It's complete, the USA have drawn:

Italy
Ghana
Czech Republic
USA

Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad draw.

Group of Death easily.
This is going to be tough on our boys.
I hate this draw big time.

Gonna be very hard to advance. Czech Republic is the class of the group. US needs to beat Ghana and at least draw with Italy. Not an easy task by any means.

Ouch, I feel for you guys. But its not impossible, Italy would be the team to knock out.

thats the group of death?

argentina
netherlands
serbia and monetenegro
ivory coast

that is group of death

I wholeheartedly agree with Sand here, but I must say that the USA is royally fucked as well.

USA did draw the group of death. Italy is no joke, Czech Republic wow!, and Ghana(my motherland) is good too.

That is an academic debate mate but argentina are one of the favorites and so are netherlands. Serbia and montenegro qualified above spain in their group with the best defensive record in europe. Ivory coast is a wildcard that could always spring surprises. This group has group of death written all over it.
I woul agree that USA did draw a pretty hard group as well.

I'd agree with that.

Ghana are hardly push overs. I firmly agree that Czech are the most difficult team in our group. I could see us beating Italy, but a win against Ghana & draw with Italy isn't out of the question.

Sigh, I had a feeling we'd get screwed. I'd much rather have gotten Korea's draw! Imagine the other teams being France, Switzerland and TOGO!

Group of eternal damnation is ARG, NED, CIV & S&M. You'd have to be into S&M to want to be in that group.

We're merely in a group of death.

Then again, Iran, Mexico & Portugal is hardly an easy group....oh yeah, Angola is in that group too.

I know everyone thinks the Fifa rankings are a joke but when u have the #8 and #3 teams in the World in the same group and they still aren't one of the seeded ones, that is the group of death. Holland and Argentina will take care of their group. I think Ghana is better than the Ivory Coast, they are a better team-oriented squad.

USA needs to beat Czech to advance, which is going to be quite an impossible task in itself.

Though I think Group C is the Group of Death, this group is pretty much Group of Hell. USA is fucked. There is no easy way to say that, because it's true. I dunno how we'll advance with the likes of Italy and especially the Czech Republic in here. I'm hoping that maybe Italy can be beaten...maybe. I hope. Gaah.

I'm glad Spain caught a break, the only team that worries me is the Ukraine, but the US got bent over and treated like some whore at Amsterdam's red light district.

C is the group of serious ass F***ing

all i gotta say good luck u.s. because u are definetely fucked for the world cup..i think they will finish 3rd in the group..because they will lose to italy 3-1 lose to czech rep 2-0 and tie ghana 1-1...so good luck gettin fucked up

I'm thinking that Ghana will be the 1998 reincarnate of Iran.

This isn't good for USA Soccer if they don't make it.

Daaaaaaaaaaaamnnn, what are you guys talking about, the US can do it. They could have beaten germany last wc if not for the handball on the line. You guys have to be confident and have confidence in us. What if one of the national team players came on this site and saw this. What would they think of our fans. I personally think that this really isn;t that bad a group. I actually was relieved when I saw who we had drawn up with. (And yes I watch soccer and I do know what I am talking about.)

This group is filled with over-rated teams (including the US) and it will come down to who ever is not intimidated by the other teams, that will advance.

Um...I'm not sure if you've seen the Czech team lately...? I don't know about Italy but I can tell you right now that CR is definitely not overrated. One of the top two unseeded teams (the other being Holland). I mean, we can do it, it's just going to be hard as hell. I do agree with you though that (with the exception of CR), whoever can keep a cool, determined head will nab second spot.

And don't forget that even if the US manages to make it past the first stage, there's an 80% chance they will face Brazil( who'll probably top its group).
So basically USA is how do you say " going to be pooped on", and I hope i am wrong.

I disagree. I think, to have a good chance at advancing, we need a point off of the Czechs. Then we play Italy. We need a point off of them. Then we play Ghana, we need 3 pts from that game. That gives us 5 pts.

I think the Czechs will beat Ghana (their 2nd game). If we had managed to get a point off the Czechs, then the Czechs would need a win against Italy to guarantee advancement (depending on tie break criteria etc.). That would likely put us through with the Czechs.

Of course there are a ton of other possible outcomes. I'm just saying, a point off the Czechs would give us a fighting chance at advancing. Even a loss against the Czechs would still give us a chance.

While Italy has a TON of talent, they don't seem to be able to play as a team very well....see qualifying & the Euro 2004.

To C. Ronaldiho, I don't think our mission is impossible. I do think we are underdogs though. And if a US player read this, and was demoralized by it, I don't want him on the team. Our players are the ones that need to be confident...and they are. They know they can do it because they have already proven that they can.

Man. I can't wait until June!

The biggest thing that worries me is that Italy are slow starters in the cup, and if Ghana beats them in the first game. Getting a tie versus them could be twice as hard. I am not saying it is impossible but we will have to play excellent soccer to do it.

If we get 5 points, I bet we will win the group. All the teams in the group are just going to beat eachother up.

i completely agree with you... and it isnt like arena has no talent pool to choose out of...

i predict:
---------------------------------------------------
GROUP C
1 Czech Republic
2 USA
3 Italia
4 Ghana

SCORES:
CR 1-1 USA
CR 2-0 ITA
CR 4-0 GH
USA 2-1 GH
USA 2-1 ITA
ITA 1-0 GH

It's doable, but man we did get a hard group. I would love to be sitting in South Korea's group G:

France
Switzerland
Korea Republic
Togo

Or even Ukraine's spot in H:

Spain
Ukraine
Tunisia
Saudi Arabia

too bad it didnt happen that way..u.s. is ranked in the top 10 in the world..they've played easy teams in central america...now let's see if they can compete against the best in the world

Yet another person who cannot fathom a good team coming out of Concacaf. And Mexico doesnt deserve that top seeding either right?

