World Cup Breakdown: Group G

Teams	Odds To Win Cup
Brazil	11-to-2
Portugal	20-to-1
Ivory Coast	25-to-1
North Korea	1000-to-1

Group A Breakdown
Group B Breakdown
Group C Breakdown
Group D Breakdown
Group E Breakdown
Group F Breakdown

I know the goal of the World Cup is to win the damn thing, but playing your best player in a friendly leading up to it just to achieve 'form' or whatever the fuck is just stupid. I'm referring, of course, to Ivory Coast manager Sven-Goran Eriksson's decision to play the best player to ever grace an Ivorian uniform in a game that doesn't matter a week before the Cup starts. For God's sake, the guy stopped a civil war. His involvement in the cup is more than kicking a ball. Why risk that on a game that doesn't mean anything to anybody?

I really wanted to take the Ivory Coast over an overrated Portugal side. I really did. But with their only real scoring threat on the mend (Salomon Kalou can score, but he can't carry a team like Drogba), I can't bring myself to pick Les Elephantes over Portugal. That pretty boy Christiano Ronaldo actually is pretty damn good at the game of soccer (which is too bad). He has plenty of help too. Deco, Pepe and Raul Meireles hold down the middle with him and do a pretty damn good job of distribution as Portugal has scored six goals in the past two friendlies against Cameroon and Mozambique. Man U attacking mid Nani will be out of the world cup with a bruised collarbone (ahem...pansy...ahem), but , but Portugal should still handle Ivory Coast in a close one and capture a knock-out round invite.

Meanwhile, Brazil rolls into the World Cup on an absolute tear. Coach Carlos Dunga has whipped the pretty boy out of the Selecaos and created a defensive juggernaut in its place. He caught a lot of flack for his exclusion of Ronaldinho, but I feel like it was well deserved. Ronaldinho was a complete screw-off the last go-around. Plus, he made Dunga look stupid when he played against him (see below). Not a good idea to make the coach look dumb.

Anyways, Dunga has whipped a solid squad into shape. The defensive core features three of Inter Milan's mainstays in goalkeeper Julio Caesar and defenders Maicon and Lucio. Their midfield is an absolutely stupid collection of talent, boasting world-class gems like Elano, Gilberto Silva and the always-delightful Kaka. I've never been sold on Luis Fabiano up front, as he has been known to throw a girly tantrum or two, but I suppose he gets the job done up front and should be commended for that. I expect Brazil to do well this tournament. In fact, I'm going to post a large number of coin in Vegas this weekend in hopes that they do. Let's all pray they live up to potential, and not down to reality.

North Korea is a sorry collection of soccer folk. To be honest, I'm still trying to figure out how they snuck past the FIFA watchdogs and into the tournament. I'll notify officials immediately.