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2010 World Cup Draw Day (Live Commentary)

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The day we have all been waiting for has finally arrived.

In just a few hours, the groups for the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be drawn (Noon, ESPN/FSC/Univision/ESPN360.com) and all 32 teams will know which opponents will be awaiting them at next summer's World Cup in South Africa.

For the United States, today's draw will be about hoping to avoid a brutal group, though the odds are against the Americans avoiding at least a tough path to the second round.

There is plenty of excitement as the buzz dominates the morning, but you are in luck. There are plenty of ways to pass the next few hours until the drawing is complete. For those who need a primer on the 32-team field, here is a rundown of all the World Cup participants. Can't get enough of mock draws? Give this mock draw generator a try.

I will be providing commentary on the draw when it gets closer to the actually picking of the groups (and using this same post for that commentary). For now, please feel free to share your thoughts on today's draw in the comments section below.

Enjoy the draw (Commentary is after the jump):

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DRAW– That's all for now. I will be providing a more detailed breakdown on the draw shortly. For now, please feel free to share your thoughts on the draw in the comments section below and thank you for following along.

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DRAW– So what lineup could we see for the USA against England? In a perfect scenario, this could be the starting XI:

————–Altidore———-Davies——————

Donovan—————————————Dempsey

—————-Bradley——–J. Jones—————

Bornstein—Bocanegra——Onyewu———Spector

————————-Howard————————–

Yes, Davies is still a long-shot, but there seems to be a growing believe that he can beat the long odds.

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DRAW– "(Slovenia is) probably a team we think we can beat," said Landon Donovan.

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DRAW– You can usually tell about ten seconds into a live TV interview with a random spectator if you've picked the wrong person.

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DRAW– Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast. Talk about a TON of talent on display there. My money is on Brazil and Ivory Coast advancing.

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DRAW– Are we going to get an Alexi Lalas-Ruud Gullit reunion on the air? That would be priceless.

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DRAW– I will call it now, Serbia wins the group with Germany, Ghana and Australia. The Germans do well seemingly in every World Cup, but their team isn't as strong as past German teams and this group is loaded with landmines.

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DRAW– For those writing off Argentina because of its World Cup qualifying struggles, keep this in mind. Brazil endured a poor run of form in 2002 World Cup qualifying. They went on to dominate and win the 2002 World Cup.

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DRAW– "If you're France, you should go to Vegas right now."– Alexi Lalas. Classic.

Here's a question. How many Ireland fans will travel to South Africa specifically to root against France?

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DRAW– Nice to see Javier Aguirre lift his self-imposed ban on speaking English. He's a great personality and a very good coach. Mexico is poised for a strong World Cup.

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DRAW– The more I look at the USA draw the more I find it hilarious how many American fans kept assuming the USA would be doomed by this draw. I said it before the draw, I had a feeling the Americans would dodge some bullets. The draw is perfect because it provides easier match-ups will also providing a very good challenge in England.

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DRAW– Freddy Adu's Tweeting leads him to get crushed by Alexi Lalas on the ESPN broadcast. Lalas is right though in that Adu is pretty far off the radar right now.

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DRAW– Bob Bradley: "We believe in playing our game."

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DRAW– Is it fair to say the USA-England match will break soccer TV ratings records? I'll say this, we will be spending the next six months breaking down that match-up and while some folks want to assume England will cruise, I see that being a very competitive match, particularly if the Americans are healthy.

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DRAW– Fabio Capello talking about the draw is priceless.

Some draw thoughts:

Argentina's group is trickier than you might think.

Germany's group has four teams that could all advance to the second round.

Over/under on North Korea's goal differential= -10

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DRAW– I have been saying for some time that Honduras could wind up being a surprise team this World Cup, and its group lends itself for that as a possibility. Spain will be tough, but the 'Catracho's could advance past Chile and Switzerland.

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DRAW– Apologies for the delays, hopefully the technical difficulties.