Almost makes me wish that the U.S ran the table in this group just to get some respect to this side of the world.

Juan, it is best to ignore the ignoramuses. People like that probably wished the CAF and OFC didn't have teams, either.

i understand where u are going and i seriously dont think that the u.s. should be ranked that high considering the teams they play to qualify for the world cup..out of all the countries they play it is always u.s. and mexico that end up on top because they play easy low ranked teams and consider themselves the best in the world...i would like to see the u.s. do really good in the world cup because i really want to see if they can contend against the best in the world...and so goes to mexico..im not hating on them i'm just saying they are ranked wayy too high in the world for me to think they are that good

USA has a very difficult group, I believe it was Italy, Chek Republic & Ghana (correct me if I'm wrong)

I haven't seen MLS lately & would like to know what you guys think about your chances of advancing.

I'm going to merge this with another topic already available.

mls is seriously boring...no goal scoring or anything...i remember watchin a dallas-columbus game on tv...and after like 5mins of the game i fell asleep..because they just kept kicking the ball back abd forth and there was no chemistry to the game

You act like that doesn't happen in every league. I'm sure every league has that one game that people can't stand to watch because its so boring. Its not like every game is like that. Games like that are gonna happen

only la galxy plays exciting to me..and they aint very good

Personally, I think the Galaxy doesn't play very exciting soccer at all. I think they play counter-attack, two-man ball (Donovan and Herc). I think Houston and San Jose (Houston) play very pretty soccer. New England also plays good soccer. To each their own though.

What does this have to do with the 2006 WC Draw?

most u.s. players play for mls...which i think is very boring...thats what i got to do with the wc

You are right, I wanted to talk about the draw, but forget it........



I want to talk now. I know only a miracle could save USA, cause this group has Italy and Czech Republic, which are good. I think USA is capable of beating Italy, why you ask, because Italy's soccer has not been impressive at all, no offense to Italians. I personally think this is the group of death. Could you guys tell me what you think are your chances of advancing.

Here's a possible lineup fow the WC:

--------------------------Keller-----------------------------------------


Cherundulo------------Gibbs--------Onyewu-------------Bocanegra

------------------------Reyna------------------------------------------
Ralston-----------------------------------------------------Beasley---
-------------------------------Donovan--------------------------------

------------McBride---------------------------Johnson---------------

Possibly O'Brien for Reyna, Lewis for Gibbs (Boca shoots to the middle).

Anyway, the only MLS players I see are Johnson, Ralston, and Donovan, and Donovan and Johnson most definitely are not "boring".

Eh, I hate seeing Ralston there. I really wish we had a true right midfielder. Too many lefties on this team. I'd prefer to run with Convey and Beasley on the outside. Or dropping Donovan one is always an option. Move Reyna to attacking mid, and O'brien to defensive mid. If O'Brien isn't healthy, I would assume Mastro would also crack the line-up, so 3 mls'ers out of 11 in the line-up.
I think the US has a better chance vs Czech Republic than we do against Italy. Czech will take the game at you and are prime for counter attacks. The US with Johnson, Beasley and Donovan running at defenses can create alot of trouble on counter attacks. The age of Czech Republic is also in our favor. I wouldn't be surprised if the US won the first game.
The Italians aren't the same Italians from Euro or WC2002. This team will score. They still know how to defend as good as any other team out there. They may have the best goal keeper in the world, coming off an injury though. I am saying the Italians match up very well with us. Luca Toni will be shut down in this game, if Totti is still around, he may put us in danger. The biggest threat they have is Pirlo standing over a ball 20-25 yards out. I think this one will go 1-0 or 1-1 either way.
Ghana is a defensive minded team. Obviously everyone knows Essien, and most probably assume he won't be around for the third game (red card probably). I think Ghana won't possess much of an offensive threat to us, we match athetically well with them. So I think we should win this game.
I like our chances of advancing as #1. Or maybe that is just McBride's play lately has me extra confident.

This formation is okay, although I think Ralston should not be there.

Reyna will be playing center back

I find it hard to believe that Reyna is a better option than Gooch and Gibbs/Boca. Unless you've read this somewhere, I'm confident he'll be in the middle of the park.

I would put beasley on the right and put convey on the left
I'd rather have beasley on the left but no one can placed on the right
or maybe there is one anybody think that
cobi jones has one more world cup run in him
also bocanegra should be in gibbs spot and lewis/gibbs/spector on the left

Cobi not invited to World Cup camp for MLS'ers was a big blow to his campaign. I am thinking it will be either Cherrundolo or O'brien that end up there at right mid. I am a big Convey fan too, but Beasley has to play left mid for us. Every game that he has excelled at for us, he was left mid. I think Lewis will beat out Boca for the spot at left fullback. That leaves our outside alittle small but we can deal.
We have way too many injured players now though: Gibbs, O'Brien, Boca, Reyna

Hell, shoot Beaz over to the right and Lewis on the LM. Beasley has the versatility to play both sides.

yeah eddie lewis will probably beat boca negra for the left fullback position but bocangra isnt a left fullback he is a CB
if you saw the USA vs Scotland game you saw how good he was at CB so since gibbs is injured boca will be partnered with onyewu