World Cup Group Stage Draw

The World Cup draw is always one of the most looked forward to events of the soccer calendar. It precedes the actual Cup by half a year, but it is a major factor in determining the course of the Cup. This year there was controversy surrounding the "X-Pot," Fifa's odd new addition to the draw. In the end, the US was drawn into the group of death and Spain and the Netherlands will play a rematch of 2010's Final.

Group of Death

The group of death is undoubtedly Group G: Germany, ranked number 2 in the world, and bronze medal winners in 2010; Portugal, ranked number 5 in the world, and carried by Cristiano Ronaldo; USA, under the leadership of Jurgen Klinnsman and with the world's most powerful country at their backs; and Ghana, the team built around Europe based stars Michael Essien, Kevin Prince Boateng and Sully Muntari. This is by no means "overrateed." The quick first glance at the group, looking at the teams on paper, it is clear that the US are out, while Ghana could give Portugal a run for their second place money. However, I believe that the group will be a better contest than that; this is probably due to the fact that I am American, and desperately hope that the red white and blue have a change, which they do. I will preview each group more in depth as the year progresses, but for now, I will say that the Americans and Ghanaians must not be underestimated; Portugal has weaknesses, as it relies heavily on Ronaldo, which it should, and it's defense is weak. This group will only get more interesting as the international breaks in the upcoming months occur.

The Weak Group
Clearly the weakest group of the draw is group E, containing France, Honduras, Ecuador and Switzerland. Now, keep in mind that this is the world cup, and that all the teams involved are quality. However, of all the groups, this is the weakest. France struggled to qualify, Switzerland had the benefit of an easy group containing Iceland, Slovenia and Norway, Ecuador, while starting out very hot in qualification, have won just once in the last 10 games of qualification, and Honduras, while a possible dark horse, are from CONCACAF, which is one of the easier continental qualification pools. This group should not be the most rigorous, but it could bring some drama: might France be eliminated in the first round again? These teams have quality, and it could happen.

Look over the next weeks as I will be previewing each group in depth, including schedules, team strength and coaches.