GROUP G PREVIEW: G-FORCE ALL AGAINST TOGO
Dave Tindall

FRANCE

Go back four years and France were the favourites heading into the World Cup but crashed out spectacularly in the first phase without scoring a single goal. However take that out of the equation - and there were excuses of sorts - and there's suddenly a compelling case for Les Bleus who seem overpriced on the outright front. How many other teams could afford to leave someone like Ludovic Giuly out of their squad entirely? And while England have wafer-thin back-up to Rooney and Owen up front, the French have the likes of Sylvain Wiltord, Louis Saha and Djibril Cisse on the bench in case anything happens to David Trezeguet and the incomparable Thierry Henry. There's less of a temptation to back the French to win this group at long odds-on as they only did just enough in qualifying, drawing five of their ten matches. Coach Raymond Domenech was never able to field the same XI though and now that the squad is boosted by the retirement u-turns of Zidane, Makelele and Thuram a more settled side will be desperately difficult to beat.

SWITZERLAND

It's hard to escape the conclusion that Switzerland are building towards Euro 2008 which they co-host but they still merit plenty of respect even if they are one of the less fashionable sides in this summer's finals. Don't forget that like France they too were unbeaten in the same qualifying group, scoring four more goals than Les Bleus. They then held their nerve superbly to edge out Turkey in the play-offs and with a crop of youngsters coming through - including Arsenal's Philippe Senderos - the future looks bright. For now though there's got to be a concern that there's an over-reliance on Rennes' Alexander Frei who netted the bulk of their goals in qualifying, meaning it's hard to work up much enthusiasm for odds-on quotes about them qualifying.

SOUTH KOREA

If you want to take a negative view about South Korea then you'd claim they simply made the most of a perfect build-up (the squad was together six months beforehand) and being co-hosts four years ago and have to be opposed on foreign soil given a record of not a single World Cup finals win in five previous attempts and 14 matches. They've also got to make do without key striker Dong-Gook Lee after a cruciate ligament injury. However we prefer to play up the positives - they did after all reach the semi-finals last time and some of their key players - such as Manchester United's Ji-Sung Park and Tottenham's Young-Pyo Lee - are now playing for top level European clubs. Take a look at their friendly results in 2006 which include wins over Mexico and Croatia and a draw with Euro 2004 winners Greece and it becomes far harder to claim their last four spot in 2002 was a fluke.

TOGO

There surely isn't a side in the tournament which has had as shambolic a build-up as Togo. Coach Stephen Keshi performed heroics to help them qualify ahead of Senegal for the finals but was promptly given his marching orders after a disastrous African Nations Cup display and a high-profile fallout with star striker Emmanuel Adebayor. German coach Otto Pfister is the man charged with inspiring them this summer but given he only got his first chance to work with the squad earlier this month it's clearly a massive ask. They lost all three of their matches at the African Nations and Adebayor apart (he scored no less than 11 goals in qualifying), their squad mostly ply their trade at a modest level around Europe.

VERDICT:

1) France
2) South Korea
3) Switzerland
4) Togo

It's hard to get away from France winning the group but the odds reflect that. Better value is Bet Direct's 2/1 about South Korea qualifying for the last 16. This isn't the toughest of sections and it looks a straight match between themselves and Switzerland. The Swiss are odds-on to make it through but actually have a lower FIFA ranking. However the best bet of all is surely the 4/6 about Togo propping up the group. They've had a nightmare build-up, lost every game at the African Nations and are behind the likes of Bahrain, Zimbabwe and Scotland in the world rankings.

Best bet: Togo to finish bottom at 4/6

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