RUSSIA 2018 - World Cup Preview: Group E

Teams: Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia

Player to Watch: Neymar

X-Factor: Serbian Midfield

Projected to Advance: Brazil, Switzerland

Best Match to Watch: Brazil v Serbia

Brazil: Every four years, no other team on Earth faces the same colossal expectations as Brazil. From Pele's dynasty when the Selecao won three out of four World Cup finals between 1958 and 1970 to their dominant period during the late 90's when they won two out of their finals appearances between 1994 to 2002, it seems like every successive team bears the immense pressure to not only live up to the  astronomical standard of their forebears, but to also build upon their legacy. You could say that Brazilian supporters have been spoiled by their team's historical success, but that point appears to be moot to a fan base who aren't satisfied unless their team hoists the trophy at the end of the tournament. Obviously, winning the World Cup every cycle isn't realistic, but Brazil are a different type of beast. The Selecao were last crowned world champions in 2002 and have, by their own inflated expectations, underachieved in the three World Cups since then. Quarterfinal exits in 2006 and 2010 caused Brazilians to think the sky was falling. Four years later however, the proud South Americans had regained hope and sought to end their 12-year dry spell on home soil at the 2014 World Cup. After dazzling performances and an amazing display of support, Brazil looked to be in the driver's seat for their sixth title. However, the Brazilians ran into a German war machine in the semifinals and were blitzed out of Belo Horizonte to the tune of 7-1 slaughter by the eventual champions. The Selecao settled for fourth and the nation struggled to comprehend how their tournament fortunes went south so quickly. A fourth place finish at the World Cup would be celebrated by the vast majority of teams in the world, but for Brazil it was national embarrassment. This story line and it's accompanying 'redemption' narrative will be  forced down our throats by the pundits, analysts, and announcers in Russia. However, the fact of the matter is that Brazil probably wasn't the best team in the world four years ago. But Brazil has revamped themselves during the inter-tournament period. They won Gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics and finished atop CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying. While it's an unenviable task to trim Brazil's extensive talent pool to just 23 players, you can't really go wrong with who you select. All eyes will certainly be on PSG star forward Neymar, who was designated as the savior of Brazilian soccer since he was a boy. Neymar's supporting cast is deep, lethal, and play their signature 'Joga Bonita' brand of free flowing soccer that made them so popular around the world. This summer, Brazil manager Tite will need to figure out which combination of the following weapons to play alongside Neymar; Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), Taison (Shakhtar Donetsk), Douglas Costa (Juventus), Gabriel Jesus (Man City), Willian (Chelsea), Fred (Man United), Fernandinho (Man City), Renato Augusto (Beijng Sinobo Guoan), Paulinho (Barcelona), and Phillipe Coutinho (Barcelona). Casemiro (Real Madrid) appears to have his holding midfield position etched in stone and Marquinhos and Thiago Silva will most likely be the center back pairing. Brazil will have to manage without the services of their dynamic right back Dani Alves (PSG) who was ruled out of the World Cup with an ACL injury he suffered playing for his club in May. Brazilian fans can rest assured, however, because they seem to have a bottomless well of talent and will be in good hands with either Fagner (Corinthians) or Danilo (Man City) manning the right flank. Opposite of them, Marcelo (Real Madrid) will look to push forward from his left back position and create plays from the wing. Recently, Brazil's rosters have been comprised of a relatively even mix of players who play for clubs domestically and abroad, but this year Tite opted for a much heavier skew towards a European based squad. While it's nearly impossible to point to any player on Brazil's roster and claim that they didn't deserve to make the team, it's pretty easy to make a case for many of the top quality players left off the roster. Brazil's most recent wunderkind, and future Real Madrid forward, Vinicius Junior headlines the roster of Selecao snubs, but he is in good company with the likes of Gabriel Barbosa (Inter), Alex Sandro (Juventus), Luis Gustavo (Marseille), Alex Teixeira (Jiangsu Suning), Talisca (Besiktas), Hulk (Shanghai SIPG), David Luiz (Chelsea), Rafinha (Barcelona), and Fabinho (Liverpool). While the list of talent who won't be making the trip to Russia is unequivocally World Cup caliber, the players who were included on Brazil's roster are even more gaudy. Top to bottom, this summer's edition of the Selecao is the most complete and intimidating Brazilian squad since the Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo teams of the late 90s'/early 2000s that embarrassed their competition. I don't have the stones to claim that this year's team is better than the 2002 squad, or even that they're my pick to win the title this summer, but I am definitely most excited to watch Brazil this summer. As always, the Selecao have sky-high expectations to live up to, especially because of their horrific performance the last time they played a World Cup match. Brazil needs to assert their dominance early, and exploit their distinct personnel advantages, in order to put the ghosts of Belo Horizonte behind them. The Selecao need to rediscover the mentality of what it takes to reach the top, and this year is their best chance in a while.

