SERBIA
Further distillation of the former Yugoslavia sees the Serbia & Montenegro team split into Serbia separately from Montenegro.
A surprise packet in qualification, the Serbs pipped France for top spot in group including Romania and France, the latter forced to a play off against the Rep of Ireland where Thierry Henry's classless antics caused a stir. As if Eugene Levy doppelganger Raymond Domenech needed more reason to be hated. But I digress..
The Serbs will be coached by Mad Raddy Antic, whose playing career included clubs as Partizan Belgrade, Fenerbache, Real Zaragoza and.. Luton, where he scored the goal that saved them relegation, thereby earning cult status. He then plied a successful coaching career in Spain. The man clearly knows his onions.
The squad he brings will be full of confidence after the aforementioned qualification, including a 5-0 pantsing of Romania. With quality and experience in the form of Dejan Stankovic and a potent midfield pairing in Zdravko Kuzmanovic and Milos Krasic, Serbia hope to erase the poor showing in 2006, where they were given the gloves on, finger up treatment by a the rampant Argentina. They also have possibly the tallest man in world football, a 202cm Nikola Zigic. Coach Antic claims that winger Zoran Tosic could be the X-factor, but given his limited game time at Old Trafford, his match fitness is in question. The Serbs have been training at high altitude in an attempt to galvanise team spirit (not exactly a strong Balkan trait at the world cup) and physiologically acclimatise.
While the 2 Michaels in Ballack and Essien mean that Australia perceive a lighter Germany and Ghana (and even that is a questionable notion), Serbia pose the greatest threat in group D and a draw for Pim Verbeek would, at this stage, seem a minor miracle.
PREDICTION - Serbia to top the group, teach Slovenia a lesson in the 2nd round before meeting...you guessed it, Argentina. If Maradona's men make it that far in spite of him, I fear history will be repeated. Love to see an upset though...
GP
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