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Champions Brazil seem to have it all their own way in round one.

They couldn't have asked for a more comfortable passage to the second round.

Of the others all three will feel they have a chance of making second spot. But there will be no illusions that they are playing for anything higher.

Bermuda Sun prediction:

1. Brazil,

2. Australia,

3. Croatia,

4. Japan

Brazil

Overview: The five-time winners have gone back to coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, who led them to victory in '94.

For Parreira, as crazy as it sounds, it's perhaps a chance for redemption.

He may have brought the South Americans their first World Cup in 24 years, but he did so playing disciplined, defensive football, that won him few admirers in Brazil.

He rightly argued that his strategy was a wise one considering the players at his disposal and the length of time since Brazil had last won the competition.

This time though, winning will not be enough.

With Ronaldo, Adriano, Kaka and Ronaldinho this is arguably the finest crop of Brazilian talent since 1970 and the fans don't just expect them to win, they expect them to win playing glorious samba football.

For Parreira too, it will be difficult to resist the opportunity to show that he can marshall a winning team that plays football in the finest Brazilian traditions.

Their success though depends on his ability to temper the natural attacking verve of the class of 2006 with a dose of the calculated pragmatism of '94.

Kaka and Ronaldinho, footballers who play all-out attacking roles for their clubs, will at times need to sacrifice some of their natural showmanship and track back to avoid Ze Roberto and Emerson being swamped in the midfield.

If the current Brazil has a weakness it is a tendancy to over-commit to attack — something they discovered the hard way when Argentina's Juan Roman Riquelme destroyed them last June.

If they get the balance right the current Brazil could be talked of in the same breath as the greats of 1970. If they get it wrong they'll be forgotten.

Coach: Carlos Alberto Parreira

Star-Man: Ronaldinho.

Captain: Cafu - veteran of three World Cups.

All-time Great: Pele

Best World Cup: Winners in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002

Qualifying Record: Topped South American group.

Seahorses Odds: 1/4 for the group, 3/1 for the tournament.

Verdict: Winners. n

Croatia

Overview: Surprised everyone at France '98 when, led by the brilliant Davor Suker, they reached the semi-finals of the competition. They don't have an attacking talent like Suker or a playmaker like Zvonimir Boban this time around, and their challenge will be built on more workmanlike qualities. Like their neighbours and fierce local rivals Serbia and Montenegro, they protect their goal first and attack second. They conceded just five goals in qualifying and kept six clean sheets in 10 matches.

Brothers Niko And Robert Kovac form the bedrock of a solid defence while Rangers' powerful striker Dado Prso is the man they rely on to get a goal.

They are nowhere near the side they were eight years ago in terms of style, creativity and attacking talent.

But they work hard and grind out results as rivals Brazil found when Croatia held them to a draw in a recent friendly in Split.

They beat Sweden twice in qualifying and will fancy their chances of making it through an interesting group. They'll have to perform better than they did in 2002 when they were beaten by Mexico and Ecuador.

Coach: Zlatko Kranjcar - a no nonsense tactician.

Star-Man: Robert Kovac - The Juventus man is one of the best man-markers in the game.

Captain: Niko Kovac - Robert's elder brother, a defensive midfielder for Hertha Berlin.

All-time Great: Suker

Best World Cup: Semi-finalists in '98.

Qualifying Record: Topped European group that also included Sweden and Bulgaria.

Seahorses Odds: 5/1 for the group, 66/1 for the tournament

Verdict: Unlikely to have a major impact. n

Australia

Overview: Another country that thinks football is a sport where you pick the ball up with your hands and then brawl over it for the duration of the game.

But like their American counterparts, Australians are gradually coming round to the merits of the beautiful game.

At the moment it's still a distant fourth to rugby, cricket and Aussie rules football, but they have a sprinkling of talent and the best coach in the business.

Unfortunately, they are rarely tested in the Oceanic region. A case in point is there 31-0 world record win against American Samoa in 2001. As impressive as such a victory seems it exemplifies the Aussies lack of experience of competitive internationals.

Liverpool's Harry Kewell and Middlesbrough's Mark Viduka are two players who will not look out of place on the world stage. Both are in-and-out performers for their clubs but have the talent to step it up on the big occasion.

Mark Schwarzer, also of Middlesbrough, is a solid keeper and in Everton's Tim Cahill and PSV's Jason Culina they have a surplus of attacking talent in midfield. Dutchman Guss Hiddink is at the helm and anything could happen. He'll feel Australia has a big chance to be a dark horse of this tournament.

Coach: Guss Hiddink

Star-Man: Herry Kewell

Captain: Mark Viduka

All-time Great: Kewell — about the best Australia has produced.

Best World Cup: First Round in '74.

Qualifying Record: Won the Oceanic Group and then beat Uruguay in a play-off.

Seahorses Odds: 14/1 for the group, 100/1 for the tournament

Verdict: Can surprise a few people and make the second round. n

Japan

Overview: Having reached the second round on home soil last time around it's going to be difficult for the Japanese to improve.

They have more players in European leagues now, but they are still way behind their opponents in terms of class and experience. They have a strong defence with Tsuneyasu Miyamoto and Yuji Nakazawa forming a formidable pairing in the centre.

And in Celtic's Shunsuke Nakamura and Bolton's Hidetoshi Nakata they have plenty of creativity in the midfield.

They are short of a decent striker, though, and its hard to see where goals are coming from.

A goalless draw with Scotland and a defeat at the hands of Bulgaria in recent warm-up games is another negative omen.

They beat Russia and Tunisia in the group stages last time before going out to surprise package Turkey in the second round..

The group looks a bit tougher this time around and without their fanatical home support it is difficult to see them making the same kind of impact.

Coach: Zico — the Brazilian legend took over after the '02 World Cup.

Star-man: Celtic's Shunsuke Nakamura

Captain: Tsuneyasu Miyamoto

All-time great: Nakata was the first Japanese player ever to make an impact on the world stage.

Best World Cup: Second round on home soil in '02

Qualifying Record: Scraped through the relatively easy Asian qualifying groups.

Seahorses Odds: 14/1 for the group, 250/1 for the tournament.

Verdict: Out in round one.



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