The thing is that even when France and Portugal are playing terrible, they are at worst on par with teams such as Slovenia and the other pool D teams. However, the fact is that they have the potential, and the individual talent, to upset you especially when it is just one game and to improve their form and be a force.
To play these teams off as terrible and to state that teams would rather face France or Portugal, then say Slovakia is just ridiculous. Teams like Portugal and France that have the talent can catch fire and chemistry and go far, as opposed to the teams that have to play their system perfect at all times to win.
Especially in a sport where even though they are playing terrible in qualifying this year, a lot can change in the next seven months before the tournament starts. We saw an England team that didn't qualify for Euro 08, go on to dominate qualifying in 09, an Italian team that was not playing their best soccer before WC 06 (and have been disappointing since), catch fire and win the World Cup.
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