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

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.