World Cup Draw: Field Set for South Africa

Last Friday was long awaited, by most for it being the end of the week and another great night to go out and party, however, for the futbol loving community Dec. 4, 2009 was anticipated months in advance as it finally revealed the groupings for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. At this grand ceremony, the teams are picked out randomly from four pots and placed into eight groups. The first pot includes the host team (which is South Africa, for those who don't follow soccer) and the top seven teams; the second includes teams from Asia, North America, and Oceania; the third includes teams from Africa and South America; and the last only includes teams from Europe. These drawings are nerve wracking for most fans, since you first have to wait out the hour-long event to find out who your team will be playing against and then you are left to wait months before these games actually take place. The host team was automatically placed in Group A, along with Mexico, Uruguay, and France. The French came out with a pretty lucky draw here, since they were not placed in the top seven team's pot, and they drew the only group not including one of those seven teams. Mexico and Uruguay can always be a threat with powerful players like Rafa Marquez and Diego Forlan, respectively. Also, you can never ignore the host team, since they are playing on their own turf and have more to fight for than the other teams. Group B includes my home nation of Argentina, as well as Nigeria, Korea Republic, and Greece. People give Argentina little credit because of how they performed in the qualifiers, but with a group as mediocre as this one, they will most certainly get their act together and move on. Messi has to shine and own up to his title of "best player in the world," and if the team can play like they did last World Cup then they will definitely make it out of the group play. Nigeria and Greece are decent teams, but they don't have the talent to take out a team like Argentina (and yes, I am biased). The United States came out the best in the group drawings, getting an almost free pass from the group play. From what I've seen from their games, and their quickly getting tossed in England's group I didn't expect them to do well, but with the group being topped off with teams like Algeria and Slovenia they have a great chance to move on. They did not impress me much the past couple of months, but the few games in which they played well, they showed me that they belonged in the World Cup. Group G is the group of death for this World Cup. It includes Brazil, Korea DPR, Cote d'Ivoire, and Portugal. The Ivory Coast impressed me immensely after they played Argentina last World Cup, and I would love to see them move on, but it is really unfortunate that they got placed in the group of death for the second consecutive World Cup. Portugal and Brazil are the favorites in this group, but with Portugal's struggles in the qualifiers, Didier Drogba and the rest of Les Elephants might have a chance to go far. With four other groups in the World Cup, it should lead to a very exciting competition. We will get to see Spain dominate their group as they only have Switzerland as their most dangerous opponent. Then the United States faces England in their first match of the tournament, which should be a great match-up for a soon-to-start rivalry with all the publicity that game up is getting. And if the gods of futbol decide to bless me, then Argentina and Brazil should meet in the finals of the World Cup on July 11, 2010, in Johannesburg, South Africa. And, of course, Argentina would win the game 3-1 (I feel like that score would make the best game).