MATA DE SÃO JOÃO, BRAZIL—The Federation of International Futbol Association held the drawing for group selection in the 2014 World Cup to be played next June. The United States who won a berth for the World Cup earlier this year was randomly paired up with Germany, Portugal and Ghanain the seventh of eight groups formed. A total of 32 teams qualified to play in the world’s biggest soccer tournament.
FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke along with Brazilian host Fernanda Lima opened the drawing with several legendary players who made their names in past World Cup appearances. Eight countries won the right to lead a group with Brazil being the host nation and automatically set in Group A. Spain, Columbia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Argentina, Germany and Belgiumwere set in the remaining groups with the qualifiers being selected at random to join the lead countries.
The biggest stories were the setting of the 2010 World Cup Finalist with defending champions from Spain and runner up from The Netherlands were put in the same group and would meet up in the first game of Group B. England was chosen in Group D to be played with Italy, Costa Rica and Uruguay. Brazil’s neighbors to the south from Argentina caught a huge break matching with Bosnia-Herzegovina who are playing in their first World Cup ever with Iran and Nigeria finalizing Group F.
The biggest loser of the selection was the United States who were paired with two huge powerhouse teams from Germany and Portugal. Germany has ruined the U.S. in previous meetings with a 2-0 quarterfinal loss in 1998.Ghana was also chosen with the US and is their recent memory of elimination as the African country dropped the US for the second straight time.
Some analyst feel with the strength of the U.S. team and coach Jürgen Klinsmann (a former German national team member), their victory over their group opponents is not out of the question. Las Vegas odds makers have theUnited States at 200-1 to win it all with their neighbors from Mexico at 150-1.Brazil is the odds on favorite to win at 7-2 with Spain to repeat at 8-1. The World Cup begins play on June 12, with the final ending on July 13.
Broadcasts in the U.S. will be brought live by ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ABC and Univision. Before the drawing got underway the host country along with FIFA and soccer fans around the world paid their respects in a moment of silence for Nelson Mandela who passed away on Thursday. Mandela was responsible for bringing the World Cup to South Africa. He has been successful in previous sports matters, as he helped his nation host the Rugby World Cup in which South Africa won the tournament; that was made into a movie called “Invictus.” His spirit for the game of soccer makes the continued success of the World Cup flourish into a game of peace.
