by Ryan D. Jaeger
The English national soccer team will need a good deal of fortune as it
climbs its way through the elimination stages of next year's World Cup.
The FIFA 2010 soccer tournament held draws in Cape Town last week to place 32
qualifying teams in eight groups of four.
While some teams happily landed in groups where their victory to move on to
the second round is almost guaranteed, it looks like England will need to fight
harder than most.
England landed into a group with Algeria, Slovenia and the United States,
seeing its pre-draw odds tumble to 11/2 (from 6/1) to a third place on the
favourites list.
France has been luckier this time around after the team was handed an easy
draw by landing in a group with host nation, South Africa.
"That could have been us, and we'd have fancied our chances too," said Paddy
Power. "Not to worry though, we can always cheer on England!"
The current odds for the World Cup winner are listed as follows, with their
pre-draw odds in parenthesis.
4/1 Spain (9/2)
5/1 Brazil
11/2 England (6/1)
9/1 Argentina (10/1)
12/1 Italy (14/1)
12/1 France (16/1)
14/1 Germany (12/1)
14/1 Holland
