ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: Peru
Beating New Zealand 2-0 on aggregate brought Peru back to the top tier of World football after a thirty six year hiatus. Back then the legendary Cubillas was coming to the end of a third World Cup appearance, from 1970 to 1982, scoring seven world cup goals and making a name for himself, most notable for his long range strikes and mazy runs.
So here they are back again, too long out of the picture, but have they any new stars to set the world alight? Their captain and talisman, Paolo Guerrero, the Flamengo striker, is finally allowed to play after his cocaine on off drug ban, and they badly need him. 87 caps with 34 goals stands out in an otherwise threadbare squad.
Can they make it out of the group? Will be tough. Against France I dont give them much hope, but if they can get a result against the Danish then Id fancy them to beat the Australians. They dont lose many games under Argentinian manager, Ricardo Gareca, and the team have an unbelievable spirit. Most South American teams are skillful on the ball and very technical, so they wont be an easy touch. They definitely have an outside chance, especially now with their captain finally back. With a small bit of magic and a health dose of luck they could get into the last 16!
Unlike some of the African teams, the majority of Morocco’s squad play in the top leagues of Europe. Medhi Benatia is at the centre of the backline, and from his time playing with Juventus you can be sure he has the art of defending down to a tee. Karim El Ahmadi, from Feynoord, another bulwark against opposition attackers as a strong defensive midfielder. Hakim Ziyech, the play maker, has had an excellent season with Ajax, prompting the notice of some of the EPL’s big teams, while Striker Khalid Boutaïb, who plays in the Turkish Superliga with Yeni Malatyaspor has had a relatively good season there with 12 goals this year, and is on hot on form. So they have some quality in their team no doubt about it. 
It also has to be mentioned that the team didn’t concede one goal in the qualifying, an amazing statistic, which must take the pressure of the forwards no end. Added to this fact is that they have played well in the pre World Cup friendlies and one would think that Morocco have a decent chance of making the last 16. But they dont, and the reason is simple. They are in a group with Spain and Portugal, with a defensive minded Iran making up the numbers. They really need to hit the ground running in their first game against Iran, a win and they have an outside chance, a loss and its an early exit I am afraid. I really cant see how they can beat Spain, but they might be able to contain Portugal and snatch a draw. It will be a tough ask for Morocco, they have a slim chance, but it would be a big surprise if they made it out of the group. Unlucky for them to get such a tough group. 
It is vitally important that Egypt have their star man playing. He has had such a good season and what a great way to top it all off with a chance to shine in the World Cup for his country. I do hope he is fit enough to play as its not likely he will get a good a chance for a long time and he really is a great player to watch, full of heart, great technical ability and an all round nice guy to boot. 
Héctor Cúper is in charge of the team and I am sure his vast knowledge of the game will help, and what a job he has done so far, bringing Egypt to their first World Cup since 1990 (not withstanding a good dose of help from Salah!)
What are they like this time round? Well they have Sadio Mané who has had an excellent season with Liverpool, and Everton powerhouse Idrissa Gueye in defence. They are also quite lucky in that their group is one of the easiest. Poland, Japan and Colombia are all beatable on the day, and if they play as a cohesive team I’d expect them to come out of the group. The question after that is can they beat either England or Belgium in the second round? As much as I would like to see them progress I just cant see it. Their form so far this year in friendlies is shocking, not winning any games, and drawing with the not so mighty Luxembourg, Uzbekistan and Bosnia. But hell they have shocked us before so there is no reason why they could not do it again. Lets see!
Well time changes, as for this years World Cup, they got their own slice of lady luck when they beat Costa Rica 2-1 with a goal two minutes from time to move them into automatic qualifying, and the fact that the USA somehow lost to Trinidad and Tobago a score that no one foresaw and resulted in the USA not going to Russia. I guess the long wait was worth it, two minutes from time to qualify for the biggest stage. 
One face that does look familiar is the manager Hernán Darío Gómez, the wily Colombia has previous in the World Cup, having taking Colombia and Ecuador to the world stage on two separate occasions. One would hope that Gómez has a learnt a few tricks up his sleeve if he wants Panama to progress, but well done on getting them there in the first place. 
Rafael Márquez is back for his fifth World Cup, yes his fifth! He is a wily old player, 39 to be exact, world class in his day, but I do wonder what the hell he is doing back with the team considering his two mistakes cost Mexico in the last World Cup and got them knocked out by the Dutch. Could he not have just let it go? Actually looking at the squad, it is quite an old squad, Héctor Moreno also a rock in defence (30), Andrés Guardado (31) and Giovani dos Santos (29) back in midfield and Javier Hernández (30) upfront. This will be the final swansong for a lot of the Mexican players on the world stage. 
Can they do it this time and finally make the last eight? I dont think so. For two good reasons. Germany and Brazil stand in their way of doing that. I think they have a good chance of getting out of their group, they probably will lose to Germany, but definitely have the ability to beat both Sweden and South Korea. This will set up a second round game with most likely Group E champs Brazil. And no further forward will they go. Sadly. 
