Very competitive Group D

With former champions Italy, Uruguay, and England in Group D, this bracket is surely a very competitive one.

Completing the group is Costa Rica, which is no pushover judging from its performance in the qualifying tournaments.

Uruguay, the top favorite in the group ranking-wise (No.6), won the World Cup twice (1930 and 1950), was fourth place in 2010 in South Africa, and was crowned champion in COPA America in 2011. Uruguay is hoping to end the long drought this year and interestingly its last victory in the World Cup was recorded in Brazil, the host of this month’s competition. La Celeste stunned Brazil in the 1950 finals, 2-1.

Uruguay’s chances of besting their fourth place finish the last time will be better if a healthy Luis Suarez comes back. The Liverpool striker was the leading scorer in the South American qualifier with 11 goals, however he went under the knife late last month and still recovering. Suarez is still on the team roster, but has to get better soon in time for next week’s first game against Costa Rica.

Costa Rica, according to FIFA website, is the outsider in Group D, without a World Cup title to boast. However, its performance in the qualifier proved that the Los Ticos is one tough cookie. Costa Rica finished second to Mexico in the Round 3 preliminaries to march into the six-team final phase. In the finals, Costa Rica had another strong second place finish behind the USA. In the qualifiers, Los Ticos was perfect in five games at home.

Leading Costa Rica’s battle against three former champions is Bryan Ruiz, who is considered one of the best playmakers in the North, Central American, and Caribbean zone.

While Costa Rica will be relying on Ruiz’s play making skills, Italy will have goalkeeper and captain Gianluigi Buffon anchoring the Italians’ defense. Only Buffon and Andrea Pirlo are the holdovers from the 2006 champion squad, but the La Squadra Azzurra have been injected with young blood in the past years, making the team a formidable force both on offense and defense.

Italy has the most titles among the three former champion squad in Group D, with four (1934, 1938, 1982, and 2006 and sent a strong message to other favorites in Brazil after a runner-up finish in the UEFA Euro 2012.

England had a near disastrous campaign in South Africa and is looking to make up for that so-so performance when in competes in Brazil. The Three Lions drew the U.S. and Algeria in 2010 before avoiding an early exit with a 1-0 victory over Slovenia. England was eventually booted out in the Round of 16 by Germany, 4-1.

In a bid to bounce back from a disappointing finish in South Africa, England brought in a new coach in Rod Hodgson. The former Switzerland and Finland coach took over the reins at the Three Lions in 2012 and led the team to an undefeated record (6-4-0 win/draw/loss) in the qualifier and a first place finish in European Group H.

Wayne Rooney scored the most goals (seven) for England during the qualifying, making him still the focal point of the team’s offense. He is likely to get help from Daniel Sturridge, who is one of the fast-rising attackers in the English Premier League.