The World Cup Draw

Today, the 32 teams that will compete at next year's World Cup in Germany were drawn into their 8 first round groups, and the USA certainly did not get any breaks. Bruce Arena's squad will be in Group E, along with perennial power Italy, a very good Czech Republic side, and Africa's top qualifier, the Black Stars of Ghana.

Grant Wahl of SI.com offers a good breakdown of the group. Many are calling Group E this tournament's version of the "group of death", and that could well be the case. On paper, things don't look favorable, but as the cliche goes, the game isn't played on paper. You need to keep in mind that the US wasn't supposed to get out of its first round group in Korea in 2002, and yet we went all the way to the quarterfinals. A lot can change between now and June, in terms of injuries and loss of form.

For more on next year's field, see SI.com and ESPN Soccernet.