Brazil, Spain, Germany and Argentina the favourites, according to coaches

Sebastian Fest, dpa

The 2014 World Cup will provide few surprises. At least that is what some of the national team coaches at the tournament believe.

Heavyweights Brazil, Spain, Germany and Argentina are the favourites to pick up the trophy on July 13, according to the coaches at the long-awaited tournament in Brazil.

Neither do the coaches see any surprise coming with regard to the top player in Brazil, since Argentina's Lionel Messi heads the list of favourites, followed by Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Brazilian idol Neymar.

A dpa survey including 11 of the 32 national coaches at the World Cup, asked two simple questions: Which are the three favourite teams to win the trophy, and which three players are most likely to emerge as the leading stars.

Hosts Brazil were mentioned 11 times, followed by Germany with nine votes, Spain with eight and Argentina with seven.

"Brazil and Argentina are the principal favourites because history shows that the South Americans always win the World Cups played in America. Then come Germany, because they have great players," said Louis Van Gaal, coach of a Netherlands side looking to win the world crown for the first time, after losing three finals.

"Brazil, Spain, Germany and Argentina are the four strongest teams," said Italy boss Cesare Prandelli.

Outside of the Big Four only one other team was mentioned: Colombia, by Ivory Coast coach Sabri Lamouchi.

Messi is the player mentioned most often, with one vote more than Cristiano Ronaldo and two ahead of Neymar. Dutchman Arjen Robben and Argentine Gonzalo Higuain obtained one vote each.

Robben was chosen by Carlos Queiroz, head coach of Iran, while Costa Rica boss Jorge Luis Pinto opted for Higuain.

Miguel Herrera, coach of Mexico, believes that Messi is the undisputed favourite.

"Everyone is expecting Messi to make the step forward that many say he is still missing. For me, he is really short of nothing at all, he is one of the best players in the world. And if Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar want to make the leap upwards to be all-time greats, then this is their big chance," said Herrera.

Ottmar Hitzfeld, coach of Switzerland, is also clearly orthodox in his predictions: "I am convinced that the big favourites are Brazil, Spain, Germany and Argentina, and that two of these teams will reach the final."

USA coach Juergen Klinsmann is of a similar opinion. "Brazil, Germany and Spain," he said.

Meanwhile a third German coach, Volker Finke, of Cameroon, agreed with his countrymen, saying: "There have been four World Cups in South America and each time a South American team has won. Therefore, the possibility of a South American team winning again is massive. Brazil are at the front, but Argentina are not far behind."

Van Gaal, meanwhile, believes that Germany "will be tough opponents for Argentina and Brazil. And Spain always do well, but first of all they will have to beat us (in Salvador on Friday) and that will not be easy.

Queiroz opened up the panorama slightly, although insisting that the final will not be very different from the previous 19, which have been won by an elite group of eight countries.

"Germany and Brazil will be there, also Argentina or Spain. But we cannot ignore the Netherlands, Portugal, Italy and Uruguay, or Ecuador and Nigeria. One of these teams might be fighting for a medal. The World Cup is quite simple: out of the big old dinosaurs, two or three will be up there in the end."