Views from the Draw: U.S. dealt blow with pot announcements

Wednesday, 02 December 09, 06:11 PM · Comments (1)

CAPE TOWN -- The World Cup draw has yet to take place but the U.S. was already dealt a cruel hand before learning its fate on Friday. Tuesday's pot announcement saw the U.S. and the rest of CONCACAF grouped with the Asia and Oceania qualifiers. Full list below:

Pot 1: South Africa (hosts), Argentina, Brazil, England, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain

Pot 2: Australia, Honduras, Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Republic, Mexico, New Zealand, United States

Pot 3: Algeria, Cameroon, Chile, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Paraguay, Uruguay

Pot 4: Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland

While the news is certainly unfortunate, there's no reason to believe FIFA would do anything to favor the Americans. A successful World Cup will come as a result of a consistent and solid approach to each match, as well as near-flawless execution on the pitch. It doesn't matter if Bob Bradley's side is facing Ghana or Greece -- a win must be earned.

Even locals here in Cape Town hope the Bafana Bafana are grouped with the U.S. Such is the impression of the American game at this point that just about anyone wants a piece of the Yanks. South Africa is the obvious choice from Pot 1, though who knows what kind of side Diego Maradona puts together with Argentina.

Pot 3 is a toss up -- there's some good and some bad. Algeria, Chile, Nigeria and Uruguay are perhaps slightly more favorable than Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Paraguay and Cameroon. A strong African nation is one to cause a slight concern. However, the games are played in June, not December.

As for Pot 4, Greece and Portugal are two puzzling sides. Loaded with talent, both needed to go through the playoff process in order to even make it this far. Who's to say that the U.S. would come up short against either side. Two European opponents are a huge possibility -- and almost a preference rather than Brazil or Argentina.

The emphasis, as pointed out in the last post, needs to be on performance rather than opponent. Bradley can’t get hung up on who they play -- what he needs to do instead is formulate a plan to eliminate the errors that have plagued the U.S. team all year. Like in life, there’s only so much that can be controlled. That’s why a well-prepared U.S. squad will stand a stronger chance than one that is hung up on who they line up against in June.

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