Capital ‘D’ holds the key

The countdown to the start of the FIFA World Cup is on.
The WEEKEND NATION, in association with Digicel, continues to present its series with former England and Liverpool striker John Barnes.
Barnes, who was also head coach of the Digicel Kick Start Clinics in the Caribbean last year, gives our readers his insights and analysis for the June 11 to July 11 competition in South Africa.
Digicel is the official regional broadcast sponsor of the 2010 World Cup.
 
ONCE AGAIN, the Italians will be one of the strongest defensive teams.
They won the 2006 World Cup with this as their foundation – and there really seems to be something ingrained in their mentality that makes this component of their game so prominent.
This time around three of the back four from the winning side in the 2006 World Cup will be available again.
 
Outstanding
 
Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is still one of the most outstanding in that position in the world. However, the lack of firepower upfront and creativity in midfield will prevent the Italians from posing enough of a threat to be real contenders this time around.
As mentioned in last week’s feature, Brazilian coach Dunga has brought a new structure to his team, making them one of the strongest in terms of defence.
Lucio and Maicon, from Champions League winners Inter Milan, are the standout defensive players for Brazil and – while they don’t have the tradition of the Italians in this department – they certainly have the pedigree.
I also think Germany and England will be difficult to break down, with both teams boasting a strong back line.
I am picking my Fantasy Football squad for the tournament beginning this week with the back line as follows:
My goalkeeper would be Real Madrid’s Iker Casillas, who has been Spain’s No.1 since he was 19 years old.
His experience and agility was a critical part of Spain’s European Championships victory in 2008. As a back-up, keeper Italy’s Buffon, would be an ideal replacement.
At the centre back position would be Serbian Nemanja Vidic, who also plays for Manchester United, and Lucio, who together would make a tremendous partnership.
 
Cornerstone
 
Vidic has such a commanding presence and is an exceptional ballwinner both on the ground and in the air.
He is the defensive cornerstone of a very good Serbian team which did not concede many goals and qualified ahead of France.
Lucio has the presence and guile one would expect from a Brazilian and is also an exceptional reader of the game. There would not be too many attacking line-ups that would get much change from these two.
It would be difficult to look further than Chelsea and England’s Ashley Cole for the left-back position. He has had a fantastic season with Chelsea after recovering from a broken ankle.
His attacking ability from left back provided Chelsea with the cutting edge on numerous occasions, with Cole contributing several goals in the latter stages of Chelsea’s Premier League campaign.
 
Attacking flair
 
With England choosing not to utilise a natural left-footer in midfield, Cole’s contribution will be extremely important to their hopes in South Africa.At right back, Douglas Maicon of Brazil and Inter Milan has been hugely impressive for club and country.
He brings attacking flair which is so important for full backs in the modern game. If I could have two players to come off the bench, I would select Chelsea and Portugal’s star centre back Ricardo Carvalho.
He was plagued by injuries during the season, so he should be fresh for Portugal. He will need all of this freshness when he is confronted by his clubmate Didier Drogba in the pool match.
My final defensive choice is Arsenal and Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eboue.  He is one of the best attacking right full backs in the world now and gets himself in very good forward positions.
He can play a number of positions in a team and performed consistently at a high level throughout the second half of the season.
These players have the less glamorous job but the more critical one. Cannavaro from Italy was undoubtedly the star of the 2006 World Cup, and who is to say that the standout player for the 2010 World Cup won’t be a defender once again?