It is absolutely hilarious. Not only the Left roots for the defeat of America in military conflicts but it also wants this country to lose on a soccer field. It is beyond parody.

Shut up 'Andrei' . . .

Anyhoo, I can't see how France v. Senegal would be the Frantz Fanon cup. Fanon was from Martinique, resigned from the French services to support the Algerian Revolution and subsequently became an honorary Ghanaian citizen. So France v. Algeria or Martinique of Ghana makes might be such a "Fanon Cup."

Leopold Senghor Cup maybe, or ... Cheikh Anta Diop Cup??....

Nowhere in the article was the author rooting for the Americans' to lose. He was simply stating the cold hard truth, the Americans' have an incredibly difficult draw and that they just might lose early. He was not rooting for the Americans' to lose, he was simply stating that the probability was high that they might get sent him early, based on amoung other things their overall record on European soil. And it is in fact, a fact, that the record is not a very good one.

Why is it so often today that objective criticism is mistaken for subjective opinion? The article simple states the widely held belief and logical conclusion based on the reality of the situation that the U.S. is going to have a difficult time getting past some very strong competition. The author then comments on why an early exit from the World Cup wouldn't be such a bad thing (not quite the same thing as rooting for their defeat). Your extrapolation of the author’s intentions beyond conveying this information is completely baseless (and your attempt at some kind of correlation between the “Left’s” supposed desire for defeat in Iraq with an article about soccer is ridiculous).

Three cheers -- the three in question being ole, ole, and ole -- on a fine and fun World Cup draw roundup (Though, yes, I can't believe you made that Togo joke).

You're right to point out that had Italy been the US's first opponents, expecting an upset (and maybe even advancing) might not be entirely out of order. There is a very good chance that mercurial midfield genius Francesco Totti -- much as I love him as a player -- will haul off and spit in someone's face (as he did in the last European tournament) or perform otherwise petulantly in response to aggressive Ghanaian tackling, or the now familiar lovable/annoying American derring-do-style of running tirelessly from end line to end line. That's a slight exaggeration, but what I'm getting at is that yellow-card suspensions might play a big part somewhere along the line in the Americans's group. "Chippy" may be the watchword. Either way, the Italian press will need some sort of perceived anti-Azzuri scandal to decry or things just won't feel right. So bank on a card or three, or at least some high drama. And though Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley are exceptions to the (not necessarily hard and fast) great-lungs-no-touch American rule, and will be the architects of whatever bits of offensive brilliance the US can muster, things do look rather grim against a Czech Republic side that put on what was certainly one of the most irresistible, entertaining, and attacking shows in recent memory against the Netherlands (who responded in kind) in the last European tournament.

And regarding the whole "soccer-American marketplace" question, whoo-boy that's a toughie. Contrary to what many US Soccer officials (& MLS officials, I guess) believe, I still think that the best thing for American soccer (in the national team sense) is that the most talented players go abroad and play. That's certainly happened (Beasley, John O'Brien, & other youngsters, oldsters McBride & Reyna, etc., and Donovan...for a bit -- his return is, I think, pretty disappointing and slightly problematic) and accounts for a large part of America's recent success, as great athletes have gone to Europe and been trained not only in the technical skills that may be lacking at American soccer academies, but they experience living in a culture where futbol-not-football is trumps, and they are around players who've played nothing but & fans who live for nothing but. BUT that's just talking about the elite. American soccer culture won't change until the sport becomes truly urbanized in that streetball sense. I live in Harlem, and as much as I love watching kids dribbling on the blacktop outside, I can't tell you how much I wished it was Thierry Henry's killer crossover they were thinking of instead of Allen Iverson's. Sometimes I feel that if kids could, on a regular basis, just SEE the best players at the top of the game (and see how many DON'T look like your normal suburban soccer player) do the absolutely outrageous things they're often capable of on a soccer field, things might change a bit. And maybe a few more pitches instead of b-ball courts in the city. It needs to be a cultural change at all levels, not just at the top. But hey, anything helps.

Lastly, I take no pleasure in factchecking a great piece like this...but one thing caught my eye. If, in your closing, you're talking about the famous words of Bill Shankly -- and you are -- frankly, Mr. Shankly (sorry, I've always wanted to use that in a sentence) is Scottish, not English. Though he did coach an English side, Liverpool, as I'm sure you know (maybe that's how you meant it?).

Yours in waiting with bated breath for Becks's WC hairstyle,

Pete L'Official

Sorry 'Drew', I forgot to ask your permission to talk.

Christopher and Lpatrice. What I meant by rooting for the defeat is here:

The way I see it, they'll be going home with two losses and a draw. In some epochal, big-picture long view, I also think that result might be a good thing.

I grew up in Russia and I know very well what it means to support a team that is weaker than its competitors. Btw, Russia has a true soccer culture, but it's still an outsider.

It's likely that the US team will not qualify for the second round. The group is really tough. But saying that the US Team does not deserve a success at the World Cup because some white players consider soccer a healthful activity makes no sense (apart from being quite racist). It looks like an unserious, knee-jerk stand that there always must be something good when America fails.