(Posting this about 19 hours early...)

Greetings, McCoven futbol fans, and those of you looking for a work distraction between the end of the Tiger Woods Affair and the start of the Winter Meetings. The draw for the 2010 World Cup is Friday in South Africa (approx. 9am Pacific Time). The 32 teams involved are placed into eight groups of four teams each. Each group will feature one team drawn at random from each of the four "pots" (/Tim Lincecum) below:

Pot 1: South Africa, Brazil, Spain, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England, Netherlands

Pot 2: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay

Pot 3: Japan, S Korea, N Korea, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Mexico, Honduras

Pot 4: France,  Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland, Greece, Serbia, Denmark, Slovakia

What's the best case/worst case group for the US? What would the ultimate "Group of Death" look like? Based on the draw, who should be considered the favorite(s)? 

Lastly, what are the chances that, just as France is about to be placed in a group, Jim Ross from the WWE exclaims, "Wait a minute....THAT'S IRELAND'S MUSIC! OH MY GOD....NOOOOOO" and Shay Given slams a folding chair over Thierry Henry's head?

Talk amongst yourselves.

Edit: Here are your 2010 World Cup Groups!

Group A: France, Mexico, South Africa, Uruguay

Group B: Argentina, Greece, Nigeria, South Korea

Group C: Algeria, England, Slovenia, United States

Group D: Australia, Germany, Ghana, Serbia

Group E: Cameroon, Denmark, Japan, Netherlands

Group F: Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay, Slovakia

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

Group H: Chile, Honduras, Spain, Switzerland