It's been almost a week since the draw, but its results are still reverberating throughout the world.
Medio Tiempo had a roundtable of pundits and a "voice of the fan" on their site to discuss the draw and the possible outcomes. What I gathered as the consensus was that (a) Mexico's group gave them good chances to advance, (b) their toughest rival in the group would be France, and (c) a run to the quarterfinals may not be beyond the realm of possibility. It could have been worse, as Guardado recognizes, and Guille Franco, in meticulous fashion, explains that the group is not without its pitfalls but is winnable. Mexico know that the opening match against the host country will never be an easy one. (Although I have to wonder if South Africa's Matthew Booth has ever heard those buzzing horns in Azteca.) Javier Aguirre was happy that Mexico didn't draw Brazil or Spain, but he wasn't thrilled about having to play the hosts in the opener, either. But managers can never be happy, even when they are.
The view from Uruguay range from it being a favorable draw to one that is a difficult group, but difficult for everyone. Ovación Digital (which is El País' sports page) had their own panel of pundits and opinions were very divided on La Celeste's chances -- "A mission possible, but complicated". El Espectador asks if Uruguay's group was "A group of death, or a group of luck". La República pointed out that this group is identical to the one that Uruguay faced in 1966, when they played France, Mexico, and the host country (then England).
As for France, the opinion of the press is that the group doesn't present many difficulties for the French handballers. Raymond Domenech sees it differently and forecasts three evenly-matched games. That appears to be the view of some of the French players as well, but others see it as favorable. And if you read French you can read their roundup of the reactions from the other three countries.
If the view of the draw from the other Group A participants was guardedly optimistic, South Africa's view of the draw is very different. The players know that it is a difficult draw, and Carlos Alberto Parreira -- in his second spell for SA -- will have his work cut out for him to form a competitive side. And the South African soccer hierarchy is doing their part to rally behind the Bafana Bafana cause.
Looking back to previous cups, I didn't get any father than '02 to find one that probably matches up with it. S. Korea's was US/Portugal/Poland. I'd say that's roughly equal. The big problem for South Africa is that I doubt they're as good as South Korea.
Posted by: Eric | December 14, 2009 at 01:25 PM