12-5-09: The World Cup Draw

I took a half day yesterday and, before doing homework, was able to catch the end of the World Cup Draw, live from South Africa on ESPN2.

It turned out to be both good AND very interesting. The U.S. did as well as one could hope (it's a luck of the draw, literally) by drawing England as the only big team in their group (Group C), which also contains Algeria and Slovenia. A very fortunate draw, and with any luck we should make it through the Group Stage along with England. Mark your calendar: Saturday, June 12th @2:30PM: USA vs. England.

And, oddly enough, the "Group of Death" (Group G) features Brazil, Portugal, Ivory Coast, and North Korea. Three big teams and the political pariah North Korea. From a soccer standpoint alone that is a good group to watch. You read it here first: Brazil and Ivory Coast will go through.

Here are the other groups, with my advanced predictions:

Group A:

South Africa
Mexico
Uruguay
France

Winners: Mexico and France.


Group B:

Argentina
Nigeria
South Korea
Greece

Winners: Argentina and Greece


Group D:

Germany
Australia
Serbia
Ghana

Winners: Germany and Ghana


Group E:

Netherlands
Denmark
Japan
Cameroon

Winners: Netherlands and Cameroon


Group F:

Italy
Paraguay
New Zealand
Slovakia

Winners: Italy and Slovakia


Group H:

Spain
Switzerland
Honduras
Chile

Winners: Spain and Honduras