Martin Rogers: U.S., Klinsmann aided by fortunate draw

The marriage between Juergen Klinsmann and the United States national team began with a perfect slice of good fortune, but the new head coach should not expect his honeymoon period to last long.

Klinsmann and the USA were handed a dream run through qualifying last weekend, when the World Cup draw in Rio de Janeiro gave the Americans what would appear to be a trouble-free passage toward the finals in 2014.

Instead of being pitched into a semifinal group including the likes of Costa Rica or Panama (which beat them in the recent CONCACAF Gold Cup), the Americans’ presumed list of opponents is Jamaica, Guatemala and Haiti. If Klinsmann could have hand-picked a set of foes for his first competitive round, it would probably have looked something like that.