I believe that the group stages in the 2010 World Cup will see very few, if any, surprises. The smaller nations are closing the gap on the bigger nations due to their improved organization and discipline but they will come undone due to not being able to maintain the mental and physical strength throughout seven matches in a month.

Spain are the clear favourites to top the group and even to win the competition. They won all of their 10 matches in the qualifiers and couldn’t stop scoring in the process.

Brazil are amongst the favourites again. They have experience, flair and good organization. Dunga has brought them stability and a more European style of playing.

Italy have been given a relatively easy draw here and should win the group comfortably. They are current World Champions and very rarely disappoint in a tournament.

Netherlands are without doubt the clear group favourites and are almost a certainty to go onto the last 16. They qualified for the World Cup easily and possess a wealth of attacking options in Robben, Van Persie and Sneijder.

Germany should never be under-estimated in major championships. They are only one of five teams that went unbeaten during the qualifiers.

England are the clear group favorites due to the impact Fabio Capello has had on the team. They have a lot of players in their peak right now and this is their best chance of winning the World Cup.

Argentina is at the mercy of Maradona and his tactics. The team has massively under-achieved under Maradona despite being very strong on paper.

France are a funny team as their style of play lacks creativity, especially going forward. Domenech’s reign as coach will come to an end after the 2010 World Cup and this can only be negative in my opinion.

Ciao all Expekt-friends!

First and foremost it is a magnificent achievement by Roy Hodgson to take a small team like Fulham to the final of the Europa League.