Who can wait a month? I had to speculate the pots and make my own groups:

GROUP A -- South Africa, Greece, North Korea, Paraguay
GROUP B -- Brazil, Slovenia, Honduras, Nigeria
GROUP C -- Germany, Denmark, New Zealand, Uruguay
GROUP D -- Spain, Slovakia, USA, Ghana
GROUP E -- Argentina, Netherlands, Mexico, Cameroon
GROUP F -- Italy, Serbia, South Korea, Chile
GROUP G -- France, Portugal, Australia, Algeria
GROUP H -- England, Switzerland, Japan, Ivory Coast

How about that Group E, eh? Click to continue reading...

The United States dropped three places to 14th in the latest FIFA Rankings. FIFA once again extended the rankings period, this time to include the playoffs for the final six World Cup slots. The United States played twice during the rankings period, losing to Slovakia and Denmark. Mexico moved up three places to 16th. Click to continue reading...

All 32 teams for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa are now known.
The complete line up is:
Europe
Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland
Africa
Algeria, Cameroon, Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa (hosts)
Asia
Australia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea
South America
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay
North & Central America, Caribbean
Honduras, Mexico, USA
Oceania
New Zealand
Tags
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Qualification is officially over. Playoffs won, tears shed, hearts broken and dreams renewed, it's all over. After Uruguay withstood the Costa Rican pressure late in the evening, the final 32 teams were written into stone though not without a fair bit of controversy.

The following are those 32 teams who will take part in South Africa 2010.

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The US National wrapped up their European sojourn yesterday with a disappointing 3-1 loss to Denmark in Aarhus. After losing to Slovakia 1-0 on Saturday, the Americans head back to their clubs or...

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With J Hutcherson -- So about that game in Denmark yesterday.... Look, I'm hardly the type to try to turn a disappointment into a suggestion of something better. The version of the United States on display against Denmark, and to a lesser extend Slovakia, ended up representative of the same old problems. Click to continue reading...

Hosts South Africa

Europe England, Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland, Serbia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Denmark, Greece, Portugal, Slovenia, France

Africa Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria

Asia Japan, Australia, South Korea, North Korea

Oceania New Zealand

Concacaf United States, Mexico, Honduras

South America Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay

Interactive Guide

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Yesterday ended the long and difficult road that is World Cup qualifying. The 32-team field is set and while we won't know until next month what the groups are it does present a good time to discuss each team and how they got there.

(Note: I hope this is a start of many more World Cup posts going into next year.

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Take one look at the scoreline from the United States' 3-1 defeat by Denmark, and it's tempting to assume that the more inexperienced elements of manager Bob Bradley's lineup were to blame. But closer inspection reveals that some veteran performers should bear most of the responsibility.
Winners and Losers
Lessons learned from Denmark and Slovakia Click to continue reading...

With Uruguay seeing off Costa Rica, the field for World Cup 2010 has been completed.Africa - Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, South AfricaAsia - Australia, Japan, North Korea, South KoreaEurope - Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, SwitzerlandNorth America - Honduras, Mexico, United StatesOceania - New Click to continue reading...

The United States traveled to play Denmark for their second friendly of the international break. They lost to Slovakia 0-1 on Saturday and were looking to get a result on Wednesday's match. Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

Denmark beats the United States 3-1 Video Highlights

The United States did not come out strong as Denmark had most of the possession and chances early.

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1. Another Revamp: A lot is being asked of the squad in camp, needing a quick reshuffle and integration of players from Slovakia to Denmark. Clint Dempsey and Steve Cherundolo started against Slovakia but won't be available against Denmark. Cherundolo's absence in particular means reshuffling the defense. Click to continue reading...

By Clemente Lisi - NEW YORK, NY (Nov 17, 2009) USSoccerPlayers -- The United States continues the European tour this week, playing Denmark on Wednesday in another test against a mid-tier team headed to next year's World Cup. The US will be looking to reverse Saturday's 1-0 loss to Slovakia. Denmark may actually be an easier opponent than Slovakia, even though they're six places higher in the FIFA Rankings. Click to continue reading...

There are a few international friendlies on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 as most countries have completed 2010 World Cup Qualifying matches. The matches on Tuesday include Slovakia v Chile, South Africa v Jamaica, and Qatar v Belgium. All three will be covered live on our other site, Free Live Sports TV, at the links below.

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U.S. defender Jonathan Spector ... Did well in Saturday's friendly at center back, but let's not get carried away

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If we equate soccer to real life, international friendlies are a little like on-line dating – good for an initial weeding out, but maybe not for a whole lot more.

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The USA played the first of its pre-World Cup friendlies against Slovakia on Saturday. With nothing to play for, Bob Bradley utilized the opportunity to test his team's depth. The results? Despite the 0-1 defeat, there were more positives than negatives.

Most promising of the group were the performances of our center backs and central midfield.

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Despite going down in defeat on Saturday evening to Slovakia, US national team midfielder Dax McCarty was still able to relish the experience of playing his first match with the Red, White and Blue. Click to continue reading...

One of head coach Bob Bradley's many experiments in the US' 1-0 loss to Slovakia on Saturday was giving forward Eddie Johnson a second look after more than a 12 month absence from the national team. Click to continue reading...

