Soccer's elite teams can now plot a route they hope will lead to
the World Cup final.
The top five teams in FIFA's rankings - Spain, Brazil,
Netherlands, Italy and Portugal - are in the same half of a
somewhat lopsided draw and could meet sooner than expected. Brazil
and Portugal were drawn into the same group and will play each
other in the first round, with one probably taking on Spain in the
second round.
"I'm hoping not to face Spain too soon in the championship,
not least because we'd be facing Iker (Casillas) in goal," Brazil
playmaker Kaka said. "I prefer playing with him in Real Madrid than
against him in the World Cup."
Kaka will also come up against Real Madrid teammate Cristiano
Ronaldo when Brazil and Portugal meet in Durban on June 25. By
then, both will have come through tough games against Ivory Coast
and the unknown North Koreans.
"It's a complicated group. I'm not overjoyed but we'll be
playing against great teams," Ronaldo said. "Brazil is very strong,
Ivory Coast is really tough and Korea runs a lot. If we get as far
as meeting Spain, I'd be happy. We'd have played a good World Cup."
Portugal beat the North Koreans in one of the World Cup's
most famous games in 1966. Having knocked out Italy in the group
phase, the North Koreans were ahead 3-0 inside 24 minutes at
Goodison Park before Portugal, inspired by four goals from Eusebio,
won the game.
Unless they both win their groups, defending champion Italy
and the Netherlands could meet in the last 16 with the possibility
of then facing Brazil or Spain in the quarterfinals.
England goes into the competition with its highest hopes
since 1970, when it failed to defend the title it won four years
earlier.
But it has an old score to settle against the United States
in the group phase and could face two of its traditional World Cup
foes, Germany and Argentina, in the first two knockout rounds.
In their only previous World Cup meeting in 1950, the
Americans stunned a star-studded England 1-0.
"What I didn't want was to come up against the unknown and we
have avoided that and we have avoided some of the really hard
groups, like the one Brazil find themselves in," England midfielder
Steven Gerrard said.
"We have played two of the sides in our group under Fabio
Capello (United States and Slovenia) and beaten them. So we know
what to expect and we know what we have to do to beat them."
With Slovenia and Algeria both having advanced through
playoffs, the English and Americans should qualify for the last 16.
Whoever wins that group is likely to avoid three-time champion
Germany, which is in one of the toughest groups along with
Australia, Serbia and Ghana, any of which is capable of reaching
the second round.
Winner in 1978 and '86, Argentina hoped that the appointment
of Diego Maradona as coach would inspire the team to another
triumph.
But the team failed to find any form in qualifying and
advanced as the fourth-place finisher in South America. Now it has
a tough group against Nigeria, South Korea and 2004 European
champion Greece.
"It's not an easy group," Argentina general manager Carlos
Bilardo said.
"On the contrary, I think it's very difficult. In 1990,
everybody thought that Cameroon was easy and we ended up losing the
first match. Korea are strong, but we know them very well. Nigeria
are difficult, too, and Greece have shown in recent years that they
can compete against big teams. If it wasn't Greece, it could have
been Portugal or France, so we can't complain."
Argentina could then meet 1998 world champion France in the
second round.
After being embarrassed by Thierry Henry's hand ball in the
playoffs against Ireland, France now has a comparatively easy group
alongside host South Africa, Mexico and Uruguay.
