WITH just sixteen days to the 2014 Fifa World Cup kick off, Times Sport continues the countdown to the biggest football showpiece, which will run from June 12-July 13 in Brazil.

We asked former Amavubi Stars head coach Eric Nshimiyimana about his predictions for the month-long competition.

Nshimiyimana doesn’t believe there will be a clear favourite team going into the games in Brazil, but singles out Portugal, Belgium and France as teams to watch.

He also cites holders Spain and hosts Brazil among the teams to watch due to their pedigree and home advantage (for the Samba boys).  The former Amavubi coach argues that it’s hard to predict who is going to win the World Cup because there are so many factors to be considered in a competition which will run for a full month.

"There are teams that have players, who have played so many games throughout the season and are expected to be fatigued. So to me, the team with less fatigued players and high motivation will stand a good chance to win the tournament,”  Nshimiyimana explained.

When asked about the African teams, the ex-Rwanda captain tipped Nigeria and Algeria as the teams likely do better among the African representatives.

 "For an African team to win the cup, it can only be a surprise, but I think both Algeria and Nigeria have the best chance (to do well) because they both have the right balance of youth and experience.”