when they schedule these matches should also be looked into. Just a thought.

That being said, there are plenty of intriguing matches to watch on Friday. So far only 5 teams have qualified for next year’s World Cup (Australia, Brazil, Iran, Japan, and South Korea) and very few clubs have been eliminated… One of the great things about the explosion soccer on television is that many of these matches are readily available to watch on the television dial or on your computer. So here are the matches to watch out for (Please note: The matches listed are only a few of the games that will be played this weekend. Also, I did not include England versus Moldova because England should crush them and that does not seem terribly interesting. If you are interested in any other matches, check out the Washington Post weekend soccer guide

Matches You Will Most Likely Be Watching

U.S.A. v Costa Rica (10pm beIN Sport)

I almost put this match in the “Matches You Will Want to Scour the Internet For” since it is being played on beIN SPORT, an upstart sports channel that is funded by the al Jazeera television network. I have very limited experience with beIN SPORT, but from the few times that I have watched over “legal” feeds it reminds me a lot of Fox Soccer Channel when it first started. Pretty low-tech coverage, but their announcers were very good for the Jamaica match in June. And yes for those are wondering Former U.S. Men’s National Team player and current beIN SPORT commentator Cobi Jones still has dreadlocks.

The United States comes into this match with no pressure at all. Having won their past twelve matches in all competitions, including 3 of their past 4 CONCACAF Qualifying, they do not need to necessarily win this match. The U.S. has not won in its past 7 matches in Costa Rica and will face a team that is still angry at the snowmageddon match in February, where the United States beat Costa Rica in Colorado. With 13 points already and an easy win coming up next month at home to Jamaica, all the United States needs to do is get 1-3 points in the next two matches to qualify for Brazil.

For Costa Rica, three points would put them in the same position that the United States currently sits in: they would not qualify, but they would essentially be a lock. The Tica’s do not have another easy match in qualifying with two road matches with Jamaica and Honduras, and a match at home with Mexico so a point with the U.S. is essential.  The player to watch out for in this match is Alvaro Saborio. The Real Salt Lake midfielder has been in top form in MLS recently and should pick apart the shaky U.S. backline.

Mexico v Honduras (8pm ESPNNews)

There are very few matches during this international date that will matter more than Mexico-Honduras. Both teams are fighting for the third and fourth spots in CONCACAF. With Mexico leading Honduras by two points, it would appear that they are the odds-on favorite to advance (4^th place goes into a two-game playoff with New Zealand, who won the Oceania Football Confederation tournament.) This Honduras team is also loaded with European club players like Defender Maynor Figueroa (Hull City,) Midfielders Andy Najar (Anderlecht Roger Espinoza (Wigan,) and Wilson Palacios (Stoke City.) Throughout this competition, the smaller countries in CONCACAF have shown how much they have improved both tactically and their skill level. Honduras has taken their experiences both at the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 Olympics and developed a solid defense who can deliver decisive blows on the counter-attack. This is a very dangerous team.

The other reason why this match is important is that it may be the last match for Mexico head coach Jose de la Torre. Mexico has not been playing well in the past few games, going winless at the Estadio Azteca  (the home of the Mexican National Team) in this round of qualifying, not advancing through the Group Stage of the Confederations Cup, and bottoming out of the Gold Cup in the semi-finals to Panama. While Javier Hernandez has looked very good, the rest of their team has been disorganized with sloppy possession on the attack and poor challenges on defense. In particular, Midfielder Giovanni dos Santos has been a disappointment. While they did just pull off a 4-1 victory over the Ivory Coast last month in a friendly, it does not erase the flaws of this team. We may see another upset on Friday night

Uruguay v Peru (10:30 PM, beIN Sport Spanish)

Simply put, this is it for Uruguay. A team who came within a whisker of the 2010 World Cup Final has looked generally pretty poor this time, getting beaten by Bolivia 5-1 in La Paz Bolivia and drawing to Paraguay at home. With three matches coming up against Argentina, Colombia, and Ecuador, they need to demolish Peru in this match if they have any hope of either Qualifying for the final spot in the CONMEBOL Confederation (the Confederation that represents South America,) or to making it into a two-game playoff with the winner of the Asian playoff.

