DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum World Cup Draw - best US could have hoped

Surprised we don't have a thread on this already. I am not a huge soccer fan, but I cannot help but get into the World Cup.

The US draw is ridiculously easy. Not only do we get England first (historicaly the best time to upset a favored opponent), but we drew Slovenia and Algeria. If we cannot get out of this group, then we don't deserve to.

Then, what noone is even talking about is how nicely the 2nd and 3rd rounds could potentially setup for us.

1st place in our group gets 2nd place from groupD (Australia, Serbia, Ghana) and they only have one good team (tourney co-favorite Germany). So, if we win our group, we could likely be headed to the quarterfinals.

At that point, we'd likely get France, Greece, Nigeria or Argentina.....but if you get to the quarterfinals of the World Cup, you are going to be playing someone good.

The great thing is we would still avoid Brazil, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain until the semifinals at the earliest. Those are the 6 best teams in the world and we could get to the semi's without having to face any of them.

Of course, this means we'll squander the opportunity, take 2nd in our group and end up getting toasted by Germany in the 2nd round. But it's a nice thought.

Yup, I saw the draw earlier tonight and really liked our chances coming out of the Group. I also really think we can win the group, just have to get past England and not trip against Slovenia and Algeria. I really don't want to face Germany that early by finishing 2nd in the group.

2002 WC drew me in. Ever since then, I've paid much more attention to soccer, especially the Crew and the Premier League. At one point, I was paying $15/month. on Setanta Sports on U-verse just to get more Premier league games. Even started to watch rugby, but ultimately had to cancel the channel because that's just too much.

Got to admire your confidence ...

England will be one of the pre tournament favourites. I like our chances way more than Germany, Italy and Portugal whom you feel are in the top 6 teams!? The teams to avoid IMO are Spain, Brazil and Netherlands ... I fancy Spain to win it all at this stage.

Slovenia knocked out a very strong Russian team in the playoffs, so don't assume they will be pushovers, I don't know enough about Algeria to make a comment but I do like the draw from an English perspective.

I completely disagree with your comments on the second round. Group D is one of the strongest groups with no pushover teams. Ghana have some amazing individual players as do Australia. Serbia are one of the strongest teams in Europe and Germany always do well in tournaments.

I cant wait until the World Cup and will enjoy the banter with you in the lead up to the England v USA opener

Knowing the US, we'll probably draw or beat England, and then lose to the other two.

seems I'm not the only that feels that way:
http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/lastranking/gender=m/fullranking.html


yes, I was being optimistic with that post, but I was thinking we were going to get a much tougher draw. while Slovenia did upset a tough Russian team, they also could/should feel quite overwhelmed by the bigger stage and grind of tougher opponents. it is always easier to pull one upset than compete on a daily basis with those teams. as for Algeria, I have not seen them but they are being said as one of the weaker teams in any draw.

England is and always will be a tough team for the US....the big brother syndrome seems to be in full effect whenever we play. I honestly would take a draw at this point and hope to win on points in the other 2 games (as I mentioned it would be an upset to beat them).

Besides, it's the world cup....the English are destined to choke away a win at some point, right




and as for groupD, I want to see Ghana...they rely on a ton of athelticism, but I want to see our schemes take advantage of their over-aggressiveness. they can be baited into overpursuit.....and if our coaches can't handle that, then we don't deserve to win anyway

my favorite for the tourney would be the Netherlands....I love the way they play. they are one of the teams that I cannot change the channel if I see they are playing.

thanks for keeping this thread alive

This is the World Cup, there really aren't any "easy" teams. Other than getting paired up with South Africa, this is probably the best possible draw for us. I think our teams are pretty even this year and it should be a damn good game to watch. There are some pretty good teams that got drawn in the 3rd and 4th pools. To end up with Slovania and Algeria is a pretty lucky draw for both of us, although probably more so for you considering your recent luck of being in the "Group of Death".

Since 1986 the English soccer team has bought me nothing but heartache ...... kind of like the Browns I suppose

I am very pleased with the draw and would expect plenty of banter and digs in the build up to the game. I predict England and the USA will qualify from the group.

My tip is Spain they just have too much class Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, Torres, Villa the list just goes on and on