World Cup Preview, Part III

Top 5 Golden Boot candidates (Top scorer): Luis Fabiano, David Villa, Robin Van Persie, Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi

My pick: Luis Fabiano (Brazil)
Dark Horses: Diego Milito (Argentina), Robinho (Brazil)



Top 5 Golden Ball candidates (Top player): Lionel Messi, Xavi, Wesley Sneijder, Wayne Rooney, Christiano Ronaldo

My pick: Xavi
Dark Horses: Lucio (Brazil), Maicon (Brazil)



Top 5 Yashin candidates (Top GK): Iker Casillas, Julio Cesar, Gigi Buffon, Maartin Stekelenburg, Hugo Lloris

My Pick: Iker Casillas
Dark Horses: Mark Schwarzer (Australia), Tim Howard (USA)



Top 5 Candidates for Best Young Player: Mezut Ozil, Javier Hernandez, Yoann Gourcuff, Angel DiMaria, Jesus Navas

My Pick: Ozil (Germany)
Dark Horses: Dominic Adiyiah (Ghana), Alexis Sanchez (Chile)



My Top 5 Picks to Win It All: Brazil, The Netherlands, Spain, Argentina, Germany

My Pick: Brazil
My Dark Horse Pick: The Netherlands



Top 5 candidates for Most Entertaining Team: Spain, Brazil, The Netherlands, Argentina, Portugal

My Pick: The Netherlands
Dark Horse: Chile



African country I pick to go the furthest: Nigeria & Cameroon (Quarterfinals)

Number of African countries I’m picking to make the second round: 3

Number of African countries I’d be picking to make the second round if the tournament were not being held in Africa: 0


Best Nickname: Jong Tae-se, North Korea. The prolific goal scorer with the slightly plump figure is known in Asia as “The People’s Rooney”.