The Unofficial FIFA South Africa World Cup Thread

[Fiyero]

Presently Argentina is in fifth place in South America.

Note that the fourth place team in the CONCACAF region (North America & Carribean) plays the SA fifth place team in a one-game playoff for the 32nd and final World Cup spot.

What that means is, Argentina is a perennial futbol power, so imagine a one-game playoff against Kansas for a ticket to March Madness.

The US better get it done in their final two matches, because they could still finish anywhere from first to fourth.

[Fiyero]

South Africa is 10 hours ahead of the Mountain Time Zone, which means that Noon games will be broadcast at 2 am? Aaargh!

243 days, 12 hours, 45 minutes until kickoff.

[LiveCoug]

South Africa is 10 hours ahead of the Mountain Time Zone, which means that Noon games will be broadcast at 2 am? Aaargh!

243 days, 12 hours, 45 minutes until kickoff.

Similar to the Korea/Japan cup. I woke up and watched every US game live.

[Fiyero]

Similar to the Korea/Japan cup. I woke up and watched every US game live.

I remember in 2002, the big upsets over Portugal and Mexico came at 5 am. USA kept drawing the noon games (noon in Germany).

[Fiyero]

USA and Honduras tied 1-1 with 20 minutes left.

Mexico and Costa Rica both won tonight, so a tie won't be enough to clinch the Cup for the US. It will come down to the final game, next week vs. Costa Rica at RFK stadium in Maryland.

Standings

[Fiyero]

GOAL!!!!

USA leads 2-1 with 18 minutes left. Casey with both goals.

[Fiyero]

GOAL!!!

Landon Donovan makes it 3-1 with 15 minutes left!!

USA is in the cup, and more importantly is in 1st place in CONCACAF. (The top seeds get the best draws).

[Fiyero]

The World Cup draw is Friday evening.

USA will be in a group with one of these teams:
Argentina, Brazil, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, South Africa

And one of these:
Algeria, Cameroon, Chile, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Paraguay, Uruguay

And one of these:
Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland

[wuapinmon]

The World Cup draw is Friday evening.

USA will be in a group with one of these teams:
Argentina, Brazil, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, South Africa

And one of these:
Algeria, Cameroon, Chile, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Paraguay, Uruguay

And one of these:
Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland

Here's hoping for South Africa, Ghana, and Switzerland.

Have you ever wondered why in the world Africa gets five spots? That's one less than the Americas. CONCACAF needs to do some lobbying.

[fuegote]

Trying to get myself to the draw party at Rio Tinto stadium.

[Fiyero]

USA paired with England, Slovenia and Algeria. The best draw USA ever had!

USA and England will feature feuding Los Angeles teammates Landon Donovan vs. David Beckham. Go ahead and tell me that draw was random.

USA and England will by far be the two favorites to advance from their group.

Here are the groups:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/livedraw?cc=5901&ver=us

[Fiyero]

FIFA rankings from 11/20/09:

9 England
14 USA
28 Algeria
33 Slovenia

[Fiyero]

Honduras was put in the group of death, with Spain, Switzerland and Chile. Start praying for them now, CONCACAF fans!

[JohnnyLingo]

Honduras was put in the group of death, with Spain, Switzerland and Chile. Start praying for them now, CONCACAF fans!

South Africa is going to have a tough road, too.

[Fiyero]

England beat USA 2-0 in a friendly in Wembley Stadium in May 2008, and afterwards the yanks felt like they had been dominated.

"We've been successful and we're getting better, but we didn't need to play this game to know there is a difference [between the teams]," said U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati afterward. "Games like this -- played away, at Wembley, against top-level players, make us better. We'd like to win, but is it a positive experience? Yes."

That's probably true. It is also true that the Americans were outclassed in this match from the start. Fabio Capello's lineup featured seven players that also started last week's Champions League final, and while the Yank defenders admirably coped with their opponents' world-class midfield -- Owen Hargreaves, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and David Beckham -- for a while, it was just a matter of time until the home team broke through.

Since USA and England are the first match in the round robin, someone will have to start 0-1.