As you can see from the highlights, the US MNT's 1-0 loss to Slovakia wasn't pretty, but they hung in there, got some good chances, and only allowed a goal on a questionable penalty kick (also, good job spelling Marek Hamsik's name wrong, USsoccer.com).

There really isn't too much you can say about this match.

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Sorry for the delay and the abbreviated nature of this post. I've been on the road all weekend, and I'll put something together after the Denmark match that will address what we learned from the two matches. Until then, just a few quick hits about... Click to continue reading...

Bob Bradley had said there'd likely be some changes to the lineup between the Slovakia and Denmark games this week. Today we learned who was dropped and who was added to the roster ahead of the game on Wednesday in Aarhus, Denmark. Dropped from the roster was Clint Dempsey and Steve Cherundolo so that they could return to their clubs. Click to continue reading...

To be honest this game was kind of a dud for the US. Slovakia got a PK and then packed things in for the rest of the game. You could say the US also didn't help matters out for themselves as they couldn't generate solid offense and when they did have changes, well they just didn't do enough with them.

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Positives:

A) The USA with their below full strength team played patient ball control. They took their time to build up their attack. Having no Donovan and Davies meant that the US had to give up their fast counterattacking edge. But the tactical switch was achieved quite effectively showing that the US is capable of this approach.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

The U.S. men's national team played without several star players and still managed a respectable performance in a 1-0 loss to an underwhelming Slovakia.

Marek Hamsik's penalty kick provided the difference, and also changed the tone of the match as Slovakia played like a team content with a 1-0 victory.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

The U.S. men's national team played without several star players and still managed a respectable performance in a 1-0 loss to an underwhelming Slovakia.

Marek Hamsik's penalty kick provided the difference, and also changed the tone of the match as Slovakia played like a team content with a 1-0 victory.

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Marek Hamsik's penalty kick in the 26th minute was enough for surprise World Cup qualifiers Slovakia to earn a home win against a weakened United States team in an international friendly earlier today. The penalty followed U.S. defender Jonathan Bornstein's push on Vladimir Weiss in the box. Check out our Videos section for game highlights and [. Click to continue reading...

A Slovakian team that was (apparently)Â good in European qualifying, but not well ranked by FIFA, Â played a defensive, counter-attacking game against the USA in a partially filled stadium, on a pretty ugly field and won 1-0 on a weak penalty call. Â Â Not what you call must-see-TV, so it is probably good that not many people saw it.

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A penalty kick on the only shot of the first half by Slovakia was the deciding factor as the U.S. lost the first ever meeting between the two 2010 FIFA World Cup finalists 1-0 at Tehelne Pole in Bratislava. "I thought we had a good start in the match in the first 25 minutes," said U.S. Men's National Team head coach Bob Bradley. Click to continue reading...

Two Wizards had the honor of being called up to their respective national teams during this international break. Jimmy Conrad (along with former Wizard Eddie Johnson) were in Bratislava as the US took on Slovakia. Conrad was on the bench for the United States, but did not see the field in the United States 1-0 loss to the Fighting Jondas. Click to continue reading...

Cameroon and Nigeria have guaranteed a spot in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa today. Cameroon beat Morroco 2-0 (second goal by Eto'o) and Nigeria beat Kenya 3 2.

So far 26 countries are going to South Africa next June: Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, Mexico, USA, Honduras, Netherlands, Spain, England, Germany, Denmark, Serbia, Italy, Slovakia, Switzerland, South Korea, North Korea, Japan, Australian, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon, New Zealand and South Africa.

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Well, turns out Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey & Co. have about as much drawing power in Eastern Europe as Anvil. For whatever the reason Friday night I decided to stay up through multiple power outages for the MLS Western Conference Final between the Galaxy and Dynamo. During the match the thought drifted into my head about Saturday's USMNT/Slovakia friendly -- why wouldn't Bob Bradley simply roll Click to continue reading...

I'll have much more later but today the US showed that we have a lot of depth on the backline, but that the loss of Charlie Davies up front could be a fatal blow to our chances to advance deep in next summer's World Cup.

Brad Guzan made some big saves, and Slovakia looked disinterested at times in the game after coming through a very strong UEFA qualifying group.

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Thanks to a first half spot kick from Napoli star Marek Hamšík, Slovakia edged out the USMNT 1-0 in Bratislava. The visitors were both shorthanded and short of ideas playing on a bumpy patch.Full report link and highlight reel to come, with my U.S. Player Ratings set to appear at S365 either tonight or early tomorrow. Click to continue reading...

Slovakia and the United States played in a friendly on Saturday, November 14, 2009. Both teams have qualified for next summer's FIFA 2010 World Cup Final. Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

Slovakia beats United States 1-0 Video Highlights

The United States dominated possession, especially in the 2nd half, but struggled to convert any chances as they lost to Slovakia.

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1. Making Possession Count: Slovakia had limited opportunities and never really threatened the United States goal from the run of play in the first-half and early in the second. On the other end, too many of the US chances ended up directly at the keeper. Whether it was from distance or on the run with time in the box, the shot selection wasn't causing enough problems for Slovakia keeper Jan Mucha. Click to continue reading...