Team Profiles
Group C
Group C
Netherlands
The final or bust. The Oranje have set lofty aims for their campaign in South Africa, 32 years after their 3-1 extra-time defeat by Argentina in the showpiece game, which itself came four years on from their 2-1 final loss to West Germany. Since the retirement of pioneering coach Rinus Michels, a multitude of players have followed in the footsteps of the Johan Cruyff generation without ever advancing as far as the final hurdle, though one particularly talented crop did claim the European title in 1988. Often seen as spectacular but mentally fragile, the Netherlands hope to banish that image under Bert van Marwijk, who took over in the wake of their disappointing UEFA EURO 2008 campaign.
He and his charges at least have history on their side this time around. The last team to reach a FIFA World Cup™ finals without dropping a single point in qualifying - West Germany in 1982 - went on to contest the final. The current Oranje vintage have made no efforts to conceal their ambitions and, once again, look on paper to have all the ingredients necessary to go far.
The road to South Africa
It was a full house for the Netherlands as they picked up eight wins from eight games. The Van Marwijk era has proved to be a faultless one so far, with the former Feyenoord coach leading his troops to the top of Group 9, where Norway and Scotland came equipped as their major rivals. As it happened, the Dutch let in the only two goals they conceded all campaign against Iceland and FYR Macedonia, while hitting two of their 17 efforts to secure slender but controlled 1-0 victories in Glasgow and Oslo.
The coach
Not the most heralded player in his time, having collected a solitary international cap, Mark van Bommel's father-in-law has known far more success in the dugout. He shone especially brightly at Feyenoord, leading the Rotterdam outfit to the UEFA Cup trophy in 2002 before taking the Dutch crown upon his return after a two-year stint with Borussia Dortmund in Germany. Calm, affable, discrete but approachable, the 56-year-old believes it is important to be close to his players, saying: "An international coach has few opportunities to work with his squad. Because of that, I want to make the most of the time I spend with my players, mix with them, take part in training, and add and vary exercises to get to know them better." Although his style marks a real break with that of his predecessor, Marco van Basten, the tactics remain similar. "Marco put a 4-2-3-1 formation in place," he says. "The players got used to that and I intend to keep it." Flanked by former stalwarts Phillip Cocu and Frank de Boer in the assistant coaching roles, Van Marwijk's record is impeccable thus far.
The star players
With Edwin van der Saar and Ruud van Nistelrooy having called time on their international careers, Van Marwijk has needed to apply his own touch to the core of players he inherited from Van Basten, without shaking things up too vigorously. The key men now are Arjen Robben, Joris Mathijsen, Andre Ooijer, Dirk Kuyt, Mark van Bommel, Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Giovanni van Bronckhorst, all of whom enjoyed considerable playing time under the previous trainer. Rafael van der Vaart, Robin van Persie, Nigel De Jong and Wesley Sneijder also remain closely involved.
Previous FIFA World Cups
In their eight finals appearances, the Oranje have reached the showpiece match twice, falling narrowly short of the global crown in 1974 and 1978. They also came in fourth at France 1998.
Honours
- 1 UEFA European Championship (1988)
What they said
"We have a mission: that mission is to be champions of the world," Frank de Boer, assistant coach.
Denmark
After a six-year absence, Danish Dynamite is once again set to explode on the elite world footballing scene. The Scandinavians missed out on both the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ in Germany and UEFA EURO 2008 in Austria and Switzerland, but the FIFA founder members blazed an impressive trail en route to a berth in South Africa next summer.
The Danes will now be looking to extend their creditable record at three previous finals appearances, where they reached the Round of 16 twice and the quarter-finals on the other occasion. Denmark's first tilt at the trophy was in 1986 in Mexico, where they progressed to the last sixteen. The core of that team then went on to register the nation's greatest footballing triumph with the 1992 UEFA European Championship crown in neighbouring Sweden.
The small but totally football-mad nation went on to further success in the period after that. At the 1998 FIFA World Cup France, the Danes were a shade unlucky to lose to eventual finalists Brazil in the quarter-finals, before England proved too strong in the Round of 16 at the 2002 tournament in Korea/Japan. Denmark played some of the most attractive football at UEFA EURO 2004 in Portugal, but came up against the in-form Czech Republic in the quarter-finals and lost 3-0.
