World Cup 2010 Draw

attn charlize
south africa's group plz

so the pots aren't confirmed yet huh?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-2010/fixtures/6637415/World-Cup-2010-draw-all-you-need-to-know.html

USA, Englande, New Zealand, Australia

five-team group with Ireland

when is this?

Can't wait for N. vs S. Korea

perfect group would include usa as well

+ Japan

Actual group: England, Paraguay, Algeria, Greece. Have the seedings been sorted out yet?

lol if france are seeded

BBC Radio 5 live's sports news correspondent Gordon Farquhar said: "Portugal and France are the dangerous floaters in Friday's draw."

Eeew

The seedings are exactly who you'd expect.

I'm a little concerned that of the ten stadiums, one's a building site, two don't have pictures, and the one in Nelspruit is just a drawing.

If weak qualifying groups were that much of an issue then why are Argentina seeded? France and Portugal both have a better record in recent World Cups and Argentina had a similarly ropey qualifying campaign.

Argentina have been high on the ranking list throughout the period I think - I expect FIFA push that at every opportunity

shame Argentina and France have not played each other in...srsly when was the last time?

February

but in the World Cup?

1930

World Cup - Group A
Argentina 1 (0) - 0(0) France

At Montevideo, Uruguay on 15-07-1930

thx onimotson

Honduras being in pot 3 must annoy the Asian and South American teams, then again most of the pot 2 teams are shite anyway

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-2010/fixtures/6637415/World-Cup-2010-draw-all-you-need-to-know.html

This has Honduras in Pot 4.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_FIFA_World_Cup#Seeds

This has Honduras in Pot 2, lololol.

Worst case scenario - England, Portugal, Ivory Coast, South Korea.

Ouch that would hurt.

It looks like a Pot 1 is seeded then three geographically sorted pots so it doesn't matter what number they have.

South africa, Slovenia, Paraguay, Australia would be lovely thanks

Pots 1 and 3 uniformly strong, pots 2 and 4 all over the place. Should mean groups-of-death a-plenty, plus a few groups like ^ that one.

wouldn't want Australia or Paraguay if i was a top seed

England best/dullest case: New Zealand=Nigeria-Switzerland
worst/most entertaining case: Australia-Cote d'Ivoire-France

New Zealand are in the World Cup??? I haven't been paying attention: how on earth did this happen?

because Australia joined Asia confed basically

come on man, we had a liveblog going of NZ's crucial playoff against Bahrain a couple of weeks back

Kickoff 7am on a Saturday morning, I can't believe you weren't glued.

New Zealand are in the World Cup??? I haven't been paying attention: how on earth did this happen?

Two words: Chris Killen

World Cup Draw Generator (in Spanish and w/ background music)

http://www.record.com.mx/sorteoMundial/sorteoMundial.php

I just ran the automatic generation and got USA in a group with Dennmark, Ivory Coast, and Spain; England with Serbia, Cameroon, and Australia. x_x

it just gave me England, USA, Ghana, France

and Argentina, Honduras, Algeria, Greece

would actually love to see the uproar if those two groups actually happened

That's not far off worst-case scenario for England

I'll tell you what's really hacking me off - "FIFA World Cup 2010". It's not 'FIFA World Cup', it's 'The World Cup'. Stop trying to brand it. It's good enough without you, Blatter.

The voiceover on my DVD of the 2006 tourney keeps doing it too - "And it was left to Fabio Grosso to strike home the penalty that won FIFA World Cup for Italy". No he fucking didn't!

i do wish people would stop with the 'France and Portugal are the teams to avoid' thing. THEY ARE BOTH SHIT TEAMS, or at least the likes of Denmark and Serbia would be just as troublesome if not more so.

Reading that ^ (two posts up), I suddenly realise I have no memory of the FIFA World Cup final apart from the Zidane headbutt. I know it was 1-1 at half-time, but I can't remember who got the goals or which team scored first or anything else that happened.

i watched it in the house of someone who doesn't like football, surrounded by people who don't really care about football :(

I don't believe it's possible to forget Zidane's penalty. For about an hour-and-a-half it was the most amazing thing that ever happened.

(xpost)I saw Manchester United end the 26-year wait and win the league in 1993 (or rather, I saw Oldham deny Villa the chance of winning the league) on a TV in a corridor of a deserted university building on my own on a Sunday afternoon. It was (at that time) the single most fantastic footballing moment in my life, but felt very weird.

I have no memory of a Zidane penalty

Though I'm the same with 1998 - shortly afterwards my pals were talking about Denilson hitting the bar and Desailly getting sent off, and I had no idea. I must've watched in a Ronaldoesque daze.

Then you must remember the moment when you twigged that Italy simply had to win, because otherwise Barthez would now be the one to lift the trophy?

can't remember where i saw '98 final, probably just at home. the '02 final i saw (most of) at Glastonbury.

Actually, I can't remember anything about FIFA 1998 either, apart from the whole fat Ronaldo saga. I mean, I know it was 3-0, but I can't remember a single thing about the game. I think the problem with FIFA World Cup is that as soon as it's finished you kind of forget it for four years (or I do, anyway).

FIFA1998

don't toy with me, man

loved that final

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/26/46914328_60e966ef3e.jpg

don't toy with me, man

Relax, dude

Heh (bastard). World Cup Finals seem to have been totally amazing until 1986, and totally shit since.

2006 World Cup - as remembered by me

1) England were rubbish and struggled against various nonentities. Joe Cole got a good goal. We lost to Portugal again, after the Rooney-Ronaldo thing.

2) The end of Australia v Japan was very exciting.

3) Italy were very lucky to get out of the group stage and there was something dramatic involving the USA, but I forget the details

4) Argentina 6 Serbia (or whatever they were called) 0 (was it 0?) was one of the greatest displays of football I've seen. Possibly.

5) Two last gasp Italian goals against Germany.

The rest has gone.

http://sizeablekmoney.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/zidane_headbutt.jpg
http://www.manzullo.org/Contact/question_mark.jpg

TheYhe Italy-Germany semi was a privilege to be alive for. So, in a different way, was Holland-Portugal. A tiny landmark was Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire being African sides it was impossible to patronise.

