ANKARA
Two European teams Belgium and Russia, an Asian team, South Korea, and Algeria from Africa make up one of the most intriguing and anticipated groups of the World Cup.
- Belgium
The Red Devils are back! Belgium have drawn a lot of attention with a group of young stars including goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, Chelsea winger Eden Hazard and Manchester United wonderkid Adnan Januzaj. They had no problems qualifying for theWorld Cup and the football world will keep an eye on their performance.
Belgium missed the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups.
Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea), Simon Mignolet (Liverpool), Sammy Bossut (Zulte-Waregem)
Defenders: Toby Alderweireld (Atletico Madrid), Anthony Vanden Borre (Anderlecht), Daniel Van Buyten (Bayern Münih), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City), Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham Hotspur), Thomas Vermaelen (Arsenal), Nicolas Lombaerts (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Laurent Ciman (Standard Liege)
Midfielders: Axel Witsel (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United), Steven Defour (Porto), Moussa Dembele, Nacer Chadli (Tottenham Hotspur), Kevin De Bruyne (Wolfsburg)
Forwards: Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea), Divock Origi (Lille), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Kevin Mirallas (Everton), Dries Mertens (Napoli), Adnan Januzaj (Manchester United)
Coach: Marc Wilmots
- Algeria
Coached by Paris Saint-Germain’s former manager - and notorious disciplinarian - Vahid Halilhodzic, the North African team has enough talent to cause an upset... or two.
Having qualified for the World Cup tournaments three times so far, Algeria were eliminated in group stages in 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Goalkeepers: Mohamed Lamine Zemmamouche (USM Alger), Rais Mbolhi (CSKA Sofia), Cedric Si Mohamed (CS Constantine)
Defenders: Carl Medjani (Valenciennes), Aissa Mandi (Reims), Madjid Bougherra (Lekhwiya), Faouzi Ghoulam (Napoli), Rafik Halliche (Academica), Essaid Belkalem (Watford), Liassine Cadamuro (Mallorca), Djamel Mesbah (Livorno), Mehdi Mostefa (Ajaccio)
Midfielders: Sofiane Feghouli (Valencia), Saphir Taider (Inter), Medhi Lacen (Getafe), Abdelmoumen Djabou (Club Africain), Yacine Brahimi (Granada), Nabil Bentaleb (Tottenham Hotspur), Hassan Yebda (Udinese), Riyad Mahrez (Leicester)
Forwards: Islam Slimani (Sporting Lisbon), Hilal Soudani (Dinamo Zagreb), Nabil Ghilas (Porto)
Coach: Vahid Halilhodzic
- Russia
Russia have not played in the World Cup since 2002, when they were eliminated in the group stages. But led by Italian coach Fabio Capello, they will hope for better this time around.
Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow), Yury Lodygin (Zenit), Sergei Ryzhikov (Rubin Kazan)
Defenders: Vasily Berezutsky, Sergei Ignashevich, Georgy Shchennikov (CSKA Moscow), Vladimir Granat, Alexei Kozlov (Dinamo Moscow), Andrei Yeshchenko (Anzhi), Dmitry Kombarov (Spartak Moscow), Andrei Semenov (Terek Grozny)
Midfielders: Igor Denisov, Yury Zhirkov (Dinamo Moscow), Alan Dzagoev (CSKA Moscow), Pavel Mogilevets (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Denis Glushakov (Spartak Moscow), Viktor Faizulin, Oleg Shatov (Zenit)
Forwards: Alexander Kerzhakov (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Alexei Ionov, Alexander Kokorin (Dinamo Moscow), Maxim Kanunnikov (Amkar), Alexander Samedov (Lokomotiv Moscow)
Coach: Fabio Capello
South Korea
South Korea will be competing in a World Cuptournament for the 9th time. They have always proved competitive in recent tournaments and that is not expected to change this year.
South Korea squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Jung Sung-ryong (Suwon Bluewings), Kim Seung-gyu (Ulsan Hyundai), Lee Bum-young (Busan IPark)
Defenders: Kim Jin-soo (Albirex Niigata), Yun Suk-young (Queens Park Rangers), Kim Young-gwon (Guangzhou Evergrande), Hwang Seok-ho (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Hong Jeong-ho (Augsburg), Kwak Tae-hwi (Al-Hilal), Lee Yong (Ulsan Hyundai), Kim Chang-soo (Kashiwa Reysol)
Midfielders: Ki Sung-yueng (Sunderland), Ha Dae-sung (Beijing Guoan), Han Kook-young (Kashiwa Reysol), Park Jong-woo (Guangzhou R&F), Son Heung-min (Bayer Leverkusen), Kim Bo-kyung (Cardiff City), Lee Chung-yong (Bolton Wanderers), Ji Dong-won (Augusburg)
Forwards: Koo Ja-cheol (Mainz 05), Lee Keun-ho (Sangju Sangmu), Park Chu-young (Watford), Kim Shin-wook (Ulsan Hyundai)
Coach: Hong Myung-bo
Fixture of Group H is as follows:
June 17, Belgium vs Algeria at 16:00 GMT
June 17, Russia vs South Korea at 22:00 GMT
June 22, Belgium vs Russia at 16:00 GMT
June 22, South Korea vs Algeria at 19:00 GMT
June 26, South Korea vs Belgium at 20:00 GMT
June 26, Algeria vs Russia at 2000GMT
www.aa.com.tr/en
