I thought I might also comment on the draw for the 2010 World Cup, which happened on Friday. This is the event where teams are drawn into their groups for the initial round of the World Cup. You have 4 different pots, each with a different level of opponent. The first pot is filled with the top 8 teams from the combination of World-Cup-qualifying and FIFA rankings (this group also includes the host nation, which is South Africa for this cup... a bunny among lions). The second pot is the 8 European qualifiers. The 3rd pot is the 8 North American and Asian/Oceania qualifiers. The 4th pot is the 8 South American and African qualifiers. Someone (in this case, it was Charlize Theron of all people) will pull a random team from each pot to form the 8 groups for the World Cup. So there are four teams per group, who will each play one another once and the 2 best teams will move on to the next round. I hope that all makes sense, because I am going to move on.
In past World Cup draws, it seems like the US always gets the short end of the stick. In 2006 we were unlucky enough to draw Italy (the eventual World Cup winners) along with a young and talented Ghana squad, and finally a Czech Republic team that was on the tail end of their prime. In 2002 we drew Portugal, South Korea (a co-host nation with talent playing in front of proud supporters), and a decent Poland team. In 1998 we "lucked" into Germany, Yugoslavia, and Iran (Iran was actually pretty poor, but the other two were quite good).
This time around, the US was not so lucky as to draw the host nation, South Africa, from the 1st pot of "top seeds". Mexico was lucky enough to do that. Instead, we drew England, who are probably the second most favorable matchup for us out of that pot of teams. England plays a similar style to the US and games are rarely blowouts between the two. The United States also has several players (Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, Jonathan Spector, etc) who ply their trade in England's premier league, and so they know the opposing players and their styles. On the other hand, England has not really gotten a live look at many of the US starters.
The next two draws ended up being a very pleasant surprise... not only did the US's group draw Algeria (the weakest squad from their pot), but also Slovenia (arguably the weakest or 2nd weakest from their pot). And to make things more comfortable for US fans, Mexico's group drew France (arguably the best team to not get "seeded") and Uruguay (an excellent South American team who will give Mexico fits). So the advantage to Mexico drawing South Africa was basically negated by drawing France and Uruguay.
None of this really matters if the US doesn't take each of these opponents seriously. This is the World Cup Finals... any one of the teams in the finals can beat the US on a given day. The difference will be heavy preparation and a little bit of luck from the injury bug. Charlie Davies and Oguchi Onyewu are both still out from their respective injuries. Onyewu should return in time to play in the cup, but how fit will he be? Davies is a long shot, but it's possible he could contribute. Both are game-changing players for the US men's national team and will be missed if they can't go. Other players who have been injured for the past several months are now starting to train again. Defender Jay DeMerit, Midfielder Maurice Edu, and new US midfielder Jermaine Jones are starting to get into shape and should be able to play in the friendlies set up for next year. The US lineup could look a little different from the team that upset top-ranked Spain in the Confederations Cup this past summer, and I'm not sure if that is good or bad.
All-in-all, my biggest point is that we have a really good chance to move into the second stage considering our draw, and that makes me a happy camper.
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