Who do you think the US will get. My prediction is we will be in the group of death again. I'm gonna go ahead and guess Spain, France, and an African Nation. FIFA has it out for the US team. Any one else have thoughts the drawing is friday and will be on ESPN.

I see you put this in the Serious Business section instead of Pro Sports since soccer is not a real sport.

good one. They don't really get paid to play for their country atleast not very much anyways so I would say this isnt a PRO sport.

^LOL^

I do agree though they will get hammered in the draw!

They dont have it out for the US. France actually just got screwed (in some way, the argument makes sense from Fifa, but you know they did it that way to keep France out of the top 8). The 3 remaining pools are geography based and I bet the US gets this group (which is BY FAR the worst they could hope for).

Spain
France
Urugauy (could also substitute Ivory Coast/Nigeria/Cameroon as tough African nations)
USA

I just HATE that we get screwed as being pooled with Asia and New Zealand. Why cant we ever catch a break and get pooled with Africa (who also has 5 other teams) and thus avoid ANY African team in our group. No, no, no...we get pooled with freaking Asia who we could beat all their f'ing teams woth our B squad. Whew, we really dodged a bullet getting grouped in with the world beaters of the WC.

I knew it would go down like that, it just sucks.

Best case scenario is we are drawn in with S. Africa. Obviously that gives us the worst seeded team (although the host country has NEVER failed to make it out of group stages) but it also means we would avoid any other African country as S. Africa cant be paired with one. So we would have a 66% chance of avoiding Uruguay and a 75% chance of avoiding Portugal and France from the European pool. Best draw imo, while very unrealistic:

S. Africa
USA
Paraguay
Slovenia

honestly does it really matter? it's not like this team is that good.

dave wrote: honestly does it really matter? it's not like this team is that good.

Honestly, yes it matters a great deal. If you dont know what youre talking about in regards to the seeding and how seeding works than please dont post.

If they get a decent draw this year, they can EASILY make it into the seeded pot for the next WC. They really just need to get out of group stage and it is a real possibility. A good draw makes that chance much easier. The next WC is in Brazil, who will be seeded regardless as a top 8 team while also eliminating the stupid host country spot.

That leaves 7 spots. USA performed to the top 8 2 WC ago, and if they get to the top 16/8 in this one, that is two REALLY GOOD WC performances. That would go along way if they can perform well over the next four years in their competitions to keep a solid Fifa ranking. Is it likely, Id venture to guess no. But it is a heck of a lot easier than what we have ever had to hope for.

sportchampps wrote: good one. They don't really get paid to play for their country atleast not very much anyways so I would say this isnt a PRO sport.

I remember reading in a story about New Zealand qualifying that they were getting $10 million for qualifying. So I'm sure the players on the WC squad get paid pretty well, probably more than they make for their club team unless they are in a top league.

If the US gets drawn with France Spain US and Cameroon that 4 of the top 14 teams in the world.

I know that US players are paid 37,500 and get an additional 3,750 for each game. If they win the world cup. It is up to each countries soccer Federation how much players are paid. Some countries pay alot while some very little.

I just hope we don't get dicked. I want an actual chance this year to get out of group stage, because then anything can happen. It is gonna hurt missing Davies up there with Altidore. Does anyone know if Gooch will be back? And i I ever see f'n Chang in the starting lineup I'm gonna be pissed.

Let's beat Spain again!

We'll get boned, hard, on Friday. No doubt.

I predict the United States of Altidore shall rise up and bring The Cup of the World back to the Americas!!!!!!!

What I don't get is how America can produce talents such as Lebron James, Micheal Jordan, Albert Pujols, and Tom Brady, but can't take 11 guys and dominate the world at soccer....

Something just ain't right, not right at all!

If guys like LeBron and Kobe were on our national soccer team (aka, chose soccer instead of basketball/football/etc growing up), we'd dominate hardcore. Or Randy Moss as a striker. Can you imagine some little Frenchman trying to keep up with Randy if he timed his run right? ROFLMAO.

sleeper wrote: What I don't get is how America can produce talents such as Lebron James, Micheal Jordan, Albert Pujols, and Tom Brady, but can't take 11 guys and dominate the world at soccer....

Something just ain't right, not right at all!

Pujols is from the DR.

fiction wrote:

sleeper wrote: What I don't get is how America can produce talents such as Lebron James, Micheal Jordan, Albert Pujols, and Tom Brady, but can't take 11 guys and dominate the world at soccer....

Something just ain't right, not right at all!

Pujols is from the DR.

Allegedly.

The USA would want to stear clear of these guys:

I thought I heard on Sports Center that the U.S. was place in a pool with Oceania.

http://www.ussoccer.com/Tournaments/FIFA-World-Cup-Qualifying/2010-FIFA-World-Cup-Qualifying-Final-Round.aspx

The U.S. Men’s National Team has been has been placed in Pot 2 alongside fellow CONCACAF qualifiers Mexico and Honduras, as well as the Asia and Oceania qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final Draw.

Cause our best athletes grow up idolizing players who play basketball, baseball, and football.

Had LBJ grown up idolizing Peter Czech or somebody like that---you don't think he wouldn't be the best goalie in the world right now?

joebaseball wrote: http://www.ussoccer.com/Tournaments/FIFA-World-Cup-Qualifying/2010-FIFA-World-Cup-Qualifying-Final-Round.aspx

The U.S. Men’s National Team has been has been placed in Pot 2 alongside fellow CONCACAF qualifiers Mexico and Honduras, as well as the Asia and Oceania qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final Draw.

Yes. That = Not good for our boys lol.

Those teams were are paired with BLOW. They BLOW BIG TIME! The pairing means that we cannot be in the same group as them. You want to be paired with GOOD teams and then you can be in a group with the shit teams. We are the opposite. Essentially, USA and Mexico are looked at by Fifa as inferior to the African teams. This has been the case for a few years, and frankly, the results dont match up with that thinking. USA and Mexico are at the very least even with the teams from Africa. We shouldnt constantly be paired away from them while S. America is paired with them.

But you are right, we are paired with Oceania and Asia. Unfortunately that was the worst pairing we could have hoped for.

Sage wrote: Cause our best athletes grow up idolizing players who play basketball, baseball, and football.

Had LBJ grown up idolizing Peter Czech or somebody like that---you don't think he wouldn't be the best goalie in the world right now?

Exactly. The best athletes, for the most part, are pressured to play basketball and football. In other countries it is ONLY soccer. Some have solid basketball or baseball. But still it is soccer from birth. Those kids are trained to be the best in the world.

BTW, its Petr Cech. Just an fyi

rock_knutne wrote: The USA would want to stear clear of these guys:

Nah, I would count on it. What the hell have the Italians ever done in the World Cup on the worlds BIGGEST stage??

Answer: NOTHING!!!




They are right there with England and Spain as the World Cups biggest choke artists

sportchampps wrote: good one. They don't really get paid to play for their country atleast not very much anyways so I would say this isnt a PRO sport.

These guys get paid huge incentive bonuses from their countries for advancing in the World Cup, especially the European powers. They also get a check from FIFA. BTW, most of these guys that play for European clubs make as much, if not more money than any athlete playing pro sports here.