Official FIFA 2010 World Cup Discussion

[Merih]

The World Cup draw is 3 days away!!!!

Can't wait!

I hope we get put in a reasonable group this time...

 

[Bucklion]

South Africa, Slovakia...could we get that lucky?

 

[Mac]

No truth to the rumor that Ireland is going to pull a Kanye West at the draw

Hey Hey Hey...Yo France, I'm really happy for you. I'mma let you finish. But Ireland had one of the best games of all time.

 

[Merih]

I'm hearing South Africa alot for our group. Would make sense seeing as how Obama will be in attendance...that would be a PERFECT pairing for him and Mandela to do a pregame handshake.

 

[bigdog3300]

I'm hearing South Africa alot for our group. Would make sense seeing as how Obama will be in attendance...that would be a PERFECT pairing for him and Mandela to do a pregame handshake.

that would be nice.

i'd never seen this thread til now. man i am puuuumped for the World Cup! After the recent international showings, I feel alot more confident about at least being a tough out.

No country is clicking.....some of the most talented squads like Argentina (worst coached team I've seen in a long time....yes Arenas, even worse then you!), Spain, Brazil....none have been awe inspiring.

It's going to make for one close and exciting, unpredictable World Cup. I just hope we avoid another brutal draw. So pumped Also, any chance Davies will be 100% by Cup time?

 

[Merih]

that would be nice.

i'd never seen this thread til now. man i am puuuumped for the World Cup! After the recent international showings, I feel alot more confident about at least being a tough out.

No country is clicking.....some of the most talented squads like Argentina (worst coached team I've seen in a long time....yes Arenas, even worse then you!), Spain, Brazil....none have been awe inspiring.

It's going to make for one close and exciting, unpredictable World Cup. I just hope we avoid another brutal draw. So pumped Also, any chance Davies will be 100% by Cup time?

Welcome to the thread I made it pretty hyperly a few weeks ago and now it seems people are finding it!

I've heard that Davies will be jogging by February...which is amazing given his circumstances...

 

[Merih]

Final Draw procedure has been announced!

FIFA.com - FIFA Organising Committee approves Final Draw procedure

he FIFA Organising Committee approved today the procedure for the Final Draw of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa?, which will be held in Cape Town on Friday 4 December. The seeding was based on the October 2009 FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking (which you can see by clicking on the link to the right), and Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina and England are therefore the seven squads that join hosts South Africa as seeded teams for the Final Draw.The committee also approved the composition of the other pots as well as the procedure for the final draw:
? Pot 2 will be composed of teams from Asia (Australia, Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Republic), North, Central America and the Caribbean (Honduras, Mexico, USA) and Oceania (New Zealand)
? Pot 3 will include teams from Africa (Algeria, Cameroon, C?te d?Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria) and South America (Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay)
? Pot 4 will have the remaining European teams (Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland)
? hosts South Africa will be automatically positioned as A1; the other seeded teams will be drawn into the other groups B-H, but will always be in position ?1? of their group
? groups will be drawn from A to H and the positions in the group will be drawn for Pots 2 to 4
? geographical criteria will also be respected, meaning that no two teams from the same confederation will be drawn in the same group (except European teams, where a maximum of two will be in a group). For example, South Africa cannot play the African teams from Pot 3 and Argentina and Brazil cannot be drawn against the three remaining South American teams.
Information on the procedure of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking can be found by clicking on the link to the right.

So that means that Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, South Africa, and England will each be in separate groups, and that the remaining 3 spots in each group will be taken, 1 from each pot to each group.


I don't really know how England or Argentina made it as seeded groups, but whatever

 

[Bucklion]

Final Draw procedure has been announced!

FIFA.com - FIFA Organising Committee approves Final Draw procedure

So that means that Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, South Africa, and England will each be in separate groups, and that the remaining 3 spots in each group will be taken, 1 from each pot to each group.


I don't really know how England or Argentina made it as seeded groups, but whatever

They're ranked 8 and 9 in the FIFA rankings...I'm sure that has something to do with it...didn't both Portugal and France require the play-in to get in? I imagine why that's why they're not seeded, and they're the two teams ranked ahead.