(HoyHoy - I refer you to my original post at 22.42)

Ah! Holland-Portugal was the yellow card frenzy, wasn't it?

Haha, it's really funny seeing you people not remembering anything about 98 and 06 WC since I can remember them very clearly. But I'm french, so obviously I would! The one that needs to be forgotten is really the 02 one tho, that one was truly awful (and I'm not saying that cos France sucked... I mean honestly that final was a bore too for ex).

something dramatic involving the USA

Italian own goal, red cards to both sides IIRC. Ended 1-1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXHCbIBEhc0

you could always read the dozen or so wc06 threads for a memory jog

i remember it well partly cos i got to go out there for a bit altho the match i saw was probably the dullest not to involve england

i do wish people would stop with the 'France and Portugal are the teams to avoid' thing. THEY ARE BOTH SHIT TEAMS, or at least the likes of Denmark and Serbia would be just as troublesome if not more so.

Nah, qualifying records don't mean shit as soon as the finals begin, I would MUCH rather get Denmark or Serbia than either France or Portugal, both of whom have a habit of a) going a long way in international tournaments and b) beating England. And both do have great players.

Argentina v Mexico in 2006 was also a really great game IIRC.

ah yes - Kily Gonzalez(?) scored a staggering goal

Jared Borgetti scored an absolutely incredible header against I think Italy, though that might have been 2002 possibly

yeah dude getting a team that has ribery or ronaldo != getting a team that has bendtner or tosic

Don't worry about a team with Ribery, cos hey Domenech still hasn't found a proper way for France to play with Gorcuff and Ribery and Henry.
Also, France is frightening, you never know when they will act like cheating bastards to beat you... (and they have Platini behind the scenes to help them pull through whatever happens)

ok but ribery/gourcuff/anelka are 3 of the 20 best players in the world right now, no matter how retarded domenech is and i'd prefer not to draw them

I would MUCH rather get Denmark or Serbia than either France or Portugal, both of whom have a habit of a) going a long way in international tournaments and b) beating England. And both do have great players.

as far as England go i think they're all equally good for a dragged out draw. at least getting Portugal in the group would mean not going out on penalties to them (bar the highly unlikely event of a meeting in the last 4). granted many people are now expecting Fra and Por to perform like they did in 02 so that's too predictable but both getting thru is still hard to envisage - if they had been top seeds it may be different.

would like to avoid Paraguay too because zzzzzz and they do look better than 4 years ago

Ribery Gourcuff Anelka are all good, no denying that. But having seen all their qualification games, I can assure you that sadly that's not enough. We're talking abou a team that barely scraped through 1-0 against Lithuania, struggled to beat Feroe, was beaten by Austria. These guys have the talent to do something, but they can't seem to be able to do anything together. But hey, I hope the old cliche difficult qualification round- good competition will come through once again :D

let's see. best: south africa, usa, algeria, greece. worst: brazil, usa, ivory coast, portugal

Where should a n00b get his WC news online? From the US but not particularly interested in endless "Jozy set to break out in 2010" stories.

...but I would like good coverage of the USMNT.

...and a pony. Oh well. Which angle do you think ESPN will push on his Hull City run? "frustrated" "undaunted"

http://www.goal.com/en/ is pretty great for all football news, incl. world cup

ty

I was wrong up there about Argentina's wonder goal - it was Maxi Rodriguez, not Kily Gonzalez. I'm delighted to see that Holland-Portugal earned both its own wikipedia entry and a nickname, which in my view is the highest accolade a match can get: The Battle of Nuremberg

Not to be confused with the 1632 military engagement The Siege of Nuremberg.

It wasn't even a battle, it was just ineptly refereed - The Battle of Nuremberg, that is, not the Siege of Nuremberg. I remember watching it and thinking it was a farce - The Battle of etc

I was quite annoyed by it at the time (2006, not 1632). Obviously taking my football more seriously in those days. I think the players stopped taking it seriously midway through too - I'm pretty sure Deco exaggerated his own scythe at van Bommel or whoever just to troll the ref.

I wonder if the other legendary scenes of footy carnage were just a joke at the time too? The Battle of Santiago, the Siege of Highbury, etc.

A real battle

Crikey. I was amused by the 'protracted boxing match', but the rest of it isn't so funny. Foreign ref losing control in my view.

I read somewhere after the Egypt-Algeria playoff that all the blood stems (among other things) from an Algeria player blinding the Egyptian team doctor after a previous game between the two. That's going too far in my book.

all the bad blood, obviously

How did we get from that noble chain of battle nicknames to 'pizzagate'? 'The battle of extra cheese' would've been just fine.

Any idea what time the draw actually begins tonight? As opposed to the fannydangle before it? I have to time my trip from office to pub impeccably.

Bloke on the news this morning said 6pm-ish our time I think.

dunno but its a football group draw... there is never any fun from actually watching them. but the fact that the ceremony starts at 5 and the bbc coverage starts at 5.15 could mean you miss some of the pretentious shite

But the pretentious shite is what brings the lollery

I like the feeling of being in the pub and sharing the feeling of "yes!" or "oh shit" or "lol France".

Sitting in the pub in 1997 and everyone pointing and laughing when Scotland drew Brazil is still one of my fondest memories.

The preliminaries can go on for about an hour at these things. During research for a previous post I discovered that even the final gets preliminaries now - has it been ever thus? Shakira and Wyclef performed before the last one.

It probably has, actually - I remember Ricky Martin doing some terrible song before a game once (not even one of his famous ones, it was just filler or a b-side or something)

"the cup of life" was the official song of the 1998 world cup.

bombs

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/8391833.stm why are the bbc liveblogging six hours before the ceremony? jeez.

in case Ireland sneak their balls into the pot. begorrah.

