Grant Wahl @GrantWahl9h USA up 6 to No. 13 in new FIFA rankings. WC seed hopes rest on continued rise & URU, CRO, POR, GRE not qualifying
As a general guideline, US fans should be hoping for "upsets" (in which the lower ranked team wins or draws) in basically every match not featuring the US, as each upset potentially increases the possibilities of the US playing (more) WC matches against some "lower-ranked" teams.
No Short Corners weighs in: http://www.noshortcorners.com/2013/09/an-early-handicapping-of-us-world-cup.html
There's no reason to be afraid of being in Brazil's group--it's the other teams in the group that matter. I'd take: Brazil, Tunisia, Switzerland, USA any day of the week. Not to mention, we'd avoid Brazil from there on out until the Final (cough, cough). The Draw is so hugely important not just for this World Cup, but for the future. Look at what happened to Uruguay in 2010--drawn in with the weakest seed ever (South Africa), paired with Raymond Domenech's dysfunctional France, then given a path of Korea and Ghana to get to the Semifinals. Yes, Uruguay won Copa America, but let's turn things around and say Chile had gotten Uruguay's draw in 2010. They could equally have gotten past Korea and Ghana and been Semifinalist. And now we would be talking about a possible seed in Pot A for Chile and that nation's resurgence. The Draw can create storylines and interpretations of teams and nations that otherwise don't exist.
Unless some super upsets (Iceland, Bulgaria...Tunisia) qualify and get drawn with the USA, we'll be deemed in one of the toughest groups. Wouldn't a good scenario be FIFA using a combination of the past two World Cups and present qualifier records, vaulting Ghana in to the 1st Pot ? (Presuming they win out in CAF). We get drawn into their group with an AFC and a lesser UEFA. Ghana is less dangerous to us in the group stage, as we could work for a draw if need be, have added incentive from past results and we'd avoid another top 8 1st Pot team + a quality AFC and/or COMEBOL + a UEFA draw. Makes for a better chance to avoid a Group of Death, which will be the group with the best Pot 3 team, (guess who).
Could be Shakira. I know she's from Barranquilla but she speaks Portuguese and is a world wide artist, adored in Africa, Asia (even the Arab part), Europe, the Americas...
I agree about Belgium, which is why I've stated from the get go, that any they are going to be the least welcome team in any group. They are truly a good team from front to middle to back, to waaay back. Their depth is outstanding as well. A group with a seeded team, a good CAF team and Belgium is going to suck.
I agree that getting a Brazil or similar quality team in our group wouldn't necessarily be bad. I would take a draw where we get placed with Brazil and two manageable teams opposite another group with manageable 1 and 2 teams. Conversely, getting an easy group doesn't mean a whole lot if the group is paired with a Group of Death. I want the draw to maximize the chances for the U.S. to win a knockout game or two.
A good point about a group with Brasil. That group is very unlikely to be a group of death and may be easier to qualify in second spot than first or second in a much tougher group.
If we are going to get one of the more difficult seeded teams (i.e. not England, Switzerland, caliber), then it actually might be beneficial to draw Brazil or Argentina. In addition to what others mentioned previously, if I'm not mistaken that draw would preclude us from drawing another CONMEBOL team (e.g. Colombia, Uruguay, Chile) from the CONMEBOL/CAF group.
There really isn't an African team that I'm too concerned about. I'd probably prefer just about any of them, including Cote d'Ivoire or Ghana, to most of the CONMEBOL teams.
This time, probably. The most overrated continent by a longshot is Africa, which is easy to do because there is so much talent that hails from there. However, Ghana's recent run of two successful World Cups in a row is roughly half the success that the entire continent has ever been able to accomplish. Ivory Coast hasn't accomplished a thing in the World Cup, though they always seem to get some of the most difficult groups one can imagine.
This time, probably. The most overrated continent by a long-shot is Africa, which is easy to do because there is so much talent that hails from there. However, Ghana's recent run of two successful World Cups in a row is roughly half the success that the entire continent has ever been able to accomplish. Ivory Coast hasn't accomplished a thing in the World Cup, though they always seem to get some of the most difficult groups one can imagine.
I wouldn't necessarily think we are favorites against Ghana, but I do like our chances against them over Colombia and Uruguay. Ecuador and Chile are a bit more on the level of the strong African sides in my mind, but I'd rather face the African teams in Brazil. In the end, there are likely to be a handful of African teams among the weakest at the World Cup - a few teams like Tunisia, Algeria, Senegal, or Ethiopia could get through the African playoff. As we saw vs. Algeria last time, there is no such things as an easy World Cup game for us, but I'd rather be lining up against Tunisia in a must win third group game then Chile.
Um, might be a Brazilian since the WC is being hosted by Brazil. As for the draw, you'll definitely have Pele and probably Ronaldo there drawing the ping-pong balls, with Valcke muttering through it again. As for the presenter, maybe Gisele because they will need a Brazilian female personality who speaks decent English for the draw. Thus a lot of the models might be out.