Here are the groups:

A- South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France

B- Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece

C- England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia

D- Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana

E- Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon

F- Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia

G- Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal

H- Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile

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DRAW– Spain, Honduras, Chile and Switzerland. Book it now, the 'Catrachos'  reach the second round.

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DRAW– Potugal, Brazil, Ivory Coast and New Zealand. Group of Death.

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DRAW– Netherlands, Demark, Japan and Cameroon. INteresting group.

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DRAW– Germany, Serbia, Australia and Ghana is looking very Group of Death'ish.

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DRAW– It should be noted that Slovenia beat Russia in the UEFA playoffs, but I think the USA will take Slovenia over Portugal or France from that pot.

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DRAW– England, Algeria and Slovenia. No World Cup is easy, and you never know how things can go, but that draw is about as good as American fans could have asked for.

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DRAW– USA DRAWS SLOVENIA!!!!!!!

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DRAW– Spain-Chile-Honduras, a great group there.

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DRAW– Netherlands-Japan-Cameroon, Italy-New Zealand-Paraguay

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DRAW– Mexico drawn with Uruguay and South Africa. A dream draw for 'El Tri'

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DRAW– ALGERIA for the USA. Dream draw there for the USA.

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DRAW– Brazil draws North Korea

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DRAW– Italy faces New Zealand.

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DRAW– Germany draws Australia

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DRAW– South Korea grouped with Argentina.

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DRAW– USA vs. England to open the World Cup. Who will be there?

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DRAW– Not a great draw, but a great challenge for the Americans.

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DRAW– USA gets England. WOW.

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1:07pm– Mexico gets South Africa, what a shock.

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1:04pm– David Beckham is in the house. I wonder what the odds are right now that he makes the England team. Ladbrokes has to be taking action on that.

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1:02pm– If you have enough room on your computer screen, ESPN.com is running a live commentary on the draw as well. I am set to take part in it, but will stick with SBI for now.

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1:00pm– Are you ready? Have faith the Americans will get a good draw? I have a good feeling about the draw, not sure why.

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12:57pm– Any minute now. You just know some people have dozed off and will wake up wondering what happened.

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12:54pm– Can I be a Drawmaster?

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12:54pm– We're almost there. Bring on the bowls.

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12:52pm– Is this the draw, or a Broadway musical?

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12:51pm– Has there ever been this much excitement surrounding a World Cup draw? I can't remember anything coming close.

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12:48pm– We're about to get underway with the draw.

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12:43pm– I wonder what the odds are the USA get a dream draw, while Mexico winds up in a Group of Death? Let's face it, Mexico had a dream draw in 2006, so 'El Tri' could be do for a brutal group.

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12:40pm– We are still six months away from the World Cup, but it has certainly been a week of good news on the injury front for the US national team. Charlie Davies, Maurice Edu, Jay DeMerit and Jermaine Jones have all had positive news this week about their recoveries from injuries. When you think about adding that talent to the US team, it certainly makes the prospects of a Group of Death slightly easier to deal with.

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12:33pm– And the worst draw imaginable? Brazil, France and Ivory Coast would be a nightmare draw, and yes, you could substitute Spain for Brazil, but at least the Americans have actually beaten Spain (though according to Iker Casillas, that will only happen once out of ten times).

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12:32pm– So what is the dream draw for the USA? South Africa, Switzerland and Uruguay Algeria would be a draw that would have USA fans celebrating like it's New Year's Eve.

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12:30pm– Good afternoon all. We're getting closer to the moment of truth and I'm sure most of you are as anxious as can be. The draw generator is surely working overtime, and I won't lie, I've done a few. Unfortunately, South Africa only came out in the USA group once in ten draws.

