Soccer Watch
Maryland wins the NCAA Men's championship, the Americans get a tough draw in the 2006 World Cup, and more
By Nick Barbaro, Fri., Dec. 16, 2005
Forza Roma! The Italians were among those moving to the round of 16 as UEFA Cup group play ended this week. Full results online.
"Heidi Klum has sent us to hell!" headlined a Belgrade daily after Friday's 2006 World Cup draw put Serbia and Montenegro in a "Group of Death" with Argentina, Holland, and the Ivory Coast. U.S. coach Bruce Arena put on a braver face, but clearly the Americans drew the next hardest of the eight groups, with top seed Italy, the Czech Republic, currently ranked third in the world, and underdog Ghana. We shall see. Meanwhile, starting this week, FIFA put another 250,000 WC tickets on sale, to be distributed via a lottery system. You can request up to four tickets each, for up to seven games, until the Jan. 15 deadline. See www.fifaworldcup.com for info or to order.
