- Share
Prediction time: How will U.S. do?
World Cup predictions are not in short supply. Who will win? Which players will stand out? There are a million and one opinions. But if you want some real insight into what awaits the U.S. in South Africa, who better to ask than the veterans who have worn the American colors at the world's biggest sporting event?
Now spread throughout the country -- and around the globe -- American World Cup veterans have unique perspectives on the international game. We reached out to several of them to get their takes on the upcoming World Cup.
The predictions we got are informed by experience in a combined 13 World Cups during the past two decades. American players from every team since 1994 told us how they think the U.S. will fare in South Africa. While they were at it, they shared some observations on the rest of the field as well.
Who are your favorites to lift the World Cup?
Alexi Lalas (defender, 1994 and '98 World Cups): Spain, Brazil
"If you're going to Vegas and you just want to win, then you put it on Spain or Brazil. You want to win bigger? Put it on Germany -- I like Germany in the nice climate down there. Want to win really big? Put it on Ivory Coast, or maybe England."
Earnie Stewart (midfielder, '94, '98, 2002): Germany, England
"You always come back to the same old teams. Teams like Germany are definitely to be reckoned with, since they're real tournament players. The one outsider to be reckoned with, with the new coach they have and the way they've started playing, is England. I do see that they are going to go far in the tournament."
Josh Wolff (forward, '02, '06): Spain, Argentina
"Spain has the pedigree for the last couple years; they have been dominating the world scene. Argentina is a sleeper for me, because [Lionel] Messi has been godly lately. He can carry that team on his shoulders."
Fernando Clavijo (defender, '94): Spain, Brazil
"I'll tell you there are two teams apart from everyone else, Spain and Brazil. Everyone else it depends how you get up in the morning and play. I am really looking forward to seeing Spain mature as a team, because they are playing the best soccer in the world. I think Spain is going to go all the way, but Brazil is going to give them a run for their money."
Mike Burns (defender, '94, '98): Argentina
"It's hard to imagine Argentina is not going to be in the mix, considering Messi is on a different level than everyone else on the planet."
Brian McBride (forward, '98, '02, '06): U.S., Spain, Brazil, Netherlands
"It's very tempting to pick the U.S. to win and do well and be done with it. The others are pretty obvious in Spain and Brazil. Holland has done extremely well in qualifying, and it could be their year to go all the way in a World Cup."
Who wins the Golden Ball as the tournament's top player?
Lalas: Lionel Messi, Argentina
"Start off with Messi. What he's doing right now, he's half of the prophecy in terms of the next Maradona. The other half comes with Argentina, and that remains to be seen. You have your Messis, and your [Didier] Drogbas and Kakas, then there are some younger players like [Gonzalo] Higuain. Part of the World Cup is that you are going to see some of these players born on the World Cup stage, and they will go from being known by only the hard-core soccer fans to being known by everyone. I know firsthand what the World Cup can do for an individual."
Stewart: Wayne Rooney, England
"Rooney has some injuries to deal with, but it always has to do with the form of the day and how the team's doing. There are going to be some new stars rising."
Burns: Lionel Messi, Argentina
"Some other players like Wayne Rooney have had phenomenal years, but it's hard to say anyone's had a better year [than Messi]. It's also hard to say he's not the most electrifying player in the world to watch right now. The World Cup is three games for most teams, but there's always some guys who stand out. Maybe a player who's not a household name now, but at the end of July he may be."
Which team could surprise in South Africa?
Lalas: Greece
"A European team that I think benefits from the climate down there, coming from a solid tactical position, like Greece does. That could apply also to a Switzerland or a Denmark-type situation. I think it's really important that this is the first World Cup that is going to be played in climates much more conducive to soccer than we have in normal World Cups."
Stewart: England
"The one team nobody seems to think about is England. I don't think anybody thinks England can take the World Cup, but for me that's the dark horse that maybe could win it."
Wolff: United States
"Each tournament brings about some surprises, and hopefully we're one of those teams. You look at it from the outside and you don't think it can happen, but people didn't think it was gonna happen for us in 2002. You just plug away and hope you can get some results, and some breaks can take you a long way."
McBride: The fittest team
"One thing about qualifying for the World Cup is that it's never easy, so if you get there, you're a good team. It's just a matter of, if going into it, you have a team that's completely healthy or a team that's completely fit. There could be some surprises out of the smaller countries. If you look at 2002 with Korea, they were by far the fittest team in the World Cup, and they made it all the way to the semifinals."
What's the outlook for the USA in South Africa?
Lalas: "They have to get out of the group. If they don't, I'd say it's a failure given that this is the easiest group the U.S. has gotten. We're 16 years away from the 1994 World Cup, and you'd like to think we've improved since then. I think we have. Then you get into those one-game things, and we've seen that if you have a good day you beat a Mexico and you advance; you have a bad day and you get some bad luck and you lose to a Germany. But if nothing else, this team has to get out of the group for the good of American soccer."
Stewart: "We're still a country that's building. We had a great run during the 2002 World Cup. To say that they're going to do that again, I don't think that's realistic given the state of the world today and the state of U.S. soccer. On the other hand, we are tournament players. We do have that never-give-up, do-or-die mentality. And with that mentality, even though it's a difficult group to get out of, once you get out of the group, anything can happen."
Wolff: "I think we've got a group that we should feel confident we should get out of. That doesn't guarantee anything -- it's a game-by-game thing and you've got to be prepared. At a minimum, players today feel getting out of the group is a very basic thing that we need to achieve. For the first time as Americans, we're in the place where we are really expected to come through, and that's some pressure we haven't faced before. In the past we haven't handled that pressure well."
Clavijo: "We do not have an easy group like everyone says. Easy teams become not easy when you get to the World Cup. Every game, they play like the last game of their lives, and it's going to be a very difficult group for the U.S. But the American team is going to do well. If we lack something, it's experience at the highest level, but the Confederations Cup [gave] us a little more respect. Every year we elevate ourselves. I expect better than what we did before, no question about it. You talk about results, to get the result against Spain is great, when it's a friendly, but now we need to do it at the highest level. We all know that qualifying was not easy, but we finished first."
Burns: "I think they set the bar relatively high with their performance in the Confederations Cup, in beating Spain and giving Brazil everything they had. And that was one tournament; the World Cup is one tournament. I think the starting point has to be for the U.S. to advance out of the group, and from there they need to take every game as it comes. I think the U.S. now is at the point where they are playing every game to win. I'm not sure 15-20 years ago it was that way. I think if you asked every guy on the team, their goal is to win the World Cup. Whether that's realistic or not, if they don't think like that then they have no chance to win, so that's how I look at it."
McBride: "In the past the main goal has been to get out of the group. I'm sure that would be something of an accomplishment. Unless you're one of the top countries in the world, any time you get out of the group, that's considered an accomplishment. Anything is possible -- look at what happened last summer. It makes for an exciting tournament. People can make all the predictions and assumptions, but you have to play the tournament in the end."
