Not one, there are three Group of Deaths at Fifa World Cup 2014

The perennial cliche of group plus knockout tournaments — the Group of Death. While there’s usually one that stands out almost every tournament, be it the Euros, the World Cup or the Champions League — the World Cup in 2014 will see three equally competitive groups. Here’s a lowdown Suarez, Rooney, Balotelli It’d be a dream come true if you had those three in a team, right? Lots of cards and tantrums too — but quite a few goals in them. Group D — D for death of course — sees Italy, England and Uruguay pitted against each other. It’s mouth-watering, it’s tasty and it’s oh so exciting but there’s always a catch with such groups — it’s hard to actually pick one team to not make it to the knockouts. Even if England aren’t prospective winners of the tournament, you’d actually want to see a glamorous (and incredible under-performing) team like them in the last 16. Uruguay, with the attacking talent of Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani up front, along with a host of other impressive players like Abel Hernandez make up for an attractive team with, and yes this is being brave, probably more flair than even Brazil. Uruguay lit up World Cup 2010 by reaching the semifinals in a World Cup where Diego Forlan was unstoppable and Luis Suarez gave a glimpse of his ugly side by transforming into goalkeeper and saving a certain goal against Ghana. If he manages to keep that side tucked away and score goals like he has been for Liverpool, then Uruguay are a big shout in for the knockouts. [caption id=“attachment_1273095” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Spain and Netherlands have been drawn in the same group. Getty Images[/caption] Finally, there’s Italy. Who doesn’t like this new Italy — cut away from the shackles of their old defensive style. Andrea Pirlo — timeless in midfield — will hope to perform as well as he did at Euro 2012 and then there’s the indomitable spirit of Mario Balotelli, a brasher and even more surprising version of Suarez — both while scoring goals and getting under your skin. Let’s not forget that these three teams need to beat Costa Rica too. If they don’t, expect Wayne Rooney to say something in the camera post-match. German hero vs German team When you go into management you need to forget about which country you’re from. Let’s hope for the USA that Jurgen Klinsmann has detached himself. The current USA manager has won the World Cup with Germany (1990) already so that may go in healing his wounds if his team thwart the juggernaut of talented players like Mario Gotze, Marco Reus, Thomas Mueller, Toni Kroos, Andre Schurrle and a lot more. USA have historically been a good bunch of players when it comes to World Cup tournaments. Not in a sense that they’re fantastic, but they’re not pushovers. At the last six World Cups they’ve made the Round of 16 twice and the quarters once. They were also runners-up at the Confederations Cup in 2009. Germany need no introduction. The team picked up 28 out of 30 points in qualification and are favourites for the tournament, especially with Spain having to work harder for their wins now. While the Spaniards make intricate football look boring at times, the Germans have made basic football look entertaining. They don’t have an out-and-out striker as such, but with a midfield like that you wonder if that’s a problem. Portugal are the third big team in Group G — with Cristiano Ronaldo their biggest threat, and what a threat he is. The No 7 has always flourished in a situation where he’s the main man and there is no doubt of that in the Portugal side. They boast of a talented midfield — Joao Moutinho’s distribution standout among them. But they need to do better than in the qualifiers where they had to beat Sweden in a playoff. There is one catch in this group though. The fourth team is the terrific Ghana — which makes this group slightly tighter for those who want to pick the deadliest group of death. Ghana rely on pace, power and a sudden burst of innovation to win their games. Only one of their defenders is above the age of 25 — and the team, which was young and raw in 2010 has certainly matured. Asamoah Gyan, Michael Essien and Kevin Prince-Boateng will form the crux of the team and 23-year-old Andre Ayew is an exciting player. Don’t write these guys off. Absolutely not. 2010 final repeat Spain and Netherlands in one group — while one team carried on their World Cup form into Euro 2012 to lift that title too — the other seems to be fading from a high reached four years ago. But still, the Dutch are not be messed about with. They may not play the total football of yesteryears but if Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie and Klaas Jan Huntelaar get going, they’re more than capable of beating a team, any team. They’re are all seniors now backed with exciting talents like Ola John and Kevin Strootman. It’s a far cry from the 2010 team and their performance at the Euros was abysmal — so it’s payback time. While Spain and Netherlands are obviously the bigwigs in Group B, Australia are a team which can spring a surprise and Chile showcased their attacking prowess in a friendly win over England at Wembley. Alexis Sanchez is a fine player and Arturo Vidal one of the most complete players in the European circuit — Chile should enjoy the underdog status and a nip a win to make things interesting. Which is your pick for the deadliest group out of these? Tell us in the comments section.