GROUP E: Brazil, South Korea, Spain, Costa Rica
Favourites
Brazil are a World Cup mainstay and are almost as consistent in being top of the tree on their own continent. Nobody can hold a candle to them in South America but coach Vadão and his team are charged with emulating their global success of the 00s this summer. They finished runners-up in 2007 and twice won Olympic silver medals but a quarter-final exit on penalties to USA – after Abby Wambach’s famous equaliser at the end of extra-time – was hard to take and two convincing defeats to Germany in recent months have not stoked optimism that they can go any better this time. They do, however, have a squad that should sail through the group: the likes of Marta, Cristiane and the remarkable Formiga, who is now 37, are still around and Vadão has also added younger blood to facilitate the high tempo upon which he insists. They may all be stretched relatively early in the tournament – if Brazil win the group, their second-round opponents will come from an impossibly fiendish Group D, which includes the USA, Sweden and Australia.
Dark horse
Spain have ticked along just below Europe’s leading lights for some time but there are suggestions they are becoming a serious proposition and they cannot be discounted from causing a surprise at their first World Cup. A quarter-final finish at Euro 2013, in which they defeated England, hinted that years of painstaking youth development are bearing fruit and successive titles at the Uefa Under-17 Championship at the turn of the decade had already indicated that something was stirring. Like Switzerland, Spain dropped only two points in qualifying and they conceded just twice. Their wider upturn in form has been something to behold – they have only lost once in 15 games since losing to Norway in that European Championship tie, and it was in fact the Norwegians who inflicted that defeat too. Spain are on a roll and should defeat their fellow debutants Costa Rica but how closely they can run Brazil will tell plenty about their longer-term prospects against better sides.
Coach to watch
There were more egregious sendings-off at Italia 90 than that of Deok-yeo Yoon, but the defender’s red card for South Korea against Uruguay contributed to their last-gasp group stage defeat and played a part in the South Americans’ progression to the knock-out stage instead of Scotland. He might not be remembered well in Glasgow or Edinburgh but Yoon has enjoyed a long career as a coach in the K-League and has coached the women’s team since 2013. Fourth place in the Asian Cup was a respectable way to start and progression beyond the World Cup group stage for the first time – they conceded 11 goals in three games in their only other appearance 12 years ago – would represent further progress for a team that is mainly domestic-based. Yoon will have been encouraged by a goalless warm-up game against the USA and hopes to prove that his country can begin closing the gap with regional rivals Japan.
Player to watch
Anyone with a passing interest in the Women’s Super League will need little telling about Ji So-yun. The South Korea midfielder joined Chelsea in January 2014 and was named PFA Women’s Players’ Player of the Year in April. It was only the third time the award had been presented and Ji’s recognition came as little surprise: Chelsea qualified for the Champions League for the first time in their history last season and lead the Women’s Super League table this time around, and the diminutive 24-year-old is the creative genius behind their success. A playmaker with an eye for goal, she scored for South Korea at the age of just 15 and has added 35 more for her country. Ji serves as an important example of a high-profile foreign success story in an English league that does not yet boast the depth of global stars that some of its rivals possess, and is one of several attacking midfielders who could make this a tournament to remember.
Commentator’s kit
A little-known Costa Rica side includes three players registered to American university teams: Diana Saenz plays for the University of South Florida, prolific 21-year-old striker Raquel Rodríguez is with Pennsylvania State University and defender Fabiola Sánchez competes for the Martin Methodist College, from Tennessee. The Ticas’ star turn is the midfielder Shirley Cruz Trana, a player who spent six successful years with the French giants Lyon and has been with perennial top flight runners-up PSG since 2012.