Has Ireland's request been officially rejected then?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9e/Zakumi.jpg

I quite like the androgynous mascot they've come up with

how could it ever have worked? i kinda like Liam Brady's 'we might as well ask anyway they can only say no...and then blab to the media about it' approach tho. xp

still love that we put this up like a week before the game

http://theblogpaper.co.uk/files/imagecache/photostory_image/files/artic_p/199452820090925.jpg

This draw will shape the long-term direction of English football, pointing the motherland of the game towards sun-lit heights or the depths of despair.

also who is in the group next door (2nd round opponents)

btw who has ever gone out at the quarter-final stage three times in a row?

1538: We mentioned it earlier, but the actress Charlize Theron, who is co-hosting the World Cup draw, reportedly pulled out a ball and said "Ireland" instead of "France" during rehearsals on Friday. Fifa General Secretary Jerome Valcke stressed that it was 'only a joke'.

Alan Hansen on England's World Cup hopes: "I think England have got major problems - obviously in goal, at centre-forward and now at centre-back too, so right down the spine of the team. Unless they can eradicate those problems, it's very difficult to see how they can go on and win the World Cup."

US Group "can't be tougher than its Confed Cup draw

oh Luis Buenopaws

Hansen is usually talking England up so this is welcome refreshment

I dunno, I remember when Frank Skinner sang about "throw it away", the video cut to a downlooking Alan Hansen, mouthing the words in some interview footage...

Hansen doesn't care about England, you can tell when they show the reaction in the studio whenever England score. Also him being Scottish and everything.

I've heard some Scottish people speculate that he's gone native but I don't see it.

I dunno I remember his delight when England beat Argentina in that friendly 4 years ago - and it wasn't a defensive classic

Alexi Lolas and unnamed English pundit gettin' snarky on each other as Efan Ekoku looks on

It'd've taken one self-important, joyless Scrooge not to have delighted in that game though. Oh, right.

Any sign of this getting into gear? I'm about a half-hour from home (if this blasted train would get going)

Still nothing but talking here.

btw "unnamed English pundit" = Steve McManaman

"need all the best players there" is stupid, y or n?

Hell y

i have the sound off here. pls can ilx provide subtitles because I'd hate to be missing out on Alan Shearer's insights into pulling balls out of bowls.

"wayne rooney is a big factor"

"we've always suffered injuries at bad times"

football cliches that drive you mad
football cliches that drive you mad
football cliches that drive you mad
football cliches that drive you mad
football cliches that drive you mad
football cliches that drive you mad
football cliches that drive you mad
football cliches that drive you mad
football cliches that drive you mad
football cliches that drive you mad
football cliches that drive you mad

beckham lost the beard and accidentally shaved the sides of his head at the same time

y has england not produced a player w/ beckhams technique in 15 years

not asked by bbc still talking in cliches

oh joy gabby logan

http://willthomasonline.net/willthomasonline/Cell_Phone_Antiphony/IMAG019.JPG

would prefer to be watching charlize and sepp love time

y has england not produced a player w/ beckhams technique in 15 years

FA decided it was more important to teach 5 year-olds to win at all costs

ESPN has a reporter in a bar in NYC who are chanting "We want England" and listening to a band called "Group of Death".

south africa suck so we are going to patronise them

nelson mandela snore

*filled with people who are chanting...

xps

colonialist cerimony, looking at africa like ONE COUNTRY makes me ill

is this on anything on anything other than news24?

in the UK, i mean

watching on bbc football site

bbc2

right you are

news24 was pretty bad.

only watching this for the Soweto Gospel Choir tbh

soweto gospel choir more insightful than alan shearer. dressed like mad men extras.

charlize theron ws that english retard

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f325/caek/shot0002.png

TINY TEDDY

theron obviously never given a shit about soccerball until they handed her the check. guys she is hosting with is a right http://burythehammer.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/shemale.jpg?w=300&h=214

wish someone would just get diego some coke to spice this up

Charlize really getting into this, learning a lot

having different colour balls=ummm... not gonna quash 'its rigged' rumours

Serious business.

I don't understand any of this, btw.

and just because http://burythehammer.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/poof.jpg?w=510&h=284

they take balls out of pots. european teams allowed to have 2 in a group, but no other continent allowed more than 1 in each...

*whoosh*

Jeez, Charlize is stupid

haile selasse is drawing pots!

its acting, Ismael

i'm watching this with a guy from Zim, who's positively beaming with pride. hard to be completely cynical when you see how much this whole think can mean to a continent.

http://liverun.blogtv.uol.com.br/img/Image/LiveRun/2008/Outubro/Haile_Gebrselassie.jpg

and some bald chick and beckham pick balls

"HEY SWEETHEART, (CALL ME)"

Beckham looks like Travis Bickle going for an interview for an office job

Group A: South Africa
B: Argies
C: Englishers
D: Nazis
E: Stoned Hookers
F: Luca Toni and Friends
G: RIP Ronniedinho
H: RIP Raul

good luck usa

mexico gets lucky!

South Africa-Mexico in the 'group of piss'

ok, completely lost now

so England v Germany is a potential 2nd round tie?

good group

My stream died :(

BOOM

BLAMMO - USA V ENGLAND

LOLas: NICE

Group of ILX microcosm!

First game too.

Who was drawn before USA?

south korea

south korea

oh man our group is gonna be usa, ivory coast and france isnt it

this is the most painful banter

Dutch v. Japan gonna be fun

calling a last minute Altidore equaliser now

Charlize can be quite the flirt

are n korea any good?

How would anyone know? The players haven't been cloned yet

they'd give Bolton a battle

n korea? lol

brazil never gets a tough group NEVER

Argentina v Nigeria shades of 94

group b looking good

drogba v. kaka fun times

CdI out of the way thank fuck

boom

Right, I actually don't understand why Cote d'Ivoire didn't get put in England's group

brazil v. ivory coast = goalfest

algeria

Algeria for group C

xxxp.,because england's group is c, but argentina's is b

France with England, Algeria and USA would be pretty awesome now

algeria thank you prince phillip

brazil never gets a tough group NEVER

lol @ myself xd

URUGUAY ABANTE!!!

rare for Mexico to get a South American team in the group, could be interesting

I'm loving Beckham's role here - his banter is exactly as inane and nervous as any of ours would be

sa/mehico/uruguay could be good viewing, even if it doesnt involve the best players. sure shearer will be disappointed tho

these groups looking good so far, although no obv. 'group of death' yet

although no obv. 'group of death' yet

Group D imo

Wait a minute: Nigeria were first out and went into B so as not to meet South Africa. Then CdI came out and skipped all the way to G, instead of just going into C. Why was that?

