The mood in the Italy camp was summed up by Fabio Cannavaro, who exclaimed: 'I am confident but I don't know why.' There is plenty of unease among the world champions. Their manager, Marcello Lippi, has been accused of investing too much faith in the ageing men who won him football's ultimate trophy in Berlin. There are injury concerns over Andrea Pirlo and their performances in... Lesen Sie weiter >>

Unlike Nigeria and the Ivory Coast, the Cameroon FA at least had the wisdom not to fire their manager in the wake of a disappointing Africa Cup of Nations, despite the fortune they were paying Paul le Guen. In return, Le Guen has overhauled an ageing side, although the weaknesses in defence were horribly shown up by Portugal and Serbia who scored seven times between them.... Lesen Sie weiter >>

Sir Alex Ferguson once said that one of Dutch football's problems was a tendency towards arrogance and Bert van Marwijk's squad arrive at the Soccer City Stadium with much to be arrogant about. Their qualification campaign was procession; their warm-up fixtures saw Mexico, Ghana and Hungary beaten by a collective scoreline of 12-3. Robin van Persie remarked that they fancied themselves to beat anyone. Van Marwijk... Lesen Sie weiter >>

The loss of Michael Ballack, the man who guided a German side that looked short on obvious quality through two hugely successful World Cups, needs no further explanation. In its own way it is a big a blow as Essien's absence from the Ghana squad. Their manager, Joachim Low, seems determined to squeeze one more World Cup from Miroslav Klose, despite the fact that he has... Lesen Sie weiter >>

The loss of Michael Essien, their inspiration in the last World Cup, appears to have shaken Ghana badly. They were swept away 4-1 by Holland in Amsterdam in a match described as a 'lynching' by senior sources in Accra, although they recovered their balance with victory over Latvia. When they arrived in South Africa, they pronounded themselves dissastisifed with thier hotel in Pretoria and moved to another... Lesen Sie weiter >>

The Algerian camp has been assailed by uncertainty; they have lost perhaps their best player, midfielder, Mourad Meghri, to injury while their captain, Yazid Mansouri, has been dropped after a series of unimpressive displays that began with a 3-0 defeat to Ireland in Dublin, followed by an unconvincing 1-0 win over the United Arab Emirates. Their manager, Rabah Saadane, is a man in need of good... Lesen Sie weiter >>

Six months ago, England seemed serenely confident, a mood that has darkened after a series of increasingly unimpressive friendly performances. Even Fabio Capello, a man who seldom shows his emotions, lost his temper after a decidedly limp display against the Platinum All Stars. They are on their third captain of 2010 following Rio Ferdinand’s withdrawal with a knee injury and... Lesen Sie weiter >>

Sydafrika v Mexico preview

Sydafrikas 1-0 sejr over Danmark i deres sidste opvarmningskamp har resulteret i en stime på 12 ubesejrede kampe i træk, og det har lettet lidt på frygten for at Sydafrika skulle blive den første værtsnation der ikke går videre fra gruppespillet. Selv om Frankrig også er i gruppen, så anser den sydafrikanske træner Carlos Alberto Parreira det mexicanske hold som den bedste og farligste... Lesen Sie weiter >>

Greece arrived in South Africa with many fearing they are on course to repeat their woeful display at Euro 2008, where they failed to gain a single point. Otto Rehhagel’s selection of the injury-plagued Christos Patsatzoglou and Giorgios Seitaridis seemed strange and the mood in the Greek camp has not been helped by a 2-2 draw with North Korea followed... Lesen Sie weiter >>

Frankrig træder ind til deres åbningskamp i noget nær krisetilstand. Deres hotel er blevet kritiseret af den franske sportsminister for at være alt for luksuriøst, William Gallas surmuler fordi han ikke er blevet valgt som kaptajn og Thierry Henry har bekræftet at han starter på bænken. Deres sidste to opvarmningskampe var elendige præstationer - et 1-0 nederlag til Kina og en 1-1 uafgjort mod Tunesien.

I kontrast til... Lesen Sie weiter >>

After all the chaos of qualification, Diego Maradona’s Argentina arrive for their opening game in very good shape. The cancellation of a friendly with the United Arab Emirates has meant Argentina have not played since May 24, which produced a 5-0 rout of Canada in Buenos Aires’ Monumental Stadium. Diego Milito may have injured his ankle in training but the... Lesen Sie weiter >>

There's every reason to expect goals from the Tuesday lunchtime clash at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg. New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert has declared that his team are 'going to go for it' in this Group F opener, with the match possibly representing the All Whites' best chance of getting some points.

Slovakia manager Vladimir Weiss has also stated that... Lesen Sie weiter >>