Without using that cliche…We’ll just say that Group G is one heck of a tough group. Putting aside the sideshow of the North Korean squad, the remaining three teams are legitimate contenders for the title – with the Ivory Coast and Portugal giving up very little in quality to Brazil. No matter how you cut it, one contender–possibly even proud Brazil–will fall.
| Ivory Coast – Players in the top 5 European leagues | ||||||
| Name | Position | Team | League | OR | DR | TR |
| Yaya Toure | Mid | Barcelona | Spain | +0.51 | +0.53 | +1.04 |
| Salomon Kalou | Fwd | Chelsea | England | +0.29 | +0.36 | +0.65 |
| Didier Drogba | Fwd | Chelsea | England | +0.34 | +0.28 | +0.62 |
| Emmanuel Eboué | Full | Arsenal | England | +0.33 | +0.23 | +0.55 |
| Kolo Toure | Full | Man. City | England | +0.36 | +0.07 | +0.43 |
| Gervinho | Fwd | Lille | France | +0.39 | -0.05 | +0.34 |
| Jean-Jacques Gosso | Mid | Monaco | France | +0.23 | +0.05 | +0.28 |
| Didier Zokora | Mid | Sevilla | Spain | +0.12 | +0.04 | +0.15 |
| Benjamin Angoua* | Full | Valenciennes | France | -0.09 | +0.21 | +0.12 |
| Siaka Tiene | Full | Valenciennes | France | +0.11 | -0.01 | +0.11 |
| Aruna Dindane* | Fwd | Portsmouth | England | -0.04 | +0.15 | +0.11 |
| Guy Demel | Full | Hamburg | Germany | +0.16 | -0.05 | +0.11 |
| Romaric | Mid | Sevilla | Spain | -0.29 | +0.38 | +0.08 |
| Arthur Boka | Full | Stuttgart | Germany | -0.32 | +0.04 | -0.28 |
| Steve Gohouri* | Full | Wigan | England | -0.06 | -0.34 | -0.41 |
| Portugal – Players in the top 5 European leagues | ||||||
| Name | Position | Team | League | OR | DR | TR |
| Paulo Ferreira* | Full | Chelsea | England | +0.70 | +0.55 | +1.25 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Fwd | Real Madrid | Spain | +0.55 | +0.40 | +0.94 |
| Pepe | Full | Real Madrid | Spain | +0.33 | +0.46 | +0.79 |
| Ricardo Carvalho | Full | Chelsea | England | +0.43 | +0.01 | +0.44 |
| Simao | Mid | Atlético Madrid | Spain | +0.26 | +0.08 | +0.34 |
| Duda | Full | Málaga | Spain | +0.14 | +0.14 | +0.28 |
| Miguel | Full | Valencia | Spain | +0.07 | +0.19 | +0.26 |
| Deco | Mid | Chelsea | England | +0.05 | +0.07 | +0.12 |
| Hugo Almeida | Fwd | Werder Bremen | Germany | +0.12 | -0.01 | +0.11 |
| Tiago | Mid | Atlético Madrid | Spain | +0.29 | -0.24 | +0.06 |
| Ricardo Costa | Full | Lille | France | +0.13 | -0.26 | -0.13 |
| North Korea – Players in the top 5 European leagues | ||||||
| Name | Position | Team | League | OR | DR | TR |
| None | ||||||
| Brazil – Players in the top 5 European leagues | ||||||
| Name | Position | Team | League | OR | DR | TR |
| Daniel Alves | Full | Barcelona | Spain | +0.46 | +0.38 | +0.84 |
| Kaka | Mid | Real Madrid | Spain | +0.43 | +0.31 | +0.74 |
| Thiago Silva | Full | Milan | Italy | +0.39 | +0.31 | +0.70 |
| Maicon | Full | Internazionale | Italy | +0.33 | +0.24 | +0.57 |
| Juan | Full | Roma | Italy | +0.20 | +0.32 | +0.53 |
| Grafite | Fwd | Wolfsburg | Germany | +0.36 | -0.08 | +0.27 |
| Michel Bastos | Full | Lyon | France | +0.17 | +0.10 | +0.27 |
| Julio Baptista | Mid | Roma | Italy | +0.08 | +0.17 | +0.25 |
| Josue | Mid | Wolfsburg | Germany | +0.28 | -0.03 | +0.25 |
| Gomes | Goal | Tottenham | England | +0.24 | +0.24 | |
| Luis Fabiano | Fwd | Sevilla | Spain | +0.08 | +0.16 | +0.24 |
| Robinho | Fwd | Man. City | England | +0.15 | +0.07 | +0.22 |
| Julio Cesar | Goal | Internazionale | Italy | +0.22 | +0.22 | |
| Felipe Melo | Mid | Juventus | Italy | +0.04 | +0.01 | +0.05 |
| Nilmar | Fwd | Villarreal | Spain | +0.13 | -0.18 | -0.05 |
| Doni | Goal | Roma | Italy | -0.14 | -0.14 | |
| Lucio* | Full | Internazionale | Italy | -1.44 | -0.34 | -1.78 |
*Low minutes – don’t take the rating too seriously.