RUSSIA 2018 - World Cup Preview: Group F

Teams: Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea

Player to Watch: Thomas Muller

X-Factor: Chicharito

Projected to Advance: Germany, Mexico

Best Match to Watch: Germany v Mexico

Germany: Die Mannschaft are the reigning world champions and are again amongst the tournament favorites. Few nations have a more prestigious soccer pedigree than the Germans, who, dating back to when they were just West Germany, have amassed four World Cup trophies.  The Germans are as deep as ever, as evidenced by Germany “B”’s triumph at the Confederations Cup last summer when their roster, comprised basically of youthful backups with little to no international experience, went unbeaten en route to the tournament title. This year’s edition of die Mannschaft are just as ruthlessly efficient as the squad that shattered a nation’s hopes in 2014 when they took the hosts to the woodshed in a 7-1 semifinal massacre. Even though World Cup all-time leading scorer, Miroslav Klose (16 goals) has retired from international competition, the Germans still return the nucleus of their 2014 roster. Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich) all return for their third World Cups and Muller, who is essentially the personification of the iron German spirit, will also be chasing Klose’s goal record as he’s accumulated 10 tallies during his two previous campaigns while also being awarded the Golden Boot in 2010 and Silver Boot in 2014. Towering forward Mario Gomez (Stuttgart) and dynamic winger Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund), along with midfielders Sami Khedira (Juventus) and Ilkay Gundogan (Man City) provide experience while Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich), Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Matthias Ginter (Borussia Monchengladbach), and Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea) anchor a bruising backline. The veterans will be joined by talented World Cup rookies Timo Werner (RB Leipzig), Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen), Leon Goretzka (Schalke), Julian Draxer (PSG), and Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich) to round out their world-class roster. While Germany’s outfield players are unquestionably gifted, their real advantage plays between the pipes. German goal keeper Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich) is widely regarded as the best goalie in the world while he is a tremendous shot stopper, his ability to come out of his box to play the ball and act as a ‘sweeper’ behind his defenders are what sets him apart from the pack. While there’s certainly no shortage of talent on the German roster, there are several glaring omissions to this year’s team. Mario Gotze (Borussia Dortmund) who immortalized himself by coming off the bench to score the winning goal in the World Cup finals against Argentina four years ago, and Leroy Sane (Manchester City) who had a tremendously successful year with English Premier League Champions Manchester City will both be watching their compatriots from the pub. From the club level to the international stage, German soccer is rooted in ruthlessness physicality, and technical skill. Even their goalies are good with the ball as the country has produced a generation of revolutionary ‘sweeper keepers’ that every big club in the world seems to be clamoring to acquire. I think it’s safe to say that every soccer fan respects the Germans and appreciates their level of ability, but they don’t seem to be garnering the same level of press or interest as fellow favorites like France, Spain, Brazil, or even Belgium. For a country that has become the benchmark for international consistency, it almost feels like they aren’t getting the respect that they deserve. When German manager Joachim Low isn’t sniffing his grundle sweat, he is navigating his side deep through the knockout rounds of a major tournament. In an unprecedented streak of form, since 2002 Germany has reached at least the semi-finals, and haven’t finished lower than 3rd place, in every major tournament (World Cup and Euros) that they’ve entered. Teams like Brazil, France, and Belgium are just about as good as they get, but none of them have displayed the ability to regularly make deep runs at major international tournaments. The Germans are not only ulta-talented, but their roster also has more experience playing in high pressure elimination games than any other team in the world. The Germans rarely fail to live up to their expectations and this summer will be no different. The Germans will win this group and they will be in contention in the late rounds of this tournament.

Mexico: El Tr have emerged as the class of CONCACAF. While being the best team from a confederation where you're competing against teams like Antigua, St. Lucia, and Belize may seem like being the coolest kid at math camp, Mexico is the real deal. Historically, Mexico have never advanced past the quarterfinals, but they have quietly advanced out of the group stage in every World Cup since 1994. El Tri are led by an aging 'golden generation' of core players like former Manchester United striker Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, Raul Jimenez (Wolves), Oribe Peralta (Club America), Andres Guardado (Betis), Hector Herrera (Porto), Miguel Layun (Sevilla), Hector Moreno (Real Sociedad), Giovanni dos Santos (LA Galaxy), Jonathan dos Santos (LA Galaxy), and former Real Sociedad star Carlos Vela. This team has played together for nearly a decade and possess the chemistry and experience to continue their streak of knockout stage births. 

Sweden: How will the Swedes adjust to life after Zlatan? This question tends to be top of mind when you try to gauge Sweden's chances this summer. For the first time in over a decade, Sweden will take the pitch at a major tournament without their living legend. While everyone will certainly miss Zlatan Ibrahimovic in Russia, as much for his off-field antics as for his on-field ability, there is quite a bit for Swedish supporters to be excited about.Upfront,  former Manchester City prospect John Guidetti along with Marcus Berg (AL-Ain) and Ola Toivonen (Toulouse) have been eagerly awaiting their opportunity to emerge from Ibrahimovic's shadow. Jimmy Durmaz (Toulouse), Albin Ekdal (Hamburger), and Emil Forsberg (RB Leipzig) have all been mainstays in the Swedish midfield and are similarly champing at the bit to prove that Sweden is more than Zlatan. Don't sleep on Sweden because, besides Germany, Group F is fairly balanced. If Sweden can squeeze one or three points out of their matches with Mexico and South Korea they will be in a very good position to advance to the knockout stage.

South Korea: One of my personal favorite soccer federations, South Korea has quietly built their national team into arguably the top team in Asia and have a plethora of talent playing in the top leagues across the world. South Korea peaked at the 2002 World Cup when, under the guidance of 'national team whisperer' Guus Hiddink and led by young future legend Park Ji-sung, they made an unbelievable run to the tournament semifinals. While South Korea have struggled to replicate the results of 2002, they have qualified for every World Cup since 1986. They will rely heavily on the services of Spurs's star forward Son Heung-min who has dazzled for his club. Son is complimented in the midfield by squad captain and Swansea City man Ki Sung-yueng and Augsburg's Koo Ja-cheol. South Korean players are very technically sound and their team will play a very structured and disciplined brand of soccer, which may cause problems for their opponents. They will probably need to steal some points somewhere along way to see themselves through to the knockout stage, but South Korea are a quality enough side that it wouldn't shock me if they beat both Mexico and Sweden.