[rueful]

Anyone else watching this?

Anyone else wishing they would just get to the draw already and not be doing all of this extra crap with the african choir and whatnot

[rueful]

sure as I post that they finally, after 52 minutes, bring out the draw master

[BJWilliams]

I just hope we dont get the "group of death"

[BJWilliams]

USA in group C with England

[jcmanson]

[BJWilliams]

I have a friend in England and she is already talking about how England will thrash the US

[ALUmnus]

US v England will basically be the US players trying out for the EPL. The other two games will be very winnable. Slovenia finished second in a very weak group during qualifying.

Did anyone see that Brazil and Portugal are both in the same group? Ouch. And the Dutch and Danish have been paired together, those are two very good teams.

[SuperJon]

I was watching this with a British guy. It was great. We were both scared of getting Portugal or France but luckily we didn't. This is a winnable group. Six points are a must, seven is possible, and nine would make me ecstatic.

[NG33]

Did anyone see that Brazil and Portugal are both in the same group? Ouch.

Don't forget Ivory Coast too. They cruised through African Qualifying (not an easy task) and recently had a draw against Germany (ranked #6 by FIFA). I wouldn't be surprised to see them advance over Portugal. This group is going to be wicked entertaining... and as for N. Korea being in that group. It was over for them before it even started haha

[NG33]

IF Drogba can stay focused Ivory Coast could be quite a force to be reckoned with in this next World Cup

[LUconn]

I expect that little gargoyle Rooney to whine and cry when gooch pawns him

[SuperJon]

But Rooney is white?

[SuperJon]

My bad on that. I see it now. Didn't make the connection on the name.

[ALUmnus]

Also, because of the group the US is in, if they advance, they will not have to play Brazil, Netherlands, Italy, or Spain in the next round. Not bad.

[NG33]

Theoretically, they wouldn't have to play any of those teams until they reached the Semi's. I like our chances of getting out the the group stage. As "easy" as the group seems, it might all come down to if we get any points out of the match vs. England.

[ToTheLeft]

Anyone want to make any predictions?

I am going to use gut feelings and a bit of random, combined with what little knowledge I have, to predict the two to advance from each group...

Group A:
Uruguay (Good team, should do well in this group)
France
*Missed out: Mexico (Must just be biased against them. )

Group B:
Argentina (Solid team in a winnable group)
Nigeria
*Missed out: Greece (Never seem to be able to put the ball in the net, and will lose on tiebreakers)

Group C:
England
USA

Group D:
Germany
Socceroos (Love this team, probably my third favorite national team)

Group E (One of the tougher groupings):
Netherlands
Cameroon
*Missed out: Denmark (Holland and Cameroon are just too good for the Danes)

Group F (Maybe the weakest group):
Italy (Easily)
New Zealand (All Whites sneak through as the surprise of the tournament)

Group G (Group of Death):
Ivory Coast
Brazil
*Missed out: Portugal (It's hard to pick against them, but Ivory being on its home continent and Brazil being able to outscore the Portuguese for tiebreakers makes it hard to pick them)

Group H (Might be the second strongest group):
Spain
Chile

Bracket:
Winner of A: Uruguay
Runner up of B: Nigeria

C1: England
D2: Aussie

E1: Netherlands
F2: New Zealand

G1: Ivory Coast
H2: Chile
--
B1: Argentina
A2: France

D1: Germany
C2: USA

F1: Italy
E2: Cameroon

H1: Spain
G2: Brazil (WHAT A MATCHUP)

---------

Round 2:

Uruguay
Aussie

Netherlands
Ivory Coast

Argentina
USA

Italy
Spain
------

Round 3:

Netherlands
Aussie

Argentina
Spain

And I refuse to pick between the team I feel is the best in the world and my favorite team in the world, so I will leave it at that. Spain v. Netherlands final is my prediction, tho.

[ToTheLeft]

Hahaha, wow! Someone on the wikipedia page put Ireland in the draw instead of France, and I blindly followed it while making my predictions.... changing now.

[SuperJon]

I was watching this with a British guy. It was great. We were both scared of getting Portugal or France but luckily we didn't. This is a winnable group. Six points are a must, seven is possible, and nine would make me ecstatic.

4 with some goals gets us in.

We've gotta be able to beat Slovenia and Algeria. I'm not disagreeing with your point that we could get in with four, but I'd hope we were above those two teams.

[LUconn]

Oh hey, this just hit me a little while ago. Nike, this would be a grand time to revive and make a huge push with the Don't Tread On Me campaign. USA vs England? There's a lot of money to be made there.

[SuperJon]

I didn't realize how excited I was for the world cup. Today proved that to me. I definitely have to find a USA Soccer shirt that I like between now and June.

[TDDance234]

I was in Brazil during the last world cup. Completely changed my perception of the event. Talk about a way of life!

Really excited for this years draw. I think we have a great setup for making a serious run.

[NG33]

BUMP.

Looks like Charlie Davies is recovering MUCH quicker than anticipated, and seems to be back in the picture for starting at forward in the next WC..
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/ ... 901&ver=us

[ALUmnus]

Good, we really need someone like Charlie on that team.

We also had a big scare with Clint Dempsey last week. They thought he had seriously injured his knee (thought it would require surgery) while playing for Fulham, but after an MRI he looks to be okay.

[01LUGrad]

Today, Davies looks very much like he did before the accident. The swelling in his face that was so evident during his interview with ESPN last November has subsided, though a shorter haircut reveals the scar he has from ear to ear arcing over the top of his skull. That scar came after doctors peeled his face off down to his chin in order to repair the multiple fractures that left his facial bones a shattered mess.

I didn't know it was THAT bad.