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World Cup favourites
Written by Fabio Lanipekun Sunday, 06 June 2010
In his lifetime, Lekan Salami did not miss World Cup finals, and the moment Brazil were eliminated, he would pack his bag and baggage and take the next available plane back home.
To him the World Cup began and ended with Brazil. In 1982 when Paulo Rossi of Italy pounded Brazil out of the World Cup in Spain, I saw a number of our NTA studio staff in tears.
The Brazilians have won the World Cup five times, and anytime, any day, remain one of the favourites, whether the championship is held in Europe, South America, Aisia and now Africa.
But the world soccer equation is changing. When Brazil held absolute sway over world football, they kept most of their secrets within Brazil, but today Brazil are the highest exporters of footballers, to all parts of the world. So the rest of the world is getting to know and unravel the Brazilian weaponry.
Brazil do not do well in Europe, the first and only time in Asia, they won the Cup, and now coming to Africa for the first time, let’s wait and see. In my early teens, I used to deify Brazil, but since becoming a sports journalist in 1962, I have shed my toga of partisanship and have become more objective.
If the bookmakers are making Brazil the number one favourites, I go for Spain as the joint favourites. Spain have been described as the greatest under-achievers in football – how can a country that produce famous clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona and star footballers, not rank among the World Cup front runners?
Spain, however, have adorned new aura by winning the European championships and doing excellently in tennis, basketball and other sports.
So for South Africa 2010, mark down Spain as favourites. Italian coach super achiever Fabio Capello and England are on a roller coaster, Argentina can never be ruled out, enigmatic France are a danger, and the defending champions Italy can never be ruled out, so also are the Germans.
Out of the six African countries, if four can reach the quarter-finals and one, the semi-final, hosting the tournament on an African soil would have got the desired boost. So once again, brace yourself to enjoy the World Cup. Share