The seedings for the 2010 World Cup Draw are announced today. They are based on the FIFA world ranking of the teams in question, together with the performance of the nations in the last three World Cup Tournaments. However, the actual formula used is a top secret blend of 13 herbs and spices which means that FIFA can tweak it quietly behind the scenes to allow their favoured countries a smoother ride through the competition, just like they did with the European play-offs.
With South Africa almost certainly guaranteed a seeded position, there are seven other places up for grabs in the first pool. Timeslive.co.za has them down as follows:
First pool: South Africa, Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, France
France won the 1998 World Cup, but crashed out with scoring a goal 4 years later, recovering to be beaten finalists last time around. This could mean that they sneak into the first pool, despite only sneaking into the competition via Thierry “Cheating Bastard” Henry’s much-documented handball in their playoff against Ireland.
This would not be a good thing for England’s World Cup hopes unless (possibly) they were drawn against South Africa. The remainder of the pools might look like this:
Second pool: England, Portugal, Slovakia, Switzerland, Greece, Denmark, Serbia, Slovenia
Third pool: Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Algeria, Ghana, Nigeria, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay
Fourth pool: Honduras, Mexico, United States, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Australia, New Zealand
Or they might not. So much of speculation.
So, having reviewed my successful ticket application (for 6 games in Cape Town), I can safely say that it looks like I will see just about anyone playing just about anyone else.
Except the Irish, obviously.
UPDATE: England seeded, France & Portugal not.
Pots for Friday’s draw: eight groups of four countries to be drawn, each group containing one country from each pot.
Pot 1 (seeds): South Africa, Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England
Pot 2 (Asia, Oceania and North/Central America): Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Mexico, Honduras
Pot 3 (Africa and South America): Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay
Pot 4 (Europe): France, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland, Greece, Serbia, Denmark, Slovakia
Beckham lauds SA
LA Galaxy, AC Milan and England midfielder David Beckham is here in Cape Town for the World Cup Draw tomorrow evening and took time out of his busy schedule with FIFA to give an interview to… FIFA. Unsurprisingly, (for all the reasons you are thinking of, be they contractual or otherwise) he seems happy to be here:
And on Cape Town’s preparations for 2010:
And he’s right. I’m beginning to notice that projects are nearing their end. The N2 is almost quite wide again. The N1 is really wide. I was at the airport last night and was astounded at the progress that has been made. The Stadium handover is only a few days away. My study is built and has a great view from the window.
As for the vibe – I mentioned it here – you just know that there is something very special going on right now. And if this is what it’s like for some balls being taken out of goldfish bowls, then I can only begin to imagine what next June is going to be like. Aside from greyer and damper, obviously. But it will be party time in the rain, believe me.
There are those who were fine with the road closures for their private party, but who are bitching about other people having fun; complaining about the security and the hugely busy CBD, moaning about the helicopters flying over the City Bowl; but they just don’t get it. This is big. Bigger than a little awards ceremony, bigger than your beloved rugby, bigger even than the end of Apartheid, according to some people in the know. Sure, you’ve never seen anything like it and you don’t want to be part of it, but doing your best to justify that decision while those around you are being swayed by the feeling is really not pretty.