England won 9 out of 10 matches in the qualifiers; they might still have a fight on their hands in group C. They have played USA and Slovenia, before, but not Algeria, the third team of the group. The other teams have never played one another, in the past.

Euro 2004 and Germany 2006 were disappointing for England, and they will look to make amends, here in South Africa. For that, they will depend heavily on the quartet of Rooney, Lampard, Gerrard and Defoe.

A problem often seen with England teams of the past has been not the absence of good players. In fact, more often than not, they have star players who shine i the Premier League buit are found wanting when they play for the national team.

A reason for this could be that they get better support in their club teams, as they are often assisted by the best players of other international teams.

Thus, you could find that a team such as Chelsea or Manchester United in the English Premier League is actually stronger than many national teams, equipped as it is with the best of players that money can buy.

USA got the better of England in the 1950 World Cup. England have won 7 out of 8 friendlies the two teams have played, since then.

Algeria are a fighting outfit as they ably proved in the qualifiers, winning all their 6 home matches. Slovenia beat Russia and Poland and cannot be taken lightly.

USA displayed great form in Confederations Cup 2009 where they beat Mexico. The fact that they haven't played Algeria, or the fast improving Slovenia, makes this an interesting group, where it's hard to predict who will go on to the next round, along with  يلا شوت England. Landon Donovan, Dempsey, Mike Bradley and Oguchi Onwyewu are all accomplished players who will make USA formidable contenders, in the group.

Algeria versus USA should be the match to decide who will go through to the pre-quarter-final, with England. It would be interesting to see the impact of Rio Ferdinand's absence on England, and how they shape up. That said, England are unlikely to be unduly worried by the teams in this group; the real challenge lies ahead from the round of 16 onwards.

The main point of interest in this group is as to whether any team can top England, because the team that finishes second is likely to meet Germany in the round of 16.