World Cup 2010
It’s New Zealand’s second World Cup finals appearance and they begin their opening Group F fixture against an emerging Slovakia side who make their bow in the tournament in their own right (they previously qualified under Czechoslovakia). Both sides will see this as a potential three-pointer, and possibly their best chance to gain points with Italy and Paraguay the other opponents.
The Kiwis qualified via a re-constructed Oceania Group (Australia were transferred to the Asian qualifying group), and with opponents such as New Caledonia, Fiji and Vanuatu, they achieved top position easily. This then paired them with Bahrain to play-off for a World Cup place – they won 1-0 on aggregate to take them to South Africa.
Their warm-up matches however have been inconsistent; lost 0-2 v Mexico, lost 1-2 v Australia, won 1-0 v Serbia but was then followed with another loss to Slovenia 1-3.
In a mostly little-known squad, the stand-out players are defender Ryan Nelson (Blackburn) who will provide quality at the back, along with defensive midfielder Simon Elliott who has plied his trade in the US MLS. In attack, they will be led by striker Rory Fallon (Plymouth Argyle – 5 goals, 3 assists in the Championship last season) who scored the winner in the play-off v Bahrain. Other strikers to watch for are Chris Killen (Middlesbrough) and Shane Smeltz who was the top scorer in the A-League.
Slovakia earned qualification by topping a group that included Slovenia, Czech Republic, Northern Ireland & Poland, with a 7-1-2 record, scoring 22 and conceding 10 – no mean feat amongst some pretty good pedigree. In their warm-up matches, there have been mixed results; 1-0 v USA, 1-2 v Chile, 0-1 v Norway, a creditable 1-1 draw with Cameroon, and then a 3-0 dusting off of Costa Rica.
Players in their squad to watch out for are left wing-back Marek Cech (West Brom), central defender Martin Skrtel (Liverpool), midfielder Miroslav Stoch (now with Twente Enschede, formerly Chelsea) who had a good season in Eredivisie scoring 10 goals and providing 3 assists. Also fellow midfielder Vladimir Weiss (son of coach Vladimir Weiss), was on loan to Bolton from Man City last season, and forwards Robert Vittek and Stanislav Sestak (both plying their trade in the Bundesliga).
Slovakia should win this one quite comfortably, but I’m going for a bit of an upset here…
Pick: Draw @ 4.33 with Bet365
