In my last article, I highlighted four of the notable success stories from the World Cup qualifiers so far – now it is the turn of the underachievers to take centre stage.
Uruguay – 5th in ‘CONMEBOL’ (must win play-off against Jordan to qualify)
Top Scorer: Luis Suarez – 11 goals. Key Players: Defence – Diego Lugano; Midfield – Walter Gargano; Attack – Luis Suarez
Of all the teams who looked to benefit from Brazil’s absence from CONMEBOL qualification, Uruguay looked the best placed. Whilst in the past few years, Argentina and Brazil have been experiencing stability crisis the Uruguayan team had never looked stronger. Back in 2012, it reached number 2 in the FIFA rankings, this coming only a year after their dominant Copa America triumph.
Nonetheless, Uruguay’s road to Brazil can only be described as uninspiring. Whilst qualification is all but a formality, with a two legged tie against Jordan being the only obstacle, Uruguay have done little to strike fear into the hearts of their potential rivals in Brazil.
Not even the sporadic genius of the antagonistic Luis Suarez could paper over the cracks in Uruguay’s defence who finished the group with zero goal difference. In Forlan, Suarez and Cavani, Uruguay arguably possess the most talented strike force of any team in the world, but disastrous defensive displays such as the 4-0 and 4-1 defeats at the hands of Colombia and Bolivia respectively rose more than a few eyebrows over their defensive qualities.
The 3-2 victory over Argentina in their final group game will have provided a glimmer of hope, but for Uruguay, significant progress is required if they’re to match expectations in Brazil.
Mexico – 4th in ‘CONCACAF’ (must win play-off against New Zealand to qualify)
Top Scorer: Oribe Peralta – 3 goals Key Players: Defence – Diego Reyes; Midfield – Andres Guardado; Attack – Javier Hernandez
The narrative to Mexico’s qualifying campaign follows a similar path to that of Uruguay; A team with an enviable attacking line-up, featuring Giovani Dos Santos, Javier Hernandez and Andres Guardado, sincerely neglecting their defensive duties.
Much like Uruguay, Mexico must win their two-legged play-off against New Zealand to rescue their campaign. However, even were Mexico to succeed in qualifying, question marks will remain over their credentials. Even in their recent confederations cup outings, Mexico bore all the hallmarks of a team lacking confidence at the back.
The emergence of Porto star Diego Reyes may provide some consolation however, as he seems exactly the kind of assured defensive character to support Mexico’s host of attacking talent. Unfortunately for Mexico, however, is that, even with the goal scoring talent available to them, they have shown a real inconsistency in their attacking play.
A mere seven goals in 10 games during qualifying hinted at growing frustration in the Mexico camp. In light of their disappointment, Mexico installed Primera Division guru Víctor Manuel Vucetich as new manager, who may herald a rather significant shake-up for the team. But plenty of work will be needed by the new manager to improve on Mexico’s poor qualifying campaign.
Portugal – 2nd in European Group F (must win play-off against Sweden to qualify)
Top Scorer: Helder Postiga – 5 goals Key Players: Defence – Pepe; Midfield – Joao Moutinho; Attack – Cristiano Ronaldo
At first glance, it may seem unfair to include Portugal amongst the ‘underachievers’ of World Cup Qualifying. They came second in a group to a very impressive Russia side, and only lost one game in 10 qualifiers. It is not for their results however, but their performances that I believe Portugal warrant particular scrutiny.
In their opening group game, Portugal travelled to Luxembourg, a team currently ranked 126th in the world. Whilst Portugal managed to eventually win the game 2-1, they only did so having originally gone behind to an early Luxembourg goal. It was a theme that continued for much of the campaign, as they had to fight to draws against both Northern Ireland and Israel, the latter of which requiring a 92nd minute Ronaldo equalizer to claw back to 3-3.
It was sloppy defensive performances that essentially handed the leadership of the group to Russia, and consigned Portugal to a two-legged play-off against Sweden. The show-down will likely be billed as a show down between Ronaldo and Ibrahimovic, two of the most potent attackers of their generation, but it could be at the back that Portgual’s fate is decided.
Pepe’s temperament will be key, as the notoriously tenacious centre-half cannot afford to leave his side a man down at the back. With the wealth of talent available to Portugal, anything other than qualification must be labeled a disappointment.
Turkey – 4th in European Group D (cannot qualify)
Top Scorer(s): Burak Yilmaz/Umut Bulut – 5 goals Key Players:
Defence – Omer Toprak; Midfield – Arda Turan; Attack – Burak Yilmaz
Of the four teams critiqued in this article, only Turkey have no remaining hope of qualification. Back in 2008, they found themselves on the brink of the European Championship final, with only a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Germany preventing a heroic fairytale.
The World Cup Qualifying campaign served as a stark reminder of how long ago those days were as Turkey failed to finish ahead of Hungary or runners-up Romania, neither of which can claim to possess squads half as talented.
Boasting some of the big names of European football such as Sahin, Turan and Yilmaz, Turkey were ultimately undone by their severe lack of consistency. One of the few positives was the seeming resurgence under newly recruited Fatih Terim, who oversaw three consecutive wins and one loss (to the Netherlands) in what is his second stint as Turkey coach. It now falls to him to pick up the pieces from an undoubtedly disappointing qualification failure.
Will Cafferky, Sports Team
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