World Cup Preview - Group H - Best FPL Tips, Advice, Team News, Picks, and Statistics from Fantasy Football Scout

Player	Team	Price	Progress	Tonight
Calvert-Lewin	LEE	5.6m	93.3%	Likely
Rúben	MCI	5.6m	93.6%	Likely
Matheus N.	MCI	5.3m	94.9%	Likely
Palmer	CHE	10.3m	94.9%	Likely
Van Hecke	BHA	4.5m	96.5%	Likely
Gusto	CHE	4.9m	89.3%	Maybe
Bowen	WHU	7.5m	85.1%	Unlikely
Tavernier	BOU	5.5m	68.6%	Unlikely
Marc Guiu	CHE	4.2m	84.6%	Unlikely
Watkins	AVL	8.5m	86.5%	Unlikely
Gvardiol	MCI	5.9m	75.6%	Unlikely
Truffert	BOU	4.5m	77.9%	Unlikely
Keane	EVE	4.6m	69.8%	Unlikely
Andersen	FUL	4.6m	68.6%	Unlikely
Verbruggen	BHA	4.4m	67.1%	Unlikely
Mitchell	CRY	5.0m	67.1%	Unlikely
Raya	ARS	6.0m	67.8%	Unlikely
Ballard	SUN	4.6m	62.5%	Unlikely
Semenyo	BOU	7.5m	36.1%	Unlikely
Livramento	NEW	4.9m	65.6%	Unlikely
Casemiro	MUN	5.5m	70.2%	Unlikely
Tete	FUL	4.5m	61.6%	Unlikely
Dalot	MUN	4.4m	57.8%	Unlikely
Haaland	MCI	15.0m	53.3%	Unlikely
Foden	MCI	8.8m	36.2%	Unlikely
Ekitiké	LIV	8.6m	36.4%	Unlikely
Dúbravka	BUR	4.0m	56.2%	Unlikely
Petrović	BOU	4.5m	55.5%	Unlikely
Cullen	BUR	5.0m	56.8%	Unlikely
Romero	TOT	5.0m	52.3%	Unlikely
Cash	AVL	4.9m	50.9%	Unlikely
Van den Berg	BRE	4.5m	48.4%	Unlikely
James	CHE	5.6m	48.4%	Unlikely
Flemming	BUR	5.3m	47.8%	Unlikely
Igor Jesus	NFO	5.8m	46.3%	Unlikely
B.Fernandes	MUN	9.3m	25.3%	Unlikely
Guéhi	CRY	5.3m	33.5%	Unlikely
Pickford	EVE	5.5m	42.1%	Unlikely
Wilson	WHU	5.8m	40.4%	Unlikely
Mount	MUN	5.9m	37.4%	Unlikely

