Somewhere, Bruce Arena is shaking his head. Of course, current U.S. head coach Bob Bradley remained stoic, but there had to be a party going inside that emotionless noggin, because the U.S. was gifted one of the best draws it could’ve possibly hoped for in the 2010 South Africa World Cup.
Group C – England – USA – Algeria – Slovenia
Not exactly Italy, Ghana and Czech Republic, eh? In fact, who else did the U.S. avoid? Brazil, Spain, France, Portugal, Ivory Coast, Netherlands, and Germany. No recent World Cup or European Championship winners. No inspired African teams representing their continent as it hosts its first World Cup. No sneaky non-seeded European sides. In fact, the U.S. woudn’t even have to face Brazil, Spain or Italy unless it reached the semifinals.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It all kicks off against England, who under Fabio Capello are more formidable than they have been in recent history. With the way the English cruised through the final round qualification, they deserved to be seeded and could be an underrated favorite. Although it would be nice for the U.S. to pre-arrange — it happens in soccer, right? — a goal-filled draw that would lead to nice positioning, the Yanks and English know the importance of winning its first match.
Where’s it happening: June 12, Rustenberg, the site of the U.S.’s 3-0 win over Egypt last summer. It’s a Saturday match, too, which ensures massive ratings. I’m going out on a limb and saying it’ll be the most-watched soccer game ever in this country.
But back to Bradley. Here’s the deal: there are no excuses. The U.S. is clearly the second seed in Group C. It must advance to the knockout round, even if that results in facing a brutal uphill battle against Germany, with all due respect to the rest of a decent Group D. The expectations for U.S. Soccer are now unlike they’ve ever been before. That’s where I come back to Arena, who knew his team faced long odds four years ago in Germany – odds that moved to near-impossible after the U.S. gave up a 5th minute goal to Jan Koller in the opening mathc. Even if the U.S. surrenders that kind of result to the English, anything less than wins over Algeria and Slovenia will be viewed as utterly disappointing and unfulfilling.
Here are the rest of the groups. Find the full schedule here:
Group A – South Africa – Mexico – Uruguay – France
Group B – Argentina – Nigeria – Korea Republic – Greece
Group D – Germany – Australia – Serbia – Ghana
Group E -Netherlands – Denmark – Japan – Cameroon
Group F – Italy – Paraguay – New Zealand – Slovakia
Group G – Brazil – Korea DPR – Cote d’Ivoire – Portugal
Group H – Spain – Switzerland – Honduras – Chile
Yes, the Group of Death is Group G. Might we really see Brazil knocked out in the group stage? What about the intriguing all Portuguese affair? The team in this group that isn’t on form right away will be leaving pretty quickly. No, I don’t mean North Korea.
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