Dark horses
CHRIS DUNLAVY suggests some outsiders who could provide surprises this summer in Rio
The ones to watch at the World Cup
WHEN is a dark horse not a dark horse? Well, when they’re ranked fifth in the world and armed to the teeth with world-class players.
So if Belgium are a dark horse then England are a pot-bellied pony. The men in red are serious contenders.
So who are the real dark horses? Who are the teams who could just spring a Greece 2004 – though hopefully by launching an attack at some point? Here are a handful to watch out for.
Colombia
THERE is rarely any middle-ground with the enduringly mercurial Colombians – they either fail to qualify or get tipped to win.
The days of flamboyant mavericks like Rene Higuita, Carlos Valderrama and Tino Asprilla are gone, but Los Cafeteros (The Coffee Growers) do have a bonafide superstar in Monaco striker Radamel Falcao.
The £60m man has 19 goals in 48 games for his country and helped them qualify second behind Argentina. More importantly, they are no strangers to the South American climate.
Ghana
NOT there yet, but after a 6-1 destruction of Egypt in the play-off first leg, they’d have to get stuck inside a pyramid to lose the away leg.
Quarter-finalists last time out, they would have been in the last four but for Luis Suarez’s handball on the line and a subsequent missed penalty from Asamoah Gyan that sent Uruguay through.
The squad has changed very little in four years, with the likes of Gyan, Michael Essien, Sulley Muntari all wiser for the experience. Throw in Marseille’s Ayew brothers (Andre and Jordan) and you have a first XI that will be nobody’s fools.
Chile
THEY may only be 12th in the world, but with home(ish) advantage, that figure is irrelevant. Qualifiers in third place behind Colombia and Argentina, the Chileans don’t have too many household names but they do have plenty of cogs from very fine machines.
There’s Matias Fernandez and David Pizarro of Fiorentina, Arturo Vidal of Juventus, Felipe Gutierrez, who won the title with Steve McClaren’s Twente. And don’t forget Alexis Sanchez, who will be desperate to prove a point after falling flat at Barcelona.
The final may be beyond them, but Chile are a side that none of the European big boys will fancy facing.