TEAM USA GETS UNFORTUNATE DRAW

The United States qualified for the World Cup and will be in Group E. They finished 2nd in their group because they scored 3 fewer goals than Mexico. They will be grouped with Italy, a perennial powerhouse. Italy won Group 5 in the European qualifying rounds. They finished ahead of Norway, Scotland, Belarus, Moldovia, and Slovenia. Italy is not as good as they were a few years ago but being forced to play them so early could harm the US's chances of advancement.

Also in the group is Ghana. Ghana won Group 2 of the African qualifying rounds. Rounding out the group is the Czech Republic. They qualified via the European playoffs. The Czech Republic made it to the semi-finals in 2004's European Championships.

The United States will open up their World Cup on June 12 against the Czech Republic in Kelskirchen, Germany. They'll play Italy on the 17th in Kaiserslautern. Then they'll go to Nuremburg on the 22nd to play Ghana. None of the games will be insanely early in the morning like the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan. They will all be mid to late afternoon games.

The top 2 teams will advance. I think the US will finish 2nd behind Italy. I think they will beat the Czech Republic in a close game, dominate Ghana, and draw with Italy or lose. Italy will win the group because they will score more goals against Ghana and the Czech Republic.

If the US advances to the elimination round they will face either the 2nd place team from Group F (Brazil, Croatia, Australia, Japan) which will probably be Croatia, if they win Group E. If they finish in 2nd, they will play the winner of group F which will probably be 2002 Champions Brazil. It is imperative that the US win their group because Brazil is simply the best team in the world. Man, we got a crappy draw. Had we scored 4 more goals in qualifying, we could have gotten Mexico's draw. Mexico is with Iran, Angola, and Portugal. This could be a very short World Cup for Team USA even though they are amongst the top 10 in the World. It is a shame because if we make a good run at it, it would definately boost interest in the sport in the US. Oh well.