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Comments

  1. Fair enough. I’m certainly not arguing that Group D is the “Group of Death”, as another one of the ESPN guys was saying (though I understand his argument). I personally think you need a combination of two things to have a “Group of Death”. I do agree that you need powerhouse teams with top level talent. That’s why Group D, to me, is not a “Group of Death” – while I can realistically see scenarios with each of the teams advancing, there’s only one real powerhouse in the group, and you’re right, no one is THAT shaken that either Ghana, Australia, or Serbia must go home. But I do also think that it’s not really a “Group of Death” unless you know that not just one but two good teams are definitely going home. In 2006, between Italy, the Czech Republic, the US, and Ghana, you knew two teams that had legitimate 2nd round aspirations (pre-draw) were going home. Italy was a powerhouse, Czech Republic was a powerhouse, the US was the dominant team of its region (with a really high but admittedly inflated ranking), and Ghana was a solid team with one of the world’s most elite players. Leading up to the draw, each of those teams legitimately expected to have a good shot at the second round given a middle of the road draw. After the draw, Italy and the Czechs could no longer be so sure they’d advance, and the US and Ghana couldn’t even be sure they’d get a point. That’s a “Group of Death”. To me, three strong teams and one embarrassingly bad team doesn’t create that same kind of dread in the hearts of the teams’ supporters (which is not to minimize the frustration that Portugal and Ivory Coast supporters are probably feeling right now – especially Ivory Coast, being grouped with the Netherlands and Argentina in the almost-Group-of-Death last time). But I understand the counterargument and opinions seem to be pretty split on this.

    Reply
  2. I think one of the teams from Group A will advance to the final 8. After SA they are all about even. They have no seeded team to play, and the top two should come out of group very fresh.

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  3. there is no possibly way that davies is back for the world cup. dont get me wrong, i am a big fan of davies, but he has a metal rod going all the way down his leg now because of the severity of the breaks. i hate to say, i dont think he will ever have the quickness he once had. its a very sad story.

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  4. There’s more to a Group of Death than individual talent. IMO, you can’t have a Group of Death if one team has no chance to advance, and would have no chance to advance in a more average group, and that is the case with NK in Group G.

    Overall, this is the most balanced set of groups that I can remember for a World Cup.

    (SBI-I think it really depends on your definition of what a Group of Death is. I’m not so sure the widely-held definition of a Group of Death is four good teams. A group that has three powerhouse teams is for my money more of a group of death because a very strong team is assured to be out. If Ghana, Australia or Serbia miss the second round I don'[t think anybody’s going to be that blown away, but when Portugal, Brazil or Ivory Coast miss out I think it will have slightly more of an impact. That’s just how I see it.)

    Reply
  5. I’m hoping Bradley doesn’t favor Spector over Dolo beyond reason. I just saw some of the West Ham game with Burnley I believe, and Spector was poor. West Ham coach Zola, gave him some late cover with another defender on the right and both Spector and the other defender backed off Eagles defeating the purpose of double team.

    Jonathon, when you have a double team you don’t both back off, you pressure the attacker onto his weak side and into the double.

    Reply
  6. Try group D as your group of Death. All four teams in that group could make it out of most of the other groups.Austraila maybe considered the weakest but they pretty much man handled their Asian group and got to the second round in the last WC. Ghana well we know what happened when they played the USA last time and Serbia is suppose to have a good team. So i think this is a tougher draw than Portugal and North Korea.

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  7. I read somewhere referring to this as the Group of Life… I’m in, make the shirts, I care about the results still, but the Group of Life this shall be known as from now on… We can do well, I even like our options if we advance.

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  8. Hey Ives: concerning your starting line-up versus England. If Bornstein is the starting left back, we have no chance to win that game. JB can’t mark CONCACAF forwards/wingers. How is going to mark SWP and/or Aaron Lennon? BB better find himself a left back (Spector – with Steve C. as the RB) or the USA will get crushed by England. I don’t care how much JB might add to the US attack, the primary objective of any defender is to DEFEND first, all is secondary. I sure hope BB realizes before June 12th, or it will be another opening match loss of 3-0.

