A word of caution before anyone takes my advice. I entered my first Telegraph fantasy competition five years ago, and my team finished 96th. 96th!! Out of 75,000+!! I obviously thought I was a God of FF and it was only a matter of time before fellow players bowed before me and bought me gifts. Needless to say, I've been utter crap in every game since (and that's a lot of games), and I was evidently just a jammy bastard that first time. So, don't listen to me, I know f*** all.

But, anyway. I've entered six teams (listed at
http://2006worldcup.livejournal.com/ for those interested), each based on the goalkeeper/defence of a team I think will not only go far but will also not concede many goals in the group stages. So, no Argentina, even though their defence is pretty solid, because of the standard of teams they're facing. (And, yes, I applied the same logic to Holland. Who got a clean sheet. Go away and leave me alone now.)
Each team then has three midifielders and three attackers, with one in each position rotating with the use of transfers (and making sure there's enough cash to transfer in Ronaldinho and Ballack, the most expensive of each position, when the time comes). I plan to use 2/3 of transfers in the group stages, concentrating on strikers/attacking midfielders from teams who should rattle up lots of points, like France, Germany and, uh, England.
So far, predictably, my teams have been... crap. Except for the one with the England defence. Podolski, van Nistelrooy and Owen have conspired to make me smash my head against a wall. Hopefully Toni, Totti, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Henry, Torres and Shevchenko - all of whom will be transferred in and out over the next couple of days - can net me some much-needed points...