Player	Team	Price	Progress	Tonight
Anthony	BUR	5.3m	104.7%	Very Likely
Minteh	BHA	6.2m	102.8%	Very Likely
Longstaff	LEE	4.9m	101.7%	Very Likely
Ndiaye	EVE	6.4m	88.7%	Likely
Eze	ARS	7.8m	79.8%	Likely
Nallo	LIV	3.8m	101.1%	Very Likely
Muniz	FUL	5.4m	100.4%	Very Likely
Mayenda	SUN	5.3m	98.9%	Likely
Rodon	LEE	4.1m	100.3%	Very Likely
Elanga	NEW	6.6m	97.9%	Likely
Yarmoliuk	BRE	5.0m	93.7%	Maybe
Gudmundsson	LEE	3.9m	100.0%	Maybe
Jordan	BUR	4.0m	99.7%	Maybe
Lammens	MUN	5.1m	89.8%	Maybe
Neave	NEW	4.4m	99.7%	Maybe
McKenna	BOU	4.0m	94.6%	Maybe
Balcombe	BRE	4.0m	93.3%	Maybe
Okafor	LEE	5.5m	94.4%	Unlikely
Morgan	BRE	4.4m	95.5%	Unlikely
McAtee	NFO	5.1m	88.9%	Unlikely
Nørgaard	ARS	5.2m	90.2%	Unlikely
João Pedro	CHE	7.3m	81.9%	Unlikely
Barnes	BUR	4.3m	93.2%	Unlikely
Kulusevski	TOT	6.4m	92.7%	Unlikely
Bentley	WOL	4.0m	91.1%	Unlikely
Colwill	CHE	4.8m	92.1%	Unlikely
Broggio	AVL	4.5m	92.7%	Unlikely
Piroe	LEE	5.0m	90.5%	Unlikely
Irving	WHU	4.4m	90.7%	Unlikely
Worrall	BUR	3.9m	88.5%	Unlikely
Tasker	BHA	3.9m	90.9%	Unlikely
Sels	NFO	4.7m	84.1%	Unlikely
Webster	BHA	4.4m	88.7%	Unlikely
Enzo	CHE	6.6m	77.9%	Unlikely
Jair Cunha	NFO	4.3m	89.6%	Unlikely
Benitez	CRY	4.0m	86.7%	Unlikely
Coleman	EVE	4.3m	84.8%	Unlikely
Danso	TOT	4.3m	85.6%	Unlikely
Woltemade	NEW	7.4m	63.1%	Unlikely
L.Guilherme	WHU	4.9m	83.2%	Unlikely

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	Raya Martin	ARS	C
No Change	Alisson	LIV	C
No Change	Donnarumma	MCI	C, Sus
Up	Kelleher	BRE	C, Vs
Down	Ramsdale	NEW	C
No Change	Dubravka	BUR	C, £

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	van Dijk	LIV	C
No Change	Jurriën Timber	ARS	C, Inj
No Change	O’Reilly	MCI	C
Up	Andersen	FUL	C
Up	Marc Guehi	CRY	A
Up	van den Berg	BRE	C, Vs
No Change	Thiaw	NEW	A
No Change	Milenkovic	NFO	C
No Change	van Hecke	BHA	A
No Change	Mukiele	SUN	C, £

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	Saka	ARS	B
No Change	Bruno Fernandes	MUN	A
No Change	Foden	MCI	A
No Change	Semenyo	BOU	C
Up	Szoboszlai	LIV	C
No Change	Minteh	BHA	B
No Change	Bruno Guimarães	NEW	A
No Change	Schade	BRE	C, Vs, Sus
No Change	Anderson	NFO	B, £

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	Haaland	MCI	B
No Change	Thiago	BRE	A, Vs
No Change	Mateta	CRY	C
Up	Ekitiké	LIV	B
Down	Welbeck	BHA	C, Rest
Down	Woltemade	NEW	B

