World Cup draw; U.S.A. smiles, just a little bit

Well now we know who is playing who, in what order and where for next summers World Cup. The draw was hosted by the beautiful Charlize Theron and some FIFA douche with both awkwardness and a complete lack of chemistry. Here is the how the draw played out.

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France

Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, 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, North Korea, Cote D'Ivoire, Portugal

Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile

So what stands out? For the USA, they are most likely being looked at as the second best team in Group C which is a very good thing... Groups D and G are absolute bastards... Mexico got a favorable draw but could be tested by Uruguay...Italy, Spain, Argentina got favorable draws as did Greece, France and England... Group E could either be easy for the Netherlands and Denmark or difficult depending on the play of Japan and Cameroon who have been strong in the past but may not be fielding their best teams...David Beckham's haircut is one of the worst I've ever seen on a Worldwide Television feed.

Going back to the group that the Americans were drawn into, I am extremely happy. Granted, England is a beast but they have a history of failure on the big stage and both Algeria and Slovenia are not historically strong teams. Slovenia did qualify out of Europe and beat Russia in a two game playoff so they can't be overlooked but to draw them as a European team is a blessing. Algeria needed a one game play-in to book their spot out of Africa and may be the weakest of the African teams, sans South Africa of course. The one negative of the position that the United States is in is the depth and strength of Group D, making their second round (if they qualify) match a tough one no matter who they play.

My early prediction is a second place finish and a knock out round victory over Ghana in the round of 16. After that all bets are off because I really can't predict what will happen but I'm banking on all hell breaking loose because this tournament is not taking place in Europe. The U.S. will have a chance to make it as far, if not farther than they ever have before. That being said, one wrong bounce of the ball or one bad foul can change the outcome of the entire tournament for a team. Now I'll step aside and let the professionals, and Alexi Lalas, tell us what to think.