Group E

Today looking at Group E, no easy games in this one

Netherlands

Would Ruud Van Nistelrooy (must of had a long face when he realised he wasn't being picked) and Edwin Van Der Sar of walked into England's squad? yet Holand haven't even bothered to recall the either of the veterans from retirement. This speaks volumes about why the Dutch are the dark horses to win the world Cup this summer. Holland don't just have a squad strong and talented enough, but one which will now be united to go all the way. The stealthy manner of Holland's World Cup preparations is in stark contrast to what is rapidly becoming a chaotic countdown for Fabio Capello's England. That England have been forced to lure Jamie Carragher out of retirement and would of done the same with Paul Scholes smacks of desperation and a dearth of talent, the Lord Triesman debacle and Capello's scoring index only add further confusion to England's preparations, this isn't mentioning the John Terry affair, David Beckham as a coach and resorting at the 11th hour to a 3-5-2 formation. It is all becoming so surreal it's hard not to wonder if Capello has been on a secret spying trip to Amsterdam and enjoyed himself a little bit too much in their famous cafes.
Mind you, take a close look at Holland and there is plenty to space out any of the other favourites including favourites Spain and Brazil.
Not many seem to be taking Holland too seriously, though for what it's worth, they are ranked third in Fifa's rankings which would suggest bookies odds of 10-1 is a very good price.
A more telling statistic is how they got there, winning all eight matches in qualifying in a decent group made up of Norway, Scotland, Macedonia and Iceland.
They did so with a settled side and a totally settled system where every player knows their place. Manager Bert van Marwijk is hardly a big name (not even in Holland (but is in a Scrabble sense)) but he certainly won't be tinkering with things now. The Dutch will play a fluid 4-5-1 formation that is really a 3D 4-2-3-1 system.
After taking over from the high profile Marco van Basten, Marwijk has effectively turned the Dutch into a club side, standing by players even when out of form for their clubs.
since winning the European Championships in 1988, the dutch have usually self-imploded due to a never ending line of divisive splits in the camp. But Marwijk seems to have harnessed all of Holland's natural attacking talent, developed a decent defence and made sure most importantly, there's been no clash of ego's.
Resisting the temptation to recall Van Nistelrooy and Van der Sar has been a vital decision on that front, it has prevented creating resentment and a rift.
Spearhead Dirk Kuyt (with him in the team, they have mastered the art of winning ugly, i can't be the only one that thinks he looks like Rocky from the film Mask (not as funny as the Jim Carrey version) is hardly in Van Nistelrooy's class but the Liverpool man serves the team and will bring the juicy attacking trio of Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder into play. There is quality in depth too. This would seem to be the Netherlands best chance of lifting the World Cup since losing the finals of 1974 1978.
With the added bonus of the historic Boer support in south Africa, the dutch might just have the courage to see their total football win a world cup at last.
Interesting fact, Holland has the highest museum density in the world, with almost 1000 museums. Also, there is a little village called Rectum, bet it's a s***hole
National dish, stamppot, made from a combination of potatoes mashed with one or several other vegetables, sometimes also with bacon. Green mashed potatoes....I'm not Popeye, I'll have the fries please Wimpy.

Denmark

Now in his 10th year as manager of Denmark, and guiding Denmark to their second World Cup in his tenure and also the only person to achieve 100 international matches as both a player and a coach, for all their legendary players like Peter Schmeichel, the Laudrup brothers and Poul Nielsen, it's Morten Per Olsen that is characterised as the most important person in Danish football history.


The Danish squad itself is good, but not great. Expect captain Jon Dahl Tomasson to equal and maybe break the all time Danish goalscoring record, currently one behind Poul Nielsen who scored 52. Tomasson who is enjoying his last hurrah in the Danish squad at the age of 33 will be aiming to go out on that personal high, with competition from Arsenal's Nicklas Bendter (an Andy Cole for the 21st century) and Ajax's Dennis Rommedahl, they have no shortage or centre forwards who have the potential to perform on the grand stage.
In midfield they have Juventus' Christian Poulsen who combativley breaks down opposition attacks and sets his own team on the way, mainly to Thomas Kahlenberg of Wolfsburg and Daniel Jensen of Werder Bremen.
Defensively though, they lack the real quality needed to cause a threat at the tournament, Liverpool's bit part player Daniel Agger is joint most experienced defender they have with 29 caps, the other being Blackburn's Lars Jacobsen. I'd like to see Malaga's Patrick Mtiliga given the chance after making his debut way back in November 2008 and only having the one cap to his name.
In goal, a lot rests on the fitness of Stoke City's Thomas Sorenson who dislocated his elbow in the game against Chelsea last month, without him, they will be relying on FC. Copenhagen's Jesper Christiansen who only has 10 games played for his country.
Ultimately, the Danes will know qualifying from the group is as much as they could ask for, they're not expecting the team to bring home the bacon.
Interesting fact, the most famous Dane is Hans Christian Anderson, who's books have been translated into more languages than any other book bar the bible....shows fairy tales sells well.
National dish, i would of thought bacon (no offence to any police reading (not you Sting)) but it's frikadeller, flat, pan-fried dumplings of minced meat.