Player	Team	Price	Progress	Tonight
Calvert-Lewin	LEE	5.6m	93.3%	Likely
Rúben	MCI	5.6m	93.6%	Likely
Matheus N.	MCI	5.3m	94.9%	Likely
Palmer	CHE	10.3m	94.9%	Likely
Van Hecke	BHA	4.5m	96.5%	Likely
Gusto	CHE	4.9m	89.3%	Maybe
Bowen	WHU	7.5m	85.1%	Unlikely
Tavernier	BOU	5.5m	68.6%	Unlikely
Marc Guiu	CHE	4.2m	84.6%	Unlikely
Watkins	AVL	8.5m	86.5%	Unlikely
Gvardiol	MCI	5.9m	75.6%	Unlikely
Truffert	BOU	4.5m	77.9%	Unlikely
Keane	EVE	4.6m	69.8%	Unlikely
Andersen	FUL	4.6m	68.6%	Unlikely
Verbruggen	BHA	4.4m	67.1%	Unlikely
Mitchell	CRY	5.0m	67.1%	Unlikely
Raya	ARS	6.0m	67.8%	Unlikely
Ballard	SUN	4.6m	62.5%	Unlikely
Semenyo	BOU	7.5m	36.1%	Unlikely
Livramento	NEW	4.9m	65.6%	Unlikely
Casemiro	MUN	5.5m	70.2%	Unlikely
Tete	FUL	4.5m	61.6%	Unlikely
Dalot	MUN	4.4m	57.8%	Unlikely
Haaland	MCI	15.0m	53.3%	Unlikely
Foden	MCI	8.8m	36.2%	Unlikely
Ekitiké	LIV	8.6m	36.4%	Unlikely
Dúbravka	BUR	4.0m	56.2%	Unlikely
Petrović	BOU	4.5m	55.5%	Unlikely
Cullen	BUR	5.0m	56.8%	Unlikely
Romero	TOT	5.0m	52.3%	Unlikely
Cash	AVL	4.9m	50.9%	Unlikely
Van den Berg	BRE	4.5m	48.4%	Unlikely
James	CHE	5.6m	48.4%	Unlikely
Flemming	BUR	5.3m	47.8%	Unlikely
Igor Jesus	NFO	5.8m	46.3%	Unlikely
B.Fernandes	MUN	9.3m	25.3%	Unlikely
Guéhi	CRY	5.3m	33.5%	Unlikely
Pickford	EVE	5.5m	42.1%	Unlikely
Wilson	WHU	5.8m	40.4%	Unlikely
Mount	MUN	5.9m	37.4%	Unlikely

Player	Team	Price	Progress	Tonight
Anthony	BUR	5.3m	104.7%	Very Likely
Minteh	BHA	6.2m	102.8%	Very Likely
Longstaff	LEE	4.9m	101.7%	Very Likely
Ndiaye	EVE	6.4m	88.7%	Likely
Eze	ARS	7.8m	79.8%	Likely
Nallo	LIV	3.8m	101.1%	Very Likely
Muniz	FUL	5.4m	100.4%	Very Likely
Mayenda	SUN	5.3m	98.9%	Likely
Rodon	LEE	4.1m	100.3%	Very Likely
Elanga	NEW	6.6m	97.9%	Likely
Yarmoliuk	BRE	5.0m	93.7%	Maybe
Gudmundsson	LEE	3.9m	100.0%	Maybe
Jordan	BUR	4.0m	99.7%	Maybe
Lammens	MUN	5.1m	89.8%	Maybe
Neave	NEW	4.4m	99.7%	Maybe
McKenna	BOU	4.0m	94.6%	Maybe
Balcombe	BRE	4.0m	93.3%	Maybe
Okafor	LEE	5.5m	94.4%	Unlikely
Morgan	BRE	4.4m	95.5%	Unlikely
McAtee	NFO	5.1m	88.9%	Unlikely
Nørgaard	ARS	5.2m	90.2%	Unlikely
João Pedro	CHE	7.3m	81.9%	Unlikely
Barnes	BUR	4.3m	93.2%	Unlikely
Kulusevski	TOT	6.4m	92.7%	Unlikely
Bentley	WOL	4.0m	91.1%	Unlikely
Colwill	CHE	4.8m	92.1%	Unlikely
Broggio	AVL	4.5m	92.7%	Unlikely
Piroe	LEE	5.0m	90.5%	Unlikely
Irving	WHU	4.4m	90.7%	Unlikely
Worrall	BUR	3.9m	88.5%	Unlikely
Tasker	BHA	3.9m	90.9%	Unlikely
Sels	NFO	4.7m	84.1%	Unlikely
Webster	BHA	4.4m	88.7%	Unlikely
Enzo	CHE	6.6m	77.9%	Unlikely
Jair Cunha	NFO	4.3m	89.6%	Unlikely
Benitez	CRY	4.0m	86.7%	Unlikely
Coleman	EVE	4.3m	84.8%	Unlikely
Danso	TOT	4.3m	85.6%	Unlikely
Woltemade	NEW	7.4m	63.1%	Unlikely
L.Guilherme	WHU	4.9m	83.2%	Unlikely

