Why have the five South American countries dominated the 2010 World Cup so far?

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

Argentina qualified. Uruguay Qualified. Brazil, Chile and Paraguay top their respective groups. As things stand of the five South American countries who made it to the World Cup all could be going through to the next round.

Contrast this with the European or African teams. France have been eliminated, England and Italy are struggling to qualify from two groups which on paper should pose no problem whilst Spain and Germany have already suffered from shock defeats.

The African teams have fared even worse. Presently only Ghana top their group. Ivory Coast look likely to fall at the first hurdle (tough group) and Nigeria and Cameroon two counties who bracket themselves in the top teams in Africa, have failed to qualify and suffered the ignominy of propping up their groups. At least South Africa managed to restore a little pride by beating France.

Why have the five South American countries dominated the World Cup so far?

Maradona has offered an explanation for South America’s fine start: “The South American qualifiers are much more competitive than in Europe and I have absolutely no doubt that Ecuador could also be here,” he said.

Ecuador, who were at the last two World Cups, and beat Argentina 2-0 at home last year, finished sixth in the 10-nation South American qualifying group, one place short of a playoff place.

Argentina’s manager certainly does have a point. The South American qualification process features a league system (home and away matches) for a single group of ten nations.

In Europe the qualification process involves nine groups which include minnows such as Malta, Faroe Islands, Macedonia and Georgia, hardly the best preparation. In most groups there may be just one team who can challenge the European old guard.

African qualification is also dominated by the big teams, all of which are represented at the World Cup, perhaps the only one not to make it was Egypt. But again each qualification group has its fair share of minnows.

All the South American teams at the World Cup are the five southernmost countries in South America. All five have climates that are relatively similar to South Africa helping with the preparation for a winter World Cup. However, this can be of no excuse for the European teams who often struggle in hot climates or the African teams who are from the same continent.

Every team possesses players who regularly play in places of high altitude whether it is in Word Cup qualification, the Copa America or the Copa Libertadores. This means that they have taken little time to adapt to the high altitude games and been able to play at a high level quickly.

Another advantage is that the players in South America still learn their football on the street, leading them to develop more individual ability and skills. The Europeans seem to place a greater emphasis on organisational and technical ability whilst the African teams look to bulldoze their way through teams with their physical prowess. In games where the opposition has employed Jose Mourinhoesque tactics, it is the individual flair which has broken down these teams.

Whilst it is unlikely that Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay will win the competition they definitely have an opportunity to help make this South America’s competition and European fans will do well to remember that a European team has never won the World Cup when it has been held outside of Europe.

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