2010 World Cup - Ultimate Music Preview - Group H

Group H

Honduras: Steppenwolf

The first band in our classic rock group. Steppenwolf wasn't exactly one of the legendary bands, more just a band with a few hits here and there. Honduras is the same. This is only the second time Honduras has qualified for the World Cup. The last time they qualified was in 1982 where they were eliminated in the first round. It's probably safe to bet that they will have the same fate in South Africa.

Chile: Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne has been all over the map. He had huge success with Black Sabbath back in the day. He later had some solo success as well. Then he was sort of fading until he became a reality TV sensation. Granted, that's not music related, but it did put him in the spotlight again. Chile has been the same way. They had huge success way back in the day when they finished third in the 1952 1962 World Cup. They haven't really had success even close to that and they seem to bounce back and forth between qualifying for the World Cup and missing it altogether.

Like Ozzy, it's hard to really know what you are going to get from Chile. They benefit from being in a weak group - apart from Spain. They definitely have the talent level to beat Switzerland and Honduras. I wouldn't bet on Chile having Black Sabbath success, but it wouldn't be surprising to see them have limited success and make it out of this group.




Switzerland: Deep Purple

Deep Purple has had more break ups and changes than Lindsey Lohan. The band was constantly breaking up and for awhile they weren't even together. Similarly, Switzerland has been up and down as a national team. Granted, they haven't ever broken up as a country, but they haven't had consistent soccer success. They had early success, but then spent many years where they didn't even qualify for the World Cup. They had decent success in the 2006 Cup and have now qualified again here in 2010. But they had a very easy qualifying group and they haven't really been tested yet. They are fortunate again because this group-apart from Spain-is somewhat weak. Believe it or not, Deep Purple is somehow on a revival and still touring. It's entirely possible that Switzerland's 2006 revival could still be going into 2010 and that they will advance out of this group.

Spain: Led Zeppelin

What can you really say about Led Zeppelin? If someone said they were the greatest band of all time you would either agree, or have a hard time disagreeing. You would have to at least acknowledge that they were one of the greatest of all time, and probably the greatest classic rock or hard rock band of all time. They have an endless list of great albums and songs.

Spain is like Zeppelin for a few reasons. First of all, they are the juggernaut in their group. You can't even really compare Spain to these other teams like you can't compare Zeppelin to the other bands. Sure some of the bands might have been Zeppelin's contemporary, but Zeppelin was head and shoulders above the other bands.

The main reason Spain is like Zeppelin is because they are loaded with talent and there is no weak spot on the team. If Zeppelin had a weak spot, it was probably with John Paul Jones on bass. And it wasn't so much that he was weak as much as the other players were so amazing and strong. Spain's squad is stacked. Here's a list of some of their midfielders: Iniesta, Xavi, Xabi Alonso, David Silva, Cesc Fabregas, Pedro. Those names may or may not mean something to you, but at least one of those will have to sit the bench. Which is ridiculous. It's like Zeppelin having Slash as a back up guitarist. Any other band would kill to have Slash, but Zeppelin had a better guitarist and just didn't need him.

Anyways, we are getting carried away a bit with Spain. But they are definitely a team to watch. Their national team won the Euro 2008 and other than a loss to the US in the Confederations Cup last summer, they have been flawless. They are one of the, if not the heavy favorite heading into the tournament. They have the team chemistry and all the talent. They have the potential to be legendary like Zeppelin and win it all. But is Zeppelin really the greatest band of all time? We'll soon find out.


In case you want to let the Led out:



Viva Espana