Japan

After Ivica Osim suffered a stroke in December 2007, Takeshi Okada stepped back into the limelight to manage his native Japan again after previously guiding them to France 98 (which was the first time they had qualified, finishing bottom of a group with Argentina, Croatia and Jamaica, 4 years later on home soil, they won their group with Belgium, Russia and Tunisia, knocked out by Turkey in the second round). But how will they do at this tournament? drawn into a group where they find 3 superior (on paper at least) teams, recent years have also seen Japanese players seen less in the teams of so called bigger clubs, in fact the 23 man squad for Japan includes only 5 players that play outside of Japan.
Portsmouth may remember with a tongue in their cheek Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, his performances in English football may of been questionable but his experience with 116 caps for Japan mean he's been bought in as cover for no. 1 Seigo Narazaki (himself with 75 caps to his name).
Defensively, they really on the likes of FC Tokyo pair Yasayuki Konno and Yuto Nagatomo, working alongside national captain Yuji Nakazawa of Yokohama F. Marinos.
Midfield sees CSKA Moscow's Keisuke Honda (who only joined in the new year and has yet to really impress), though I'm sure Celtic fans will remember Shunsake Nakamura, Japans's talsiman now plays back in his home country (Yokohama F. Marinos) and at 31, this should be the stage he makes a mark but i have to wonder about his appetite for success in returning to his native country so early.
All is not lost in attack, they have 24 year old Shinji Okazaki, he's spent his entire career so far at Shimizu S-Pulse and I'd like to see him step up and show what he is capable of, 16 goals in 25 games so far suggests he has talent.
Overall, it's hard to decide if Japan are in transition or simply lack the quality to compete anymore, following the success of England's Premiership in their country, money has been pumped into their own football league and i fear this lack off quality against better quality teams for key players will cause them to finish bottom of this group, they don't seem to have the quality, when one of the main stars is Junichi Inamoto, who never impressed at Arsenal, Fulham or West Brom, this shows why
Interesting fact, Tokyo has had 24 recorded instances of people either killing themselves or receiving serious skull fractures while bowing to each other with traditional Japanese greeting (doesn't happen with a hand shake.....though you often look at the person and wonder where the hand has been)
National dish, sushi (you get a raw deal eating that stuff)

Cameroon

Never a team to be underestimated, Cameroon has qualified for the World Cup 6 times, more than any other African nation. They were also the first African side to reach the quarterfinals, losing in extra time to England in 1990. They have also won the African Cup Of Nations 4 times as well as the gold medal at the 2000 summer Olympics.
Managed by former Rangers manager Paul Le Guen, Cameroon feature a team with genuine world class players to players struggling to make it at club level. Thir main man is striker Samuel Eto'o, the nation's captain having scored 43 goals in 92 appearanmces, he is his countries greatest ever goalscorer though next highest scorer is Mallorca's Pierre Webo (Cameronnian for Peter Parker?) with just 13 in 39, this inconsistancy runs through the team. In midfield they have the likes of Arsenal's Alexandre Song and Lyon's Jean Makoun, two players plying their trade at the highest level, but then supported by players like FC Augsberg's Marcel Ndjeng, 28 years old and never won a cap! this is a team in transistion.
Having the teams highest ever goalscorer, they also include Rigobert Song, formerly of Liverpool and West Ham, their highest ever capped player with 133 games under his belt and first played in the World Cup way back at France 98. With Geremi Njitap alongside him who has 109 caps, defensively they may be the most experienced centrebacks in the history of the World Cup finals with 242 caps between them, but they have lost the yard of pace they once had and need all their experience if Cameroon are to progress.
In goal though, they have a reliable keeper in Carlos Kameni, he's been the first team goalkeeper at Espanyol for 6 years and at the tender age of 26 and with 58 caps to his name, if he impresses, he could make a move to a bigger side.
This team can spring a surprise on many teams but if they make the 2nd round, they'll have achieved all that can be expected of them, but they won't go down without a fight.
Interesting fact, Cameroon are ranked 19th in the world by FIFA, the only African team higher is Egypt at 13th
National dish, Ndole, a stew of nuts, bitter leaves indigenous to West Africa and either fish or ground beef.......can't be worse than a kebab on a Saturday night i guess.