With a colourful display of African dance and music on Dec 4th at the Convention Centre in Cape Town, South Africa, the World Cup 2010 Draw took place. The ceremony was led by FIFA´s General Secretary Jerome Valcke, who was assisted by Oscar-winning South African actress Charlize Theron.

Several football stars were present, like Cameroon’s Roger Milla, South Africa’s Matthew Booth, and England’s David Beckham, amongst others.

Thus, the countdown to the 2010 World Cup, that will take place in South Africa between June 11 and July 11, was officially launched.

Groups

There are eight groups with four teams each. The first two teams of each group will advance to the second round.

Here a look at the groups in which the seven Latin American countries will participate.

Group A: Mexico, Uruguay, South Africa and France.

This group is difficult to predict, with a discreet but motivated host team, committed to its people. France, the current 2nd-place world champion, is a mystery that could show world champion skills like it did in 1998 and 2006, or be eliminated in the first round as occurred in 2002. Player Thierry Henry has had a major hand in bringing France to the world cup. 

On the other hand, Mexico did not play well in the classifying rounds, but it did show improvement thanks to Javier Aguirre, and finished off with a more solid game and greater confidence in its players.

Uruguay classified in the repechage although its campaign was not solid, which is why it does not look prepared to get to make it to the second round. For the good of South American football, fans hope the Charruas (Uruguayans) manage to re-create the glory of past times. 

Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea and Greece.

The light blue and white team (Argentina) is in a much more feasible group. Its classification for the World Cup lacked polish and was only decided at the last minute. Diego Maradona was an exceptional player, but has not shown to be a great trainer and did not manage to get a solid and stable set of players due to many changes in each game. Nevertheless, Argentinean football has world-class players like striker Lionel Messi, defence Javier Zanetti and centre-forward, Sergio Aguero, enough to win first place within its group.

Nigeria likely has the greatest chance of accompanying Argentina.

Groups C, D and E do not have Latin-American teams.

Group C: England, United States, Slovenia, Algiers.

Group D: Germany, Australia, Ghana, Serbia.

Group E: Holland, Japan, Cameroon, Denmark.

Group F: Paraguay, Italia, New Zeland and Slovaquia

Italy is a world champion too and a strong candidate for the cup. On the other hand Paraguay, which has shown to be a great team in the classification rounds, does not shine during world cup matches. The fact that is positioned within a more balanced group may motivate it to get further. In this group, Italy and Paraguay have the greatest chances to classify.

Group G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast and Portugal.

The reputation of the 5-time world champion (Brazil) is reason enough that this time it will place first in this group. With a new generation of brilliant players and a serious and pragmatic trainer like Carlos Dunga, Brazil, as usual, will aiming for the cup. Any other result is considered a failure. Portugal appears to be the most probable companion for Brazil, but Ivory Coast is the best African team to date, led by player Didier Drogba and North Korea could give us a surprise as they did in 1966 when they beat Italy to qualify for the World Cup quarter finals.

Group H: Honduras, Chile, Spain and Switzerland.

Spain has a very strong team, full of stars, and the fact that it is the current European champion means that it is the favoured team in this group. Switzerland is lucky to have won a place in this group. 

Chile has a solid team, very well directed by the trainer Marcelo “El Loco” (nutcase) Bielsa, which earned it its second place classification in South America, after Brazil. For many, this reason is enough to make it a favourite to get into the next round. Honduras could have difficulties with teams that are superior in theory. It finished in third place in the easier league of the CONCACAF, but if it gets to the second round it will bring great joy to its people.

To know more about game dates and times, as well as news on the cup, please visit FIFA´s web page: www.fifa.com/worldcup