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SPORTS> Team News
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A look at all 32 teams
(AP)
Updated: 2006-06-04 11:09 GROUP G
France
Key Player: Thierry Henry, Arsenal's star striker and one of the best players in the world. Coach: Raymond Domenech. Outlook: France won the Cup at home, then went out embarrassingly, without scoring a goal, in the first round in 2002. There is plenty of firepower, but there's also some age at key positions. Henry needs to come through early and not subjugate himself to former star Zinedine Zidane. South Korea
Key Player: Midfielder Park Ji-sung of Manchester United has gained experience and versatility to spark the offense. Coach: Dick Advocaat. Outlook: After their sensational run to a fourth-place finish at home in 2002, the Koreans will face high -- and unreasonable -- expectations back home. South Korea never won a match before '02. The Koreans probably need to beat Switzerland to advance, and it's possible. Switzerland
Key Player: Johann Vogel, the defensive leader for AC Milan, will play the same role for the Swiss, who need his veteran guidance. Coach: Koebi Kuhn. Outlook: A young team whose best shot at making a big impact might be in 2010. Still, the Swiss have some versatility and some fire, and if they get strong goalkeeping, they could test both South Korea and France. Togo
Key Player: Emmanuel Adebayor of Arsenal is the most accomplished scorer, and he'll need to find the net for Togo to have any chance of upsetting someone. Coach: Otto Pfister. Outlook: A surprise qualifier from Africa, Togo looked awful in the African Cup of Nations this year, losing three straight games. Hardly the way to approach the sport's showcase. GROUP H Saudi Arabia
Key Player: Goalkeeper Mohammed al-Deayea is the world's most experienced international player and will need to be at his peak. Coach: Marcos Paqueta. Outlook: In their fourth straight World Cup, the Saudis hope to emulate their 1994 squad and not the team that didn't score a goal and lost 8-0 against Germany in 2002. Look for them to be close to the '94 results, because the competition isn't overwhelming in this group. Spain
Key Player: Cesc Fabregas, the 19-year-old Arsenal midfielder who could provide the spark this nation has lacked in the biggest events. Coach: Luis Aragones. Outlook: Perhaps the biggest underachiever in Europe, Spain once more brings a good team to the World Cup. But it's had better rosters recently and gone nowhere. This team should advance, but beyond that, who knows? Tunisia
Key Player: Defender Radhi Jaidi of Bolton, who has made 81 international appearances, must keep high-scoring Spanish and Ukraine forwards away from threatening positions. Coach: Roger Lemerre. Outlook: Lemerre coached France to the 2000 European Championship, and Tunisia to the 2004 African Cup of Nations title. No one else has won two continental titles. But his 2002 French team bombed out of the World Cup without scoring a goal. Tunisia has been plagued by injuries and has little depth. Ukraine
Key Player: Andriy Shevchenko. The brilliant striker for AC Milan is one of the world's most dangerous scorers. But he's also fighting back from a knee injury. Coach: Oleh Blokhin. Outlook: The first European qualifier for the World Cup, Ukraine drew a group from which it can advance -- but only if Shevchenko is on form and goalkeeper Oleksandr Shovkovskiy and his defenders keep games tight. Making the second round would be a success for Ukraine.
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