Ethnocentric World Cup prediction of the day:

The game between the U.S.A. and England on the first Saturday of competition will be as highly regarded as a temperate Super Bowl - say Tampa Bay vs. Oakland in 2002.

The U.S. will triumph 1-0, resulting in, hopefully, a drinking freely in the street event for those of us who choose to get engaged. I’ll probably be here, if you’re in New York and would like to join in the fray.

Too bold?

….

Today indeed marks 100 days from the start of the World Cup. Seems like just yesterday we were talking about the draw ceremony - I learned what the group of death is, but am still not sure why Charlize Theron was part of the selection process?

FIFA President, Joseph F. Blatter marked the day by commending South Africa for their preparation. It full of praise, both literal and metaphorical.

From FIFA.com:

The FIFA World Cup in Africa is a love story - a love story between the African continent and myself which began when I was the technical director of FIFA. It has come a long way in a long time. It has been a road travelled with trust, confidence but with patience as well. When this country was awarded the World Cup, there was a lot of work to do. We had to convince people that one day we would give back something to Africa. Africa has given so much to the world and to the world of football.



I’m very proud and very happy that this love story is coming to the ‘wedding celebration’. We are speaking about 100 days to go, but this all goes back to 17 May 1998 when I was campaigning for the FIFA Presidency for the first time and I said that, ‘We have to bring the World Cup to Africa.’ This is what I mean by having patience, as South Africa did not win the first time in 2000 when it lost by one vote to Germany, but with patience and perseverance you managed to win the right to host the World Cup in 2004.

Check out the rest of Blatter’s remarks here: Blatter: The dream is alive

Photo via FIFA.com

Much like Ron Burgundy thought diversity was an old wooden ship, the soccer populus seems to believe that Group of Death represents the least desirable World Cup group to be placed in for middling soccer countries. False. The Group of Death is a metal band.* Just look at this poster from their Facebook page; the theory checks out…

The Group of Death is actually a soccer inspired rock group. ESPN’s Rob Stone gave them a nice plug, reporting live from NYC soccer bar Nevada Smith’s today during the World Cup draw.. Here’s the description of G.O.D. on Facebook:

The Group of Death is the world’s foremost football (soccer)-inspired heavy metal band. “The Group of Death” is also the nickname given to the toughest group the FIFA World Cup.

All this needs to seem fully legit is some actual tunes, and here it is - check out The Group of Death’s hit single “We Call It Awesome.”

The Group of Death perform a special show tonight at 8 at Nevada Smiths in lower Manhattan.

*The former in the above statement is 100% true, and even casual U.S. soccer fans have to be extremely happy that we didn’t find ourselves in, say, the Ivory Coast or Portugal’s current situation. Happy World Cup Draw Day!

Become a fan of The Group Of Death on Facebook