After breezing through qualification to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, it couldn’t have got any tougher for Jurgen Klinsmann’s side following the World Cup draw in Brazil on Friday.
The U.S. national team were drawn in a “Group of Death” scenario, alongside European giants Germany and Portugal, plus their old foes Ghana joining them in Group G, as Klinsmann’s men were handed a tough draw.
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USMNT will face Ghana in their first group game in Natal on June 16, before traveling to the Amazon rainforest and playing Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in Manaus on June 22. The ‘Nats will then finish their group stage off with a tricky test against Klinsmann’s home nation, and the side he won the World Cup with back in 1990, Germany in Recife on June 26.
The draw in Group G will also strain the USA in terms of travel as they will rack up over 8,800 miles in their three group games. Of course the MLS players in the squad are used to traveling long distances more than most. But this huge amount upheaval across the vast nation of Brazil will make the task even harder for the USA to get out of Group G and make it to the last 16.
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Below is the schedule for the World Cup Group G matches, as the USA face some mouth-watering matches in South America.
FULL GROUP DRAW
Group A: Brazil, Cameroon, Mexico, Croatia
Group B: Spain, Chile, Australia, Netherlands
Group C: Colombia, Ivory Coast, Japan, Greece
Group D: Uruguay, Italy, Costa Rica, England
Group E: Switzerland, Ecuador, Honduras, France
Group F: Argentina, Nigeria, Iran, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Group G: Germany, Ghana, United States, Portugal
Group H: Belgium, Algeria, Korea Republic, Russia
Group G: Germany, Portugal, Ghana, USA
Fixture schedule
| 16 June 13:00 | Salvador | Germany | v | Portgual | |||
| 16 June 18:00 | Natal | Ghana | v | USA | |||
| 21 June 15:00 | Fortaleza | Germany | v | Ghana | |||
| 22 June 15:00 | Manaus | USA | v | Portugal | |||
| 26 June 12:00 | Recife | USA | v | Germany | |||
| 26 June 12:00 | Brasilia | Portugal | v | Ghana |