Meet the neighbors

As we get closer and closer to June 11, the start of the World Cup, it is time to divert our attention solely from the teams we root for, to the teams we will face. The United States resides in Group C and will take on England, Algeria and Slovenia. This won't be a normal get to know your opponent segment, there are many of those all over the interweb. This will be slightly different. We will compare the opponents to teams from other sports in an attempt to make it easier to gauge the degree of difficulty we will face.

England- The Three Lions squad is a supremely talented group playing some very good futbol right now. They are always good, but very rarely great. They have only won one trophy in their history, a World Cup win on their home soil in 1966. Think of the Boston Red Sox pre-2004 championship. It is almost as if they are cursed. Both teams have loyal, rabid fanbases that get quite annoying to outsiders. Both have tremendous history. on their side. Their home parks are basically historic landmarks: Wembley Stadium and Fenway Park. Both teams are full of chokers. Remember Bill Buckner, England has David Beckham. Mr. Goldenballs himself choked big time in Euro 2004, and World Cup 2002, and World Cup 1998. Finally both England and the Red Sox have the media hounding them like gold diggers to a basketball player. The poor players can barely use the loo without a reporter making it into breaking news.

Final Assessment- This will be the United State's toughest game, by far. England's Wayne Rooney will give Oguchi Onyewu all he can handle and then some. A draw against England would be a great result for the U.S. A win and America is basically in the next round. They will open against the Btits on June 12 at 1:30 p.m.

Slovenia- This little European team did big things in beating Russia in a playoff to get to the World Cup. It can best be compared to the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder. Both have not been around very long: Slovenia has only been a country for 19 years while this year was only the Thunder's second in the league. They don't have much if any history to fall back on bcause of it. They both play in relatively small markets with a small population. Slovenia only has 2 million citizens while OKC has around 550, ooo. Both are underdogs in every sense of the word. No one expects Slovenia to do much just as no one expected much from the Thunder against the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. They do have plenty of talent though. While Slovenia does not posess a game-changer like Kevin Durant, it has a varitey of other skilled players. Keeper Samir Handanovic is one of the best in the World, and Robert Koren will wreak havoc from his attacking midfielder spot.

Final Assessment- In the end, the United States will be heavy favorites against the Slovenes (if that's even a word). That does not mean it will be easy, just that the U.S. should beat them.

Algeria- The desert foxes, as they are known, are like Jekyl and Hyde, sometimes good, sometimes bad. Their only problem is that when they are bad, they are frightfuly bad. Their closest counterpart in the sporting world would have to be the Milwaukee Brewers. Both have had recent success that was preceded by long droughts of futility. Both haven't made any noise on the biggest stage since the 80's. Both have a rabid home crowd when winning, and empty stadiums any other time. Strange seeing as neither Algeria or Milwaukee have other dominant teams. The Algerians, much like the Brewers, are just happy to be there. "Our qualification has made it possible for the country to put itself back on the map. It's a joy and even an honor to be at the origin of that," Algerian Coach Rabah Saadane.

Final Assessment- Another game the U.S. will be favored in. Depending on the results of the first two games, this could be a blessing or a curse. They cannot think it will be an easy game and come unprepared or they will be left wondering what happened. History is on the Americans' side when it comes to facing an African team in the third game of the group stage. Their 3-0 victory over Egypt in the Confederations Cup last summer comes to mind. Let's hope it doesn't come to needing a win this time around.