2010 World Cup South Africa draw

[yoshii8]

Just in case you missed it, here are the World Cup draws for this coming summer.

 

Group A: South Africa, Uruguay, Mexico, France

Group B: Argentina, Greece, Nigeria, South Korea;

Group C: Algeria, England, Slovenia, United States

Group D: Australia, Germany, Ghana, Serbia

Group E: Cameroon, Denmark, Japan, Netherlands;

Group F: Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay, Slovakia;

Group G: Brazil, Ivory Coast, North Korea, Portugal;

Group H: Chile, Honduras, Spain, Switzerland.

 

I think U.S got a decent draw, although Slovenia was very good in qualifying, and England is always very strong. I absolutely can't wait for this to start, its easily my favorite sporting event .

 

 

[bacon06]

Great draw for the U.S., especially because Portugal was still in the pot at the time Slovenia was picked. If they do not advance to the second round, it will be a major disappointment.

 

I wonder what North Korea's goal differential will be at the end, being that they are in the group of death. I'm thinking at least double digits.

 

Edit: Every time ESPN shows Landon Donovan's penalty kick against Honduras, they zoom the camera in perfectly on me and my reaction. It's great to still get face time 6 months after the game happened http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[crewcrazy]

I'm not usually a huge soccer fan, but the World Cup always manages to get me sucked in. Looks like a very favorable pool for the US considering what could've happened, and I get the feeling that first match against England will be huge. Lots of potential storylines for that match, especially if Beckham finds his way onto the England squad again, given the shaky relationship he's had with Landon Donovan this past year in LA.

[thebruce44]

The time of the games is great too. The first one on a Saturday and the second on a Friday. I will probably take off early on Friday to get the second one in, then take a real day off for the third game. Last time I tried to TIVO them (I assume South Africa is in the same timezone or 1 off from Germany so 7 hrs different?) while at work, but of course I always found out the score before I could get home.

[tigerbrew]

Lots of potential storylines for that match, especially if Beckham finds his way onto the England squad again, given the shaky relationship he's had with Landon Donovan this past year in LA.

As a big English soccer fan, I sure hope that Beckham doen't make the team or is buried deep in the bench, nowadays England preforms better without him.

 

I think the toughest group from the draw is Group G, I think Brazil is in for a tough group stage.

[TooLiveBrew]

I have to agree on the US lucking out on that draw, basically. England is tough, but I think recently the US squad has proved that it can play with just about anyone. I can't wait for this to start, either! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[stoutdude04]

I caught just a little bit of it live. I thought I heard Alexi screaming yes yes! when the US got picked. Then the other announcer goes, 'you cant be happy about drawing England." Alexi then said oh yes I am! I thought that was kinda of humorous.

[dadofandrew]

England and South Africa were the only top seeds not ranked in the top 6. England is #9, but they are beatable.

[Schlitz001]

I don't fully understand how the seeding works. Can someone explain how England can be ranked #9 and still be a top seed?

[strawbossisevil]

Glad to see some discussion of the World Cup here. Watching the selection show was awesome.

 

One thing that was driving me up a wall was the Mexican ESPN Deportes announcers going on and on about Mexico being in the "group of death". I think that is absolutely ridiculous. They are playing the weakest team in the whole tournament (South Africa), the last place team out of South America's tournament, and a team that wouldn't have even made the tournament were it not for a blatant handball.

 

Yes, South Africa is at home. But they are rated (by FIFA so take it with a grain of salt) worse than any of the teams that played in the Concocaf final. No team should lose to them.

Yes, Uruguay has won a World Cup before. But that wasn't recent, and they had to beat Costa Rica in a playoff to even get into the tournament.

Yes, France is ranked in the top 10 by FIFA, but despite being runners up in the last World Cup, they have undoubtedly taken a large step backward since.

 

The only people I hear calling group A the "group of death" are Mexico fans/announcers. I think the rational behind thinking this way is the following...If Mexico doesn't make it past the group stage, it becomes an excuse (yeah we didn't qualify, but look, we had to endure the "group of death"). And if they do get through the group stage, it will become something to pat themselves on the back for (we are so awesome, we got through the "group of death".)

 

The only group I see that could qualify as a "group of death" is group G, and even that group has a weak link (North Korea). All in all, I thought that the groups came out fairly evenly and every first round group should have a fair amount of difficulty even for the top seeds.

 

I can't wait for the World Cup to start, after the US's victory over Spain, and first half performance vs. Brazil I really think our team is starting to turn the corner. I think it is advantageous that we have two European opponents as I think our counter attack style is most effective against those styles of play.

 

US vs. Britain should be a great match up. I wonder if the South Africa crowd will identify more with their former occupiers, or with the USA as a country that also gained independence from British rule.

[thebruce44]

If anything, Group D has to be considered the Group of Death at this point. Germany, Australia, Serbia, and Ghana...that could be interesting.

[ILuvDaBush]

I'll take The Ivory Coast v Ghana everyday. Brazil v Germany would probably be a dream matchup but you have to give it to the Brazilians. Portugal v Australia's socceroos, give me the FIFA player of the Year. And N. Korea v. Serbia are both dark-horses to various degrees (though Serbia does boast some hybrid soccerpitch warriors). What's amazing about Group G is that the best TEAM in the world, the best PLAYER, or the best Foundation (The Coast's midfield is going to give the Brazilians fits) won't even make the knockout stage. Now THAT'S a Group of Death.

[tigerbrew]

I don't fully understand how the seeding works. Can someone explain how England can be ranked #9 and still be a top seed?

I think FIFA takes into account qualification results too. England did very well in qualification, top their group with 9 wins and 1 loss. Though France and Portugal are ranked ahead, they didn't top their group and qualified through the playoffs. To me, France qualified very unfairly, the Irish were robbed and deserves a re-match.

 

A friend who watched the live world cup draw informed me that it was Beckham who drew USA into England's group, what irony methinks.

 

I think Group G is the toughest. Portugal and Ivory Coast have very solid teams with world-class players like Ronaldo and Drogba. Ivory Coast has the most talented team in Africa. The first match, Ivory Coast vs Portugal will be crucial for either team. Portugal vs Brazil should be interesting too, both Portugese speaking and very close historically.

 

Finally the last team in the group, N Korea. The last time N Korea played in the world cup, they made it to the quarter finals eventually losing to Portugal. The N Koreans outplayed the Saudis to qualify. Their strength is in fitness, stamina and defense, expect them to be tenacious and discipline in defense, attack on the counter.

[TooLiveBrew]

Wow, I'm glad everyone's chatting this up. Group G is definitely the 'group of death' if one exists.

[Diskono]

Ivory Coast has a lot of big-name stars, but much like England, that hasn't always translated to international success. Ghana did beat them in the ACN last year too...not saying that they're necessarily better, but its a lot closer than it appears on paper. G is certainly a group of death from Korea DPR's perspective, but I don't think they would have much of a chance to come out of any group. D just looks tougher top-to-bottom, as all four teams should be expecting to advance (with Germany and Serbia being legit contenders for winning the whole competition).

 

edit: wow, imagine if Yugoslavia still existed. That team would be ridiculous.

[Baldkin]

Here's a decent explanation of how the draw worked.

 

Basically, they pick 8 teams, assign them to groups, and then randomly (with some caveats) selected the remaining teams.