Five bold predictions for 2010

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For Landon Donovan (front) and Cuauhtémoc Blanco -- who clashed at the '02 World Cup -- hopes are high for this summer's big dance. Pascal Guyot/AFP/Getty Images

The first year of a new decade is upon us, and the stories that will unfold in 2010 will be vast. Soccer lovers around the globe are anticipating the World Cup, one of three that will be played in this new decade.

As few could have predicted what was going to happen in 2002 -- the first World Cup held in Asia -- few can predict what will happen in the first World Cup to be contested on African soil, and the first World Cup to be played in the Southern Hemisphere since 1978.

But we'll try. Here are five predictions to whet the soccer appetite entering 2010:

1. Chelsea will win its first Champions League title. The Blues have been close to walking away with European glory the last two years but were painfully denied on two occasions. In '08 John Terry's botched penalty kick in the final cost them dearly, while Andrés Iniesta's bullet in second-half stoppage time of the semifinal second leg at Stamford Bridge last May denied Chelsea a trip to the '09 final.

No horrid penalties nor dramatic opposing goals will stand in Chelsea's way this year. A determined side, Carlo Ancelotti's men have shown that they're formidable, both in league play (tops in the Premier League entering 2010) and in Europe (with a 4-0-2 record, only Fiorentina and Bordeaux topped Chelsea's group-stage points total). José Mourinho's Inter Milan side will prove a tough round-of-16 foe in February, but Chelsea will overcome that drama as well and hoist the European Cup at the Bernabéu in Madrid come May 22.

2. An African team will reach the World Cup final. Since its inception, the World Cup has been dominated by European and South American nations. Those two continents have accounted for nine World Cup titles apiece. Further cementing their domination: Only two nations outside of either continent have even reached a semifinal -- the U.S. in 1930 and South Korea in '02.

In the first World Cup on African soil, one nation will ride the wave of pan-African euphoria all the way to the final. Which one? Cameroon and Nigeria traditionally have been the most successful sides in previous World Cups, while South Africa will surely benefit from serving as host of the tournament. Algeria has long odds while Ghana was the only African side to reach the knockout rounds in Germany '06 and broke through for the continent's first major soccer title at last fall's U-20 World Cup in Egypt.

But Africa's hopes might lay with the Ivory Coast. Despite its brutal draw -- Brazil and Portugal aren't exactly slouches -- Didier Drogba's side has the best shot at a spot in what would be the biggest game ever to be played by an African nation.

3. The three best players last season in Major League Soccer each will score a goal in the World Cup. Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Landon Donovan and David Beckham will make Mexico, U.S. and England supporters happy -- for at least one moment of one game next summer, anyway -- when each finds the back of the net in South Africa. Scoring goals in the World Cup is part of each player's legacy: Beckham has scored one goal in each of the last three World Cups, while Donovan and Blanco have scored two apiece. Whether their goals will help their respective teams go deep in South Africa remains to be seen, however.

4. MLS will crown another new champion. The Columbus Crew won their first MLS Cup title in '08, and Real Salt Lake won its first MLS Cup title in '09. That streak will continue in 2010, but with whom? History would seem to be on FC Dallas' side. The Hoops are the only original MLS club not to have reached an MLS Cup, and that streak has to end at some point, right? New England, Seattle and Chivas USA are the only playoff teams from last season to not have won an MLS Cup.

It would be tough for the expansion Philadelphia Union to match Seattle's success in their first year, and while Seattle beat the odds and reached the playoffs, the Sounders failed to score a goal in 210 minutes of postseason action. Colorado, Toronto and New York have major holes to fill and will be hard-pressed just to reach the playoffs.

FC Dallas and Seattle will enter the season with disparate expectations, but each will have successful seasons and could vie for the Western Conference spot at MLS Cup 2010, and glory will be within reach for one of those title-less clubs.

5. South Africa will put on a memorable and safe show. One of the many concerns that have arisen since the moment South Africa was awarded the World Cup has been safety. After all, South Africa is notorious for murders, rapes, carjackings and other violent crimes. But the World Cup will be possibly the most important international event ever held in South Africa.

The South Africans don't want criminals to mar their great moment. Soccer hooligans might try and make their own negative mark on the world's greatest sporting spectacle, but that sort of violence isn't really something that South African public safety officials can fully prevent. Their local thugs are, though, and the international community will benefit because of it.