The last World Cup, they were thoroughly shocking. Did the bare minimum to get out of an easy group that included a poor Ecuador, and an even worse Honduras, and lost 5-2 to an average French team. But the worst for me was when they had a piss poor Argentina on the ropes for a good twenty minutes. They basically were playing touch football and toying with them while the crowd were doing ole ole’s from the stands. But the obscene thing is that after getting the better of the Argentinian midfield, they gave up, totally. Was truly an awful sight to see. Compare a team like Iceland to a team like Switzerland and you can understand what I am talking about, men versus boys. Ok to be fair some of their players played well, Rodríguez, Shaqiri, Fernandes all having a decent tournament, but as for the rest of their prima donas, meh! 
Don’t get me wrong, they have some seriously good players. Xherdan Shaqiri is world class, without a doubt, but Jesus can someone have a good chat with him and tell him to get his finger out. One can see the attitude with his club choices, from Bayern to a relegation bound Stoke tells us all you need to know here, in it for the money. Johan Djourou, Michael Lang, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Ricardo Rodríguez are all excellent players that work well together, but getting from defence to midfield is always a problem when you have such muck in the centre, Granit Xhaka and Valon Behrami are simply woeful. Gelson Fernandes is a gem in the centre but he is definitely a confidence player and needs to be clicking with his teammates to hit form. Shaqiri plays as an inside forward, and he needs to because they struggle to score goals. Breel Embolo is a big lump of nothingness up front, I still laugh at how great a deal FC Basel did when they sold him off to Schalke, while Mehmedi, Derdiyok, Drmić and Seferović are all journeymen. So its a bit of hot and a lot of cold with this team. I find this disjointed team terribly frustrating to watch. And whats worse is that Vladimir Petković could have included a few of the Swiss champions Young Boys team in the squad. Kevin Mbabu for me should walk into that squad, even Christian Fassnacht or Steve von Bergen, but no not even one player makes the cut from the Swiss champs (as of going to press). 
I have to be honest, I dont think they actually played much decent football at that tournament, a lot of it was smash and grab stuff. But to be fair to the Icelanders, it wasn’t a tournament with a lot of quality on show. We did learn though, that this team can compete and can beat the top teams. And they will never give up, playing right to the 90th minute and beyond. Which goes to show you that a team which such a strong work ethic always have a chance. I guess that’s why we love watching them. 
They have a tough group though. Argentina, Nigeria and Croatia, three teams that are no pushovers. The only thing with Argentina is that they are notorious slow starters and Iceland might just catch them cold on the first day. After that I’d imagine they might be a bit too clever for Nigeria, and would be well able to match them physically. Last match against Croatia they might just need a draw, but it might be hard to keep Modric and co quiet for 90 minutes. I expect Iceland to go close but at the moment my head says that Argentina and Croatia will just shade it. The fact I didn’t mention any players shows that its the team and their cohesiveness that is the main thing for Iceland, but sometimes you need a top star to change a game and that’s where I feel in such a tight group could be where they come up short. But I could be wrong, and like so many people in the last Euros, Iceland just might prove us all wrong. Again! 
They also have some pretty average players, who can barely control the ball let along trap it and pass it on. I am talking about Tom Rogic, Mathew Leckie and Tomi Juric to name but a few. And then their captain Mile Jedinak looks like he is a kiddie fiddler, about as intimidating as a pink butterfly. It was a sight to see him cream his pants after beating Syria. It’s Syria for fucks sake, at home. They just about qualified for the World Cup, leaving it right to the end, falling over the line. Not only that but after getting rid of the useful fat lump Ange Postecoglou, they only fuck it up again by getting Bert van Marwijk, the man who set the rot into Dutch football. I can only imagine how much more cynical the team might be now!!
They have a tough enough group to deal with too. France and Denmark are not easy teams to play against, while Peru, like any South American team, will be oozing with skill. If Australia get more than one point I would be surprised to be honest. Not this time Australia, sorry. 
A new manager, Julen Lopetegui, but pretty much the same Spain we are used to seeing at International football tournaments these days. A team that plays lovely one touch football, with players that always impress. Ok it went a bit flat last time, but the current Spanish team are playing again with flair and confidence and they have notched up some good performances recently to put them in line as one of the main contenders for this years World Cup.
In a relatively easy group, you would imagine they would take care of Morocco and Iran without too much bother. It just is the small matter of can they beat Portugal in what on paper are two relatively similar teams only separated in the fact that Spain don’t have a star quality striker like Ronaldo. It will be a tight game and a bit too early for me to call at the moment. I might go with Portugal if pushed. But to be honest I can see a pathway for Spain to go far in the competition even if they finish first or second. Russia/Uruguay are waiting in round two, both manageable, France and Argentina in the last eight, again both can be beaten by Spain when they play to their full potential. If they can get that far in the competition then it is likely they would play either Brazil or Germany in the semis. This is where I think their journey would end. Good but not good enough, but to be fair I think a last four position would be considered a success for a fresh man in charge and the heralding in of a new era of Spanish football.