Tonight’s the night

The World Cup finally kicks off tonight, and Brett Collett has a look at the big question marks surrounding two of the major contenders.

So tonight’s the night. After the few years of hard slog by over 200 nations which culminated in November last year, the World Cup finals are finally upon us.

Under pressure hosts Germany will take on the care-free Costa Ricans in Munich’s impressive Allianz Arena to open the world’s largest and most important sporting championship at 2:00am AEST, followed by Poland and Ecuador. While neither of these games are blockbusters, some interesting questions may be answered on day one of the month-long tournament.

While a lot of the highly-rated teams head to Germany with dark clouds overhead – whether injury, form or lack of team spirit – it is the home side that will be under the closest inspection.

With inspirational captain Michael Ballack out of the side with injury, Costa Rica will provide a surprisingly tough examination of the Germans’ World Cup-winning credentials. If the Germans can get past “Los Ticos” without Ballack and with three points in hand, they should be favoured to progress ahead of Poland, Ecuador and Costa Rica.

In Group B all eyes seem to be on English forward Wayne Rooney’s healing foot, as the ever expectant fans of Old Blighty perhaps feel a tad nervous about their side’s chances of escaping a group boasting Sweden (who has constantly beaten England in recent times, including at the last World Cup) and Paraguay (who has qualified out of their group the last two World Cups).

While Dwight Yorke’s Trinidad & Tobago will offer three easily won points for the Poms, it will much harder to garner points in clashes against a seasoned South American opponent and your bogey side, especially with your arguably your best player out of the side indefinitely.

Anyone who remembers Euro 2004 will recall how important a 17-year-old Rooney was to England’s cause, and how they fell off the wagon and were knocked out after he got injured. Since then Rooney has transferred to Manchester United and has improved, so how can we expect a Rooneyless England to fare in the group stage if the boy from Merseyside isn’t available until the knockout stage, as is reported.

Perhaps Rooney won’t be seen at all in Germany, and it may be because England simply won’t make it out of their group. Their opening clash against Paraguay tomorrow night will more than likely see England’s campaign rise or rot, depending on the result.

There are always shocks and surprises, determination and drama, world class performances and world class whingeing at World Cups, and this year will be no different. But a lot of who will falter and who will be flying will be decided in the first 24 hours, and it may just be those from the Americas who will have the biggest smiles.

•  Have a view on this story? Send us your feedback!