Column: Americans, English paired up in World Cup

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U.S. soccer fans have a lot to be happy about following Friday’s FIFA World Cup 2010 draw in Cape Town, South Africa.

The selection saw the United States in Group C along with England, Algeria and Slovenia — a much more comfortable group than 2006, which saw the U.S. Men’s National Team score only one goal against dangerous sides from Ghana, Czech Republic and eventual champions Italy.

The United States will face England first on June 12. This will no doubt be the most exciting match of the group for fans stateside, thanks in no small part to the happy coincidence of L.A. Galaxy teammates Landon Donovan and the English import David Beckham facing each other on the pitch for the first time ever. The two teams last played each other back in a 2008 friendly match at Wembley Stadium in London, when England handily defeated the U.S. 2-0.

Americans will undoubtedly be hoping for a first-place finish in their group, which would pit them against the second-best team in Group D. A second-place finish would still allow the United States to advance but will most likely result in a tough match against Germany, assuming the Germans finish first in their group.

The group closest in appearance to the “Group of Death” soccer fans always hope for is Group G, featuring Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast and Portugal. Brazil is a perpetual favorite, and North Korea is more than likely going to pack their bags after the group stage, but at least one top-quality team will be taken out. Like Donovan and Beckham in Group C, Chelsea F.C. teammates Didier Drogba and Ricardo Carvalho will face one another when Ivory Coast meets Portugal June 15.

In Group A, host team South Africa will most likely get knocked out in the group stage, but after that, it’s all up in the air. France, who made it into the World Cup last week after a handball from Thierry Henry led to a 1-0 victory over Ireland, will most likely finish first in the group, but Mexico vs. Uruguay will be the most interesting match.

Group B is comprised of Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea and Greece. Diego Maradona’s men should emerge victorious, with the stiffest competition probably coming from Greece. Argentina is a team of amazing talent and should be a joy to watch, even if they lose — if for no other reason than the one-man show that is Lionel Messi.

Germany will most likely top Group D, but the match to watch will be the June 23 fixture of Serbia and Australia, ranked 20 and 21 respectively on FIFA’s most recent Top 25 rankings list.

In Group E, Netherlands more than likely has a pass but should look out for Cameroon, who finished second in this year’s African Cup of Nations and fields a talented team of players with experience at the top-level in Europe, most notably forward Samuel Eto’o and Alexandre Song.

Current World Cup champs Italy will get a pass from Group F with weak competition from Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia. The Italians may meet Cameroon in the Round of 32, or less likely, Netherlands.

The top-ranked team in the world, and Euro 2008 champs Spain tops Group H. The game to watch will be Chile vs. Switzerland June 21 — another matchup of teams separated by only one space in FIFA’s Top 25 with Chile ranked 17th and Switzerland coming in at 18th.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 7th, 2009, 12:45 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.