George "Dubya" Bush, ex-president of the United States of America and lead cowboy in a spaghetti western of his own making, once famously described Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an "axis of evil".

His pronouncements on the United Arab Emirates were less noteworthy. Although I would like to think when Air Force One landed at Abu-Dhabi airport he emerged with a stars and stripes scarf held above his head and began chanting, "There's only one United!"

Enough silliness though, this is Group D - the group of death - and it demands some serious football analysis.

Now, I'm not sure what it is about Group D that seems to lend it to perennially being the group of death - it seems that it has been dubbed such for every major tournament in the past few decades.

Some blame it on coincidence meanwhile others blame it on overworked, cliché-loving football writers with impending deadlines. As for me, I blame it on black magic for no other reason than it provides a neat segue in to an analysis of the competing nations.

United Arab Emirates

If the UAE are to get out this tightly contested group they will have to rely on a little bit of magic. Unfortunately for them much-capped Faisal Khalil won't be there this time round.

In a case of truth being stranger than fiction the Al-Ahli striker ended a stellar 2008, which saw him claim the UAE Football League's top scorer and best Emirati player awards, with imprisonment on charges of "sorcery and witch-doctoring". He has not represented his nation since.

In the Emirati's favour though is the presence of Ismael Matar whose more traditional magical abilities with the ball provide the impetus in attack. Given time and space he is capable of conjuring the sublime but the rest of the largely unheralded and home-based squad will have to provide solid support to prevent him from being marked out of the game.

Helping to ensure the UAE are more than a one-man band is manager and former Yugoslav international Srecko Katanac. Katanac runs a notoriously tight-ship and will ensure all his players are working together to achieve their very best after group stage exits in the prior two Asian Cups.

It is worth noting that in qualifying for the tournament The White (as they are known) managed to top their group including an away win against Uzbekistan and a five-nil destruction of Malaysia. On their day UAE can certainly play and they will be underestimated at opponent's peril.

DPR Korea

Also not to be underestimated are the North Koreans simply because nobody really ever knows quite what to expect from them.

Cold, hard facts concerning the side are hard to come by due to the secretive nature of the ruling regime, however I feel reasonably confident in pronouncing their favourite colour to be red and their least favourite television programme to be M*A*S*H.

Oh, and they also qualified on the back of winning the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup - so that's got to count for something.

Having watched them in the World Cup last year, I was impressed by their determination in the opening fixture against Brazil, where they lost 2-1, before they fell apart spectacularly in their following fixture against Portugal.

However, if they can muster their self-belief and maintain the tight defensive line they are renowned for, the North Koreans could provide problems for opponents in their group. Throw-in the odd counter attack and they may even clinch an upset or two.

Of course, like many teams in world football their greatest strength is also their greatest weakness - in this case isolation. A lack of regular matches against world class opponents for both the players and the manager will likely prove to be their undoing. Captain Jong Tae-se's experience in the German leagues seems unlikely to compensate for this glaring deficiency.

Even if the Thousand Mile Horse (yes, I have no idea what that means either but it does sound bizarrely impressive) are lucky enough to sneak out of the group on the back of a couple of clean-sheets and the odd dodgy penalty, it seems unlikely they will progress much further. Any North Korean quarter finals appearance is likely to be against either Australia or their more technical southern neighbours.

Iran

Speaking of technical, the Iranians have somewhat sneaked under the radar in the lead-up to this year's tournament. Although they are no longer the force they were at the end of last century, the Iranians are still a solid side and, in my opinion, favourites to top the group.

It may seem like a strange analogy but football is in one way very much like nuclear power generation (whether it be for peaceful purposes or not) - a solid core is essential to prevent a devastating fallout that affects the other players on the pitch.

Thankfully for Iran central midfielders Javad Nekounam and Masoud Shojaei have the best pedigree in the group, both plying their trade with Osasuna in the Spanish La Liga. Their familiarity with each other's play combined with the professionalism that comes from exposure to a European club environment should see Iran confidently control the centre third, providing a base for the speedy Arash Afshin to capitalise up front.

Additionally, other members of the squad have previous experience playing in England and Germany, although the promising Ashkan Dejagah has "pulled a Dario" and decided to forego the tournament as he tries to establish himself at Wolfsburg.

Manager Afshin Ghotbi is also highly regarded in the region and has prior experience coaching abroad. Following this tournament he is taking over at J-League side Shimanzu S-Pulse and will surely be looking to go out a winner. Their fanatical fans will be expecting nothing less.

Iraq

Last but certainly not least are the defending champions. They shocked the world four years ago with a series of performances based on self-belief and a never say die attitude that still remains despite some imposing obstacles to success.

This time however opponents won't take them quite so lightly and, much like Greece following Euro 2004, it seems that Iraq can only disappoint amid increasingly unrealistic expectations from home fans to repeat their prior all-conquering performance.

Over the past four years disruption has been the only constant in Iraqi football. FIFA threatened to suspend the Iraqi Football Association from international competition in 2008 and then followed through with a suspension in 2009. In light of this, it is unlikely they would have qualified had it not been for the automatic spot that comes with being defending champion.

Seven managerial changes since the last tournament won't help the Lions of Mesopotamia much either, although counteracting the turbulence in the backroom and administration is the stability of the playing squad. Many familiar names return for this year's tournament including Nashat Akram, Bassim Abbas and Younis Mahmoud providing some ground for optimism.

That being said, in many ways it is still an amazing achievement that a somewhat fractured nation can even compete so assuredly on the world stage. And they will need little motivation to step it up a notch against traditional rivals Iran in their opening match - surely the pick of the group stage fixtures.

So there you have it, a reasonably serious look at the Group of Death without a single mention of death squads, labour camps, hardline extremists or stupid man-made islands (well, until now...sorry about that).

This is a group that will be defined by expectations and it seems only fitting that if any of these nations claim the title that they borrow a line from George Dubya Bush. "They misunderestimated me," should do nicely.