So the countdown to the 2010 World Cup can now officially start after today’s draw.
Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece
Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia
Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana
Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon
Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia
Group G: Brazil, Korea DPR, Côte d'Ivoire, Portugal
Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile
The hosts, South Africa, are probably not thrilled as all the other teams in their group are stronger than them. On paper, Mexico, Uruguay and France are all better than South Africa but the home support might give the South Africans a boost. Also, the French team has a 50% chance of crashing out because their coach is still Raymond Domenech.
Group C appears to be a joke with all 4 teams probably glad that they got each other. England may be delighted but Algeria, USA and Slovenia are also probably thrilled that they avoided some of the bigger teams.
Group H is too easy for Spain while Argentina and Italy won’t be too worried. Brazil on the other hand will have their hands full with Ivory Coast and Portugal. The Ivory Coast have once again gotten a tough group after they were paired with Holland, Serbia and Argentina back in 2006.
The Dutch have a decent group with Denmark, Japan and Cameroon while the Germans will get an average test with Serbia, Ghana and Australia.
Overall, with the exception of Algeria, all the other African teams have gotten some tough assignments. Also, excluding Group G, this is a very light weight draw which means that the best games will only take place once the group stages are decided.
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