World Cup 2010 - Group A

South Africa

Uruguay

Mexico

France


Group Strength
A tricky section, no doubt, and one which will have the hosts crying into their vuvuzelas. By no means a dream draw for Bafana Bafana with some prized talent set to line up against them at every turn. France, facing South Africa as they did in 1998 and Uruguay as they did in 2002, could have done a lot worse though and with some menacing firepower, albeit without Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema, will be expecting to reel off some hefty tallies.
Critically though they need to function as a unit. The inability of Benzema, Patrick Viera and Samir Nasri to make the squad should be an indication of the teams strength, but in actual fact shows the incompetancy of the coach. Something else France are going to have to deal with if they are to havea successful World Cup. Mexico could only trail USA in the CONCACAF hexagon but boast a much better pedigree at this level. El Tri will be looking to continue their impressive record of qualifying from the group stage for the fifth consecutive tournament. The Uruguayan side showed a dramatic fluctuation in form throughout the South American qualifiers but on their day, possess a starting XI to rival some of the very best. Much like France, however, they must play together as a unit to have any hope of qualifying from the group.

Group Favourites
Having qualified for the finals with the aid of UEFA rule changing and the hand of Thierry Henry, Raymond Domenech's side had the temerity to complain about being handed a non-seeded berth. How reticent might Les Bleus be now that they've avoided some of the major guns. Alongside this opposition, the French will justifiably been seen as top dogs in the section but will have to shake off their underperforming status to record the maximum points haul. Anything less than a win against Uruguay could have French nerves jangling ahead of the Mexico clash. They should easily account for South Africa, regardless of the group situation by that time. Karim Benzema's failure to make the initial squad for the world cup may come as a surprise to many but his lack of game time for Real Madrid, and France for that matter, over the last 12 months has worked against him. Even without Benzema they can still call on Franck Ribery, Florent Malouda, and Nicolas Anleka to shoot them to top spot.

Race for Second
Wide open. Typically the host nation have the 12th man in the majority of the crowd and no doubt they will be using their vuvezelas to good effect against Mexico on match-day one. Should three points go the way of Bafana Bafana then they remain in with a modicum of a shout ahead of the Uruguayan showdown on match-day two. That said, Mexico usually find a way out of their pool and will be aiming as much for the top spot as for the runners-up berth. Oscar Tabarez's Uruguay was the last team to qualify but in Luis Suarez, Diego Forlan and the precocious Nicolas Lodeiro, la Celeste have the weaponry to score in abundance. Mexico against Uruguay on the final match-day could prove to be the most important game of this group and no doubt the Mexico coach, Javier Aguirre, will be hoping that his former signing, Diego Forlan, will produce a performance reminiscent of his Manchester United days and not his Spanish League career.

The Outsiders
For fear of 1,000 parties being cancelled, I have to say that South Africa are likely to finish up with the wooden spoon. Joel Santana failed to turn his eye-pleasing unit into a scoring unit during the past year and has been jettisoned in favour of his predecessor, Carlos Alberto Parreira. Scoring remains the main problem for Bafana Bafana; the likes of McCarthy, Erasmus and Parker are not garnering enough, or even any in McCarthy's case, game time at club level to be considered golden-boot winners in waiting. To go through, goals will be needed and that is one key element lacking in the hosts.

Going Forward
Argentina are favourites to finish top of Group B and that makes finishing second in Group A almost like a World Cup death sentence in the round of 16. Uruguay would no doubt relish vengeance after being downed in Montevideo with an automatic berth up for grabs. France may go on to meet Nigeria, who defeated Les Bleus in a friendly last summer. But any one of South Korea, the Super Eagles and Greece could provide France’s opponents in the round of 16.

Fixtures
South Africa – Mexico, June 11th, (15.00)
Uruguay – France, June 11th, (19.30)
South Africa – Uruguay, June 16th, (19.30)
France – Mexico, June 17th, (19.30)
Mexico – Uruguay, June 22nd, (15.00)
South Africa – France, June 22nd, (15.00)

Prediction
1st – France
2nd – Uruguay
3rd – Mexico
4th – South Africa