World Cup 2010 Groups & Mascots

World Cup warm-ups started yesterday. England crushed Mexico at Wembley (England's home stadium) 3-1, the home team South Africa tied Bulgaria 1-1, and South Korea beat Japan 2-nil. Tonight the US takes on the Czech Republic at 6p MST on ESPN. 4 years ago the US fell 3-nil and lost 5-1 on June 10, 1990 during the World Cup in Italy, the US's first world cup match since 1950.

Continuing our journey to the World Cup it's time now to focus on the group stage for this year's event.

Group A--South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France (1998 champion)

Group B--Argentina (they have the arguably second greatest player right now, Messi), Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece

Group C--England (1966 champion), United States, Algeria, Slovenia

Group D--Germany (has never won as "Germany"), Australia, Serbia, Ghana (killed the United States last year and advanced in 2nd place from their group)

Group E--Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon

Group F--Italy (defending champion), Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia

Group G--Brazil (2002 champion and have the arguably greatest player in the world right now, Kaka), Korea DPR, Cote d'Ivoire, Portugal

Group H--Spain (2008 Euro champion), Switzerland, Honduras, Chile (like the US their best finish was 3rd place in 1962 when they hosted)

*2 teams from each group will move on to the Round of 16. Finishing in 2nd means you will play a team that finished in 1st from another group. So finishing 1st is crucial to set up a favorable Round of 16 game and the rest of your journey to the final.

As is the tradition, each world cup has a poster/emblem and a mascot specific to each contest and country. The mascot is especially important because it embodies the host nation and it is the nation's presentation to the world. This year's mascot is Zakumi.

Zakumi is currently 15 years old and he will turn 16 on June 16. His birth date coincides with Youth Day in South Africa and the home team's 2nd group match. His birth year, 1994, is when the 1st non-racial nationwide elections were held in South Africa. His name comes from "Za" the international abbreviation for South Africa, and "kumi" which means 10 in various African languages. His official motto is "Zakumi's game is Fair Play." The colors of yellow and green are South Africa's official colors. And the leopard is an important symbol to the Bafana (South Africa's team nickname, like the All Blacks for New Zealand's rugby team).

Next time: Fifa will release their most current world rankings tomorrow and I break down the top 10 memorable matches and players.