Soccer's box of chocolates

Sports cliché: games are played on the field, not on paper.\nWith all the talk of favorites and can't-miss teams, Argentina and France have choked on the world's biggest stage. This is the first World Cup ever with all the defending champions participating; three have already been sent home after disappointing first rounds.\nArgentina and France were both ranked in the top three in FIFA's world football rankings and both were made to look very marginal by their opponents. Argentina did have to contend with playing in the "Group of Death," however that is no excuse for scoring only 2 goals in 3 games, especially when you consider they have some of the World's most explosive players in Gabriel Batistuta, Ariel Ortega and Hernan Crespo. \nOn the French roster are the leading scorers in the British, Italian and French professional leagues. The most explosive scoring trio in European club play could not come up with a single goal in Asia, making France only the second team ever to not score in three games of World Cup competition. \n"Les Bleus" can make the excuse that they were without the service of Zenidine Zidane, arguably the best player in the modern game, in their first two games. However, unlike basketball, one player can not dominate the game of soccer. \nThe French should have done better. Now everyone will be second guessing whether or not their win in the World Cup four years ago was a fluke or not.\nTwo former champions came into this World Cup with very little expectation. Coming in to the tournament, many questioned how good Brazil and Germany really were. They have totally dominated the teams they have faced so far in the tournament; however, they are in the weakest groups in the tournament. Their true test will be in the second round, when they will not be facing the minnows of the world. \nThis World Cup was supposed to be the forum where Portugal would finally make an impression on the World stage. The only impact they have had is giving the United States team an over inflated image of themselves. The Red, White and Blues win over the over-hyped Portuguese team was not as big an upset as everyone here seems to think. The Portuguese are not that good and the American team is not that bad.\nThe surprise team of the World Cup has to be Spain. They have traditionally been the most underachieving nation when it comes to international competition. They are the world's perennial choke artist. But this time around there has been a marked difference to the team's play.\nWith much of the world's attention going to their neighbors to the west, the Furia Roja have gotten the maximum number of points in their groups. This is surprising since they are playing entertaining football against a group that is not filled with cupcakes.\nThe biggest over-achievers have been Senegal and Mexico. The African side, who were runner-up to Cameroon in the African Cup of Nations, is the only team from the African continent that made it to the Round of 16. They haven't played brilliantly, just well enough to get there.\nMexico has been pure class. In what could be considered the second "Group of Death," the Mexican team has gotten maximum points in their first two games. Their encounter with the Italian Azzurra will be their true litmus test.\nHaving said all this, the team that will win the Cup will be the Italians. They have had their problems in group play, but they will pull through. They have an impressive line-up of strikers and midfielders. Factor in that they have the best defense in the world, and they may have the best recipe for success. The have also dropped out of the last two tournaments in penalty kick situations with the eventual champs, so they have been strong before; they've just had some bad luck.\nThere. I made it through an entire column without making an excuse about the Nigerian's horrendous performance. \nI guess it is time for some fans to start looking toward Germany '06.