4th North Korea

Group – Tough. North Korea have the hardest group, Brazil in the opening game is a 21st century World Cup baptism of fire. Portugal and Ivory Coast may not be quite as strong as their reputations suggest. It is a nasty, albeit exciting, draw.

Pros – North Korea are relatively unknown, playing without pressure and at their best when playing stronger teams. They also have Jong Tae Se, who can score spectacular goals, and a real never-say-die attitude.

Cons- Lack of international experience, not known for scoring goals.

Chances - the Chollima are highly unlikely to break out of the group. The recent 2-2 draw with Greece has raised confidence levels but avoiding defeat would be a success in any match.

3rd Japan
Group - Another hard one. The Netherlands are fancied to do well. Cameroon can cause problems for the Samurai Blue defence and Denmark are solid at the back.
Pros – Japan have some solid European experience in their team. Makoto Hasebe has won the German title with Wolfsburg and played in the UEFA Champions League. Shunsuke Nakamura and Keisuke Honda, who enjoyed a stellar season in the Netherlands and then Russia, have too. A threat from set pieces and usually keep the ball well. Low expectations may help.

Cons – Can’t score at the moment, well, not in the right goal anyway. In nine games in 2010 (seven at home) Japan have scored ten goals. Not terrible but not great as eight of those came against Yemen, Hong Kong and Bahrain. Six games against South Korea (twice), China, Venezuela, Serbia and England yielded just two –neither of which came from the strikers. Despite an improved performance against England, confidence is fragile, coach Takeshi Okada is under fire and the situation does not look good.

Chances – Not good. A huge turnaround is needed. Defeat against Cameroon, though Japan usually play well against African teams, would almost certainly end any chances.

2nd Australia
Group –Tough but open. Any one out of Ghana, Germany and Serbia and the Socceroos could make the last 16 and aim to go further once they got there. It’s going to be close.

Pros -What Australia have in abundance is experienced and tough European campaigners who never give in. Under Verbeek the Socceroos also have a healthy habit of scoring late. Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer has had another very good season in the Premier League while Harry Kewell looks to be fit.

The Socceroos are hard to beat, mentally and physically strong and raise their game when playing strong teams. Injuries to opposition star players such as Michael Essien and Michael Ballack can only help.

Cons - Australia qualified with no fuss. Perhaps that’s the problem as the lack of drama has caused minds to wander.

There is a lack of depth. As Chris Paraskevas said after the 2-1 win over New Zealand recently, injuries to the likes of Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell could be costly. "Yesterday night’s abject showing made it clear that the direct replacements to those stars – if they are needed – will look out of place in South Africa, which is perhaps the most worrying aspect of a performance that simply reinforced some hard truths about the current Socceroo squad."

Also, many wonder where the creativity will come from though a clamour down under for Verbeek to pick Nicky Carle, a player who has struggled for game time with English championship strugglers Crystal Palace, shows that the cupboard is pretty bare in this respect.

Chances –Australia are gritty and tough to beat and are Asia’s second hope.

1st South Korea
Group - Far from easy but perhaps the best of a bad bunch for Asia. Argentina is packed with talent while Greece and Nigeria are no walkovers.

Pros -The team is in form, form that is just about good enough to dismiss a 1-0 defeat against Belarus in a low-key match as a blip and a good workout. Players such as Premier Leaguers Park Ji-sung and Lee Chung-yong are looking very good. The defence has looked tighter of late and Korea’s pace in attack should be able to cause problems for the other three teams.

Cons – Defence is still something of a worry especially with the injury sustained by Kwak Tae-hwi against Belarus. It is easy to imagine the kind of goals that Greece scored against North Korea last week being scored against a southern defence.

Chances – A good start and South Korea could still be in the mix after half of the teams have gone home.
http://www.goal.com/en/news/1775/asian-editorials/2010/05/31/1950745/world-cup-2010-debate-which-asian-team-has-the-best-chance