And who cares?

dutchs japon camaroon lol

France with England, Algeria and USA would be pretty awesome now

Post-colonial grudgefest

i think charlize has had enough

N'lands v Cameroon could be fun.

lolz

that'll teach Henry

are ghana actually good or are we just assuming essien is their maradona circa 86

bah not too bad for France

france are going to win this, aren't they?

lol at theron's attempted zing

B and G looking tough

get in

Slovenia for group C, wow

GOOD JOB EVERYBODY

piece of piss group yay

USA should fancy their chances frankly

ILX got to be happy with that group

Group D, though

south africa will never classify

wait, didn't we just play them in a friendly

Group D is killer

group d actually looking good yeah

mixed result for australia

oh, Slovakia

group e just looks like arsenal players injuring each other ;_;

1806: Jonathan Pearce reckons England cannot play Argentina until the final now.

Looking forward to Laibach doing the official Slovenian team song.

LOL

beautiful

pretty good for Italy - Paraguay and Slovakia going thru instead would be hilarious tho

south africa will never classify

― moullet, Friday, 4 December 2009 18:23 (55 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

domenechs france, the mexico that found it hard to qualify and uruguay? good group for them actually

North Korea thinking FUCK THIS

I bet Paraguay can beat Italy at their own game

would love north korea to go through, for ultimate lols

Group H will not be bringing the thrills

OMG GGGGGGG

Feeling pretty sorry for Ivory Coast, didnt they have a really tough group last time? Should be exciting tho

would like to see Argentina v France in 2nd round, but then one of them could meet England in quarter-final if usual structure applies no?

Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile

Group G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal (New Group of Death)

Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia

Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon

Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia Ghana (Group of Death?)

Group C: ENGLAND, United States, Algeria, Slovenia

Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France

"mexicans" just sounds so hateful amirite

Oh god let the USA England shit talking commence, ESPN is obviously banking on this already.

or is it A1 vs C2, B1 vs D2 etc.?

couldn't have gone much better, tbh. only disapointment is france's draw which will get them to the QFs no bother.

beckhams blue shirt w/ white collar looks as horrible as his haircut

A1 vs. B2 iirc

which is why england didn't want portugal in D

Is the backing music 'King of the Mountain'?

A1 vs B2, B1 vs A2 I think so Argentina vs France and England vs Germany could happen.

anyone got a wall poster type thing with 'a1 v. b2 winner plays winner of c1 v. d2' or whatever?

Has Motty been retired from the big events? I'll be gutted if Pearce is doing the final.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_FIFA_World_Cup_schedule

these guys work fast

potential 2nd round

France v Argentina
Nigeria v Mexico
England v Ghana
Germany v USA
Cameroon v Slovakia
Italy v Netherlands
Brazil v Chile
Spain v Ivory Coast

also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_cup_2010#Knockout_stage

What possessed Lineker to think 'day one goatee' was the look to go for?

demeaning africans again well done alan

I like how Motty brings the facts, and the others just mumble agreement

already too excited about this. always do this.

anyone know anything about slovenia? motty says they have a west brom player so

oh what did Shearer say? always looking for new reasons to hate him

The hosts have never failed to get out the group. Even Japan managed it.

try not to remember. "oh wow they have pitches" i think about algeria

Mcmanaman says best way to beat England is "to work hard".

the (fairly hackneyed) phrase "group of death" seems a little wrong and lol when north korea are in it.

wow, that's a soft group for spain

"Don't underestimate Cote d'Ivoire ... Ivory Coast' "Easy for you to say"

D is the group of death! Jeez, these guys know nothing!

18/1 for france hmmmm

Was thinking the same.

Lineker just called it "Serie Eh". He definitely knows it's not called that.

Weird that the bookmakers just cut England's chances. That's a pretty good group, methinks.

wondering which was worse: Charlize's banter or the BBC stuff

its like they have forgotten how to host, sooooo much dead sound and no-one talking

ESPN has gone back to the pundit desk, w/ surprisingly complete coverage of all groups.

fabiano 16/1 top goalscorer also looks v. tasty

shearer was on newsround today, i thought i was going to meet him for a second due to having to do something near where the interview was but then it didn't happen. can't think what i'd have done.

Weird that the bookmakers just cut England's chances. That's a pretty good group, methinks.

― l'homme moderne: il forniquait et lisait des journaux (Michael White), Friday, December 4, 2009 6:41 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Do you mean England's odds are longer because they've got a tough group or their odds a shorter because they've got an easy group?

66/1 forlan tg? 3 or 4 in the easy group stage, maybe 1 or 2 after that?

william hill has portugal at 25/1 and ronaldo knows how to maradona a team to win shit on his own

need to stop looking this early before i bet on people and they break their legs in may

Portugal will not win it. I have Brazil as favourites; England, Spain and Cote d'Ivoire as next choices. And France just because they're totally unpredictable. I don't think anyone else is good enough.

ivory coast at 33/1 look good too

if you are counting france as unpredictable, why not a team with messi and kun?

cant count out the germans cliche

has potential to be a fucking awesome world cup basically but it wont so i am not gonna get excited

Holy shit, is it June yet. Now? What about now, is it June now?

Now?

Bob Bradley actually *smiled* when talking about playing England. Right back to steely-eyed emotionless stare thereafter.

if you are counting france as unpredictable, why not a team with messi and kun?

Not based on personnel, but on history and something like national character. France are like Pakistan at cricket or, uh, France at rugby - alternately genius and shocking, and no way to know which one's going to turn up. I can also imagine France's players collectively covering for and then overruling/ignoring Domenech, can't see Argentina's doing that for Maradona.