A quick note on the Peruvian team: if you are a Major League Soccer, or in particular a fan of F.C. Dallas, make sure to check out Peruvian Goalkeeper Raul Fernandez. Having watched him all season for F.C. Dallas I can tell that he is certainly on form and will make it difficult for Uruguay. Peru, while technically still in the running for fourth and fifth place, is looking to build off of this performance and further enhance their fledgling program. The Incas finished third in the 2011 Copa America, and have had some pretty impressive victories during this round of World Cup Qualification, beating Chile twice and Ecuador at home. However, they still have two matches on the road against Argentina and Venezuela which are no easy tasks. If they can get points off of this match and at home against Bolivia on the 15^th of October, they might just make the playoff spot.

Games Worth Taking a Long Lunchbreak/Happy Hour For On Friday

Italy v Bulgaria (5PM, Univision Deportes)

Italy could secure themselves a spot in Brazil if they can defeat the Lions of Bulgaria. This should be a high scoring match; the two clubs have combined for 23 goals in Group B during qualifying. In their first match, a 2-2 draw in September of last year, the Bulgarians proved to be a very difficult opponent for Italy, breaking down a normally stout Italian defense for two quality goals from Stanoslav Manolev (PSV Eindhoven,) and Georgi Milanov (CSKA Moscow.) Although Bulgaria plays a very tough defensive style, they have always been known for developing skillful midfielders and attackers. The player to watch out for in this match is Ivelin Popov the captain who plays club football for Kuban Krasnodor in the Russian Premier League. He is a highly skilled attacking midfielder who can cut through defenses with precise, accurate passes and can make his own shot off of crosses.

Nonetheless, the Italians should be able to match any Bulgarian attack with their own set of quality strikers. With a club that features the likes of Andrea Pirlo, Daniele De Rossi, and Mario Balotelli you should expect a team that can score goals with relative ease. Balotelli seems to finally have found his rhythm with the Azzuri, scoring three goals in World Cup Qualifying and 5 goals in all competitions this year. And of course, they have the legendary Gigi Buffon in goal, which put on one of the best performances I have ever seen in the FIFA Confederations Cup this past summer. This is one of the most talented teams in international soccer right now and they should qualify for Brazil within the next two matches.

Croatia v Serbia (2:45 ESPN3)

This match is not for the faint of heart. While many World Cup Qualifying matches feature teams that have very little history with one another, this match is nothing but history. For those of you that do not remember your World History: both Serbia and Croatia were originally a part of the country formerly known as Yugoslavia. In the early 1990’s Yugoslavia broke up and violent conflicts between the different ethnic groups (Bosnians, Croats, Serbs, and eventually Kosovars) started up. Although tensions in the Balkans have lessened, these ethnic groups still do not get along on the soccer pitch. Matches are routinely abandoned and riots are very common. The first leg of this match, a 2-0 victory for Croatia in Zagreb, was actually quite peaceful. But with this match being played in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia things may be different.

Instead of worrying about their history, Serbia should be focused on the plight of their current squad. To say that their current form has been disappointing is an understatement. Having lost to Macedonia and been drubbed 5-0 at home to Belgium, Serbia cannot qualify directly for the World Cup and must run the table with their last three matches to have any hope of making it to Brazil. The Serbs are currently 9 points behind Croatia for the second spot in Group A, with matches coming against Macedonia and Wales. Croatia still has to play Belgium at home and Scotland on the road which is why Serbia still has a chance to make it to the playoffs. But first they will have to beat Croatia.

The club will be playing a mostly young squad with only two players over the age of 30 on the squad (Goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic and Defender Milan Bisevac.) The Serbian defense should provide quite the challenge for. Defenders Branislav Ivanovic, Aleksandr Kolarov, Matija Nastasic, and Neven Subotic all feature regularly for Chelsea, Manchester City, and Borussia Dortmund.  Croatia will need their attacking duo of Eduardo da Silva and Mario Mandzukic, who 2 goals each during Qualifying, to step up and help bury their rivals.

Sweden v Republic of Ireland (2:45PM GolTV)

Germany v Austria (2:40PM Univision, ESPN3)

With all due respect to the Faroe Islands and Kazakhstan, Qualification in Group C has always been a four horse race. While one would assume that Germany would be leading the pack by a wide margin, the other three contenders (Austria, The Republic of Ireland, and Sweden) have all proven to be difficult opponents for the Germans. Sweden in particular, gave the Germans fits on defense in the 4-4 draw in Munich. With Germany leading the group with 16 points, and the other three teams tied with 11, the Germans could essentially win the group by beating Austria on Friday. The Germans still have an automatic three points against the Faroe Islands coming up and will have the Republic of Ireland at home in October.

