Spain – The team to Beat

Group B of the World Cup 2014 will have two of the best European teams in recent years and they will fight for the first place to avoid a possible clash against Brazil in the next round.

According to SportsBettingDime.com, Spain ranks fourth to win the title in this edition, after Brazil, Argentina and Germany, but is the favorite to be first of their group.

Spain lifting FIFA 2010 World Cup Trophy.
pic – Guardian

Vicente del Bosque’s team, current world champion, will begin their participation against the Netherlands, in a rematch of the final of South Africa 2010, where the Furia Roja won 1-0 with a goal from Andres Iniesta, Barcelona’s midfielder. The red team ended a streak of four consecutive games without a win against them.

The orange squad, led by Louis Van Gaal, is emerging as the second qualified in Group B. The Netherlands got their ticket to the World Cup with a great performance in qualifying round with nine wins and a draw, besides being the second best offense and defense, scoring 34 goals and allowing only five.

Former Dutch player Johan Cruyff said that Spain has a 90 percent chance of qualifying, but in the second round the tournament will become a lottery with no clear favorites.

For its part, Chile had a great elimination round in South America finishing in third place, only behind Argentina and Colombia. Alexis Sanchez, Barcelona’s striker, and Arturo Vidal, Juventus’ midfielder, are the biggest stars of the red squad. Jorge Sampaoli’s team will be a tough match for the two European giants and could be the surprise of the group.

Australia comes out as the team to be last, as is considered the weakest, although they raised their level of play and now formed part of the Asian qualifiers. Of the four teams in the region that advanced to the World Cup, the Socceroos finished with the fewest points (13), behind Japan, South Korea and Iran.

The team that finish in second place of  the group could face Brazil in the second round while the winner will play against Mexico, Croatia and Cameroon, so expect a great game between the Furia and the Oranges.