Battle for Brazil and South Africa but easier for Italy and England

Cape Town - Brazilians aren't exactly overjoyed at the prospect of probably providing much of the early entertainment at the 2010 World Cup as a result of Friday's draw in Cape Town. The five-time winners must safely navigate a perilous Group G also containing Didier Drogba's Ivory Coast, the gifted Portugal side of World Footballer of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo and, first up on June 15 at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, the completely unknown quantity North Korea, who are in their first finals since 1966.

That was also the last year Brazil failed to make it out of the group stages at a World Cup finals, ironically after going down 3-1 to Portugal at Goodison Park.

A few days later Portugal famously beat North Korea (who had shocked Italy 1-0 earlier) 5-3 from 3-0 down in the quarter-finals in the same stadium, and this similarity did naturally not go unnoticed in Portugal.

The O Jogo newspaper said the situation "smells like the World Cup in '66" while for the Publico newspaper the draw "couldn't have been more difficult".

Real Madrid's Ronaldo was also unhappy at the prospect of trying to escape from such a tough group.

"I'm not happy. Our group is very complicated but there's no point whingeing about the draw," said the Portugal captain, whose country have only beaten Brazil four times in 18 attempts.

"Brazil are the strongest team in the group, Ivory Coast is a strong opponent and the Koreans run a lot. We have to win the first game. It won't be easy to beat the Ivory Coast but it's not impossible."

Meanwhile, Brazil coach Carlos Dunga got excited about seeing Brazil playmaker Kaka play against his Real teammate Ronaldo.

"It will be nice to see the rivalry between Kaka and Cristiano, who permanently compete with each other for individual titles," Dunga said.

However, Dunga should be more interested about ensuring his team finish top of Group G as otherwise European champions Spain could await in the round of 16 in Cape Town.

The Ivory Coast team had a feeling of deja vu by being in the toughest group again, after being pitted against Brazil, the Netherlands and Serbia and Montenegro in their 2006 debut.

"This is our second appearance and the second time that we are facing big teams," defender Siaka Tiene complained.

The most defiant comments, however, came from North Korea star Jong Tae Se.

"I always wanted to play against the strongest team of the world," Jong was quoted as saying on the phone from Japan, where he plays for Kawasaki Frontale. "I am not afraid, I think it's a great opportunity and a challenge. I will be very ambitious."

Spain will be strong favorites to win a Group H completed by Chile, Honduras and Switzerland, thus setting up a possible mouthwatering clash against Brazil.

Indeed, following Friday's draw, bookmakers have made Vicente del Bosque's side favorites to win the tournament ahead of Brazil.

England, meanwhile, also had their odds slashed after being drawn in Group C alongside the United States, Algeria and Slovenia.

"England get luck of World Cup draw" wrote The Telegraph newspaper while The Sun described it as a "Yankee Doddle of a World Cup draw". However, coach Fabio Capello urged caution.

"There are other groups that are stronger than ours but I remember when I was a player in Germany in 1974 sometimes you can think the group is easy and it will not be so," he said.

"That is what I will tell the players - because psychologically the games you have to play in a World Cup are different to other games."

While England breathed a sigh a relief following the draw, South Africa woke up Saturday facing the real prospect of becoming the first host nation to fail to make it past the group stages after being drawn against Mexico, Uruguay and France in Group A.

"South Africa gets nightmare draw" commented the Cape Times although coach Carlos Alberto Parreira's tried to maintain a brave face.

"I think we will have three difficult games, but that is what we are at the World Cup for. We want to play good football and we can't expect easy games," he said

As Parreira played up South Africa's chances, Italy coach Marcello Lippi endeavoured to dampen Azzurri hopes after a super draw that saw the holders pitted against Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia in Group F.

"We must be realistic," Lippi said. "Verify the worth and characteristics of our opponents and get ready to tackle them. An opponent gets tougher if you consider it easy."

The Italians won't want to slip up as a possible knockout clash against the Netherlands could be the result as the Dutch will be fancied to top Group E, which also includes Japan, Cameroon and Demark.

Three-time winners Germany could have been handed an easier task than Australia, Serbia and Ghana in Group D but coach Joachim Loew was satisfied nonetheless.

"We are looking forward to the tournament. We have an interesting group," Loew said, while German football supremo Theo Zwanziger warned the draw meant there was no guarantee Germany would make the round of 16.

However, Germany has not lost a World Cup group game since going down 2-0 to Denmark in 1986. Also, Germany played then Yugoslavia in the group stages when winning the 1990 crown and Australia when victorious on home soil in 1974.

Even if Germany, as expected, make it out of the group, there remains the possibility of meeting England in the round of 16.

Argentina coach Diego Maradona was declared not welcome by FIFA ahead of the draw as he is serving a two-month for a rant at a news conference so the footballing legend was not present to see his side drawn against Nigeria, South Korea and Greece in Group B.

Any failure to dominate what, on the face of things, looks like a manageable group, could result in a date with 2006 finalists France, meaning that there is a permutation that eight of the current top 10 teams in the FIFA rankings could meet each other in the round of 16.

There will also be a feeling of deja vu in this group as Argentina, Nigeria and Greece were in the same group as well in 1994 - when the then player Maradona was kicked out over a positive doping test.