    (SBI-Last time I checked, Spector couldn’t mark Lennon either. Bornstein isn’t a star, or a lockdown defender, but he’s improved considerably late in qualifying and remains the best option (with his speeding making him a better left back option against the likes of SWP and Lennon). It’s easy to say “He’s not good enough” but that’s irrelevant. He’s the best in the pool right now and it will be up to him to step up, or it will be up to someone else to emerge. Nobody has yet. (and no, we can’t assume Castillo will be the answer either. He’s even more of an attack-first, defend-later fullback than Bornstein is).)

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  9. “You can usually tell about ten seconds into a live TV interview with a random spectator if you’ve picked the wrong person.”

    Revolutionary war part deuce!!!!!

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  10. “DRAW- Freddy Adu’s Tweeting leads him to get crushed by Alexi Lalas on the ESPN broadcast. Lalas is right though in that Adu is pretty far off the radar right now.”

    Lalas said, so what, he wants to play. He could have been much more brutal. Does Freddy Adu realize that he hasn’t been playing soccer for a couple of years. What planet is he living on?

    Reply
  11. Oh man, we got so lucky. We have tickets to US vs. Slovenia. I was dancing around my room as our draw was being announced. I am so excited.

    Reply
  12. Bornstein is in your ideal lineup, Ives? Oy vey…

    (SBI-The ideal lineup would involve having Patrice Evra’s twin brother being discovered living in Kentucky, but that’s not happening. Bornstein’s not great, but he’s improved quite a bit and has shown progress and is frankly the best option in the pool at left back right now.)

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  13. Ives (or anyone else),

    Do you think the possibility of Donovan or any other USMNTer signing on with an English team during the transfer window will be affected by the US-Eng pairing?

    (SBI-Not at all. Not sure what one would have to do with the other. English clubs operate independent of the national team and are concerned only with winning (Nevermind the fact that there are a bunch of American owners in England. All that said, I don’t see him going to England anyway.)

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  14. Bayern Munchen playing Borussia

    Monchengladbach right now:1-1. Bradley playing with some bite! He had a beautiful one touch assist on Monchengladbach goal.

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  15. Ives –

    HUGE questions with that line-up. Of course, the big one is will Davies be healthy enough. Or will Gooch be healthy enough. Also – will either one be IN form and fit?

    Also – J. Jones needs time to develop chemistry with Bradley (and also with the rest of the team) … will a few warm-up games be enough?

    And is Bornstein really our best option in a perfect scenario? I guess if he matures by a big leap in the next 4 months…

    (SBI-Not sure why there continues to be questions about Onyewu. He should be back with more than enough time to get back into shape. Davies is the long-shot, which I mentioned. As for Jermaine Jones, if he’s healthy and playing, he is simply a notch above the other options in the U.S. pool and barring a serious personality clash, I can’t see him not starting. As for Bornstein, he’s the best option the U.S. has, and any other suggestions are more speculative wishful thinking than anything. Could this change? Sure, but given Bob Bradley’s preference of starting Jonathan Spector over Cherundolo at right back, and given Spector’s impact as a crosser from the right wing (as opposed to his lack of service from the left), I just think Bornstein is the best option. Could that change? Sure, but right now he gets the nod.)

    Reply
  16. After watching all the coverage (thank you ESPN360) I have two observations:

    Ruud Gullet is useless

    John Harkes is close to useless

    Go USA, France and Uraguay!

    Reply
  17. Not that it’ll make a huge difference, but the US do have a slight advantage over the rest of the group: By FAR the least amount of travel during the group stage. Algeria will face us in the third match after starting in the NE of South Africa (Polokwane) going all the way to the extreme SW (Cape Town) and then almost all the way back (Pretoria). In contrast our longest trip is 75 miles out of Jo’burg.

    Reply
  18. I hate it when work gets in the way of my soccer. Finally finished watching the draw on ESPN 360, and I’m feeling great about the draw. Time to get the US healthy and if they play with any passion, we should hopefully advance out of the group.

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  19. Algeria is likely the best of the African teams and are certainly no pushover.

    ==

    Yeah…. They may not be pushovers, but they are not the best African team. They CdI, Nigeria, and Ghana are probably better.

    Reply

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