Switzerland: In almost too convenient of a metaphor, the Swiss national team has adopted an under the radar, out of the spotlight, approach to their international profile, much the same way the Swiss government has operated for centuries. Most people don't associate Switzerland with a rich soccer tradition, and hockey might actually be the nation's most popular sport,  but the Swiss have quietly snuck up to number six in the FIFA world rankings. They might be the least talked about 6th ranked team in the world heading into the World Cup ever.  Their meteoric rise up the rankings is primarily due to Switzerland's recent spectacular run of form. The Swiss have won 16 out of their last 17 matches dating back to June of 2016 and enter the World Cup riding the momentum of a six game unbeaten streak. Even though the names on Switzerland's roster more closely resemble that of a former Yugoslav republic than of a country with German, French, and Italian as it's official languages, the Swiss squad is low key loaded. Upfront, Breel Embolo (Schalke), Haris Seferovic (Benfica), and Josip Drmic (Borussia Monchengladbach) form one of the most underrated attacking groups in the tournament. Following suit, the Swiss midfield unit is similarly underestimated as it features Arsenal's Granit Xhaka, Steven Zuber (Hoffenheim), Valon Behrami (Udinese), Gelson Fernandes (Eintracht Frankfurt), Denis Zakaria (Borussia Monchengladbach), Xherdan Shaqiri (Stoke City) and former Napoli man Blerim Dzemaili. Their back line is led by Swiss skipper Stephan Lichsteiner (Juventus) at right back, opposite Ricardo Rodriguez (AC Milan) on the left, and anchored by Johan Djourou (Antalyaspor) and Fabian Schar (Deportivo La Coruna) in the center. Because Switzerland doesn't have the same soccer pedigree as most of their European neighbors, the quality of their team tends to get overlooked. Switzerland is a deep and extremely balanced squad and their recent run of form is indicative of their quality. The Swiss are silent assassins and can go toe to toe with anyone in the tournament. Their style of play is always a a bit of a deviation from the norm, and despite having never made a deep run at a major international tournament, they are still a side that no one wants to face. I look forward to seeing them earn that ranking on the pitch in Russia. This team is cohesive and flying under the radar, and I think they have the balance and uniquely Swiss coyness to garner some mainstream attention and reach at least the knockout stage this summer.

Costa Rica: If Iceland were the darlings of Euro 2016, then Costa Rica were the belles of the ball at the 2014 World Cup. The unassuming Central American nation, who does not even posses a standing military, were the Cinderella story of Brazil. Against all odds, Costa Rica went unbeaten in the group stage against traditional blue bloods Uruguay (3-1 Win), England (0-0 Draw), and Italy (1-0 Win) and finished atop their group. They rode their momentum in the knockout round where they defeated Greece, before falling in the quarterfinals to eventual 3rd place finisher Holland on penalties. It would be audacious to expect Costa Rica to repeat their unprecedented success of four years ago, but they do return the core of that roster. Their goalkeeper, Kaylor Navas, is fresh off of a Champions League triumph with Real Madrid, while Bryan Ruiz (Sporting) and former Joel Campbell (Betis) are national team veterans and have always tended to play better for country than club. Their supporting cast play for clubs from Costa Rica, to the US, to Scotland, and Switzerland and while they may not match up with many teams on paper, they have an intangible quality about them. Costa Rica is a quality side, but they didn't have more talent than Italy, or Uruguay, or England. They were probably underestimated by these teams, but anyone who watched those matches would tell you that those scorelines were no fluke - Costa Rica was the better team on those days. I can't put my finger on why, because it doesn't add up, but Costa Rica are giant slayers, and the other teams in Group E better heed the examples of 2014 if they want to avoid becoming Los Ticos's next scalp.

Serbia: Serbia are a tough team to gauge. They haven't made much of an impact internationally, and this World Cup is the first major international tournament that they've qualified for since the 2010 World Cup. While they've struggled with consistency, Serbia is littered with high-caliber talent. At the back, they're led by Chelsea long-time Chelsea legend Branislav Ivanovic and captained by lethal left footer Aleksander Kolarov (Roma). The Serbian midfield is a bruising unit and, quite appropriately, the pride of their roster. The group boasts the likes of Luka Milivojevic (Crystal Palace), Andrija Zivkovic (Benfica),  Dusan Tadic (Southampton), Filip Kostic (Hamburger), Marko Grujic (Liverpool), Adem Ljajic (Torino), Nemanja Matic (Man United), and the $100 million man, Lazio's Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who is currently at the center of a bidding war between Europe's top clubs for his services. Serbia isn't top of mind for most people when picking teams to make deep tournament runs in Russia this summer, but the Serbs have a very deep and imposing midfield that may be able to create exploitable match up advantages. They aren't favorites to advance out of Group E, but if Serbia can earn points in their matches against Switzerland and Costa Rica then they have an excellent chance to advance to the knockout stage.