World Cup: Who will be the surprise semi-finalists?

Some blame the refereeing, some blame the Jabulani ball, others blame the vuvuzelas, but whatever ends up being at fault – the World Cup has thrown up some real surprises in the opening group stage.

Who could have expected England and Germany to only scrape through by one goal? Anybody who suggested Spain would be struggling to qualify would have been considered insane. Nobody could have foreseen 2006 finalists France and Italy self-destruct to the extent in which they did and end up bottom of their groups.

But after one quarter of the draw ended up with no seeded teams at all, perhaps the biggest shock will be whoever defies the odds to become the surprise semi-finalists from the following four contenders:

Picture: Getty Images

1) Uruguay

Oscar Tabarez’s side ambled through qualification by finishing a meagre fifth in the South American group before stumbling through a two-legged playoff against the not-so-mighty Costa Rica.

But since landing on South African soil, La Celeste have been a revelation. Driven by the outstanding Diego Forlan and backed up by an impervious defence, Uruguay stormed to the top of Group A with seven points and without conceding a single goal.

Could we be seeing the resurgence of this once great footballing nation? The way they have performed so far suggests the two-time former World Champions could compete with anybody on their day.

The one thing which could be Uruguay’s undoing is the temperamental nature of their players. If they get rattled, it isn’t uncommon to see the tackles flying in late as their discipline begins to disappear and the red cards start to appear.

But, after their resilience with ten men to hold France to a draw and the way they meticulously tore apart South Africa and Mexico, nobody will be taking Uruguay lightly.

Picture: Getty Images

2) South Korea

After masterminding their incredible journey to the semi-finals in 2002, Guus Hiddink became an honorary South Korean and a national hero.

But after a slump under fellow Dutchman Pim Verbeek, the South Koreans decided the best way for their nation to progress in world football would be to recruit a coach of their own.

Huh Jung-Moo has taken to the task like a duck to hoi-sin sauce. He expertly used his teams pace to exploit Greece’s defensive weaknesses (which is no mean feat), and he has developed a set-piece threat which South Korea have never had, as four of their five goals in Group B came from dead-ball situations.

They eventually negotiated their way past Nigeria to secure a deserved second place finish, which is very commendable given coach Huh’s resources.

Can they repeat Hiddink’s heroics of 2002? It’s a big ask. It’s unlikely they will get such generous refereeing decisions this time around but a number of their players have the experience of having been there before, and they will be desperate to get there again.

Picture: Getty Images

3) USA

The American team really does know how to write a Hollywood ending.

First they snatched a draw against England thanks to Robert Green’s howler, then they fought back from two goals behind against Slovenia and were unfairly denied a perfectly legal winner because of a ‘foul’ which never was.

And finally, after being set the mission to defeat Algeria to progress, they threw the kitchen sink and more at the Desert Foxes’ goal but didn’t get the breakthrough until the 93rd minute to send everybody in the stadium, including Bill Clinton, absolutely wild.

The States were able to take belief from the 2002 World Cup after their narrow quarter-final defeat against eventual finalists Germany, and although they had a disappointing showing in 2006, America have come to South Africa playing with freedom, fluidity, tempo, and most importantly, without fear.

With the pace of Donovan and Altidore, coupled with the culture of Dempsey, they have an attack to be feared. Their biggest problem may be keeping the goals out but the most valuable asset is the one they showed against Algeria – their never-say-die attitude.

Picture: Getty Images

4) Ghana

With the weight of a continent on their shoulders, Ghana are likely to be the only African team represented in the second round.

The Black Stars are the strongest of the African nations on paper but the World Cup draw was arguably the unkindest to them. Then they lost their inspirational talisman Michael Essien and the task appeared to be getting more and more difficult.

As the finals drew closer, captain Stephen Appiah and key midfielder Sully Muntari suffered injuries and Milovan Rajevac’s men looked set to enter the competition worryingly understrength.

Despite the setbacks, and although they weren’t at their technical best, you can’t fault the heart and the desire of the Ghanaians as they clinched victory with a late Asamoah Gyan penalty against Serbia and secured a draw against a plucky ten-man Australia.

Defeat against Germany in their final game won’t have dampened their spirits and the Black Stars will approach the knock-out matches with arguably the biggest factor of all: they will have the hopes, the dreams and the support of an entire continent to inspire them, and they will give every last bead of sweat to do Africa proud.

Uruguay play South Korea in Port Elizabeth and USA play Ghana in Rustenburg on June 26.

The winners meet in the quarter-finals in Soccer City on July 2, but which of these four teams do you think with reach the semi-finals?

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