With their long absence from the major stage now poised to end, captain Jon Dahl Tomasson and his men are keen to cut a dash in South Africa. Should head coach Morten Olsen be spared the injury woe which threatened to derail his side's qualification campaign at one point, the undoubted quality in the squad means the Scandinavians must be a good bet for a shock or two in South Africa.
The road to South Africa
The Danes saw off big-name rivals Portugal and Sweden in European qualifying Group 1 to top the group with just one defeat in their ten matches.
Campaign highlights included a 3-2 win and 1-1 draw with the Portuguese Selecção das Quinas, where convincing team performances saw the Danes take four points off the group favourites and earn themselves the decisive advantage. The crucial win in Lisbon featured an astonishing three goals in the last ten minutes. Denmark also beat neighbours and keen rivals Sweden home and away by the only goal of the game on both occasions.
Hungary ultimately caused Olsen's men more trouble than any other group opponents. After opening with a goalless draw against the Hungarians, the 1992 European champions lost 1-0 in their final group fixture, although it was a dead rubber by this stage.
The star players
Denmark's key players are largely drawn from big-name European clubs including the likes of Juventus, Arsenal, Liverpool and Werder Bremen. National captain Tomasson currently leads the Feyenoord forward line after a career featuring spells with AC Milan and Villarreal.
Olsen's core of players with wide international experience includes defender Daniel Agger (Liverpool), midfield trio Daniel Jensen (Bremen), Christian Poulsen (Juventus) and Dennis Rommedahl (Ajax), and striker Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal).
The coach
Morten Olsen will complete a decade as Denmark head coach at the finals in South Africa. He took the helm in 2000, guiding Danish Dynamite to the 2002 FIFA World Cup and UEFA EURO 2004. He has yet to indicate whether he will extend his current contract, set to expire after the 2010 tournament.
A more than solid performer in the long-lost position of libero, Olsen's clubs included Cologne and Anderlecht, where he recorded his greatest success as a player when the Belgian outfit claimed the UEFA Cup in 1993. Olsen was 40 before he hung up his boots and began a coaching career, including spells with Cologne and Ajax.
Previous FIFA World Cups
- South Africa will be Denmark's fourth appearance at the FIFA World Cup finals
- The Danes made the Round of 16 in 1986 and 2002, and the quarter-finals in 1998
Records
- Denmark triumphed at the 1992 UEFA European Championships, going on to claim the FIFA Confederations Cup in 1995.
- The Scandinavians' Olympic record features three silver medals (1908, 1912, 1960) and a bronze (1948)
What they said
"World Cups are always special. The fact it's the first time in Africa is fantastic because it's bringing it closer to the people there, but every World Cup has its own unique flavour and appeal. I remember seeing how excited Asia was in 2002 to have it and what a fantastic experience that was for everyone. For me and for all the players, competing at the World Cup is the ultimate; it's the biggest honour for any player." Morten Olsen, Denmark coach, interviewed exclusively by FIFA.com
Japan
Boasting one of the strongest squads in Asian football, Japan, winners of three of the last five editions of the AFC Asian Cup, have high hopes for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ - their fourth appearance at the global showpiece.
First on the agenda is an improvement on the disappointing showing at Germany 2006, when the Samurai Blue exited at the first hurdle after a 3-1 reverse against Australia, a 0-0 draw with Croatia and a resounding 4-1 defeat by Brazil. Japan will also be facing their first finals without iconic midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata. The former Roma schemer featured in each of the national side's games at France 1998, Korea/Japan 2002 and Germany 2006 before hanging up his boots after the latter event aged just 29.
The road to South Africa
Having comfortably reached the fourth and final stage of Asian Zone qualifying for South Africa 2010, Japan won four, drew three and lost just one of their eight matches in Group 1. A 2-1 reverse in Australia and a frustrating 0-0 at home against the same opponents were the lowlights of this final phase, though coach Takeshi Okada's charges still finished well clear of Bahrain, Qatar and Uzbekistan in the five-team section.
The star players
Japan's biggest star is former Celtic playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura, who in the summer 2009 made the switch from Glasgow to La Liga with Espanyol. Another European-based performer is young midfielder Keisuke Honda, at Eredivisie outfit VVV Venlo and like Nakamura a gifted left-footer. Leading from the back is 31-year-old defensive rock and captain Yuji Nakazawa, who with over 90 senior caps to his name is Japan's third-most capped player of all time.