Out of the other three teams vying for the second-place playoff berth, the Irish have the most difficult road ahead. Although they are tied with Sweden and Austria on points they are behind in goal differential by 2 (Sweden) and 8 (Austria) goals respectively. They also do not have any more matches against the Faroe Islands and will need to beat Sweden at home on Friday and get points on the road at either Austria or Germany. The 6-1 clobbering that the Republic of Ireland received at the hands of Germany and their 2-2 draw at home to Austria have nearly killed their World Cup campaign.

I have been really impressed with the work that Austria has put on during their last few matches. A team that seemed like it bottomed out during the 2012 European Championship Qualifiers, they have come back to life during this campaign, defeating Sweden and nearly getting a result from Germany. Their team has been led by Bayern Munich striker David Alaba, who has scored 4 goals in the tournament, including a critical goal that allowed them to get a result in Dublin against Ireland. If Austria can either get a result, or keep the game within reason, against Germany then they can set themselves up to make a run for either first or second place in the group.

Match Worth Scouring the Internet For

Jordan v Uzbekistan (Noon This is on a channel called One World Sports. I have no idea what that is, and chances 99% of Americans do not have it.)

I nearly chose the Ghana vs Zambia World Cup Qualifier but I am not even sure if that is being televised in Africa, let alone a feed from a T.V. Channel in some distant country. Which is a real shame because both Ghana and Zambia are very good teams. Having watched plenty of African football during the African Cup of Nations, I hope that more of their matches will be covered in the future.

The match between Jordan and Uzbekistan is interesting because the winner will play the fifth-place team CONMEBOL, which will in all likelihood be Uruguay or Venezuela. While one would think that the Asian teams would be at a disadvantage that is not always the case. Often with different styles and time and temperature changes you get interesting results like Australia defeating Uruguay to advance to the 2006 World Cup or Costa Rica nearly defeating Uruguay to enter the 2010 World Cup. So this match between Jordan and Uzbekistan is an important match for both sides. Neither side has ever made it this far in World Cup Qualifying so it would be huge for either country to advance on with the tournament.

Both teams have had their moments during qualifying. Jordan had some very impressive victories at home against Australia and Japan. It is off of those two victories, and defeating Oman in the final match, that the club found themselves in this position. Their defense has been very poor all tournament, allowing in 16 goals and only scoring 7. In particular, the 6-0 defeat at the hands of Japan stands out as their worst performance.

Unlike Jordan, Uzbekistan features one of the best defenses in all of Asia. Having only allowed in 6 goals all tournament, they were able to secure this playoff match by defeating Iran 1-0 in Tehran and managing to lose only 1-0 to South Korea in Seoul. For minnows like Uzbekistan it is critical to minimize the damage when they go on the road so that goal differential does not become a factor.  Their top player is Captain Server Djerperov, who plays in the South Korean domestic league with Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma. Djerperov was instrumental in the victory over Iran, setting up Forward Ulugbek Bakayev for the winning goal.

Wait, This Match Is Actually Happening?

Belarus versus Kyrgyzstan (Internet)

One of the funny things that happen during international match days is that inevitably there are a few teams that will be left out of the World Cup Qualifying fun. It is during this illustrious time period that we, the soccer fans, get Canada versus Mauritania, Japan versus Guatemala, and this gem of a match. In one corner, you have Kyrgyzstan ranked 135^th in the world whose World Cup dreams ended in 2011 after having been thrashed 7-0 in two matches against the aforementioned Uzbekistan. There are a couple of players that play in the lower levels of Ukrainian football, but for the most part all of their players play in the Kyrgyzstani league.

While Kyrgyzstan may be out of World Cup Qualifying, Belarus is still in the heat of it. And by the heat of it I mean trying to avoid catastrophe against France and Spain in Group H. While they did secure a victory against the mighty Georgia and a draw against Finland, France and Spain have crushed Belarus to the tune of 7-1 in two matches. With two matches coming up against France and Spain, I am not really sure what insight Belarus will get from playing the likes of Kyrgyzstan. Perhaps a morale boost is needed before they get thrashed by two of the best teams in the world.

