CHRIS BEAN'S GROUP H PREVIEW

SPAIN

The Spanish come into this World Cup with probably the best squad that they have ever assembled for a tournament. They have a good mixture of youth and experience and have world renowned players in every position. The only problem is will Luis Aragones pick the best team? He is well known to be a very superstitious chap, for example when Raul turned up for a training session in a yellow t-shirt Aragones went berserk as he believes the colour yellow brings bad luck and threatened to drop the Real Madrid legend from his squad if he wore it again.

Another problem for Spain is trying to form a bond between the Basque players and the other players from different regions. There have been occasions where the Basque players would only pass to fellow Basque men and vice-versa. If Aragones can iron out that problem and overcome Spanish "big show" nerves, Spain will do very well.

Spain qualified after beating Slovakia 6-1 on aggregate in a play-off match after they finished runners-up to Serbia and Montenegro in group seven. Spain have been very solid in their warm up matches so far. They have beaten Ivory Coast and Egypt and drew 0-0 with Russia. With their current form, I believe Spain could make the semi-finals but their tendency to blow the big one will then occur and you can get odds of 7/1 for a last four exit with Bet 365.

One thing is for certain. Spain are bound to score a bag of goals in this group. Tunisia aren't the best team defensively, and Saudi Arabia are also prone to conceding in munbers, so the Spanish strikers are bound to have a field day. Spain legend Gonzalez Raul is currently touted at 40/1 with UK Betting to win the Golden Boot. But with his bust up with Aragones in the build up it is most likely Fernando Torres will be the most potent up front. His price at the moment for top scorer is 33/1 with Ladbrokes - cracking odds for the Athletico Madrid striker.

My tip - Torres at 33/1 with Ladbrokes. It is unbelievable odds for this poacher.

UKRAINE

The Ukraine make their first World Cup appearance since the disbandment of the Soviet Union. It will also be the world's first chance to see the skills of Chelsea's new £30 million striker Andrei Shevchenko at international level. The Ukraine finished top of a very difficult group two where they had a narrow margin above Turkey, Denmark and Euro 2004 winners Greece.

The Ukraine has been blessed with a relatively easy group for their first World Cup experience and should easily make it to the second round. They could also push Spain for top spot and with odds of 2/1 to win the group with Ladbrokes it is well worth a flutter. Ukraine is also more than capable to dispose either France or Switzerland in the next round, and a knockout in the quarter-finals will be more than a respectable first appearance. To be eliminated in the quarters you can get odds of 4/1 with Bet 365. With Shevchenko being the main source of goals for the Ukrainians and add the bonus of playing Saudi Arabia, the former AC Milan striker could emulate Russian striker Oleg Salenko by scoring more than four goals in a game which could secure the Golden Boot for one of the games most famous players. Odds of 25/1 with Paddy Power are very tempting.

TUNISIA

Tunisia are the only African team to have any previous experience in this year's World Cup. And to be fair they have performed quite resolutely in the World Cup Finals they have played in. In fact they were the first ever African team to win a match in the finals when they beat Mexico 3-1 in 1978. Tunisia have never been embarrassed in the tournament and they are a very hard team to break down as England found out at France 98.

Tunisia qualified after finishing top of group five in the African zone, just one point ahead of their bitter rivals Morocco. They have been very impressive in their recent friendly matches. They beat Belarus 3-0, drew with Uruguay 0-0 and were unlucky to be on the wrong side of a 1-0 scoreline to Serbia and Montenegro.

The North Africans will be relying on their experienced players of Hatem Trabelsi of Ajax and Radhi Jaidi of Bolton Wanderers, but I believe their European opposition will be too much for them , but I do think they will get a good result over Saudi Arabia.

My tip - Tunisia to finish on four points at 3/1 with Sporting Odds.

SAUDI ARABIA

Saudi Arabia makes their fourth consecutive appearance in the World Cup finals. Their first appearance at USA 94 was an unforgettable one for the Saudi people as they managed to qualify for the last sixteen. However it has proven to be an anomaly as they have been the whipping boys in the last two tournaments. They suffered the biggest World Cup defeat since Hungary beat El Salvador 10-1 at the 1982 World Cup when they were pummelled by Germany 8-0 in 2002. Saudi qualified for the World Cup after finishing top of group one four points ahead of the Republic of Korea.

It is very hard to see the Arabs make any impact at this year's World Cup. They have only had one victory out of four in their warm up games, which was a 1-0 win over Togo. The best they can hope for is scrapping for a point with Tunisia.

My tip - 13/2 ( ) for Group H to have the most goals scored. With Saudi's defence it is very possible!

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