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	Raya Martin	ARS	C
No Change	Alisson	LIV	C
No Change	Donnarumma	MCI	C, Sus
Up	Kelleher	BRE	C, Vs
Down	Ramsdale	NEW	C
No Change	Dubravka	BUR	C, £

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	van Dijk	LIV	C
No Change	Jurriën Timber	ARS	C, Inj
No Change	O’Reilly	MCI	C
Up	Andersen	FUL	C
Up	Marc Guehi	CRY	A
Up	van den Berg	BRE	C, Vs
No Change	Thiaw	NEW	A
No Change	Milenkovic	NFO	C
No Change	van Hecke	BHA	A
No Change	Mukiele	SUN	C, £

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	Saka	ARS	B
No Change	Bruno Fernandes	MUN	A
No Change	Foden	MCI	A
No Change	Semenyo	BOU	C
Up	Szoboszlai	LIV	C
No Change	Minteh	BHA	B
No Change	Bruno Guimarães	NEW	A
No Change	Schade	BRE	C, Vs, Sus
No Change	Anderson	NFO	B, £

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	Haaland	MCI	B
No Change	Thiago	BRE	A, Vs
No Change	Mateta	CRY	C
Up	Ekitiké	LIV	B
Down	Welbeck	BHA	C, Rest
Down	Woltemade	NEW	B

¿Puedes hablar español? We complete our Group previews with the only group with three Spanish-speaking countries. Group H could be renamed Spain and the rest of the group. Spain romped over Poland 6-0 in their final friendly, and in case you missed it, the clip from that game confirms that they are clicking on all cylinders. Spain’s odds with Paddy Power for advancing to the next round (at 1/33) are tops for any team in the tournament. By comparison, Brazil sits at 1/10 due to the strength of its group and, even aided by the loyalty of English bettors, England only managed to get to 1/20. Not surprisingly, Spain delivers numerous fantasy prospects for our consideration…

With Spain’s place in the Round of 16 written in ink, we turn to the “rest of the group”. Chile gets the nod for the runner-up spot (at 8/13 to advance) after an impressive run of form during South American qualifying. The group’s linguistic outsider, Switzerland, stands in third at 13/8, while the Hondurans are expected to take up the rear at 11/2. I don’t see Honduras making a serious run at advancing, but would not be surprised if they grab a tie or win that makes the difference in the battle for second.

With the uncertainty in this group focused on who finishes as runners-up, the key match should be Chile and Switzerland in the second round. The order of games should give Chile an additional advantage, as they should come into the game ahead of the Swiss by three points, with significant pressure on their opponents to secure a result. Of course, Chile’s scheduling advantage will flip entirely if the Swiss manage even a single point against Spain. As a final twist for our fantasy planning, it is not out of the question that Spain and Chile meet in the finale with both having secured advancement, but there would still be plenty to play for as the group runner-up likely gets Brazil in the knockout phase.

Spain

Spain made a mockery of qualifying, finishing with a perfect 10 wins from 10 games, scoring 28 goals and conceding only 5. Their depth and consistency has them currently viewed as the best European squad, but they carry with them a stigma for being unable to cope with big tournaments. Presumably the monkey is off their back with the 2008 victory in the European Championships, but the semi-final defeat in the 2009 Confederations Cup leaves some questions unanswered (although most are prepared to attribute that defeat to some combination of (a) an unlucky day, (b) the Confederations Cup being a Mickey Mouse tournament, and (c) those annoying horns).

