Re: World Cup Fever
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Here is the pot that the US was placed into:
Asia, CONCACAF and the lowest UEFA ranked team Serbia&Montenegro.
Iran
Japan
Saudi Arabia
South Korea
Costa Rica
Trinidad & Tobago
United States
Serbia & Montenegro
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Doesn't this have a lot more to do with draw rules than how good the U.S. is? All the non-seeded European teams went into one pot so that the there wouldn't be more than two European side in each group, so the U.S. (and the rest of CONCACAF -- an admittedly weak region, particularly outside the top two) were bound to be placed with either the African nations or the Asian nations.
And as someone pointed out, it's weird that you are ignoring 2002, when the U.S. upset Portugal in group play and lost a very tough match to eventual finalists Germany in the round of 8.
-McGee
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