Continuing the theme about history:For those who think that...

Continuing the theme about history:

For those who think that history is so relevant to this tournament then it is well worth remembering the fact that every single host of a World Cup has at least progressed through to the second round.

Add to that the fact that South Africa will take a 12 game unbeaten run into the World Cup and you could be forgiven for expecting South Africa to cause an upset or two at the group stage.

I, for one, certainly wouldn't be taking it for granted that France will even make it out of the group stage yet alone finish top. I fancy South Africa and Mexico, the latter which is in red-hot form at the moment and in familiar high-altitude surroundings to boot.

As for Brazil it was claimed that they are accustomed to playing at altitude thanks for their qualifiers away to Bolivia and Ecuador. It should be noted that Bolivia beat Brazil 2-1 and that Ecaudor held them to a 1-1 draw in those two high altitude games. Furthermore if any country is well-accustomed to altitude it has to be Mexico because all of their home games are at altitude. I wouldn't claim Brazil is well accustomed to altitude just because it played two away games in such conditions over the past two years.

Furthermore I would be waiting for Brazil to actually qualify from their group before starting them as favourites in the tournament. Their group has been called The Group of Death for a reason. Portugal and the Ivory Coast will provide stiff opposition for Brazil whilst North Korea is no pushover, although I accept it has to be the least likely of the four to progress out of the group.

I watched Japan play against both England and the Ivory Coast, and the Ivory Coast, even without Didier Drogba for the last 70+ minutes of the match, were oozing with class. Needless to say that although England could go a long way in the tournament if not win it, the Ivory Coast struck me as the more impressive outfit.

Argentina is another favoured by many but it has off-field distractions affecting it and if we use Bolivia and Ecuador (playing at altitude) as a litmus test then Argentina's ability to play in such environments might be put at risk. Argentina lost to Bolivia 6-1 and Ecuador 2-1. Personally, I find it hard to believe that Argentina won't progress through a relatively straight-forward group with the strongest opposition most likely coming from South Korea, but who knows what could happen if Greece and Nigeria get their act together as well and we witness another Maradonna-inspired meltdown?

As for England, I was unimpressed with their performance against Japan and if it wasn't for the two Japanese defenders' own goals then Japan might well have won the game! The US seems to be in better form than England at the moment and I give the US every chance in their opening encounter. In any case I expect that first match to be irrelevant as the group is so weak that the two of them will easily qualify for the second round anyway.