Not too optimistic about 'Merica's chances.

Yeah, nightmare draw.

Just hoping for a revenge win over Ghana at this point.

Brutal.

And we save Mexico's ass and they get the far easier draw.

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I find watching England play so painful that I once recommended to the authorities that it should be considered an alternative to waterboarding.

Italy in the amazon for the first game, good god.

Yeah, Group G is the 'Group of Death'. USA might struggle to get a win. I actually fancy Ghana to do something in this tournament so I think they will pip Portugal who laboured a bit to qualify.

You can never write England off as they don't actually lose many competitive matches and they have the easiest match last. If they can avoid losing to Italy and Uruguay, a win in the last game takes them through. On the other hand if they lose the first match, they are under a lot of pressure Vs Uruguay.

I can't believe Croatia are at the finals when we thumped them home and away in the qualifiers! If we'd started the campaign with a competent manager we would have qualified but alas just another Scotland hard luck story.

My tournament dark horses are Belgium and Bosnia. The winner will be either be Spain, Argentina or Brazil. Surely Messi is fated to win a World Cup? Could be his best chance...

Tough draw for the US, groups B and D are awfully rough too. The US group was always going to be one of the deepest because I personally would rate the US as one of the teams to avoid from the CONCACAF/Asia pot if not the top team to avoid from that pot. Obviously the US are underdogs, but while qualifying went largely as expected I think once everyone gets to Brazil and has to play in conditions many of the northern Europeans in particular will be very unfamiliar with, things could get interesting quick. We may well see another South Korea where upsets were rampant. It pains me to agree that Ghana intrigues me since I want them gone being grouped with the US. More generally I do wonder if this could finally be the time for a deep run by some of the AFricans that everyone has been anticipating forever. If some of the other teams fade in the heat, it could prime some of the equatorial African teams for something big. I'm a longtime fan of Germany, but while many people favor them I can't really see them doing it in Brazil. My dark secret about that team is I think people are way too on the new German soccer bandwagon, considering the old stodgy Germans actually won things. Some great players, but I don't think this generation is feared the way German tams of the past were, and the heat won't help them one little bit.

Klinssman may have a little somethin' somethin' for Germany. I think that Portugal are a bit overrated at 5, and USA owes Ghana big time. That being said, USA will be extremely fortunate to make it through the group stage.

There has to be a better way to seed these groups.

A few comparatively weak groups and a few very difficult ones, or maybe I'm just salty about the US's unfair draw.

It'll be next to impossible to make it through.....shock me Jurgen!

The first game against Ghana will definitely set the tone for the Yanks chances. A loss of any sort would pretty much be catastrophic. I tend to think that Germany will go 3-0 in the group and that the other three will finish tied 1-1-1, and that Portugal will advance from the group on one the various goal scoring tiebreakers.
I'm glad the USA is playing Germany last in the group stage, since a healthy America side really does stand a chance of being 2-0 at that point in time, but I really don't see them making it past the first knockout game even if they manage to get out of the group of death.
I'm just looking forward to watching a bunch of interesting match-ups once again, and I hope that the USA can upset one of the European teams in their group.

Win against Ghana, tie against Portugal, win or tie against Germany B team (who US already beat!). USA through.

Really pumped for this game. Portugal imploding today and their -4 GD helps. If we can get 3 from Ghana I like our chances of going through.

Well that was a nice way to start!

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Lucky to be up a goal. Ghana completely outplayed us. Jozy probably out for the tourney. Not good.

SHUT THE FUCK UP MARCO.

AMERICA.

Had the best fucking time in my local bar today. Forget winning a World Cup, if the US ever makes it to a Final, they'll compete for the next 50 years.

Ha! I made that post at half time.

Most of it's still accurate but 3 points is 3 points. I'll take a moral defeat over a moral victory any day. Even without Altidore, I think we can compete with Portugal but I hope Wondo starts over Johannsson. Bradley was terrible tonight. I don't think he'll ever play that poorly again. Hopefully Beslar is fit for Sunday although Brooks certainly proved he can hack it if he can't go.

I'm psyched for next week.

I agree about Bradley, Marco, and I'm not quite as sold on Brooks' defense (quite a drop for Besler's first half performance IMHO). People didn't talk about

Drawing with Portugal is feasible at this point, especially with Pepe's red card, and one more point plus a German victory over Ghana puts the US in a good position to get through.

Winning ugly is far more superior to losing with style. They proved their resilience after both Altidore and Dempsey got injured, but were a little complacent after that early goal.
It's hard to criticize their performance, when they finally found a way to beat a pesky Ghana team that has eliminated them from the two previous World Cups.
Klinsmann did a masterful job with his substitution, the only real question mark would be Johannsson. I think we might see Wondo start against Portugal, but both Zusi and Brooks proved they were ready to play at a moments notice.
Bradley definitely had a shaky performance, but I think his play improved dramatically over the last twenty minutes. I just think he was sort of hamstrung by Johannsson and a little out of sorts after the Altidore injury.
I know there are still a lot of people out there who are saying it was a mistake to leave Donovan off the squad, but I'm not sure they would have won this kind of match with his presence on the pitch.
They still might not advance out of the group of death, but they needed to prove they could win without him and establish a foundation for the future.

From what I've read, Besler should be fine to start - his sub was precautionary. Brooks subbed in admirably but he's still a backup.

They are saying Jozy might be ok for Sunday. I doubt it but would keep Johannson in there. He is not a target man like Jozy, but his movement and combination play is dangerous. Guy's a baller, and I would stick with him if Jozy can't go. Wondo is a last 30 or 15 min sub for me.

Bradley looked shaky but I predict will play much better against Portugal. Monday was a one off.

I thought we would have a good shot at a tie against Portugal before, but with Pepe, Coentrao, and Almeida out I can see getting the win. Plus, there were even rumors earlier today that Ronaldo might be out against the US (though completely unsubstantiated last I heard).

Confirmed this morning: Jozy out, Besler ok, Dempsey could or could not wear a mask: http://www.espnfc.us/fifa-world-cup/sto ... -hamstring

Dreading tonight's game. Clumsy defence up against Suárez, messy recipe.

I don't think Suarez will have much impact on the match, but his presence on the pitch might be enough to inspire Uruguay to win.
I'd be more concerned about Joe Hart and his ankle injury.

I was wrong about Suarez.
The officiating in this match is pretty poor. Diego Godin should be out of this match. He's lucky he didn't actually receive a straight red card for the hand ball, and clearly earned a second yellow card for a terrible tackle.
I wanted to see Uruguay prevail, but not through outright cheating or due to an incompetent referee.