Whether they ultimately hoist the Cup, three wins in this group are expected, particularly with victory likely needed in the finale to avoid an early meeting with Brazil. Should top of group honors come down to that final game, Spain holds a commanding advantage over the Chileans in friendly matches from the past several years. However, Chile did prevail 2-0 in the only prior World Cup match between the squads back in 1950, although I’m told that the Spaniards are even more dismissive than the English of World Cup results from 1950…

While Spain may have an easier draw in the group phase, it will not be an easy road to the title. Of course, there remains the prospect of a monumental knockout phase meeting with Brazil if either falters and drops to second in their respective group. And, even assuming everything goes as planned during the group phases, Spain will be looking at a challenging road in the elimination rounds that likely reads as follows: neighbour Portugal, then Italy, then England or Argentina, and then Brazil.

The Fantasy Targets…

Anyone in a Spanish jersey who is playing!
Enough said.

Iker Casillas
Casillas has to be viewed as one of the stronger keepers in the tournament. He secured 6 clean sheets in 9 starts during qualifying. Two clean sheets are certainly feasible during group play, with Casillas’ projected returns bumped up due to the weakness of this group and Spain’s anticipated ability to use ball possession to limit opposing opportunities. While Casillas is currently owned by 23% of the managers in the McDonald’s/FIFA game, he will be left off most serious squads as this is ultimately a numbers game constrained by price and/or rules limiting the number of Fantasy players from a given country.

Gerard Pique
Pique is an imposing center back. The 24-year-old did not appear in qualifying games until 2009, but played in each of the last 6 games and looks to have solidified his position. Pique led the Spanish defenders in scoring with 3 goals from only 6 games, an impressive rate for anyone let alone a defender. He also may well benefit more than a full-back like Joan Capdevilla when it comes to notching points for tackles and/or interceptions.

Joan Capdevilla
Capdevilla should constantly push into the attack on the left flank. There should be no issue about his playing time, as he was one of only three players to play in 9 qualifying games and ended up tied with Casillas for most minutes. Potentially he offers a cheaper route to Spanish clean sheets then.

Xavi and Andres Iniesta
While they each deserve of a separate paragraph (if not their own individual articles), most of you are familiar with them, and there is little that separates them, joined as they as the best of the best as central midfielders for Barcelona and Spain. They are both technically gifted as well as tenacious, and together they form one of the most creative central midfield partnerships in World Cup history. I wonder some if fantasy games are able to track their collective brilliance, but they should hold their own and provide dividends even at high purchase prices in games where additional points are awarded for completed passes, balls into the area, and/or for tackles.

While neither is expected to score an abundance of goals, the Spanish side looks poised to do so and the attack should run through the two of them in the process. This reality requires consideration of both and forces a very difficult decision between them. Iniesta was in the middle of the brilliance caught in the clip above from Spain’s last friendly with Poland. But, Iniesta also left that game early with a thigh strain as a precautionary measure. Injury issues with his thigh date back to April and caused him to miss a handful of games late in the season, so this should be monitored. This is one of those situations where you know you’re likely to be punished whichever decision you make, but the prospects of a niggling injury may give the nod to Xavi if selecting between them.

Cesc Fabregas
I remain shocked every time I’m reminded that Fabregas is still only a 23-year-old. Unfortunately in terms of our viewing and player selection pleasure, he continues to play only a supporting role at the international level despite his obvious talent, as evidenced by only 3 starts plus 4 substitute appearances during qualifying. Fabregas looks to be the first midfielder off the bench or even to come in if Fernando Torres is unable to play in an adjusted 4-5-1 formation, so do not hesitate to jump should misfortune hit someone else.

David Villa
Villa led Spain in scored during qualifying with 7 goals in 7 games. He was the leading scorer in the 2008 Euro Championships and is on the shortlist of favorites for the golden boot this summer as well. Currently owned by 33% of the owners in the McDonald’s/FIFA game, Villa is the favorite fantasy Spaniard.

Fernando Torres
Torres’ speed and finishing have been unmatched for Liverpool when healthy, but he has not provided the same results for country. He appeared in 7 of 10 qualifiers, but was subbed out in all but one of those games with only 451 minutes to show out of a potential 630. Shockingly, he did not score in any of those games, but underestimate him on the big stage at your peril, as shown by his goal in the final of the European Championships. While we are all aware of Torres’ battles with injuries this past season, he has returned to action, scored in the last friendly with Poland, and looks ready to take his spot next to Villa in Spain’s standard formation.

