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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 korea dpr ivory coast potugal
H spain Switzerland honduras chile

Brilliant draw for US. Couldn't have gone much better other than to have SA instead of England. Should get through.

No giants in the US Draw. We COULD win the group. SHOULD be no worse than 2nd.

HOORAY!!! Bring on the Brits!

RATING THE GROUPS
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Group H - #1 Spain, #17 Chile, #18 Switzerland, #38 Honduras (74, 18.5, 3 in Top 20, 12.0 AVG Top 3)
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Group E - #3 Netherlands, #11 Cameroon, #26 Denmark, #43 Japan (83, 20.75, 2 in Top 20, 13.3 AVG Top 3)
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Group C - #9 England, #14 United States, #28 Algeria, #33 Slovenia (84, 21.0, 2 in Top 20, 17.0 AVG Top 3)
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Group D - #6 Germany, #20 Serbia, #21 Australia, #37 Ghana (84, 21.0, 2 in Top 20, 15.7 AVG Top 3)
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Group B - #8 Argentina, #12 Greece, #22 Nigeria, #52 South Korea (94, 23.5, 2 in Top 20, 14.0 AVG Top 3)
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Group G - #2 Brazil, #5 Portugal, #16 Ivory Coast, #84 North Korea (107, 26.75, 3 in Top 20, 7.7 AVG Top 3) - GROUP OF DEATH
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Group A - #7 France, #15 Mexico, #19 Uruguay, #86 South Africa (127, 31.75, 3 in Top 20, 13.7 AVG Top 3)
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Group F - #4 Italy, #30 Paraguay, #34 Slovakia, #77 New Zealand (145, 36.25, 1 in Top 20, 22.7 AVG Top 3)
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South Africa and Ivory Coast both got the wild card teams from Pot 4 in their groups.

A very happy day in J'burg, but the African continent had the worst luck with this draw. They may not get a team into the second round.

From the London Times

England hopes of winning the World Cup in South Africa next summer were given a huge boost today when they were given a relatively straightforward draw for the group stage of the competition.

Fabio Capello's side were pitched against United States, Algeria and Slovenia in a draw that saw them avoid potential heavyweights such as Portugal, France and Ivory Coast.

Bookmakers reacted to the draw in Cape Town, which placed Brazil in a formidable group including France and Ivory Coast, by installing England as third favourites to win the event for the first time on foreign soil.

Capello's men begin their tournament against USA on June 12 before facing Algeria 12 days later and Slovenia on June 18 in a potentially tiring itinerary that requires them to cross the length of South Africa. Their first match is in the north west of the country in Rustenburg, the second is on the south coast in Port Elizabeth and the third is in Cape Town to the west.

Should England qualify for the last 16 - they need to finish at least second in Group C - they will play one of the top two sides in Group D, which includes Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana.

The USA, who were among the second seeds, will provide England with probably their toughest opposition. They impressed in qualification and recently beat Spain, the European champions and World Cup favourites, in the Confederations Cup.

Algeria, who scraped through to the tournamen after a play-off against Egypt, are regarded as the weakest of the five African qualifiers. Slovenia, are ranked 33rd in the world and also qualified for the event via a play-off. England them Slovenia in a friendly at Wembley in March.

It's Brazil, PORTUGAL and Ivory Coast......isn't it?

The Fleet Streeter filed his story to quickly.

World Cup Odds

World Cup Winner
9/2 - Brazil, Spain
11/2 - England
10/1 - Argentina
12/1 - France, Italy
14/1 - Germany, Holland
18/1 - Portugal
22/1 - Ivory Coast
40/1 - Paraguay
45/1 - Chile
50/1 - Mexico, Serbia
60/1 - USA
75/1 - Ghana
80/1 - Denmark, Nigeria, South Africa, Uruguay
100/1 - Australia, Cameroon, Japan
125/1 - Greece, Switzerland
175/1 - Slovenia
200/1 - Slovakia, South Korea
300/1 - Honduras
500/1 - Algeria, North Korea
750/1 - New Zealand

England Group Betting
2/55 - England
10/3 - USA
15/2 - Slovenia
16/1 - Algeria

World Cup Draw Specials
9/2 - The World Cup Final to be won on a penalty shoot out
6/1 - England to be knocked out on penalties
2000/1 - England to beat Germany 4-2 in the 2010 World Cup Final

How many penalty shoot-outs will England play in the World Cup?
1/4 - None
3/1 - Exactly One
16/1 - Two or more

England’s Top World Cup Scorer
13/8 - Rooney
5/1 - Defoe, Lampard
6/1 - Gerrard
10/1 - Crouch
18/1 - Heskey
20/1 - J Cole
22/1 - Bent, Walcott
28/1 - C Cole, Owen
33/1 - Terry

Top Scorer
9/1 - Villa
10/1 - Fabiano
11/1 - Torres
14/1 - Ronaldo
16/1 - Messi, Rooney
20/1 - Aguero, Kaka
22/1 - Drogba, Klose, Van Persie
25/1 - Higuain, Robinho

Real question for US is what crazy line-up BB will use. If everyone is in form (no Davies or Guch) who plays?
Does BB use a 4-2-3-1 with
Altidore

Donovan Bradley Dempsey
or Torres, berhalter

Clark Jones
or Bradley, Adu

Bornsein Spector
or Mexican kid Boca Demeritt or Hedjuk


Can BB get McBride to come back? We don't have a quality forward after Altidore!!!!