| DATE: June 18 2010 | CITY: Cape Town | GROUP: Group C |
In probably the easiest afternoon of the entire 2010 World Cup for England, the team of Fabio Capello is going against Algeria for the fourth game of Group C. England will be looking to grab the 3 points and secure the first qualifying spot of the group early, whereas a decent performance should be the goal for Algeria coming to this game. The smaller teams of the World Cup 2010 tournament need to pick their fights wisely, and if Algeria wants to play smart and keep it safe this is exactly what they should do today. Going full force against a team like England will most likely get you nowhere, unless you are already in a difficult position and trying to salvage as many points as possible from every game.
The first game of Algeria is against Slovenia on June 13, and if they have any chance to get a win in South Africa this is when it could happen. Playing against England the strategy will be completely different, throw 8-9 defenders in the game, cross your fingers and hope for the best. Who knows, maybe the Algerian defence can withstand getting hammered for 90 minutes while mostly relying on counter attacks for a change at scoring a goal. Don’t forget that Greece for example came out of nowhere and won an entire European Championship playing exactly like that, so anything could happen with a little bit of luck on your side.
England on the other hand is coming to South Africa to win the World Cup trophy, so winning in every game they play is a must. Especially when going against much weaker teams, these are considered easy points but crucial to advance further. It could get tricky though when your opponent has nothing to lose, getting an easy victory while protecting your best players for later on is the key here.