I really hope the US shows up to this WC.

I guess I never realized how valuable McBride was for us.

They're talking to Mexico's coach Javier Aguirre at the moment and Domenech interrupted the interview to say "good luck". When Aguirre came back he said "I just met him today".

guardian wall chart (with observer font?)

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2009/12/04/WC2010_WALLCHART_0510.pdf

that wall chart is horrible. i want something i can have as my pc wallpaper and can actually read without zooming 4000 times. also dont care where each game is held. basically want a wallchart from the sun

Even assuming the US manage to finish second in C, they will die at the hands of anybody who can get out of D.

G v H has possibility of an Iberian derby or Spain v Brazil, either of which could be highly entertaining.

France v Argentina, A v B, would be pretty fun, too.

I want a spreadsheet that will show me what would happen should Honduras beat Spain 5-1.

Apocalypto

ummm usa beat spain this summer and have l0u1s jagg3r in their team, they arent exactly retarded

Even assuming the US manage to finish second in C, they will die at the hands of anybody who can get out of D.

So they'll just have to win Group C I guess? At any rate: there are no easy games.

except new zealand and south africa and north korea and algeria and possibly italy depending on whether they want to bring the lols or not

as before, get ready for 7mos of this

English-American Alliance to be Torn Asunder by Soccer
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/11/2009/12/500x_custom_1259957213175_bonhomme-richard-engaging-the-serapis-in-battle-paul-walsh.jpg

ouch, tough group for Australia. Potential second round vs England is awesome though

that article is hilarious in its lack of understanding two teams from the group go through.

I like Bradley but I got no indication during the qualification campaign that the team has really gelled. There were moments of exceptional grit but moments of lack of concentration. I think we are quickly prone to lose confidence and we are still far too weak in the back for my liking. Based on the extremely little I know about Algeria (They made it to the WC and the game against Egypt, which I saw), I think the US, on a good day, could beat them. Slovenia could go either way. I would think a draw vs. Capello's England a very good result, if they could pull that off.

So even assuming that the fates smile on them and they get through, they're likely to face Germany, which isn't terrible, really. The U.S. at least understands German soccer. They may not be able to beat it, but they understand how to prepare for it. If, by chance we played Ghana, I don't know how that would play out. I imagine there's still some revenge sought for the last WC.

It's kind of a pity that US vs. Australia is such a distant possibility. It would be fun to see two post-Anglo countries play, neither of which shares the 'mother' county's enthusiasm for soccer.

http://www.burdenclothing.com/pages/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/soc_a_gaetjens_576.jpg

I'd totally forgotten that there's a history here. Love this photo.

What is that, Ismael?

It's Joe Gaetjens being carried from the field after scoring the winning goal v England in 1950. I love the way he looks there, like a conquering boxer, or maybe an Emperor with that sash. I'd never seen the widescreen version before I searched for it just now, I think maybe it's been touched up for an ad campaign. Lovely image anyway.

totally Netflixing The Game Of Their Lives soon

Ah! What a story!

I hardly know anything about US soccer history, but I poked about in it once and it was like discovering an amazing lost world. Check out Hakoah Vienna and their New York/Brooklyn descendants too. I'd love it if these ancient clubs could be revived, and see if the folk memory is still there.

Yeah, there's a lot of interesting stuff out there. New York Hakoah won the Open Cup (our FA Cup equivalent) in the 20s, I think. The history of the Open Cup tournament alone is pretty amazing.

let's make sure we do a wallchart thread

Getting back to the USA's chances, I'm cautiously optimistic. They're not the kind of team that can completely dominate a game at this level, no matter who the opponent is (OK, maybe like NZ or SA but I would end the list there). A draw with England would be perfectly acceptable. A scrappy, scrappy win is the only way I see USA prevailing, which would be a miracle on par withbigger than beating Spain in the Confeds Cup semi. Beating Slovenia and Algeria is very doable, but will take a real team effort. I would not be surprised to see USA advance on goal differential like in the Confeds Cup.

A lot of people hate Bradley but I like him, the dude is like Capt. Picard after he came back from living among the Borg. Everything is methodical and logical and I get a feeling that even if he doesn't do well this Cup his program would win it all given a long enough timeline. Thankfully no-one has patience for that.

One of the great unheralded subplots of this World Cup is going to be the North Korean media facing its greatest challenge yet. We're going to see a whole trove of stories about how the August Wave of People Prosperity Power valiantly sacrificed itself 4-0 to a laughably inferior Ivory Coast team in order to demonstrate the glorious sportsmanship of the scientific and militant youth fraternity of the Juche. The human creativity on display will verge on the science-fictional. We could see a movie about this one day.

Wait a minute: Nigeria were first out and went into B so as not to meet South Africa. Then CdI came out and skipped all the way to G, instead of just going into C. Why was that?

― Ismael Klata, Friday, December 4, 2009 6:19 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/finaldraw/01/14/22/91/fwc2010%5ffinal%5fdraw%5fprocedure%5fen%5f021209.pdf

A huge stroke of luck for England/USA, that.

cautiously optimistic that Chile could advance through the group stages.

completely convinced that they'll get pumped by Spain.

lol Sun front page :

England
Algeria
Slovenia
Yanks

just saw the draw, that's ridiculous group for UK. a bit unlucky for South Africa, compared to Germany's group in 06

UK didn't qualify yo

uhh you're right :( maybe next time

thx for clearing up whether we'd played slovenia or slovakia in that recent friendly, dan m. i couldn't remember either.

australia and japan-teams i have a little bit of rooting interest in-seem screwed

Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile:
This shoudl be a piece of piss for Spain but reasonably even elsewhere? Anyone could come second.

Group G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal (New Group of Death)
Group of ALL DIVING ALL THE TIME more like. Actually this is a hell of a group, could be really exciting. Terrific players, UNKNOWN QUANTITY in North Korea, postcolonial subplot and the distinct possibility of Cote D'Ivoire getting out of there at Portugal's expense.

Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia
Easy for Italy surely? Slovakia probably have one mercurial genius we've never heard of though.

Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon
Boring.

Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia Ghana (Group of Death?)
I was thinking this was possibly the hardest group and then remembered Australia are probably a bit rubbish now. Serbia and Ghana could be much stronger than people expect.

Group C: ENGLAND, United States, Algeria, Slovenia
Lololol easy. If we don't get out of that group we deserve to be banned from all future international tournaments.

Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece
Group of 'it depends which team turn up on the day' with the possible exception of Greece who will grind out a succession of 1-0 victories against talented but inconsistent opposition and finish top.

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
Bollocks, really wanted France to go out in the first round. Maybe they will, as the host nation always goes through (although maybe not when they are as bad as South Africa) and Mexico are required by law to go out in the second round of every World Cup ever.

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France is the one downside of a fairytale draw imo.

H: agree, but Chile should be second if they turn up
G: very interesting. A lot depends on the mentality of 'the other big two'. Probably Portugal to go out, but a small chance it could be Brazil - we're just assuming they know how to do first rounds
F: I suspect Italy are just waiting to be found out. This isn't the group to do it though. Hope NZ get a goal somewhere
E: au contraire. Could see Netherlands being turned over if they don't turn up from the off. Don't fancy Japan's chances much
D: proper group of death this. Suspect Australia and Germany will be a bit stronger, and Ghana and Serbia a bit weaker, than expected. Three-way scrap for second.
C: easy. Hope the US do themselves justice
B: agree, anything could happen. Couldn't have gone better for Argentina really
A: massive groan from me when France came out. On the other hand, SA aren't good enough to be seeds so it just evens things up a bit. I'd love to see Mexico to believe in themselves for once

Overall, looks fairly predictable, but I don't mind that if it leads to a belter of a second round. A lot could depend on whether the big boys take a rest in game three - I haven't checked who'd benefit if Spain, England, etc. breeze through their openers.

H: Spain will piss that group and whoever finishes second is fucked anyway so big whoop
G: Or Cote d'Ivoire cd go thru at Brazil's expense. Group of Death imo
F: Italy no probs and for the rest see group H
E: Even the Netherland's legendary capacity for self-destructing and hating the shit out of each other shd see them thru this no probs
D: Bollocks this group will suck Germany with 9 points no probs Australia second I'm guessing
C: Shouldn't be an ish for England but tbh USA and Algeria have got a potential banana skin look about them plus I can hear the "lol 1950" commentator cliches already
B: Other Group of Death I think, Greece and South Korea both capable of boring the opposition into submission and who knows what'll happen rilly. Nigeria cd go either way I'm guessing
A: lol France out

Don't think D is a group of death. Germany shouldn't even be seeded, and none of the other teams are quarter final material. It's a very difficult group to predict though, agreed.

I thought Italy got found out in Euro 2008?

Surely we are all overrating Australia? Who do they have who's that good nowadays, goalkeeper aside? I would expect the USA to be better, even.

Are dudes up there underrating Brazil? I was under the impression that they were brilliant again?

Not really underrating Brazil but I think it's a tough-looking group, especially if North Korea are all well-organized and cagey which I suspect they will, and a tough group doesn't give teams much time to get into form.

brilliant but a bit boring

italy- hmm, in balotelli/rossi they finally might have some great forwards for the first time in 10 yrs?

H: Spain will piss that group and whoever finishes second is fucked anyway so big whoop

who do second place in this group play? :'-(

Brazil most likely

Why no "group of death"-like epithets for E? One fave, three more or less even... Haven't paid attention to JPN or CAM for many many years though; they may be rub. Still... Denmark OUT!

Japan no longer have anyone Europe cares about (previously: Nakata, Nakamura) and Cameroon found it very hard to qualify for the ACN let alone the World Cup and still see Rigobert Song as their rock in defence

Yeah Cameroon are quoted at something like 750-1 I think.

especially if North Korea are all well-organized and cagey which I suspect they will

I was under the impression from the reported Sven approach that well-organised was the one thing they weren't. They've recently lost to Iran, Thailand and Zambia so it looks more likely that they'll end up being Saudi Arabia-style whipping boys.

Totalitarianism doesn't work, unless Capello's in charge.

Australia to finish second in Group D, will destroy England in the Round of 16 on the happiest day of my life.

see, gloating about cricket rugby netball is one thing, but ^ this sort of thing is just plain weird

As an aside, are you looking forward to Australia hosting the 2018 World Cup?

it's cool bro rugby league won't let it happen

Who gives a shit about Rugby League?

AFL will try not to let it happen before announcing that they'll play the entire season in Blacktown and on the Gold Coast

A: tricky one to call; mexico are always up for it and uruguay are my dark horses for possibly even as far as a semi-final place if my calculations are correct (strong defence, suarez & forlan up top, hello). france need to screw their heads on fast.

B: again who knows with argentina these days, but they have less to worry about than france. greece are not what they were and might well lose out to nigeria. south korea = no hiddink no credibility.

C: piece of piss, etc. but the real luck of england's draw isnt in the group but in how it might pan out in the latter stages - anything less than semis is failure imo.

D: d for DUNCE PUNDITRY - this is a stick on 9 points for germany with the bafflingly underrated and very capable serbia behind. australia have regressed badly, and ghana are the same team as in 2006 just older and worse off.

E: hmmm. meh fuck it who cares they'll all be out by the quarters anyway.

F: forzzzzza italy. look out for them versus spain, ivory coast, or portugal in the quarters though, with germany after that.

G: of death. exciting contrast of team styles. brazil will win however.

H: warm up for spain before they get to their particularly hard latter stages - if they win the thing they'll have bloody well earned it.

final prediction: brazil vs italy, italy retain world cup on pens.

Brazil-England final, England to win in 90 mins. Dearest hope: JT to get a knock and be ruled out so it's Beckham or Rio lifting the trophy.

An excel wallchart:

http://www.imicuk.com/worldcup/worldcup2010.xls

I have England losing to Brazil in the semis after a tough win over Germany then a coast over Mexico.

I have 404 file not found

go usa

go out before england, usa

that xls doesnt work for me either

why is it so hard to find one? should be loads out there but coming up with zilch

found this one but you have to fill the teams in first
http://seganeptune.com/2009/12/04/sega-and-si-games-offer-a-free-spreadsheet-for-world-cup-2010/

E.A.S.Y. is the 4th most difficult group, according to some people.

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/index.html

Poll
Which of the eight groups at the 2010 FIFA World Cup is most difficult?
1) Group G
54.05%
2) Group A
18.63%
3) Group D
7.11%
4) Group C
5.11%
5) Group E
4.53%
6) Group H
4.07%
7) Group B
3.81%
8) Group F
2.69%

Group F is stupidly easy.

http://www.fifa.com/mm/photo/tournament/finaldraw/01/14/42/66/1144266%5ffull-lnd.jpg

He's looked better.

so's she tbh

~that~ guy on the right

That link 404s me as well now.

Here's one, tho it's megaupload, sorry.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1KPAGU0G

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fE95_ZzGdc

little bit of background for Group C

wearing the new england shirt around munich today. feeling stylish, excited, and deliciously provocative!

I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY COULDN'T FIND SOMETHING TO CHARGE HENRY WITH IT WAS A BLATANT HAND BALL

WHO WILL MEND BLATTER'S BROKEN FIFA

pfunkboy?

what other countries have great shirts this year?

YOMP

http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00384/sns0650fca280_384487a.jpg

hey ur breaking my flow

haha, more kit talk!

would wear:

http://www.fifa.com/mm/photo/worldfootball/nationalteams/01/15/31/67/1153167_large.jpg

http://www.uksoccershop.com/index.php?main_page=popup_image&pID=11096

Cameroon usually have awesome kits but dunno what the deal is with this Comic Sans monstrosity.

http://www.uksoccershop.com/index.php?main_page=popup_image&pID=10890

Ghana away shirt, possibly sponsored by McDonalds.

would wear cameroon away shirt

http://www.kitbag.com/product_images/maxzoom/prd_maxzoom_kb-60882.jpg

I always had the impression that the England-Germany thing was one-way, like most rivalries I suppose. Have I got that wrong? Much kudos if you're posting while being beaten senseless.

wtf have they just drawn the red on with felt tip?

realised the other day that it's over ten years now since England and Scotland played each other. IDIOT FA(s).

reusing stock of old Norwich strips

organised by martin reuser

yeah, no one in germany gives a shit about my shirt, except thinking i look snappy, tbh

last episode of QI told me that Germany's big footballing beef is not with England but with Holland. For some reason.

minimal elegance seems to be quite in with this year's kits, SHEESH that's not gonna offer future fashion lols.

because they live next to holland, and actually invaded them

I thought it went Holland -> Germany, same as with England. I presumed Germany would be obsessed with Italy since I read that they've never beaten them competitively (but that's surely wrong)

no, they're obsessed with the dutch too, much like england with us

oh i don't know- i know the dutch go crazy against the germans in any sphere from living there, but tbh i'm not sure how seriously the germans take it

'Rumor has it, they may want Bornstein to play half of the game for Honduras'

i think the sad truth is that even tho everybody hates germany, they don't really hate anybody else. it's infuriating.

kinda where you want to get to, though. i wonder where it is on maslow

the germans have invaded the top of maslow's pyramid, maybe

left their beach towel on it overnight i shouldn't wonder. now why didn't they do that to belgium?

They used to hate themselves, but I think even that's changed with the rather charming team they put out in 2006.

Yeah I think they won a lot of people round at the last World Cup. In the past they were infuriating for either being a grinding machine or, worse, for being rubbish and still managing to make the final.

people kept saying how rubbish they were 2 years ago when they got to the final, i didn't think they were that bad tho (good going fwd, ropey at the back...fun times).

They got to the final? I've had my memory wiped of every recent international tournament it seems. Was Euro 08 when Holland were great against someone (Italy?) and then got knocked out by Russia? And Turkey scored a late goal or something? I can't seem to remember anything else.

It was and it was great. I think it was France that Holland crushed - they were irresistible that night, and it was the first time I remember seeing swoopycam do its thing.

Holland crushed both France and Italy in the group stage (4-1 and 3-0 , something like that). Everybody thought they were favourites and then they failed. Nothing but the usual for our dutch friends then.

the dutch fans sing a song when they play germany which translates as "give us back our grandads bikes"...some ref to the war. myself and a friend in dublin had adapted this for many other international rivalries..."give us back our grandads lives" etc...

Charlie Davies on remarkable path to recovery

Today, Davies looks very much like he did before the accident. The swelling in his face that was so evident during his interview with ESPN last November has subsided, though a shorter haircut reveals the scar he has from ear to ear arcing over the top of his skull. That scar came after doctors peeled his face off down to his chin in order to repair the multiple fractures that left his facial bones a shattered mess.

Pretty damn amazing story even if he doesn't make it to SA, but after reading this it's hard not to believe he'll be there.

Love this guy

That scar came after doctors peeled his face off down to his chin in order to repair the multiple fractures that left his facial bones a shattered mess.

Jesus!

Woah. Any pictures of him as in-his-last-role Heath Ledger?

new world cup ball is bamboozling keepers

http://www.goal.com/en/news/815/african-nations-cup/2010/01/19/1752150/african-nations-cup-blame-goalkeepers-foibles-on-the-new

Doesn't this happen every world cup?

yep

"A small thread with a small mentality" - Liverpool and Man City won't win the Premiership 2009/10

I hate 'well the ball is a lot lighter now and will cause goalkeepers real problems this summer' before EVERY ****ING TOURNAMENT!

xpost doesnt make it any less annoying though

MLS is supposedly using the new ball this season. A handful of players might have a little bit of an advantage come June?

At some point soon the US are going to surprise everybody and win the whole thing - not this time though, I don't think

I've said it before, I'd be happy just living to see them win Copa America.

USA having the most ticket applicants surprises me a bit (only a bit)

At some point soon the US are going to surprise everybody and win the whole thing - not this time though, I don't think

― Ismael Klata, Monday, 25 January 2010 21:44 (18 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I've said it before, I'd be happy just living to see them win Copa America.

