The first game of the 2010 World Cup is this Friday morning so it’s only right that Hot Read Sports weigh in with some predictions.  So we’ve compiled a list of the teams we feel will advance to the second round. 

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, and France

Players to Watch:    Javier Hernandez (Mexico), Steven Pienaar (South Africa), Nicolas Anelka (France), Franck Ribery (France), Diego Forlan (Uruguay)

Prediction:     Uruguay and Mexico advance

GROUP B:  Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, and Greece

Players to Watch: Lionel Messi (Argentina), Carlos Tevez (Argentina)

Prediction:  Argentina and Nigeria advance

GROUP C: England, United States, Algeria, and Slovenia

Players to Watch:  Wayne Rooney (England), Clint Dempsey (US), Tim Howard (US), John Terry (England)

Prediction:  England and United States advance

GROUP D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, and Ghana

Players to Watch:     Nemanji Vidic (Serbia), Michael Essien (Ghana), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany) Miroslav Klose (Germany)

Prediction:  Germany and Serbia advance

GROUP E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, and Cameroon

Players to Watch:  Shunsuke Nakamura (Japan), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), Arjen Robben (Netherlands)

Predictions:  Netherlands and Cameroon advance

GROUP F:  Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, and Slovakia

Players to Watch:  Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Fabio Cannavaro (Italy)

Predictions:  Italy and Paraguay advance

GROUP G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, and Portugal

Players to Watch:  Maicon (Brazil), Kaka (Brazil), Louis Fabiano (Brazil), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

Predictions:  Brazil and Portugal advance

GROUP H: Spain, Chile, Honduras, and Switzerland

Players to Watch:  Fernando Torres (Spain), David Villa (Spain), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cecs Fabregas (Spain), and pretty much SPAIN

Predictions:  Spain and Chile advance

We’ll see how these predictions turn out.  One thing is for certain……..its going to be fun to watch.  Hot Read Sports will be back to predict the second round later as the 2010 World Cup progresses.

This afternoon USA Soccer finalized their 30-man preliminary roster for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.  From today forward the U.S. Team will be holding training camp in efforts to cut the team down to its final roster of 23 players by the June 1st FIFA deadline.  What players made the cut?  Who missed? A few surprises unfolded for the U.S. team.  One of note was the story of Charlie Davies.  You may recognize Davies as the U.S. soccer player who was almost killed in a car accident in late 2009.  After rehabbing and setting a goal to make it back in time for the World Cup….Davies was left off the roster.  Also left off the roster was Freddie Adu.  Wasn’t Adu supposed to be future of U.S. soccer a few years ago?  I guess that isn’t the way it worked out.

Some of the players who were added that were off the radar include Edson Buddle of the Los Angeles Galaxy and Herculez Gomez of Mexico’s Puebla.  Buddle leads the MLS with 11 goals this season.  Gomez became the first American to lead the Mexican league in scoring, tying for the high with 10 goals.

Here is the rest of the roster that was chosen:

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton, England), Tim Howard (Everton, England).

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes, France), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Jay DeMerit (Watford, England), Clarence Goodson (IK Start, Norway), Chad Marshall (Columbus), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan, Italy), Heath Pearce (Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England).

Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Alejandro Bedoya (Orebro, Sweden), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach, Germany), Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus, Denmark), Stuart Holden (Bolton, England), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus), Jose Torres (Pachuca, Mexico).

Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Hull, England), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles), Brian Ching (Houston), Robbie Findley (Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Puebla, Mexico), Eddie Johnson (Aris, Greece).