Outsiders tag to help Germany's World Cup hopes

By Karl-Heinz Rummenigge Jun 9, 2006, 14:17 GMT

Football lovers of Calcutta organise a prayer session for their favourite team Brazil at Kalighat on Wednesday 7 June 2006. Football lovers are preparing themselves for the upcoming World Cup. The FIFA World Cup 2006 will start 09 June in Germany. EPA/PIYAL ADHIKARY

Munich - The issue isn't whether Brazil will become world champions for a sixth time. Rather, what would have to happen for them not to successfully defend their title?

There's no doubt Brazil play the world's best football and from defence to attack they have tremendous players.

They have absolutely the best man in the sport in Ronaldinho who with Kaka and Adriano combine to make up an attacking force the like of which has never been seen. If they can unleash their full talent, heaven help any defence.

On top of that, Brazil can play in a highly variable 4-4-2 system because it can call on world-class individuals. Excellent midfielders such as Emerson and Ze Roberto handle the defensive role.

For the other 31 teams at the World Cup, the only source of hope is that Brazil's sense of superiority will make them careless. What I have in mind is what happened in the 1982 and 1986 tournaments.

At those Cups they also had tremendous teams, but they failed, in Spain in 1982 against Italy, which went on to take the title, and in 1986 against France, who we toppled on the way to the final. The reason was that they lacked concentration.

As far as I am concerned, the favourites in the wings at this World Cup include Italy, Argentina and England.

Italy's coach (Marcello) Lippi has breathed a team spirit into the Squadra Azzurra, which is not an easy thing to do in Italy.

The absence of Francesco Totti through lengthy injury is having a positive effect in this respect. He has a lot of talent, but he is a very egoistical player. Their defence is the best the world has, and in (Gianluigi) Buffon they have the world's best keeper.

Argentina is a powerful team at the tournament, but its individual players are not quite of the quality of Brazil.

(Juan Roman) Riquelme has abilities we all know about, but he can sometimes be up and down in mood. The Gauchos have also got (Hernan) Crespo, a striker of the sort that we footballers would say can conjure up a goal when the chance of success is zero.

England has got a selection the like of which has not been seen for decades. But they have a (Wayne) Rooney problem: he was in sensational form before his injury and they still don't know if their young striker will be fit again in time.

Moreover, how will they to behave towards coach (Sven-Goran) Eriksson whose departure after the World Cup is already a certainty? This will especially be an issue for the English media which can be very immoderate at times.

The most decisive issue however will be David Beckham's form. Since he moved to Real Madrid, some of his ability has slipped away. He runs after the ball a lot, but it is not productive. Beckham no longer stamps his mark on the team.

And then there is Germany. After the Confederations Cup, 90 per cent in the country were convinced we would go on to win the World Cup. After the games against Slovenia and Italy, the brave talk evaporated.

Beating Colombia 3-0 has revived hopes and the fans are entering the World Cup on a high.

A lot of this reminds me of the 1986 World Cup. Franz Beckenbauer really hammered us with tough preparation. By the time we were done, we might not have been such a brilliant team, but we were physically ahead of everyone else and ended as runners-up to the world champions.

So the fact that Germany once again is not one of the favourites tends to be an advantage. The pressure on the team is already so huge, without the role of favourite coming on top.