Football has a strange way of placing some players up on a pedestal as ‘legends of the game’, while relegating others to the category of also-rans in the pantheon of greats.  Maradona is revered as one of, if not the, greatest footballer of all time, while Michel Platini is seen as the incompetent Frenchman who runs UEFA by many English fans.  Everyone seems to remember the 86’ World Cup but the 84’ European Championships are seemingly forgotten.

This phenomenon is not limited to the more casual observers of the game.  Franco Baresi narrowly lost out to Bobby Moore and Franz Beckenbauer as the greatest defender of all time according to World Soccer magazine, receiving 22 votes from a panel of respected journalists from around the world.

In comparison, Gaetano Scirea received only one vote, the same amount at England’s brave John Terry, despite the fact that he kept Barsei out of the national side for some time, won everything there is to win at club level for Juventus, in addition to the 82’ World Cup, and is rivaled only by the aforementioned Kaiser in his mastery of the Libero role.  Surely he deserves more than equal footing with ‘JT’?

Turning now from comparing ‘Mr. Chelsea’ with legends of calico to the actual subject of this piece, let’s see if you can guess the identity of a player who is also seemingly being forgotten by many fans of the beautiful game, despite the fact that this individual is still playing professionally today.

He’s one of only a handful of players to have won the Champions League with two different clubs, receiving the UEFA midfielder of the year award on both occasions, he has won eight league titles in four different countries, he was a Balon D’or runner up, and earned 75 caps for his country, highlighted by playing in a European Championships final and World Cup semifinal.

The player’s name is Anderson Luís de Souza of course, or as you might better know him, Deco.

Some might say Deco was born in the wrong time period.  There was seemingly no place in Brazilian football for a 174cm tall ball-playing midfielder in 1997.  Of course, this seemed to be the case over in Europe as well, with midfield partnerships consisting of one creator, a Zidane or Scholes, and one destroyer, a Davids or Keane, the norm.

Though Brazil had produced elegant ball-playing midfielders in the past such as Didi, Rivelino, Gérson, Zico, Socrates, Falcão,  et al, those within Brazilian football came to believe, perhaps as a result of the failure of the 82’ side, that centre midfielders had to be tall, strong players who could physically dominate the midfield battle.

This is evident in the Brazil side that won the World Cup in 2002; Brazil employed a back three with two destroyers in Kléberson and Gilberto Silva ahead of them, with the creative work left to an attacking three of Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, and Ronaldo.

This left no room for a slight midfielder like Deco, neither a traditional playmaker nor a player in the mold of Kaka who could drive past defenders with his great pace, but a versatile, inventive midfielder who could link up play and also had an eye for goal.

Never establishing himself in domestic Brazilian football, Deco moved to Portugal at age 19 after Benfica bought him from Corinthians.  He was then loaned out to second division side F.C. Alverca, where he quickly adapted to European football, helping the club gain promotion to the top flight with 13 goals in 32 appearances.

Despite his fine performances, on his return to Benfica, manager Graham Souness decided Deco wouldn’t be able to cut it at the top level and instead brought in Mark Pembridge from Sheffield Wednesday.  There’s a reason Souness topped the Guardian’s 2008 list of ten worst football managers.  Deco was sold to S.C. Salgueiros, where his play caught the eye of FC Porto, and he subsequently joined the club in 1999.

After an indifferent first year, Deco established himself as a regular with the Portuguese giants in his next three seasons with the side, helping Porto to a league title and two domestic cup triumphs. He also impressed individually, scoring 19 goals in 48 games in the 2001/2002 season, including six in Europe.

Despite this early success, his career really took off when a certain Jose Mourinho arrived in 2002.  As is evident by his 17 yellow cards and one red card in 2002/2003 season, Mourinho helped Deco improve the tactical aspect of his game, asking him to help press the opposition from his position at the top of Porto’s midfield diamond.

Deco became an integral part of Mourinho’s Porto side, scoring 12 goals as Porto won the league title after a three year drought, triumphed over Celtic in the UEFA cup final, and added the Portuguese Cup to complete the Treble in the Portuguese manager’s first year at the helm.

