World Cup draw: FIFA does U.S. soccer no favors in group with Germany, Portugal, Ghana
In many ways, the U.S. national soccer team’s
draw for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil makes perfect sense.
Of course the Americans ended up paired with Ghana, which
crushed their dreams in each of the past two competitions. Of course
they’ll face Germany, the global titan that ousted them a dozen years
ago and is the birthplace of U.S. Coach Juergen Klinsmann as well as
several of his dual-nationality players.
And of course, a program still selling the sport to an
increasingly engaged public will step into the spotlight with the
brightest star in the game right now, Cristiano Ronaldo, from a Portugal
team victimized by the Americans in their 2002 opener.
Perfectly logical but hardly perfect in terms of advancing beyond
Group G — that’s G, as in goodness gracious. The Americans may need
group therapy.
“Obviously it’s one of the most difficult groups in
the whole draw,” Klinsmann said Friday. “It couldn’t get any more
difficult or any bigger, but that’s what a World Cup is about.”
While
there was almost no avoiding a treacherous group, there was also hope
for a little better outcome. As the splashy presentation unfolded at a
resort in Brazil’s Bahia state and balls were pulled from four pots, the
Americans remained in the running for a spot in the group with the
weakest seeded team, Switzerland.
Contrary to Klinsmann’s assertion, it could have been worse.
Consider Australia, which has almost no chance of finishing among the
top two in Group B with 2010 finalists Spain and Netherlands plus Chile.
Klinsmann’s crew will also face the prospect of long journeys in a
country almost as large as the United States. From its southern base in
Sao Paulo, the Americans will have to charter to Natal, a coastal city
in the northeast, to play Ghana on June 16; Manaus, situated in the
Amazon region in the northwest, for Portugal on June 22; and Recife,
near Natal, for the June 26 group finale against Germany.
The USSF
estimates the team will travel some 8,800 miles over 11 days. Only
Italy, which received the same venue assignments, will collect
comparable frequent flyer miles.
“We hit the worst of the worst,” Klinsmann said of the first-round itinerary.
Travel aside, the Americans will confront three difficult 90-minute tasks against teams with strength, skill and experience.
“Sexy group,” U.S. forward Aron Johannsson posted on his Twitter page.
With
talent placed all over European leagues, Ghana has risen to the top of
Africa, a potent but underachieving soccer continent. Three-time
champion Germany has reached the semifinals in each of the past three
tournaments and draws a wealth of players from 2013 UEFA Champions
League finalists Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
The United States defeated Germany, 4-3, in May at Washington’s RFK Stadium, but because of club conflicts, the German federation sent a watered-down roster.
Klinsmann,
one of Germany’s most accomplished players and a World Cup champion in
1990, coached his native land on home soil in 2006. His assistant and
primary tactician, Joachim Low, has guided the squad ever since
