Morning all,I have been wanting to do previews since the start but not found the time, hopefully it can continue from today, not gonna be massive pieces, just players to watch, predictions, that kind of thing.

NETHERLANDS v  DENMARK – 12:30

This has the potential to be one of the great games of the tournament, 2 strong teams and both need a win to kick off their campaign.

***Players to Watch***

1.Gregory van der Wiel (Netherlands) - Impressive Ajax right back, will be unknown to most, loves to get forward, can play in a good cross, and can also defend pretty well.

2.Simon Kjaer (Denmark) - Palermo’s big centre back, tracked by all the big teams, a good tournament will see his value rise big test today against the Dutch forward line, interesting to see how he does.

3.Christian Eriksen (Denmark) - Rumours are this impressive teenager could start for Denmark today, the Danes have never fielded a teenager at a World Cup, the unknown midfielder has impressed at U-20 level, on the books at Ajax, reported he has already been shown round Real Madrid’s training complex, one to look out for.

JAPAN v CAM ERO ON – 15:00

Cameroon the 4th of the 6 African teams to play, pundits favourties of all the african teams to do well, with Eto’o, Song and Emana they have the ability to get out this group, I am wondering if Eto’o doesn’t score where the goals will come from, Korea showed on Sunday that you don’t need size and power to play well, Japan will take heart from this, the skills of Honda, Nakamura and Matsui will cause problems.

**Players to Watch**

1.Achille Emana (Cameroon) – Apart from Eto’o Achille is Cameroon’s highest scorer in the squad, can play off the front man or on the wings, very creative, loves bombing forward, powerful runner.

2.Shinji Okazaki (Japan) - A Player very much in form 16 goals in the last year make him a dangerous prospect, good movement off the ball works hard to find space, the Cameroon defence will have to stay alert.

3.Nicolas N’Koulou (Cameroon) - Strong central defender, had a starring role for Monaco this year, could be one of the stand out players in South Africa, has the experience of Rigobert Song potentially beside him.

ITALY v PARAGUAY – 19:30

The two big guns in Group F match up, both will fancy going through but they will not want to lose this, Paraguay have a talented squad, 4 quality strikers that will cause teams damage, a solid midfield and back line, the Italians will need to be at their best to dispatch Paraguay

**Players to Watch**

1.Lucas Barrios (Paraguay) – One of the great World Cup stories, 2 months ago he was Argetinian and had a great Bundesliga season, now he has his Paraguayan passport has scored 3 in 3 and could be the big goal threat in Group F

2.Antonio Di Natale (Italy) - Played as a subsitute most of his International career, now has the chance to shine, 29 league goals for Udinese is very impressive, pace, skill and an eye for goal, can’t ask for much else.

3.Oscar Cardozo (Paraguay) - Most likely to start on the bench, Santa Cruz getting the nod on experience, Oscar will come on at some point and he is deadly, can score from anywhere on the pitch, goals out of nothing he is a deadly predator 26 goals in 29 games for Benfica, not somone to leave unmarked.

**PREDICTIONS**

Now so far is this tournament I am off to a great start, I have predicted the score in all 8 games, and got every one wrong, I predcited correctly Argentina, Slovenia and Germany would win, but got the scores wrong, so I have an on going joke that I will get every result wrong, so here goes Day 4.

NETHERLANDS 3 DENMARK 1

JAPAN 0 CAMEROON 1

ITALY 2 PARAGUAY 2

If you agree or disagree let me know, give me your predictons

Time to get back to watching some football, and what better way than a bit of Friday night Bundesliga.

Dortmund travelled the short distance to the BayArena to take on the league leaders, I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for the Dortmund club.

LEVERKUSEN: Adler – Schwaab, Friedrich, Hyypia, Castro – Barnetta, Bender, Vidal, Kroos – Derdiyok, Kiessling
DORTMUND: Weidenfeller – Owomoyela, Subotic, Hummels, Dede – Kuba, Bender, Sahin, Valdez – Zidan, Barrios

A few players a knew already but quite a few I was seeing for the first time, the Bender brothers were pointed out by ESPN before the game so was interested to see them, and I had never heard of Barrios before, and alot of names I know but not seen play, so was very interested.

Overall it was a good game, the first half far more enjoyable and both teams playing an attractive style of football, just after Lars Bender had a great chance to open the scoring for Leverkusen it was Dortmund who took the lead, Vidal lost the ball in the midfield, some good work from Valdez his cross was headed expertly past Adler by Argentine striker Lucas Barrios, Leverkusen should have been level when Derdiyok had a clear header from Kroos’ cross but he headed wide, it was a very open first half both teams showing attacking intent, Dortmund looking a better team than their middle table position shows, however Leverkusen again nearly pegged them back just before half-time, Toni Kross again with the free kick, it was met by Sami Hyypia but his header whistled just past the post, how Liverpool could do with someone of Sami’s aerial ability right now at set-pieces.

The second half didn’t start with the same attacking intensity as the first and for 20 minutes there was nothing worth mentioning, then Leverkusen won a corner after a contentious free kick, Barnetta swung the ball in and Manuel Friedrich rose highest and and powered a great header past Weidenfeller, it looked like now Dortmund would have to fight if they wanted a point from this game, Friedrich and Barnetta going close 5 minutes after the goal, the game seemed to fizzle out though, no more clear cut chances, and both teams in the end deserved to go away with something, Dortmund the better team in the first half but Leverkusen much the better in the second.

I liked the partnership of Kiessling and Derdiyok upfront for Leverkusen seems a very busy pairing, both players have some pace and like to run, then you have the height and aerial ability of Kiessling, and then Derdiyok brings pace and ability, with both players being quite young this could be deadly in a few years.
Vidal had a quiet game, Barnetta was lively down the flank, always been a fan of his, technically sound player, decent pass, good passer of the ball, was good to see Toni Kroos, alot of potential needs games and is getting them at Leverkusen, didn’t do alot from open play but his dead ball were always causing problems.
Hyypia was solid as he has always been and is showing why it was a mistake by Rafa Benitez to let him go for free, commanding in defence, deadly in the air, could easily still play in the premiership, his partnership with Friedrich is full of maturity and experience.

I was happy to see Dortmund playing some good football, and they have some nice players, Hummels and Subotic look a good pairing at the back and will continue to grow together, Dede is in with the bricks at Dortmund, 12 years service, doesn’t happen at all any more, the midfield looks a little young to me, Sahim, Bender and Kuba have an average age of 21, I wonder how much they could progress with an experienced player in there to help them.
Zidan was very quiet upfront forgot he was playing at one point, Valdez impressed, a flop when he first signed but did very well out on the left battled back hard when Dortmund didn’t have the ball and a great cross for Barrios’s goal.
Lucas Barrios I think will be a name to remember, having not heard of him at half time, I search Wikipedia for some details and for Colo Colo he had 49 goals in 53 games, that is very impressive, 2 in 6 for his new club, if he can settle quickly he could be a player to watch, his header for the goal was superb, and he was always busy and trying to make something happen.

Last players I wanted to mention was Lars and Sven the Bender brothers, both look very decent young players, playing at the heart of the midfield they had a good battle and honours were shared in the Bender household, definitely two players to keep an eye on, and who would count against a pair of Benders in the German midfield in the years to come

MATCH RATING 7.5/10

M.O.M – Lucas Barrios – Dortmund