Down the years there has been a succession of shock, and in some cases jaw dropping results during the World Cup Finals. England received a nasty taste of this back in the 1950 finals when USA beat us one nil.
In the 1982 finals Algeria beat Germany two-one (England take note as they are in our group).
Italia 90 sensationally opened with Cameroon beating Argentina one nil. The feat was repeated on the opening day of 2002 when Senegal came up with a one nil win over holders France.
There will be the odd shock in 2010 and I focus on the following four teams and analyse their chances:-
New Zealand Group F with Italy,Paraguay and Slovakia
With Australia transferring to the Asia qualifying group it left New Zealand with the easier task of making the play off match. They acheived this with ease and played Bahrain away, nil-nil, and then in Wellington in front of 35,000 winning one-nil. National pride in the team has soared and Kiwi's are delighted to be in their 2nd World cup.
Manager Ricky Herbert and his team are only in S.A for the ride and deserve their 2000/1 odds.
Prediction, to get stuffed in all three matches.
North Korea In group G with Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast.
North Korea famously beat Italy in 1966, their only other appearance in finals.
They have played a whopping 16 matches to qualify. In one match they played against close rivals South Korea in China because of 'civil unrest'.
Owing to the political situation in North Korea their manager, Kim Jong-Hun and team will arrive in S.A with a certain amount of mystery and intrigue but one thing is for sure they are a fit, solid defensive unit. Odds 2000/1.
Prediction, to get a couple of low scoring draws against Ivory Coast and Portugal but lose to Brazil and so missing out.
Honduras had to fight tooth and nail to qualify beating Mexico and Costa Rica in the process. In addition they received a massive slice of luck on the closing day when USA scored a 95 minuit equaliser in their match. It meant that Honduras squeezed in on goal difference.
With experienced coach Reinaldo Rueda and in form but aged striker Carlos Pavon in the squad coupled with many of the team playing in Europe they could be a real hand full. Their 750/1 odds could be a little high.
Prediction To beat Switzerland and draw with Chile to go through.
South Africa Group A with Mexico Uruguay and France
Hosts South Africa are probably the weakest host nation to have held the finals and find themselves in a very tough group. They did very well in the Confederates Cup losing to Brazil in the semi finals.
Since then form has been very patchy. They failed to qualify for the 2010 African Nations Cup and have had uninspiring friendly results of late. The latest being a one one draw against Namibia.
Never has a Host nation gone out in the first round so hopefully that will continue. Odds of 125/1 reflects their chances.
Prediction. Manager Carlos Parreira is a popular local choice plus they will enjoy intense home support. Will struggle like hell but beat France in the last match to scrape through. The shock will come when they lose to Mexico in the opener.
Honduras could be the surprise package for me.
Lets hope there are no slip ups or shocks in group C. Capello and his team will be looking for 3 routine wins.
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