World Cup Draw

One of the most awaited days of the international soccer calendar happened on Friday: the announcement of the group draw for the World Cup in June 2010. Since this only happens once every four years it's a huge deal for soccer fans around the world, especially those countries whose national teams don't make the tournament every time around.

So let's look at how this thing turned out.

Group A (South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France)
For the host nation South Africa, this is going to be a very difficult group to advance out of, as I and many others see them as the weakest team in this group. Of course, being the host nation does give them a shot. They deserve credit for playing surprisingly well in the Confederations Cup over the summer and may be able to surprise.
Mexico traditionally does very well in World Cup play. Their coaching issues seem to be behind them for now and if they are healthy going into June they should be a player in this group.
Uruguay is a question mark in my mind. They have great strikers, but can the rest of the team do enough to highlight that fact? In this group, they certainly have a shot.
France has to feel incredibly lucky to be placed in this group. If they had been seeded (which most Frenchmen felt they should) they could have easily been given a much tougher draw. As it stands, Henry's handball has now cast a doubly long shadow on France's aspirations for World Cup glory.
Group Prediction: France, Mexico, South Africa, Uruguay

Group B (Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece)
This group is incredibly interesting to me. First, you have one of the top three most talented teams in the world in Argentina. They have so much quality that it's almost embarrassing they made such an ordeal of their qualifying campaign. They have players who won't make the plane the South Africa that would be star players on other teams in the tournament. As always, this will be a fun team to watch.
Speaking of fun teams to watch, whenever the Nigerians make the field you know that they will bring an offensive approach to the game. Their opening round game against Argentina is a must watch for fans of attacking football.
In almost complete contrast to the top half of the group is bottom half. South Korea is an experienced, well-organized side who is tough to play against. After Argentina, this group is wide open and if the South Koreans can take their opportunities they have as good a shot as any at making it to the knock-out stage.
And then there's Greece. They are happy to site back and defend with the hopes of winning games one - nil, which they do better than any other nation. They score on the counter attack and off set-pieces. They aren't fun to watch, but they are effective. Their game against Nigeria will be a complete contrast in styles and the result (in my mind) will probably be extremely confusing to casual soccer followers.
Group Prediction: Argentina, Greece, South Korea, Nigeria

Check back in later as I pick the rest of the groups.