Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
The World Cup will announce its group draws on Friday, and when they do the United States will hope for the following names to pop out of the hat: South Africa, Uruguay and Switzerland. This would be the most convenient route to a second round appearance for the United States, while a draw of Spain, Ivory Coast and France would likely have the American team bleeding, dazed, and heading for the exits after the opening round.
Just avoiding the Group of Death would be nice, though the United States has shown that it is capable of beating very good teams (Portugal ‘02) in opening WC round games while dropping games to beatable opponents (see: Ghana ’06). Don’t sneeze at South Africa, though, since the home team usually plays up to the home crowd in Cup matches, and the Bafana Bafana will play under the din of vuvuzelas, which have not been banned from the Cup and will be farting away at full volume during the tournament.
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Yes, the home team usually plays up
But I’d rather face a jacked-up South Africa team than any other seeded team (well, maybe Argentina, who only managed fourth in CONMEBOL qualifying).
by SpartanDan on Dec 2, 2009 12:16 PM EST reply actions
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