Chile

First a brief digression for some odd events in Chile’s world cup history: In 1974, Chile qualified without playing the final game when the former USSR forfeited a head-to-head playoff. Taking the moral high ground, the Soviets (after drawing the first leg in Moscow) refused to play in Chile’s stadium in Santiago because it had been used as a concentration camp by Pinochet’s military dictatorship. In 1990, the Chilean goalie fell to the ground during a qualifying match with Brazil when a flare landed near him. The goalie was carried off the field and the team refused to continue the game due to concerns about their safety (thereby avoiding a defeat that would have eliminated them). Yet subsequent video footage showed that the flare had not struck the goalie at all! Brazil, who led 1-0 when the game was halted, was credited with a 2-0 victory, which sealed Chile’s elimination in 1990. As additional sanction, Chile suspended from qualifying for the 1994 World Cup as well. Jump to 1998, Chile returned to the World Cup finals and advanced from group play before losing to Brazil in the round of 16. The stat for the trivia quiz is that while Chile advanced in 1998, they still must look back to 1966 to find the last time that they won a game at the World Cup finals — yes, they advanced from group play in 1998 with 3 draws.

While the history may be interesting, this is an entirely new generation of Chilean footballers with a new chapter to write. After failing to qualify for the last to World Cup finals, Chile handed responsibility for this Cup run to Marcelo Bielsa, who coached the neighboring Argentina squad that sailed through 2002 qualifying before making an unexpected exit at the group stage. Bielsa is a tireless tactician with a reputation for paying meticulous attention to detail. He has implemented an attacking and free-flowing 3-3-1-3 formation, which Chile used to steamroll to a second place finish behind Brazil in CONMEBOL (not unlike Argentina’s strong performance leading up to 2002). Bielsa has taken the squad through a rigorous series of friendly matches, that included splitting the squad to play two matches on the same day since he has “two players for each position.” The extended training scheduled culminated roughly 24 hours ago with a 2-0 victory over New Zealand.

Chile’s biggest concern is in defence, and is the proverbial yin and yang of Bielsa’s tactics, which call for immediate high pressure on the ball. On the one hand, the high pressure has left them outnumbered at times and open to counter attacks, while on the other hand the high pressure can win the ball back quickly and has been a significant contributing factor to their successful attack, which produced an impressive 32 goals during qualifying (second only to Brazil). The front four is built around attacking midfielder (Matias Fernandez) who plays behind three forwards (including stars Humberto Suazo and Alexis Sanchez) who stretch the defence. Fernandez, Suazo, and Sanchez now play league soccer in Europe but it should be no surprise that the talented Chileans were initially spotted by and played together at Chile’s mighty Colo-Colo club.

While merely advancing becomes acceptable when you’re in a group with Spain, finishing as the runner-up likely means a meeting with Brazil. Of course, Chile met Brazil twice during qualifying, which means familiarity, but unfortunately it’s familiarity with getting spanked, as Chile lost 0-3 and 2-4. If it comes to that, will it be third time lucky?

The Fantasy Targets…

Claudio Bravo
Between the sticks for Real Sociedad in the Spanish second division, Bravo played every minute of Chilean qualifying. While Chile’s defensive concerns are not without basis – of the five South American teams in the World Cup finals, Chile conceded the most goals during qualifying (22), but Bravo nonetheless recorded a clean sheet in almost every other game (8 out of 18).

