Clear World Cup Favorites Yet to Emerge

While qualifying for the World Cup is already a success for finals debutant Trinidad and Tobago and the Australian Socceroos, who will make their second tournament appearance in Germany, devoted soccer fans in Rio, Amsterdam, Prague, Buenos Aires and Paris will be expecting much more from their national teams.

Brazil still tops

Five-time champions and two-time runners up, Brazil, on paper, is still the team the world wants to beat. The last time the Brazilians had such an easy time of qualifying was for the 1990 Italian finals. After a shaky qualifying start, the defending champions stormed through their final qualifying matches with a limitless supply of offensive talent and solid defense.

Bookmakers list Brazil as 11-4 favorites, and it will be hard for anyone to accuse Ricardo Teixeira, president of the Brazilian Soccer Federation, of nationalistic pride in stating that his country is currently the world's best team.

"There's no denying it -- Brazil are favorites to win the cup," he said. "Playing in the qualifiers (the first time the FIFA World Cup holders have had to do this) forced the team to train hard, and we have players of great technical ability."

Netherlands want to reverse second place trend

The Netherlands have time and again proved their players have the technical skill to compete among the best, and failing to reach the 2002 finals was a blow to the Oranje, and one Marco van Basten's current squad was happy to get over with a trip to Germany 2006.

Though the two-time World Cup runners up have repeatedly proven they are deep in talent and experience, Holland have frequently failed to live up to the world's expectation in the past.

Currently ranked second in the world, the Netherlands won their European qualifying group to book their ticket to Germany with 10 wins and two draws. Robin van Persie and Ruud van Nistelrooy could represent Holland's best chance at winning their country's first world championship.

Czechs have big plans for first finals

Even though they were the last team to qualify for Germany 2006, the Czech Republic would like to celebrate winning the cup rather than making their first finals appearance as an independent country -- their last trip to the finals was as Czechoslovakia in Italy in 1990.

As Czech soccer hero Pavel Nedved, who came out of international soccer retirement to lead his nation in qualifying for the finals, considers whether he'll still be fit enough to play next summer, the rest of the team will aim to continue the flowing game they showed during the 2004 European Championships, where they staged dramatic come-from-behind wins over Germany and the Netherlands.

With a variety of players spanning from young to old, 22-year-old Milan Baros, 23-year-old Thomas Rosicky as well as Nedved, 33, and Karel Poborsky, 33, the Czechs' opponents will never know exactly what kind of line-up they could be facing.

Brazilian fears center on Argentina

Often overshadowed by their South American neighbors, Argentina have proved to be a team no one wants to face -- even Brazil's coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira, admitted they are side he fears most.

"If we look at value, I think our number one rivals are Argentina for next year's World Cup," Parreira told the Gazzetta dello Sport.

As the first South American team to qualify for next summer's championships, the Argentineans are transitioning and will try to prove they were sent home from the 2002 finals prematurely with a strong showing in Germany.

"Right now, it's impossible to say what the side will be (in Germany)," coach Jose Pekerman said. "We have various players in different circumstances, but I'm satisfied we have a good group."

France uninspiring but still unbeaten

Despite being ranked fifth in the world and given relatively good 12-1 odds of winning the tournament, France still can't be sure if they will end their Germany 2006 campaign raising the cup, as they did at home in 1998, or returning to disappointed fans after the first rounds without a goal to their name, as happened in the 2002 South Korea / Japan finals.

France features more than enough talent to advance in the contest with the likes of star playmaker Zinedine Zidane in the midfield and Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet, two of the world's top strikers, attacking the opponent's goal, but les Bleus often have difficulties converting individual skills into team goals.

Though Raymond Domenech's French side haven't lost in the last 17 games, their workman-like performance of late has been anything but inspiring, and there are plenty of other teams, including perennially strong England, Spain and Italy, looking to knock down France and the rest of the 2006 favorites.

For now, picking the World Cup winner remains a guessing game, and even as soccer stars from around the globe throw their support behind various teams, Brazilian legend Pele (photo) reminded the world "it is not always the favorites with the best players that win."