England

Despite the fact they were ruled out due to their loss again Spain and USA in the first round of their first participation in 1950, England national team got over soon and their performance kept getting better as they reached the top in 1966 through Geoff Hurst who scored a hat trick and helped in winning the game which ended 4-2 against Germany.

On May 18 Reuters reported that Defender Jamie Carragher drew a parallel between the stakes in a Cup final and a FIFA World Cup game, when players could be making their last appearance in either competition.

“The FA Cup is every year and the World Cup is every four years — but who knows when you’re going to be in an FA Cup final again,” he told reporters at the team’s training camp in Portugal.

“In a World Cup game, if there’s 20 minutes to go and the score’s not going right, you know it could be another four years (to wait) — and some players may never get the chance again. So it does become a life and death thing, where you’ve just got to give it everything.” On the other hand, Striker Michael Owen eased one of England’s injury fears when the prolific striker pronounced himself fit for FIFA World Cup duty. He has played only one competitive game for Newcastle United, reported by Reuters on May 17.

Asked if there were any doubts about being fit due to his foot’s broken bone for England’s first Group B game against Paraguay on 10 June, Owen told reporters: “Not at all. People have a whole summer off and then come in for pre-season training and do four or five weeks before their first match.

With 35 goals in 75 appearances for England, Owen will be key to his team’s hopes in Germany, particularly as strike partner Wayne Rooney is a real doubt, at least for the early stages, with a broken foot. “Even though the cameras haven’t been on me for a couple of months now, behind the scenes on the Newcastle training ground I’ve been training, playing and doing everything that everyone else has been doing,” he said.

Sweden

Not making it to the top maybe harsh, but making it ten times to the finals is on its own a mark of strength and persistence.

Including this year it will be their eleventh time to qualify at world cup championship. 1958 was the year in which they reached the semi-final facing Germany and lost 5-2.

Thomas Saleteg from the Swedish Football Association told Arab News that they believe this World Cup will be a very tight race. “There are a number of nations that have the chance of success and Sweden is among those,” he said. He added that when, “we play at our best we can compete with any opponent,” and in the World Championship they of course need to be at their highest level in every match.

The Swedish national team did not state a certain goal but they will focus on repeated good performances in the tournament.

The long travel and different time zones are, said Saleteg, “ always things that affect the way you carry out your preparations.”

However because it will be held in Germany he said that it is of course a positive thing and, this is something they do not have to take notice of this year.

On May 9 however, Reuters reported that Coach Lars Lagerback has brought in IFK Gothenburg’s Karl Svensson and Fredrik Stenman, who has had a strong first season with Bayer Leverkusen but has never played for Sweden.

Paraguay

Paraguay National Team was present six times at the World cup yet they did not leave a remarkable memory during their first participation in 1930. However, the surprise came as the luck was on their side when they reached the last sixteen during their participation in 1998 and 2002.

Teenage midfielder Jose Montiel was included as Paraguay named their FIFA World Cup squad last week. Montiel, 18, was one of a number of young players selected by Coach Anibal Ruiz, reported by Reuters.

“This is the future of our football,” Ruiz told reporters. “More than 50 percent of this squad are young enough to play at another three World Cups.

“Montiel is part of a new generation which makes us optimistic about the capabilities of the young players.” “Veteran Jose Cardozo is the most difficult merchandise to find in football, which is a goal scorer,” said Ruiz. “If we have one, we mustn’t waste it.

“You don’t play football with your age or identity card,” he added. “You play it with what you have on the field.”

Paraguay striker Roque Santa Cruz, reported AFP on May 15, has warned group rivals England against expecting an easy passage through to the FIFA World Cup™ knockout rounds. The Bayern Munich star has recovered from a cruciate ligament injury that saw him miss most of the Bundesliga season and is likely to line up in attack for the South Americans. And the 24-year-old centre-forward cannot wait to have a crack at rivals England in Group B’s opening match on 10 June as the Paraguayans aim to qualify for the last 16 for the third tournament in succession.

Though Sven-Goran Eriksson’s team are favourites to top their group, Santa Cruz believes the expectation may weigh heavily on English shoulders. “The group is good for us, there are many that are far worse,” Santa Cruz said in an interview earlier this year.

Trinidad & Tobago

The FIFA World Cup 2006 will have Trinidad & Tobago, one of the African newcomers.

According to FIFAworldcup.com interview in May 16 with Dwight Yorke, who plays for Blackburn Rovers in the English Premier League, Yorke seemed to be drifting towards retirement after swapping the English Premier League for the Australian A-League, following an unhappy spell at Birmingham City

He said that the appointment of Leo Beenhakker was a masterstroke by Jack Warner, the president of our confederation (CONCACAF) and the vice-president of FIFA. Beenhakker came in and gave the guys belief and everyone has responded to that. We have made huge strides and that’s down to the manager and the staff. I don’t want to reveal too much but he has a way of getting through to the players. He knows we have a talented bunch of players and a very athletic team and it’s just having that belief.

Bringing back Russell Latapy was important too. People say he is 37 but he is highly respected in our part of the world. He is a very talented and influential player, and arguably one of the best I have played with. We both retired at the same time, but I picked up the phone as captain and said to him, ‘I think you need to come back and give us one more go’.

Speaking about Group B, he added,”our opening opponents, Sweden, are a tricky customer.