BRASILIA
Groups for the 2014 World Cup were chosen Friday afternoon in a glitzy event in the Bahian resort of Costa do Sauipe, Brazil.
The host country's first game, the opener of the tournament, will be against Croatia, in Sao Paulo’s Itaquerão stadium.
Two workers were killed at Itaquerão last week when a crane broke and fell on the stadium. Brazilian officials said this week that the Sao Paulo stadium was unlikely to be ready before February.
Brazil will then play Mexico and Cameroon in the first round.
Although only ranked 10th in the world currently, media speculation about a sixth Brazil win has ramped up on the back of Brazil’s Confederations Cup win this summer. In that final, Brazil beat reigning World Cup champions Spain 3-0.
With strong players like Neymar, Fred, and Hulk, along with the morale boost of playing on home turf, UK bookmakers currently have Brazil as 3 to 1 favorites.
President Dilma Rousseff will be particularly hopeful, as the cup coincides, as always, with Brazil’s presidential election. A Brazil win could be a boost for Rousseff’s popularity.
Reigning champions Spain will face the Netherlands in Group B, in a repeat of the nail-biting 2010 final, which saw Andres Iniesta lead Spain to victory in extra time. Chile and Australia are also in Group B.
England landed in Group D. Their first game is on June 14 against a strong Italy team in steamy Manaus, in the Amazon jungle, a five-hour flight from the England base of Rio de Janeiro.
Manager Roy Hodgson had said that he didn’t want his team to play in Manaus, which has humidity of up to 99 percent.
“You get what you get,” said Hodsgon, in a radio interview.
Italy, ranked seventh in the world, defeated England after a penalty shootout in the UEFA 2012 tournament.
After Italy, England will play Uruguay, ranked sixth, in São Paulo on June 19 and Costa Rica in Belo Horizonte on June 24.
The USA is another team that will have plenty of travel, flying some 9,000 miles in group play between Natal, at Brazil’s northeasterly tip, Manaus, in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, and Recife, also in the northeast of the country.
The USA has landed in a particularly difficult group. Their first match will be against Ghana, who, although ranked 24th to the US’ 14th, have proved an unlucky opponent for them in the recent past: Ghana knocked the US out of the last two World Cups.
Next they will face Germany -- ranked number two in the world behind Spain, and then Portugal. Ranked number five, Portugal are captained by Cristiano Ronaldo, currently one of the world’s best players.
Friday’s draw was co-hosted by Fernanda Lima with guests including Ronaldo and Zidane.
Lima became embroiled in a controversy last week when a Brazilian news magazine reported that FIFA selected her and her husband -- both fair Brazilians of European descent -- after rejecting broadcaster Globo’s suggestion of Afro-Brazilian TV actors Camila Pitanga and Lazaro Ramos.
A public prosecutor in Brazil opened an investigation into FIFA’s alleged rejection of the Afro-Brazilian celebrities.
By Lucy Jordan