The success continued in the next season, as Porto defended their league title while pulling off one of the greatest surprises in modern football history by winning the Champions League.  Playing in a slightly deeper role linking midfield and attack, Deco was voted UEFA Club Footballer of the Year and topped the Champions league in.

Also the most fouled player in the competition, Deco helped lead Porto to a famous victory against Manchester United on the way to their final matchup with Monaco where Deco ran the show, scoring Porto’s second goal as well as being voted man of the match.

Andy Brassell writes of Deco’s play that season for Porto in All or Nothing: A Season in the life of the Champions League:

“Deco is pivotal to most good things that Porto do. A player who’s the very definition of flair . . . he’s influential on so many levels – his set pieces are always dangerous, and he has the vision to open up a defense.  The opposition know he can also beat two or three players at a time so he attracts potential markers every time he picks up the ball, leaving spaces elsewhere on the pitch.  Not forgetting, of course, that he’s simply very good a keeping the ball . . .”

Despite these qualities, Deco was never called up by Brazil, and he became eligible to play for Portugal upon earning his passport after spending six years in the country.  Realizing his mistake in never calling him up for Brazil, Deco was immediately brought into the squad by new Portugal manager Luiz Felipe Scolari in 2003.  He scored a free kick in his first game, coincidentally against Brazil, as Portugal defeated the current world champions for the first time since 1966.

Though Scolari clearly was a fan of his, Deco’s inclusion was nevertheless contentious at first, with many in the media, as well as supporters of clubs other than Porto resenting his place in the squad.

Luis Figo went as far as to say of Deco’s call up, “It’s something that distorts team spirit and I don’t agree with it. If you’re born Chinese, well, you have to play for China.”  Figo continued, “It looks like you’re trying to take advantage of something. That’s my opinion and I’m not going to change it because he is in the team.”

Deco responded to the criticism surrounding his selection, saying: “I don’t regret choosing to play for Portugal, I was born in Brazil and it would be a lie to say that I’m Portuguese now and not Brazilian. But I love Portugal and I love playing for the national team.”

His critics were soon silenced as Deco was named part of the Portugal squad for the 2004 European Championships, replacing Rui Costa at halftime against Greece in the first group stage game before playing every minute of Portugal’s remaining games on the way to the final, where Portugal lost to Greece on home soil for a second time.

After the Euro’s, Deco was heavily linked with a move to Chelsea after Mourinho’s arrival at Stamford Bridge, but he instead went to play under Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona.  With Barcelona already having signed fellow Brazilian Ronaldinho the previous summer, some questioned Barcelona’s wisdom is signing another attacking midfielder.  However, Rijkaard had another role in mind for the midfielder, and Deco excelled playing in a midfield three that season, coming second to Andriy Schevchenko in the 2004 Balon D’or voting.

Deco and Ronaldinho, a duo that according to Scolari, “can make rain fall”, helped bring the attractive, free flowing football back to the Camp Nou that had absent for large periods of time since Johan Cruyff’s original Dream Team. Though Deco never achieved the popularity Ronaldinho did, he was a perfect foil for the forward.

While Ronaldinho’s footwork and goals were so spectacular that even that Real Madrid supporters had to stand up and applaud, Deco was a master of keeping the ball circulating by playing simple, never taking five touches when one would suffice.  Showcasing his great passing ability, work rate, and footballing intelligence, Deco helped Barcelona wrest the La Liga title from holders Valencia, scoring ten goals in all competitions.

The following season was perhaps the best of Deco’s career.  Barcelona defended their La Liga title in fine fashion, winning by twelve points as Deco was voted Barcelona’s player of the year for the 2005/2006 season.  In Europe, Barcelona topped their group and knocked off Chelsea, Benfica, and Milan on the way to the final, as Deco collected another UEFA midfielder of the year award after his side defeated Arsenal 2-1 in Paris.

Deco was at the peak of his powers, a complete midfielder who controlled the tempo of the game flawlessly.  Speaking of the possibility of a 4-6-0 formation, former UEFA technical director Andy Roxburg said: “you’d need to have six Decos in midfield – he doesn’t just attack, he runs, tackles, cover all over the pitch.  You find him playing at right-back sometimes.’  High praise indeed.

