'Yanks' alot - England receive kind World Cup draw

England manager Fabio Capello would have came away from Cape Town a very happy man after seeing his side paired with USA, Algeria and Slovenia in the group stage for the 2010 World Cup draw in South Africa.

England begin their campaign against the US in Rustenburg at high altitude, ironically the town where England will be training over the course of the tournament. Easier fixtures against Algeria and Slovenia follow in a group that Capello would expect to qualify from in comfortable fashion.

England will play in Cape Town at sea level for the match against Algeria and Slovenia on the east coast of Port Elizabeth, so expect many ups and downs ahead, literally, for Capello’s men.

Should England proceed to the next round, one team out of Germany, Australia, Ghana and Serbia will meet Capello’s men. Meeting Germany in the second round will be not what England fans would quite hope for given the country’s history with them in major tournaments. The Italian will also be happy that his team will not meet pre-tournament favourites Spain, Brazil nor Argentina, until the semi-finals at least.

Elsewhere, the World Cup draw’s ‘Group of Death’ sees five-time world champions Brazil drawn with Didier Drogba’s Ivory Coast side, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and North Korea.

A Latin-American flavour lingers in Spain’s group, featuring Chile, Honduras and Switzerland in a draw that is expected to pose very little trouble for the European champions.

Meanwhile reigning world champions Italy, like England, have been given a favourable draw pairing with New Zealand, Paraguay and Slovakia. The Italians have looked in poor form in recent times, needing a last-minute goal from striker Alberto Gilardino to qualify for South Africa at the expense of Ireland in October.

The Netherlands, currently without talismanic Arsenal striker Robin van Persie, will play Japan, Cameroon and Denmark. The side, which also boasts the talented Klaas Jan-Huntelaar, Arjen Robben and Dirk Kuyt, will be perennial dark horses come June.

Diego Maradona’s Argentina will face Nigeria, South Korea and Greece. Maradona, who scored against Nigeria in a 1994 World Cup group match, will be relying on the recently crowned European Footballer of the Year Lionel Messi to provide the inspiration and magic, just like his manager did over two decades ago.

And to round off the draw, hosts South Africa will open the World Cup tournament with a match against Mexico. Get ready for luminous tribal dancing and Mexican waves on 11 June! The Bafana Bafana side will also contest against Uruguay and a disjointed France side, managed by Raymond Domenech.