World Cup Draw 2010 Puts America and England Back Together

The World Cup draw for 2010 is the last bit of World Cup suspense until June. After the World Cup draw, the 32 lucky teams will finally know their route to the championship, and who they will have to go through. The United States is once more among those 32 teams, as they try to finally break through into the soccer elite. To do that, the World Cup draw would have to be favorable, as the Americans hoped to avoid the famed "Group of Death." As it turned out, the USA found out their fate very quickly - and it goes through England.

The World Cup draw put the Americans in "Group C" almost immediately. Earlier in the ceremony, England was chosen as the top seed in Group C, with the USA put into the second slot. This means that Britain and the United States will play each other first, on June 12, 2010.

As soccer fans know, this would be the first World Cup match between England and the United States since 1950, when America pulled off a famed 1-0 upset. But the USA has to worry about more than one team in a group, of course.

If a nation is in a "Group of Death" with three dangerous teams, it gets a lot harder to advance out. Odds were high that England could fall into a Group of Death, which could have been an ominous sign for America.

Algeria soon got chosen as the third team in Group C. but teams like Portugal, Uruguay and France were still around by the end. In the end, however, Group C was made up of the U.S, England, Algeria and Slovenia.

The World Cup draw 2010 could have been much worse, as the U.S. and England will meet right off the bat, and will then be favored against Slovenia and Algeria. The path for the United States won't be extremely easy, since they are capable of going far, like in 2002, or tanking completely, like in 1998. But for the moment, they got what they wanted- though they could meet Germany from Group D in the next round, if they aren't careful.

The rest of the World Cup draw paints an interesting picture for 2010. Group A has host South Africa up against Mexico, Uruguay and France, in a difficult draw. Group B looks to be just as difficult, with Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea and Greece. Group D features Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana, with Group E pairing the Netherlands, Denmark, Japan and Cameroon.

Group F has defending champion Italy against Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia, while Group H is put together of Spain, Switzerland, Honduras and Chile. Group G offers an interesting road for Brazil, as the powerhouse may be in the "Group of Death" with Portugal, North Korea and the Ivory Coast.

Despite all the controversy on the road to the 2010 World Cup draw - most notably with France and Ireland - FIFA now finally sees the light at the end of the tunnel. With the pairings complete, the teams will plan out their routes to the championship, and have ample time to do it. There are a full six months left until the first match, in which Mexico faces South Africa on June 11 in Johannesburg.

America will begin their World Cup journey the very next day, as they have the manageable road they hoped for, and now must take advantage of it.

Sources

BBC Sport- "World Cup groups - live draw"

Associated Press- "US to open against England at World Cup"

Mirror.co.uk- "England are 5-1 to end up in World Cup Group of Death"