The coach
National supremo Okada is widely considered to be one of the finest Japanese strategists around. He was at the helm during the Samurai Blue's first FIFA World Cup appearance at France 1998, having successfully negotiated a tricky play-off meeting with Iran, and later enjoyed spells at club level with Consadole Sapporo and Yokohama F Marinos.
The 53-year-old former international defender's time in Sapporo included taking the team from the second division into the top flight, while the tactician led Marinos to successive J.League titles in 2003 and 2004. Having stepped away from his role in Yokohama in 2006, he picked up the reins of the national team for a second time a year later - following the stroke suffered by previous incumbent Ivica Osim.
Previous FIFA World Cups
South Africa 2010 will be Japan's fourth FIFA World Cup finals, and their fourth in a row. Their best finish came as hosts at Korea/Japan 2002, when they topped Group H ahead of Belgium, Russia and Tunisia to advance to the knockout stages for the first and so far only time. Once in the Round of 16 they put in a brave fight only to go down 1-0 against eventual third-place finishers Turkey, the goal coming after 12 minutes from Umit Davala.
Records
* At his first finals as Japan coach, back at France 1998, Okada's charges lost each of their three group games, scoring once and conceding four times in the process.
* Masashi Nakayama scored Japan's first ever FIFA World Cup finals goal, netting in the 74th minute of the 2-1 reverse against Jamaicaon French soil.
What they said
"We are not going to change our tactics because when I set this team's basic tactical approach, it was already done with a view to winning against the world's biggest teams. Our main target in South Africa is to reach the semi-finals." Japan coach Takeshi Okada
Cameroon
Though their light may have faded somewhat since they brightened up the world stage at the 1990 FIFA World Cup™, Cameroon are not a side to underestimate at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The top African nation in FIFA’s rankings, they also bring Africa’s richest pedigree to the finals. They have appeared a continental-best five times in the World Cup, and no other African side has yet eclipsed their historic run to the Italy 1990 quarter-finals – though Senegal equalled the achievement in 2002.
However, the team have not managed to advance past the group stage in three finals appearances since then, winning just once in their nine matches. They lost out on Germany 2006 entirely after missing a penalty kick in the final moments of their last qualifier against Egypt. But the long road to the 2010 World Cup has forged considerable momentum behind what many Cameroonians are hoping is the right mix of players, and a new generation of Roger Millas and Francois Omam-Biyiks.
The road to South Africa
Though the 2-0 victory in Morocco that clinched their qualification was straightforward enough, Cameroon had in fact completed an impressive turnaround in a campaign that started with just a draw from their first two matches. Two victories in four days over contenders Gabon were followed by a comprehensive 3-0 defeat of Togo, and Cameroon’s four consecutive wins were more than enough to reach South Africa. In the end, the team, led from the back by the likes of veterans Geremi Njitap, Rigobert Song and goalkeeper Idriss Carlos Kameni, gave up just two goals in six final round contests.
The star players
Eto'o scored a total of nine goals in 11 qualifiers, and the world class striker will be the first player opposing coaches try to stop. The promising Pierre Webó is the other main threat up front, while Jean Makoun, Stephane Mbia and Alexandre Song give the midfield a classy but rugged edge in front of mainstays Song, Geremi and Kameni.
The coach
The reversal of fortune for Cameroon coincided with the arrival of no-nonsense 45-year-old coach, Frenchman Paul Le Guen, who took over from German veteran Otto Pfister after the slow start. Le Guen had previously taken charge of big clubs Lyon, Rangers and Paris St. Germain, and he brought a sea change in attitude and professionalism to the side. His controversial decision to hand the captaincy to three-time African player of the year Samuel Eto'o in place of long-time captain Rigobert Song turned out to be just what the two players and the team needed.
Record
• Cameroon were eliminated at the group stage of Spain 1982 despite not suffering a defeat. They lost out to Italy for second in the table on the goals scored ti-ebreaker after three draws.
• Cameroon have played in 17 FIFA World Cup matches, the most of any national team from Africa. Their 1-0 defeat of holders Argentina to kick off the 1990 FIFA World Cup is one of the great upsets in the history of the event.
• Roger Milla was a record 42 years and 39 days old when he scored for the Lions against Russia in the 1994 World Cup. He was also the first African to play in three World Cup finals.
What they said
“We have again made people believe in this team. It’s a great achievement for all of us to be able to play in a World Cup, especially one in Africa. We are dangerous because we have a good mix of experience, and we have learned to play together,” Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o.
Posts
