We finish Group B with a look at Nigeria and South Korea. Tomorrow we will start on Group D, before you jump up and down Group C is last. We will be doing a special feature on England on the final Pulse Files.
Paddy Power Index for Group B will follow the verdicts and also SportTrades Group B predictions. On Monday we will explain and post our findings on World Cup 2's, you will like it.
The following verdicts are taking in full from our friends at Telegraph Sport. The verdict was compiled by John Ley and Jason Butt.
Nigeria
World Cup record: 1994 2nd rd, 1998 2nd rd, 2002 1st rd.
How Nigeria qualified for World Cup 2010: African Group B winners.
The Coach: Shaibu Amodu (Nigerian, 51). Appointed: April 2008. WC experience: Player: None. Coach: None.
Amodu is in his fourth spell as manager of Nigeria, following previous stints in 1994-95, 1998-99 and 2001-2002.
The Country: The Super Eagles qualified in dramatic fashion with a 3-2 win against Kenya in Nairobi. Nigeria had to win to have any chance of denying Tunisia and they fought back from 1-0 down to lead 2-1, but conceded a 79th-minute equaliser, only for Obafemi Martins to seal an emotional win.
Afterwards Shaibu said: "This is a typical Nigerian side which you can never rule out when it is faced with adversity. It's fantastic."
The country’s football history has links with Britain. Nigeria played their first unofficial game in October 1949, while still a British colony. The team played games in England against various teams such as Dulwich Hamlet, Bishop Auckland and South Liverpool. Nigeria’s first major success was a gold medal in the 2nd All-Africa games, with 3rd place finishes in 1976 and 1978's African Cup of Nations to follow.
Ampdu keeps coming back to take charge but he has yet to coach at the World Cup finals. He has some familiar players in his charge including captain Nwanko Kanu. In addition, Nigeria can boast Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel, Bolton’s Danny Shittu, Everton’s Joseph Yobo and Yakubu Aiyegbeni, and Seyi Olofinjana of Hull. Fulham’s Dickson Etuhu, Charlton’s Sam Sodje and another Everton striker, Victor Anichebe, may also feature for the Super Eagles in South Afric
Verdict: Dramatic qualification sealed through Martins’s late goal against Kenya which showed that the Nigerians can be a force. Have quality in attack and will score goals while there are proven performers in Yobo and Yakubu, as well as Mikel. No-one will relish facing them.
South Korea
World Cup record: 1954 1st rd, 1986 1st rd, 1990 1st rd, 1994 1st rd, 1998 1st rd, 2002 4th, 2006 1st rd.
How South Korea qualified for World Cup 2010: Asia Group 2 winners.
The Coach: Huh Jung-Moo (South Korean, 54). Appointed: December 2007. WC experience: Player: 1986. Coach: None.
Huh has previously coached the Korea Republic national football team twice before.
The Country: Huh was re-appointed coach of the Korea Republic in December 2007, after the leading candidates, Wolves’ Mick McCarthy and former Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier both rejected the job.
And he led the country to a seventh successive World Cup finals place thanks to a 2-0 victory over United Arab Emirates in Dubai. Park Chu-young and Ki Sung-yueng grabbed the goals as Huh’s outfit strolled to a place in South Africa.
He said: "I'm really happy that we made it. We are all satisfied with a performance that saw us ensure a place in South Africa. The players were excellent throughout the qualifiers, they did a great job."
Key to their success is captain Park Ji-Sung, the Manchester United midfielder. He is the only Korean player to win the Champions League and the first Asian to play in a final of the tournament.
Park came to prominence in the 2006 World Cup finals. He scored the equalising goal in the second Group G Match against eventual finalists France and was voted Man of the match. Between these two World Cup Finals, his shirt number shifted from 21 to 7, and he played in every match for South Korea.
And in October 2008 he captained South Korea for the first time in a friendly match against Uzbekistan. Korea went on to win 3-0. Since then he has been the captain for the remainder of the AFC qualification campaign for 2010 and was the top scorer of his team with five goals.
Verdict: The South Koreans secured a seventh successive World Cup finals place thanks to a 2-0 victory over United Arab Emirates in a tight group. Ji-Sung Park remains the star but they will struggle to make an impression against stronger nations.
Paddy Power Index:
Argentina 7/1: Nigeria 100/1: Greece 150/1 South Korea 250/1
(Prices taking from 28/5/10.
SportTrades Group Prediction.
We agree with Paddy Power odds,
1 Argentina
2 Nigeria
3 Greece
4 South Korea
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