 

[Merih]

On second though England I can understand. I'm still iffy on Argentina; they seem to be one of the poorest coached WC squads I've ever seen.

A potential dream group that USA could be put into:

South Africa
Slovakia
USA
Paraguay

More likely:
England
USA
Cameroon
Serbia

Group that I would die of sleep deprivation watching and rewatching:
Brazil
Mexico
Cameroon
France

I'm drooling just thinking of that last one

 

[Mac]

They're ranked 8 and 9 in the FIFA rankings...I'm sure that has something to do with it...didn't both Portugal and France require the play-in to get in? I imagine why that's why they're not seeded, and they're the two teams ranked ahead.

That is correct and your assumption is most likely good too. I don't care. Give me a group and send me to S. Africa. This could be the World Cup where we show up and do something so long as we aren't in the group of death.

 

[jazzman]

Group that I would die of sleep deprivation watching and rewatching:
Brazil
Mexico
Cameroon
France

I'm drooling just thinking of that last one

I agree that the FIFA rankings are a little weird, I would put Cote D'Ivoire higher than Cameroon....they play the most exciting brand of soccer in all of Africa.

 

[Merih]

The final draw is going to be done tomorrow at 12:00 noon eastern standard time, televised by ESPN 2 (you would think that this merit's ESPN 1 coverage but whatever).

At that point the game schedules and everything will be finalized, you can expect another nice little update in this thread from your's truly.

Anybody watching? I'm gonna be in class but I'm DVR'ing (word?) it and am staying away from any spoilers until I get home an hour later

 

[TDG]

I agree that the FIFA rankings are a little weird, I would put Cote D'Ivoire higher than Cameroon....they play the most exciting brand of soccer in all of Africa.

Ivory Coast is certainly the best team in Africa, FIFA rankings are idiotic.

Looking forward to the draw tomorrow, I feel like the best (for us) group the USA could get would be South Africa, Switzerland, and Paraguay. The worst would be Brazil, Portugal, and Ivory Coast. I'm sure we'll get closer to the latter, based on our luck in recent draws. :(

I'll be checking out the results of the draw at lunch, no point in watching the draw itself. Well, other than to see Charlize Theron.

 

[Steve19]

I'm hearing South Africa alot for our group. Would make sense seeing as how Obama will be in attendance...that would be a PERFECT pairing for him and Mandela to do a pregame handshake.

I'll be surprised if Madiba makes any public appearances. he is too old and frail. Personally, I don't think he is going to last very long but he has outlived all of his captors!

You guys getting pictures of the stadium and the ocean in Cape Town on CNN? Steve19's drive to work!

South Africa are a team that plays hot and cold and there is really a feeling of entitlement about them. I am hopeful but not optimistic.

 

[OHSportsFan]

Checking into the thread (shout out to Merih!).

Can't wait for the draw tomorrow. I'll be watching. This may be short-sighted, but the draw pretty much determines how the US will fair. Good draw we'll advance out of the group (which is a good WC for this country, at this point). Bad draw and we'll get embarrassed.

Like I said, maybe I'm being pessimistic and the US has certainly shown a knack for proving doubters wrong, but I'm not sure how well prepared this team will be next summer. Injuries, lack of playing time, and chemistry (adding Jermaine Jones in the midfield, shuffling of lineup) are all concerning. If the WC was this past summer, the USA would have gone to the round of 8 probably. It was just that kind of summer. It was a special run. The ball bounced in our favor often.

I feel we peaked in the wrong summer. The World Cup (like March Madness) is as much about being a good team, as it is having things go your way. Matchups. Calls. Offsides. Hot goalkeeper. Chemistry. Pride. Passion. Overall, just a team coming together for 1 month on the big stage. The USA did that in Summer 2009. Can they do it again in 2010?

As far as the rest of the countries go- I guess no one else has really stood out. Brazil and Spain are the favorites. But I'd say everyone else seems to have some holes and a lot can change in 6 months (still another half of the season left for European clubs).

But tomorrow will kick off a lot more analysis, as it's hard to say what will happen without seeing the groups. Should be fun.