TNT Sports
Argentina get tough draw
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Published 10/12/2005 at 16:08 GMT
Argentina have been drawn in one of the most deadly of Groups of Death in Friday's World Cup draw. Jose Pekerman's side face the Netherlands, Serbia & Montenegro and newcomers Ivory Coast in a nightmarish Group C, and eurosport.com have all the reacti
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Group A:
Germany, Poland, Ecuador and Costa Rica.
Germany boss Juergen Klinsmann believes that "every game will be a huge challenge but it could have been worse.
"Ecuador will be tough - they beat Brazil in qualification.
"Costa Rica were third behind the U.S. and Mexico... and naturally Poland will also be hard - they played very well to qualify in England's group."
Poland boss Pawel Janas is "confident of our chances.
"It will be difficult. It's a pity we didn't get the opening match (against Germany).
"We've improved quite a bit as a team and hope we can perform better than in the past."
Ecuador's Aston Villa defender Ulises de la Cruz believes "It's difficult but not frightening, apart from the hosts.
"Against the other sides, we've got a chance, we just have to be in a competitive frame of mind."
Group B:
England, Trinidad and Tobago, Sweden and Paraguay.
England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson knows that facing the country of his birth will not be easy.
"The draw is less difficult than in Japan and Korea.
"Destiny says we play Sweden again. The Sweden game will be an important game to win; either to go through or to go through as group winners.
"It's time that we beat Sweden, it's been 37 years."
England captain David Beckham told reporters that "If we work hard and play to our potential we have a genuine chance of winning the World Cup".
The Real Madrid midfielder continued that he was "looking forward to playing my old (Manchester United) team mate Dwight Yorke with Trinidad & Tobago.
"He is someone who I share many great memories with".
Look out for England fan Chris Birchall line up against his heroes for the Soca Warriors, the Port Vale player watching the draw in his local pub in Stoke-on-Trent said:
"It's the best possible draw for it.
"For the first ten seconds after the draw I just ran around. It hasn't really sank in yet. I just can't wait for Germany now".
Group C:
Argentina, the Netherlands, Serbia Montenegro and Ivory Coast
Group C is tipped to be the toughest group ahead of E, the Group of Death, and Ivory Coast coach Henri Michel certainly agrees.
"I think this is the toughest one," he said after the draw.
"It's extremely difficult but it will do us good as we will see some great football".
Argentina and Barcelona's teenage striker Lionel Messi, who inspired Argentina to victory in the World Youth Cup in the Netherlands in June, said: "It's the most difficult group.
"I would have preferred other sides if I had had a choice."
Serbia and Montenegro boss Ilija Petkovic is philosophical about his side's chances.
"Some people says this is the hardest, but easy groups do not exist at the World Cup.
"We will have to work hard to get results. Argentina don't have any bad players, they are 100 percent good."
Dutch coach Marco van Basten actually thinks it could have been worse.
"I don't think this is the 'group of death'.
"It will be group with good opponents, who all want to play football.
"Argentina have a great team with a lot of players who are active in Europe and that will be a match between two sides who really want to play football."
Group D:
Mexico, Iran, Angola and Portugal
Angola face former colonial masters Portugal in what should be an emotional tie.
Portugal and Fulham forward Luis Boa Morte believes that the meeting with Angola will be a special moment.
"It'll be a great festival because our countries are related."
Portugal boss Luis Felipe Scolari - who won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002 - said: "When Portugal drew the United States, Poland and South Korea in 2002, everyone thought it was easy and look what happened.
"If we get this idea into our heads, then we don't even need to go to the World Cup.
"Mexico beat Brazil at the Confederations Cup, the Angola match has that extra ingredient because of the political aspect and Iran play very good football."
Group E:
Italy, Czech Republic, USA and Ghana
Marcello Lippi, Italy's manager, is "not disappointed" with a tough draw.
"I'm satisfied. It's a tricky group, but they are all strong teams at this level," he continued.
"We knew we'd be facing some tough matches even before the draw. We can say that we have two teams (the Czech Republic and the U.S.) that are ahead of us in the FIFA rankings.
"That's not a big problem. We're improving all the time and we'll been even better by the time the tournament starts next year.
"Italy is certainly not inferior to any of these teams. I'm not saying we're better - just not inferior, that's all."
Czech and Bordeaux winger Vladimir Smicer told eurosport.com:
"I think it's a very tough group, because all four teams have a good chance of qualifying for the next round.
"We know about Italy, but Ghana is one of the best teams in Africa, the US improve every year."
Czech coach Karel Bruckner "met Marcello Lippi before the draw and we agreed that that we didn't want to meet at the World Cup.
"The worst result of the draw is that we can meet Brazil in the next round."
Group F:
Brazil, Croatia, Australia and Japan
Croatia boss Zlatko Kranjcar is relishing the challenge.
"There's nothing like opening a World Cup campaign against Brazil. I believe in my players, our fans and our motivation."
Brazil boss Carlos Alberto Parreira doesn't fear any of the sides on a technical level, but is concerned at the physical strength of Australia in particular:
"Australia caused a lot of problems in Germany (at the Confederations Cup), they're not afraid of their opponents and their players all play in Europe," said Parreira.
Group G:
France, Switzerland, South Korea and Togo
France coach Raymond Domenech is cautious about his side's chances in arguably one of the softer groups, saying:
"We know the Swiss and we did not beat them during the qualifying campaign.
"South Korea is a bad memory and we don't know Togo. We remember what happened with Senegal (at the 2002 World Cup). We will have a look at the African Nations Cup"
"Over the course of the next six months, France can only improve and prepare themselves like the others. The goal is to arrive fresh and ready against the Swiss."
Lilian Thuram - fresh out of international retirement - is happy with the draw, saying:
"I have to say that it's a good group, because when you look at Group E and C, they are very difficult.
"And we know the Swiss, we played them in qualifying. Togo, a little less. South Korea are a very good side who reached the semi-finals in 2002. But I think France can qualify."
On the Swiss he added: "We'll have to see if they are the hardest team to beat.
"I think it's important to start well, that we win the game or play very well. That's what's important. After that, to play Switzerland, Togo or South Korea is not important. It's how France perform that's important."
Group H:
Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia
"On paper it looks easy enough but from past experience we know that there are always surprises, so we can't take it for granted we'll progress," said Spain and Atlético Madrid striker Fernando Torres.
"It is a group we can qualify from and we shouldn't really fear any of the sides. We should be able to beat all of the sides in the group," added Betis winger Joaqin.
Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso is"satisfied, but with a lot of respect for them, there are much tougher groups.
"We played against Ukraine in the qualification for the last Europeans, they´re powerful with Shevchenko up front, but there are stronger groups and teams. The one with Argentina, Ivory Coast, Netherlands and Serbia is very hard".
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