World Cup Group E

Group E
Cameroon
Denmark
Japan
Netherlands

Who will win?
Netherlands, and it's not close.

Battle for Second.
Cameroon vs. Denmark

Not much chance?
Japan

How They'll Finish -

4. Japan - The culture surrounding soccer in Japan is surprisingly similar to that in the U.S.A. Both countries have other sports that are more prominent in the national consciousness, in Japan it's baseball, in America it's just about everything else. Both countries have hosted World Cup Finals. The big difference is Japan has no shot in this year's World Cup. They don't have any momentum, especially on defense. A few days ago they put two goals into their own net against England, losing 2-1. Not exactly tearing it up there. They will be likely be overwhelmed by the attack of the other teams in this group. Making it out of the group is not something The Blue Samurai should look forward to.

3. Denmark - This team is defined by a lack of consistency, both historically and recently. They made the Cup in '84, '88, '98, and '02, but missed in '90, '94, and the last Cup, 2006 in Germany. Their keeper, Thomas Sorensen is decent, but recently had a goal scored on him from sixty yards away. They are also lead by strikers who are either getting old, Jon Dahl Tomasson, who is 33, or are very young, Nicklas Bendtner, who is 22, dynamic, and was recently photographed coming out of a bar in London with his pants around his ankles. And the cherry on top of this pie of crazy is Christian Poulsen. In separate incidents he once got a red card for punching a player, provoked another player to spit on him, and was called a coward with no place in football by AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti. How much of a prick do you have to be to get spit on and also get blamed for it? Anyway, all of this inconsistency is going to hurt the Danes. They are too volatile and I think they will get squeezed out by Cameroon for second place in the group.

2. Cameroon - The bad? Basically, they don't score goals and they get too many red cards. In their history they have scored only 15 goals in 17 World Cup games and in their last 14 games they have averaged a red card every other game. So what is the good? In a name, Samuel Eto'o. He is a legit star will definitely remedy some of their goal scoring woes. He doesn't have much around him, but is the kind of player that can carry a team on his back. Then there is former Cameroon football star Roger Milla. He has called out Eto'o and said he doesn't do much for the team. There are rumors of civil unrest coming if Cameroon doesn't perform well. That's some pressure. Their match against Denmark will be the most important in determining the finishing order of the group.

1. Netherlands - The Dutch have everything going for them. First, they have incredible momentum, going 8-0 in qualifying and outscoring opponents 17-2. Granted, that was against inferior competition. They are also incredibly balanced. They have the third ranked defense in the world, which will present huge problems for the rest of the group. They also have the sixth best attack, with the enviable problem of having four players who could start in their three front positions. The Dutch are loaded and on a roll and should breeze through this group.