Gary Medel
Medel plays his league soccer for Boca Juniors in Argentina. He is listed as a defender in the Metro game at 5.4 and in the Telegraph game at 3.5. I had him picked for big things, but unfortunately the McDonald’s/FIFA game has listed him as a midfielder. Unless he can somehow make up the difference through the scoring rules, the realistic advice must be to move along in any game where he isn’t a defender. For a glimpse of what he brings to the game, Medel is the #17 in this clip who makes the final overlapping run and gets the assist for the winning goal in Chile’s 1-0 victory over Argentina and in this clip of several of Chile’s goals during qualifying he scores 2 2 goals against Bolivia including a bicycle kick at 2:29-3:21 of the clip.

Matías Fernandez
Having just celebrated his 24th birthday, Fernandez is a gifted attacking midfielder with superb playmaking and dribbling skills. He will be involved in Chile’s free-kicks and scored four goals during qualifying and will play a central role in running the Chilean attack. A clear dark horse Fantasy purchase in midfield.

Humberto Suazo
Suazo is a stocky forward, takes penalty kicks when he is on the field, and led all of CONMEBOL in scoring during qualifying with 10 goals. His injury situation is going to require monitoring, and while Suazo benefits from having maximum days until Chile plays, it will likely mean that solid news is not available when fantasy decisions must be made at the beginning of the competition. Amongst the latest reports , Suazo has joined the squad, participated in training, and could be fit for the opener. However, there’s a chance that even if “available” he may not be risked given the tougher group games that will follow.

Alexis Sánchez
Even before Suazo’s injury, I was prepared to make a pitch for Sanchez to steal the show here. Just 21, Sanchez plays for Udinese and is only just coming into his own. He is a speedy winger with extra quality and there is every reason to expect a few special moments from him. No promises about how many goals he will score or predictions for the golden boot, but returning to the Chilean history books, the last time a Chilean was tied leading scorer in the World Cup finals was in 1962, and his last name also was Sanchez (Leonel).

Switzerland

Switzerland is legitimately considered Team 2.5 in this group, and head into the World Cup with a 1-1 draw with Italy in their final warm-up match. The Swiss team edged Greece in qualifying, a respectable feat in itself, finishing with 21 points from 6 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss, while scoring 18 and conceding 8. Switzerland managed 5 clean sheets in the 10 games, although skewed perhaps by 2 cleans sheets against Moldova and another against Luxembourg. They now look to build on a workmanlike but uninspiring performance in 2006, where they advanced from the group before being knocked out on penalties without allowing a goal during any of the four games. With fantasy owners scouring for bargain defenders, a duplication of such efforts would be a welcome surprise, but an unrealistic one as well with an opening date with Spain followed by a meeting with Chile.

More realistically, Switzerland are still four years away from a serious run, at which time they may be in a better position to complete the transition from the old guard to a new generation, hopefully led by one or more of the young Swiss group that won the U-17 World Cup last November.

The Fantasy Targets…

Stephane Grichting
Grichting was a regular in the Switzerland defence during qualifying, leading the defenders with 9 starts and 810 minutes. He scored one goal in the victory over Greece. Lazio’s Stephan Lichtsteiner would be the primary alternate defender to consider, while Phillipe Senderos has more name cache and fresh of the news of his move to Fulham is currently the top pick of the masses.

Tranquillo Barnetta
With 50 caps at the age of 25, Bayer Leverkusen’s Barnetta has secured the left wing position when fit. He provides a contrast of styles, fleet of foot yet capable of providing a calming influence. Barnetta may not be at his peak having missed much of the past season due to injury, and will definitely be put to the test.

Alexander Frei
Frei is the captain, and would normally be worthy of consideration based simply on the fact that he will take any penalty kicks awarded to the Swiss. But, latest reports reveal an ankle injury in training just prior to the team’s scheduled departure for South Africa, which has cast doubt on Frei’s availability for the first game, if not the entire tournament. Frei has 73 caps and 40 goals, including 5 during qualifying.

Blaise N’Kufo
At 35, it was believed by many that N’Kufo international days were behind him. However, he has kept plugging along and was viewed by many as the most productive Swiss forward in the recent friendly with Italy. N’Kufo tied with Frei for the team lead in goals during qualifying with 5.