While Guardiola’s Barcelona side famously approached this ideal, he was not the first to apply the concept.  Though Rijkaard typically played Deco alongside Mark van Bomel and Edmílson in Europe, in La Liga, he frequently played with a midfield of Xavi Hernandez, Andrés Inietsa, and Deco, certainly a sign of thing to come.

Heading off to Germany for the 2006 World Cup in good form, Deco was by now a key cog in the Scolari’s Portugal side.  Scoring in Portugal’s first game versus Iran, Deco’s metronomic passing led Portugal out of the group stage and past the Netherlands in the infamous ‘Battle of Nuremberg’, where he was one of four players sent off.  Returning to the side after serving his suspension against England, he was unable to stop Zidane’s France as Portugal again fell just short of glory in a tightly contest semifinal.

Back at Barcelona, Deco was again an integral part of the side, making 47 appearances all competitions.  However, Real Madrid captured the league title that season and after a poor 2007/2008 campaign, Deco and Ronaldinho were sold as new manager Pep Guardiola wished to build his side around Xavi, Iniesta, and Messi, among rumors that the two had become a bad influence on the dressing room.

Deco was reunited with ‘Big Phil’ Scolari at Chelsea, and enjoyed a great start to his time with the West Londoners, scoring a couple of spectacular goals and being voted the Premier League player of the month in August 2008.  However, his form dropped off and he found himself consigned to the bench after Scolari was sacked.

Despite speculation that he might leave Stamford Bridge, Deco stayed on after new manager Carlo Ancelotti took over and again had a postive start to the season before injuries curtailed him.  After recovering, Deco played himself back into the side for the title run in and helped Chelsea win the Premier League and a second FA Cup trophy in two years, completing the first Double in club history.

After injuring himself in the first game of 2010 World Cup, Deco would not feature again for Portugal and he announced his retirement from international football after the tournament.  He subsequently joined Brazilian side Fluminense, where he helped the club win two Brazilian Championships.  He also led Fluminense to the Rio State Championship in 2012, where he was voted the tournament’s best player, finally getting the recognition he deserved fifteen years after leaving his home country.

While Brazilian fans have somewhat of an excuse for not fully appreciating Deco considering he left the country so young and never played for Brazil, it is unfortunate that many fans of European football remember him not as the elite player that he was, but simply as another above average midfielder to have played on the continent in recent years.

Never mind that Deco was in many way the archetype for Xavi and Iniesta, two players who are so highly revered in the modern game.  Apparently Guardiola founded FCB in 2008.  Speaking of Guardiola, it is somewhat ironic that a comment by the very man who forced Deco out of Barcelona ultimately sheds some light on what a special player he truly was.

After their victory over Santos in the 2011 Club World Cup Final Pep Guardiola said his Barcelona side played football “as my dad and my grandfather told me Brazil did.”  The Catalan side starting XI included Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, and Thiago Alcantar; five Decos one might say.  On the other hand, Santo’s midfield consisted of Arouca and Henrique, two destroyers, with Ganso as the playmaker.  Barcelona utterly dominated, enjoying 71% possession and winning 4-0.  The result was a shock to the system of Brazilian football.

While Spain has produced an extraordinary amount of excellent ball playing midfielders in recent years, Brazil has not.  The closest thing again Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has at his disposal is probably Oscar of Chelsea, though he plays primarily as the central player in a 4-2-3-1.

A player like Deco, with his adaptability, ability to pass and move, and football acumen is sorely missed not just from Brazil, but from nearly any national team apart perhaps from Spain.  Am I the only one who thinks Deco could still do a job for the Three Lions?

In an age where many fan’s concept of the history of the game began the moment they start paying attention, and the advent of the 24-hour news cycle and social media mean that football is increasingly wrapped up in the present, it is important to not only remember the players that were able to win the World Cup as a result of being part of an exceptional generation, those that wowed fans with great displays of individual skill, or those that scored obscene amounts of goals in teams who frequently steamrolled the opposition.

We should also appreciate players who possess a true love of the game and are capable of that bit of magic, even if it’s only for a few moments or seasons, that show their true class.  In this spirit, I will leave the last words on Deco to Scolari, a man who truly appreciated the midfielder’s genius.

“Deco, obviously, is not Zidane, but he is very similar. You expect one thing and then it changes. That is very important. For me, he is one of the best players in the world . . .”

Click here to listen.