Group F will see two heavyweights of the modern game take on two relative lightweights.
As expected, the New Zealand squad consists of a few England based players. Luke Adams of Derby County, Cameron Howieson of Burnley, Tim Payne of Blackburn Rovers, Rhys Jordan of Bristol City and Max Crocombe of Oxford United have experienced football life outside New Zealand. Uzbekistan is coming into the tournament with a squad made up entirely of home based players.
Croatia, also as expected, consists of a few players who play in Italy. Marko Livaja plays in Atalanta, Simon Sluga plays in Hellas Verona and Josip Radosevic plays in Napoli. Amongst the Uruguayan stars who play outside their homeland are Guillermo Varela of Manchester United, Diego Rolan of Bordeaux, Nicolas Lopez of Roma, Gianni Rodriguez of Benfica, Ruben Bentancourt of PSV Eindhoven and Jose Gimenez of Atletico Madrid.
Croatia’s record in this tournament is surprisingly poor. They have qualified for the event only three times, heading as far as the Round of 16 in 1999. Uruguay has an excellent record. The South Americans finished third in 1979, second in 1997 and fourth in 1977 and 1999. Recently, they have dropped off a bit falling at the Round of 16 in both 2007 and 2009 and losing in the group stages in 2011. This is New Zealand’s third appearance, with the other two ending in the group stage. The same goes for Uzbekistan.
Croatia should qualify from this group due to the sheer quality of their squad. Uruguay has perhaps the best squad in this group. Their past record shows that they have a habit of doing well in this tournament. They should top this group. Both Uzbekistan and New Zealand will have to fight tooth and nail to qualify ahead of the Uruguayans and Croats.
Fixtures:
23rd June:
New Zealand vs. Uzbekistan (10:00 am EST)
Uruguay vs. Croatia (1:00 pm EST)
26th June:
New Zealand vs. Uruguay (11:00 am EST)
Croatia vs. Uzbekistan (2:00 pm EST)
29th June:
Uzbekistan vs. Uruguay (11:00 am EST)
Croatia vs. New Zealand (11:00 am EST)
Croatia, also as expected, consists of a few players who play in Italy. Marko Livaja plays in Atalanta, Simon Sluga plays in Hellas Verona and Josip Radosevic plays in Napoli. Amongst the Uruguayan stars who play outside their homeland are Guillermo Varela of Manchester United, Diego Rolan of Bordeaux, Nicolas Lopez of Roma, Gianni Rodriguez of Benfica, Ruben Bentancourt of PSV Eindhoven and Jose Gimenez of Atletico Madrid.
Croatia’s record in this tournament is surprisingly poor. They have qualified for the event only three times, heading as far as the Round of 16 in 1999. Uruguay has an excellent record. The South Americans finished third in 1979, second in 1997 and fourth in 1977 and 1999. Recently, they have dropped off a bit falling at the Round of 16 in both 2007 and 2009 and losing in the group stages in 2011. This is New Zealand’s third appearance, with the other two ending in the group stage. The same goes for Uzbekistan.
Croatia should qualify from this group due to the sheer quality of their squad. Uruguay has perhaps the best squad in this group. Their past record shows that they have a habit of doing well in this tournament. They should top this group. Both Uzbekistan and New Zealand will have to fight tooth and nail to qualify ahead of the Uruguayans and Croats.
Fixtures:
23rd June:
New Zealand vs. Uzbekistan (10:00 am EST)
Uruguay vs. Croatia (1:00 pm EST)
26th June:
New Zealand vs. Uruguay (11:00 am EST)
Croatia vs. Uzbekistan (2:00 pm EST)
29th June:
Uzbekistan vs. Uruguay (11:00 am EST)
Croatia vs. New Zealand (11:00 am EST)
