Open door for S/Koreans

FRANCE
Group: G
Location: Central Europe
Team Colours: Red, white and blue
Opening game: June 13, vs Switzerland, Stuttgart
World Ranking: No 8
How qualified: Won UEFA Group 4, winning only five of ten games.
World Cup History: The French are playing in their 11th World Cup, which includes a championship title in 1998.
Coach: Raymond Domenech (third year with senior team)
Notable Stars: Thierry Henry (Arsenal), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid), Patrick Vieira (Juventus), David Trezeguet (Juventus), William Gallas (Chelsea), Claude Makelele (Chelsea), Lilian Thuram (Juventus), Gregory Coupet (Lyon).
Overview: The French have an abundance of talent, but are relying on the aged legs of Zidane in the midfield and Thuram in the back. It’s a risky prospect. Still, Henry is an elite goal scorer and if Vieira and Trezeguet only contribute, France should hold up its end as a seeded team. Goal scoring, still, could be the one weakness. And it’s a big one.

SWITZERLAND
Group: G
Location: North Western Europe
Team Colours: Red and white
Opening game: June 13, vs France, Stuttgart
World Ranking: No 35
How qualified: Finished second in UEFA Group 4, then eliminated Turkey in home-and-away play-off.
World Cup History: The Swiss have played in seven previous World Cups, but none since 1994.
Coach: Jakob Kuhn (sixth year)
Notable Stars: Johann Vogel (AC Milan), Pascal Zuberbuhler (FC Basel), Raphael Wicky (Hamburg FC), Phillipe Senderos (Arsenal), Tranquillo Barnetta (Bayer Leverkusen), Alexander Frei (Stade Rennes), Ricardo Cabanas (FC Cologne).
Overview: Some believe that the best days are ahead for the Swiss since this is a team with many very talented, but young players. But, they get the best stage to have a coming out party. Young stars like Senderos and Barnetta have a golden opportunity to put themselves among the world’s elite. They’ll have to score at will to give Switzerland a chance of moving on.

SOUTH KOREA
Group: G
Location: South Eastern Asia
Team Colours: Red, blue and white
Opening game: June 13, vs Togo, Frankfurt
World Ranking: No 31
How qualified: Finished first in Asian preliminary group (4-0-2) and placed second in second leg with a 3-2-1 mark.
World Cup History: This is South Korea’s fifth World Cup tournament.
Coach: Dick Advocaat (second year)
Notable Stars: Park Ji Sung (Manchester United), Lee Young-Pyo (Tottenham), Lee Woon Jae (Suwon Samsung), Kim Nam Il (Suwon Samsung), Lee Dong Gook (Pohang Steelers), Lee Eul-Yong (Trabzonspor)
Overview: In recent months, Advocaat has not been pleased with the lack of playing time his European based players have been getting in their domestic leagues.
And with a critical knee injury to Dong Gook, one that could keep him out of the entire tournament, finding punch and leadership up front could be a challenge.
The good thing for South Korea is that this isn’t one of the strongest groups, which could provide an open door.

TOGO
Group: G
Location: West Central Africa
Team Colours: Yellow, green and red
Opening game: June 13, vs Korea, Frankfurt
World Ranking: No 58
How qualified: Finished first in Africa Group 1 -with a 7-2-1 record.
World Cup History: This will be Togo’s debut in World Cup play.
Coach: Otto Pfister (first year)
Notable Stars: Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal), Sherif Toure (FC Metz), Junior Senaya (YF Juventus Zurich), Kossi Agassa (FC Metz), Jean-Paul Abalo (Dunkerque), Emmanuel Mathias (Esperance).
Overview: The odds are stacked against Togo getting out of the first round, considering that this is their first appearance and they are doing so under the guidance of a first-year coach.
But fear not, the Hawks are entertaining and could provide theatrics behind Adebayor, their best player.
The lanky Nigerian-born striker scored 11 goals in qualifying play, best in African qualifying.
(Information from other news sources and the internet were used in this report.)