Find out more information on Cosmos Copa on facebook and twitter. 

In a party at the Scandinavia House in midtown Manhattan, the groups were announced for Cosmos Copa 2012. 

The event was emceed by New York Cosmos legend, Shep Messing and featured a rousing speech on the importance of the tournament by ESPN commentator and NYC Ireland honorary president, Tommy Smyth. A born and bred New Yorker, Shep Messing spoke of how he wished the tournament was around when he was growing up playing soccer and Tommy Smyth encouraged the teams to get their communities involved in Cosmos Copa.

Eight teams were prequalified for the tournament while eight teams had to battle their way through the grueling Qualifying Tournament to make it to this stage. The "Elite Eight" Pre-qualified teams were Colombia, England, Greece, Haiti, Ireland, Jamaica, Poland, Senegal. The eight teams to survive qualification were Afghanistan, Argentina, Bolivia, France, Italy, Ivory Coast, Uruguay and USA. 

The president of last year's Cosmos Copa champions NYC Poland, Artur Kurasiewicz, picked the first ball of the draw that put NYC Argentina into Group A. Next to draw a ball was Tommy Smyth who picked Greece for Group B. Former New York Jet and representative of Copa partner Modell's, Bobby Jackson, called the name of NYC Afghanistan for Group C. Finally, Joe Sullivan from the Cosmopolitan Soccer League, drew NYC France for Group D. 

Representatives from every paticipating team watched on as the rest of the teams were drawn. After the draw, NYC Poland president Artur Kurasiewicz noted that "it's a fair draw". He also claimed that Group B was the group of death and that Poland was "ready to three-peat."

Here is the full draw for the Group Stages of Cosmos Copa NYC 2012:

Group Stage play starts on the evening of July 14th at Pier 40 and continues on July 15th at Randall's Island. 

You can find pictures of the event on facebook. 

Here is the full schedule for the Group Stages of Cosmos Copa: