Now that the World Cup draw has finally been released, soccer fans now have something to really look forward to for the next six months. Some of the teams breathed a sigh of relief while others were left shaking their heads in dismay after the little "lotto" soccer balls produced next summer's groups. Here are my first thoughts about the groups for next year's World Cup in South Africa.
1. England has the easiest road: It will take a large upset for the Three Lions not to make it to the quarterfinals at minimum. Their group features an average USA squad, an overachieving Slovenia team, and an Algeria team that needed a qualification playoff win over Egypt just to get into the event. A date with either Australia/Ghana/Serbia awaits the Brits in the Round of 16 and most likely, a matchup with France in the quarters. Fabio Capello was laid back when he was interviewed on ESPN about his group but inside he must be jumping for joy about his team's chances next summer.
2. Group G is without a doubt the group of death: Go figure that the team that has looked the most in form the past six months and was #1 in the October rankings would get the hardest group. But that is what Brazil drew with Portugal, Ivory Coast, and North Korea. Portugal played terrible in qualification but has the experience to navigate themselves through to the knockout stages while Ivory Coast is the most talented team from the African continent. Brazil should still win this group but the fight for second place will be very fun to watch. At this point I give the edge to Ivory Coast because the tourney is on African soil.
3. No home sweet home: It was no surprise to this man, but some were surprised that France was put into home country South Africa's draw. Once it was announced that France did not receive a top seed in Pot A, it was ever apparent that France would become the de facto top seed of that group. Uruguay and Mexico round out a group that is more up for grabs than any in the entire tournament. Outside of South Africa, any team could win that group. One thing that's for sure, the South Africans will not leave this tournament pointless. They will draw or beat someone and possibly ruin a teams chance to advance to the knockout stage.
4. Italy received the easiest group: Many thought that Italy would receive a very manageable group to advance forward, but I didn't think it would be THIS easy. Drawing Paraguay, Slovakia, and New Zealand all but assures that an overrated Azurri squad will advance to the knockout stages. Paraguay could challenge them for the top spot in the group, but the bottom two teams shouldn't stand a chance at moving forward in the tournament.
5. Plenty of probable second place finishers can make runs deep into the tournament: If one is assuming that all of the top seeds minus South Africa win their groups, plenty of possible second place finishers have chances of making to the quarterfinals and possibly beyond. Leading the way in that category is Denmark. The Danes played exceptionally in qualifying winning their group with Portugal and Sweden and if they finish second, would most likely play Italy in the Round of 16. The way both teams have played over the last year, I'd favor Denmark in that matchup. Ivory Coast is another team who could advance far based on the crowd they will have and their style of play. Even though Spain would be a tall task to achieve, it is not out of the question that Cote d'Ivoire could knock them off.
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