Honduras

The results in friendly games during the past few weeks have been underwhelming: a 2-2 draw with Belarus, a 0-0 with Azerbaijan, and a 0-3 defeat to Romania this past weekend. Advancing beyond the group seems out of reach, but Honduras are more than capable of taking someone down with them, with homes victories (1-0 in November 2008 and 3-1 in April 2009) over Mexico during qualifying (Honduras and Mexico had two sets of home and away meetings as they were together in one of the preliminary groups in 2008 and then again in the “Hex” in 2009).

In the 10-game Hex, Honduras finished 5-1-4, with 2 losses to USA, and 1 each on the road to Mexico and Costa Rica – arguably no shame in any of those results, but the Honduran team definitely struggled anytime they were not playing at the Estadio Olympico in Honduras. In order to qualify, Honduras needed help in the last round of games, and when Costa Rica conceded a tying goal to the USA in injury time, Costa Rica and Honduras ended up tied on points, with Honduras holding the tiebreaker.

This will be Honduras’ second World Cup finals, with the first way back in 1982, when they finished last in their group. Although they finished 4th, they displayed their tenacity even then with 1-1 ties against the two teams that advanced, Northern Ireland and, coincidentally enough given this draw, Spain. Honduras will be pressed to match the 1982 tally of 2 goals and should be duly pleased if they surpass 2 points with an unexpected upset.

The Fantasy Targets…

Honduran Defenders
There have been some comments noting the attractive pricing at 1.5 of all of the Honduras defenders except for Maynor Figueroa (who is at 2.5). This is probably best viewed as a scam holiday markdown of inflated retail prices (i.e., still overpriced and certainly not a bargain). Regardless of the price, Honduran clean sheets will be difficult to come by with an opening match against Chile before a match against Spain. For those who see it differently, you can find support for your position in the fact that Honduras conceded the fewest number of goals of any CONCACAF team during the Hex, but even that was 11 goals conceded in total in the 10 games – over a goal per game then. For those insistent on pursuing this strategy (and maybe there’s gold to be found in the scoring rules as they will certainly be under attack), the most regular defensive starters in front of goalie Noel Valladares during the qualifiers were: Osman Chavez (7), Emilio Izaquirre (7), Mauricio Sabillon (8), and Wigan’s Maynor Figueroa (9).

Amado Guevara
One of the elder statesmen of the squad at the age of 34, Guevara has 134 caps. He has scored 29 times during his international career, including once during the qualifiers. Guevara is an integral part of the squad and keeper Noel Valladares was the only player to play more minutes. After several successful years in the MLS, Guevara has returned to play his league soccer in Honduras. While getting on in age, Guevara has made a reputation of trademark quick runs to join the forwards centrally. Expect that to continue, as well as watch for him on free-kicks around the area.

Wilson Palacios
The 25-year old Palacios already has 68 caps. The Tottenham midfielder is gifted with the ball, but makes his mark with his tackling, and will certainly be presented with plenty of opportunities to benefit from the bonus scoring for tackles. He left the last friendly with Romania on a stretcher with a shin injury, but as reported in a recent FFS tweet the early reports are that it is not as serious as originally thought. Palacios’ recovery would be a huge boost to Honduras’ already slim chance of progression.

Carlos Pavon
Pavon led CONCACAF scoring in the hex with 7 goals in 9 games. At the age of 36, he brings a cagey experience that will be needed. He has scored 57 goals in 100 international appearances, and is Honduras’ all-time top scorer. As reported in the recent tweet referenced above, there is a second Suazo in this group, Honduras’ David Suazo, who like Chile’s Humberto Suazo plays at forward and is struggling to recover from an injury, but will partner Pavon in Honduras’ 4-4-2 if healthy. George Welcome is the Honduran player owned by the most managers in the McDonald’s/FIFA game, but that is due only to his price of 1.0, and should not be considered if you’re looking for someone who is going to play with any regularity.

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