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Brazil hot favorite to win fifth title
Brazil is such an overwhelming favorite to win the World Cup for a fifth time that even three-time champions Germany and Italy and host nation France aren't given much of a chance by the world's media.
In a poll of international and U.S. subscribers conducted by The Associated Press, four-time champion Brazil received 56 per cent of the votes. France was second with 14 per cent, Italy third with nine per cent and Germany fourth with 6.5 per cent.
England (3.9 per cent), the Netherlands and Spain (both 2.6 per cent) and Romania and Nigeria (1.3 per cent) also picked up votes to win soccer's biggest honor.
Surprisingly, only one subscriber out of 77 in the poll picked two-time champion Argentina, which beat Brazil 1-0 in a warmup game last week, to win the title.
The poll elicted responses from editors in 34 countries -- including Canada -- from all five continents. Apart from the major soccer countries which are competing in France, there were responses from countries including Thailand, the Cayman Islands, Latvia, India, Israel, Antigua, Vietnam and Singapore.
Editors also were asked which player would score the most goals and which team would provide the surprise of the championship, which runs from June 10 to July 12.
Brazil's Ronaldo was the overwhelming selection for top scorer. The 20-year-old striker, who plays in Italy for Inter Milan, polled 66 per cent of the votes ahead of Italy's Alessandro Del Piero of Juventus with nine per cent.
Gabriel Batistuta, the Argentine striker who plays in Italy for Fiorentina, got six per cent. England's Alan Shearer and the Netherlands' Dennis Bergkamp, who meet in next week's FA Cup final when Newcastle faces Arsenal, each polled 3.6 per cent.
Nigeria, which beat Brazil and then Argentina to win the Olympic gold medal in Atlanta two years ago, was considered the team most likely to spring a surprise.
Now coached by Bora Milutinovic, who is in charge of a record fourth different country at a World Cup finals, Nigeria got to the second round at the last World Cup and was denied a quarter-final place by two late strikes by Italy, the eventual runner-up.
Nigeria gained 24.4 per cent in the poll, while Norway and Spain each had 10 per cent, Chile 8.6 and Jamaica 7.1.
Japan, Croatia and Yugoslavia each polled 4.3 per cent, while there also were votes for Saudi Arabia, South Korea and South Africa (2.8 per cent), the U.S., Colombia, Cameroon, Romania and 1994 semifinalist Bulgaria (each 1.4 per cent).
Asked to comment on what they expected to see happen at this World Cup, several editors envisaged many more red cards than usual because of FIFA's decision to outlaw tackles from behind starting with this competition.
Some suggested that the gap between the soccer superpowers and the rest would be reduced while some editors, notably from South America, thought most games would be defensive with teams relying on counter-attacks.
A sampling of the subscribers' comments:
--"I fear the new tackling rule will not be enforced, especially in the late stages of the competition," Nicklas Brunzell, Aftonbladet, Stockholm, Sweden.
--"It will probably be a defensive World Cup with teams waiting in their own field for a mistake by their opponents. If this proves true, it will be a boring World Cup," Rodolfo Bello, El Espectador, Bogota, Colombia.
--"It should have limited to 24 teams. There are too many make-weight teams, which makes it easier for strong teams to qualify for the second round," Prasert Srisueb, The Nation, Bangkok, Thailand.
--"We need a better distribution of teams. There are too many from Europe," Radio Cayman, Cayman Islands.
--"I would move to see somebody new win it. England would be new, it's been 32 years," George Vecsey, New York Times.
NEXT ROUNDS: Round of 16 || Quarter-finals || Semi-finals
GROUP A: Brazil, Morocco, Norway, Scotland
GROUP B: Austria, Cameroon, Chile, Italy
GROUP C: Denmark, France, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
GROUP D: Bulgaria, Nigeria, Paraguay, Spain
GROUP E: Belgium, Holland, Mexico, South Korea
GROUP F: Germany, Iran, United States, Yugoslavia
GROUP G: Colombia, England, Romania, Tunisia
GROUP H: Argentina, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan