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 by a 2-0 defeat by Paraguay in which the defence, usually Greece’s strongpoint, looked decidedly chaotic.

No team has prepared more thoroughly for this World Cup than South Korea but their 11 matches in 2010 have produced an odd mixture of results. A 2-0 victory over Japan in which Manchester United’s Park Ji-Sung dazzled, was followed up by a lacklustre defeat to Belarus and a reasonable performance when losing 1-0 to the might of Spain.

Most people believe that unless Argentina do something ridiculous, then Group B is essentially a struggle for second place and whoever loses this match will be unlikely to make it. The odds must favour South Korea, who seem better equipped in every way than Greece. Verdict: South Korea to win.