CAIRO: The numbers are lining up to make this a sensational event: 32 nations representing six continents, 64 games of highly competitive football, 12 remarkable venues, 1,112,000 tickets sold via the Internet, with anticipated ticket sales revenues worth 200 million euros and tight security precautions. The football scene worldwide eagerly anticipates the 18th World Cup, due to start next Friday in Germany. The host nation has poured millions of euros into modernizing seven existing stadiums in seven different cities. Furthermore, five splendid new stadiums have been constructed in Leipzig, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Gelsenkirchen and Munich. The architecture of the new Fifa World Cup Stadium in Munich is without a doubt state-of-the-art and is anticipated to stand out among all venues. Surrounding the stadium is a smooth façade, designed to shine in wonderful colorful schemes. Moreover, the stadium is unique, designed in a three-tier arrangement to provide a superb view for the spectators. The stadium, built in accordance to a public referendum, will host the opening ceremony and Germany s opener against Costa Rica. The host nation has placed special emphasis on having a climate clean tournament, through the implementation of the program the Green Goal. Total investments of 1.2 million euros have been allocated with an aim of neutralizing around 100,000 tons of gas emissions anticipated to be generated throughout the tournament. Furthermore, drinks will be served in reusable containers for the first time in history, and journalists from all over the world will benefit from free rail transportation. Additionally, the operation of three solar facilities in venues of Kaiserslautern, Dortmund and Nuremberg will provide what has been called clean electricity. German authorities have taken tight security precautions in an attempt to prevent any possible terror attacks during the competition. Among significant precautions is permitting NATO AWACS surveillance planes to scan the area as a preventive measure against possible air attacks. Moreover, to counter concerns over possible outbursts of violence caused by football hooligans outside the venues, cooperation between the German and British police will be key in averting any violent action in that respect. The 32 nations are divided into eight groups, four in each group. The first round will witness 48 games with the first and second teams of each group making it through to the second round, while third and fourth place will face early exit. The first round will be played over a span of two weeks, promising an exhilarating level of football. In group A is the host nation Germany, among the strong contenders for the trophy, looking to win for the fourth time. The team, managed by former international star Jurgen Klinsmann, will be looking forward to repeating the victorious scenario in 1974, when a solid German team won the trophy on their home ground. However, the real concern lies in the lack of experience, as a large number of players are under the age of 25. Thus, Jurgen Klinsmann will rely heavily on Bayern Munich s playmaker Michel Ballak. Ballack will have to stir up the youngsters, in particularly promising stars such as Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski. These young players have already put on a fine display in last year s Confederation Cup to provide German fans with rising hopes of competing alongside the great football powers such as Brazil, England, France, Argentina and Italy. Alongside Germany comes Poland, taking part in the competition for the seventh time. The Polish team seems to be capable of providing a far better display than the one four years ago in Japan and Korea. The real hope lies in the striker pair Maciej Zurawski and Tomas Frankowski, both of whom played a key role in Poland s qualification, scoring a total of 14 goals during the qualifiers. Ecuador is also a contender, making it to the World Cup for the second consecutive time, following an impressive performance in the qualifications, finishing third in the South American zone, a ranking attributed mainly to not losing a single game on its home turf. Last is Costa Rica, a team that might pull off a surprise in this group; no one can deny their memorable appearances four years ago and in Italy in 1990 when supremely talented footballers such as Hernan Medford and Luis Gabelo Conejo allowed them to qualify for the second round at the expense of Sweden and Scotland. Four years ago, they were on the verge of making it to the last 16, but failed as the goal difference fell in favor of Turkey, which finished third at the end of the competition. In group B, England shouldn t find much difficulty in going on to the next round as top of their group despite mounting worry over the physical ability of injured Wayne Rooney and concern over whether he will be capable of taking part in any of the games during the competition. If Rooney won t be fit enough, head coach Sven Goran Eriksson will settle on Michel Owen as a center forward with David Beckham and Frank Lampard providing support from behind. The second place should feature fierce competition between Paraguay and Sweden. Paraguay has several talented young players playing in Europe such as Nelson Haedo Valdez, Roque Santa Cruz, Julio Dos Santos and Edgar Barreto whom will be eager to make the difference for their home fans by qualifying to the second round for the third consecutive time and may even proceed to the last eight. Sweden, with enforced attacking football as well as the presence of empowered strikers namely Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Christian Wilhelmsson and Henrik Larsson, will have a real chance to qualify from this group. As for Trindad and Tobago, their first presence in a World Cup competition shouldn t be underestimated due to the abundance of talents such as Dwight Yorke, Stern John and veteran striker Russell Latapy. Group C is considered the toughest group, since it features two of the world s great football powers, Argentina and Holland. Serbia and Montenegro are also in this group, surprisingly topping the group at the expense of Spain and undefeated throughout the qualifications. In this group as well is the Ivory Coast, this being their first appearance in a World Cup, a team empowered by incredible young players playing in Europe s top football leagues, namely Didier Drogba, Arouna Kone, Didier Zokora and Kolo Toure. It is rather difficult to predict the outcome of such a highly competitive group; however it is guaranteed that such a group will produce superb free-flowing football, particularly in the game that will feature Argentina versus Holland as well as all games featuring the Ivory Coast. Look out for tomorrow's paper, which will feature a preview of groups D-H.