― i am under no illusions that my opinions are even that interesting to me (dan m), Monday, 25 January 2010 21:51 (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Neither of these things will happen during Leo Messi's career fyi

(have just decided that it doesn't care how crazy maradona is- messi is winning the world cup. oh, and his teammates i guess.)

I wonder if anyone's told Maradona can only take 21 teammates for him (assuming he picks Messi that is)

squad is 23, must incl. 3 keeps iirc

unless u meant messi has the talent of 2, in which i agree and retract the last statement

If you can't wait until June to see who England will beat in the final.lose to in the quarter finals, then you do a lot worse that check my latest World Cup Spreadsheet, previous iterations of which feature on threads about previous international tournaments.

password protected? wtf?

No, just the sheets doing the work. The bit where you add the scores is fine.

We should do an ilx sweepstake because I don't want to support any... of the teams going? Maybe Argentina for LOLs.

Germany for max. LOLs

Really? Germany just a bit boring right now, non? Maybe to have a drinking game involving 'You can never count out the Germans.'

Just for annoying-England-fans LOLs

Excellent work, Boyler! It's not a World Cup without one of your masterful spreadsheets.

Ay thang yew.

hating nigel de jong right now for breaking stu holden's leg and only getting a yellow in Netherlands v. USA, fuck that guy

also ESPN announces broadcasting team: http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/05/world-cup-with-an-accent-on-tv-in-united-states/

On Thursday, ESPN, which will carry all 64 matches of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa across its family of networks beginning on June 11, unveiled its announcing teams for the tournament. And from top to bottom, the gents voices are well known … in Britain. Ian Darke, Adrian Healey Derek Rae and Martin Tyler will provide the play-by-play match commentary throughout the tournament.

Yay for the Boyler spreadsheet! You've spelled Portugal wrong though.

Are we doing Panini stickers this year then?

xpost, Ian Darke probably isn't even well known in his own house, tbh.

in Britain. Ian Darke, Adrian Healey Derek Rae and Martin Tyler will provide the play-by-play match commentary throughout the tournament.

Fox Soccer Channel plays games with these guys commentary and the commentary we usually have is so dire, I opften watch games in Spanish so as not to have to hear the prattle.

Derek Rae is one of the less annoying people ESPN let talk about Scottish football. It's a pretty low bar, tbh, so I've pretty much defined "damning with faint praise" there.

hating nigel de jong right now for breaking stu holden's leg and only getting a yellow in Netherlands v. USA, fuck that guy

otm. it was a FRIENDLY you asshole de jong.

studs up, two footed, and late? dick. feel sorry for teams in oranje's group

lol i'm still mad 3 days later, my poor roommate doesn't care at all and he's not heard the end of it

will provide the play-by-play match commentary

uh. Missing the point again? Good luck at doing "play-by-play" at teh soccerball.....

'Hangin's too good for them', said an Alan Green yesterday

US striker Charlie Davies is returning to Sochaux after completing rehab:

http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2010/03/davies-to-begin-training-with-sochaux-monday.html

<3 this guy

whomever designed the new Australia shirts are the most disgusting savages etc.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/table/2010/mar/22/world-cup-2010-tv-fixtures

ITV get opening match AND first two England games :(

Are any wee random channels getting any rights? One of the unexpected highlights of the last World Cup was UKGTV2 or whatever Dave was called before it was Dave getting coverage, complete with insane punditry from Brian Blessed and Barry Fry.

tv coverage of football needs to level up and let you choose yr cameras, turn the commentary off, look at team sheets &c, not try to sell 3d glasses

Just seeing the games written out like that has left me drooling

yeah, "JAPAN vs CAMEROON" has a ring to it

insane punditry from Brian Blessed

oh man, put him and Ray Hudson in a booth together and the world just may implode

oh shiiii...Sven indeed in
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/8587871.stm

wouldn't be surprised to see him get to a semi at the third attempt...

i couldn't find odds on forlan for top goalscorer when looking earlier. anyone want to help me out? this seems a massive oversight considering he was recently europe's golden shoe.

oh wait just found out he is 80-1 at coral. £1 here I come.

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/6267/bittenbyowndog.jpg

Hound of God hospitalises Maradona
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/30/diego-maradona-bitten-dog-surgery

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8612734.stm

"About 2.2m tickets have already been sold, with the United States somewhat surprisingly heading the list of overseas buyers with 118,945 tickets. British fans have bought more than 67,000 tickets."

guessing not all of those US ticket sales are USA supporters? any ilxors going??

sadly no.

gotta be honduras and mexico and korea etc fans. canada's got like 11k going w/o a team in the tournament. probably same thing at play tho

in Germany, only 32,269 tickets have been sold and Valcke admitted that sales in Europe have been "disappointing"

That's just ridiculous. If each German goes to three matches, that's fourteen full 747s which is pretty impressive if you ask me. What were they expecting? It's really, really far away! When the world cup's in Europe you can just drive to it and sleep in a tent.

The stadiums probably will be full, but I fear this'll be used as a reason to avoid poor countries in future. It's only since 1990 that vast crowds've been the rule anyway - there were always acres of empty terraces at previous world cups.

Italy

* 01 Buffon
* 03 Criscito
* 04 Chiellini
* 05 Cannavaro Captain
* 19 Zambrotta
* 06 De Rossi
* 07 Pepe
* 15 Marchisio
* 22 Montolivo
* 09 Iaquinta
* 11 Gilardino

Paraguay

* 01 Villar Captain
* 03 Morel Rodriguez
* 14 Da Silva
* 17 Torres
* 21 Alcaraz
* 06 Caceres
* 13 Vera
* 15 Caceres
* 16 Riveros Nunez
* 18 Valdez
* 19 Barrios

no Di Natale? Also, anyone actually seen Marchisio?

Still, I have a feeling this could be a cracking match. Hopefully not jinxing it right here.

Right here in the wrong thread?

oops yeah should remove bookmark for future ctrl+f laziness.