World Cup 2010 Draw

[HattonTheHammer]

I see you've read the papers today...

Slovakia actually have some half-decent players. Hamsik and Skrtel. Watch out for Weiss aswell. Young lad at City. Scored against Arsenal last night and ripped Jonny Evans a new arsehole in the qualifiers.

The seeding seems a little weird. 4th seeds seem almost as strong as the 2nd seeds.

only the 1st pot of south africa, brazil, italy, germany, england, holland, spain and argentina is seeded

The other 3 pots are all based on where the country qualified from as FIFA want to keep sides from the same continents apart!!

FIFA just seem to make there own rules up as they go, the first pot is off world rankings but France are higher than the English but England are in pot 1, im not complaining but how the hell did they come up with that?

Is It something to do with France not winning there group?

England had a far better qualification process

Think we actually got seeded as the 5th side so easily made it in with the big boys

You would think the world cup is pretty much between the seeded sides (not south africa obviously)

[skel1983]

only the 1st pot of south africa, brazil, italy, germany, england, holland, spain and argentina is seeded

The other 3 pots are all based on where the country qualified from as FIFA want to keep sides from the same continents apart!!

FIFA just seem to make there own rules up as they go, the first pot is off world rankings but France are higher than the English but England are in pot 1, im not complaining but how the hell did they come up with that?

Is It something to do with France not winning there group?

England had a far better qualification process

Think we actually got seeded as the 5th side so easily made it in with the big boys

You would think the world cup is pretty much between the seeded sides (not south africa obviously)

Nah mate I just looked it up:

As I thought it wasnt nothing to do with qualification it was purely the world rankings minus the hosts, but apparently FIFA have gone off the rankings from October rather than the current ones, if FIFA had gone off the rankings when the seeds were announced England would of been pot 4 as England have dropped and France have risen since the October rankings. Now if that was on the other foot we probably wouldnt of heard the end of it, bit unfair on the French really.

Should of gone off the rankings when all teams had qualified for the WC meaning France would of been the last team seeded in pot one and England in pot 4, but like I said im not complaining .



England will avoid the biggest names in football when the World Cup draw is made on Friday, after Fabio Capello's team were named as one of the top eight seeds.
France, the runners-up in 2006, and Portugal were the biggest losers after the organising committee for the South Africa tournament decided to base the seedings on the official Fifa world rankings as they stood in October 2009.
The eight top seeds are South Africa as hosts, and, in order of October's rankings, Brazil, Spain, Holland, Italy, Germany, Argentina and England. The official Fifa rankings take in performances in all matches over the last four years, but are weighted towards competitive games and those played most recently.
If the rankings from November 2009 had been used, England would have been ranked ninth and would have missed out to France, who would have been ranked seventh. But Jérôme Valcke, Fifa's general secretary, said it was fairer to base the seedings on the October rankings when all European teams had played the same number of games, ahead of the play-offs. Valcke denied that the controversy surrounding France's play-off with the Republic of Ireland was a factor in the decision.

[HattonTheHammer]

FIFA just seem to make there own rules up as they go, the first pot is off world rankings but France are higher than the English but England are in pot 1, im not complaining but how the hell did they come up with that?

Is It something to do with France not winning there group?

England had a far better qualification process

Think we actually got seeded as the 5th side so easily made it in with the big boys

You would think the world cup is pretty much between the seeded sides (not south africa obviously)

Nah mate I just looked it up:

As I thought it wasnt nothing to do with qualification it was purely the world rankings minus the hosts, but apparently FIFA have gone off the rankings from October rather than the current ones, if FIFA had gone off the rankings when the seeds were announced England would of been pot 4 as England have dropped and France have risen since the October rankings. Now if that was on the other foot we probably wouldnt of heard the end of it, bit unfair on the French really.

Should of gone off the rankings when all teams had qualified for the WC meaning France would of been the last team seeded in pot one and England in pot 4, but like I said im not complaining .



England will avoid the biggest names in football when the World Cup draw is made on Friday, after Fabio Capello's team were named as one of the top eight seeds.
France, the runners-up in 2006, and Portugal were the biggest losers after the organising committee for the South Africa tournament decided to base the seedings on the official Fifa world rankings as they stood in October 2009.
The eight top seeds are South Africa as hosts, and, in order of October's rankings, Brazil, Spain, Holland, Italy, Germany, Argentina and England. The official Fifa rankings take in performances in all matches over the last four years, but are weighted towards competitive games and those played most recently.
If the rankings from November 2009 had been used, England would have been ranked ninth and would have missed out to France, who would have been ranked seventh. But Jérôme Valcke, Fifa's general secretary, said it was fairer to base the seedings on the October rankings when all European teams had played the same number of games, ahead of the play-offs. Valcke denied that the controversy surrounding France's play-off with the Republic of Ireland was a factor in the decision.

The world rankings are nothing short of a joke

Remember england spending years behind the likes of USA and mexico just so those respective countrys could up their coefficent rankings to secure more world cup places

When Englands 2nd string side went over to america and beat the US team 2-0 to show the actual gap in class we went back down to 14 while the US side moved above the czech republic into 7th

[OumaFan]

Meh, I hope we don't get another hard group but I suspect we will. In the end it doesn't matter what kind of group the US or England get

[skel1983]

Meh, I hope we don't get another hard group but I suspect we will. In the end it doesn't matter what kind of group the US or England get

Bit harsh on you guys really, I dont understand where the Fifa are coming from??

" Lets have one pool that goes off ranking alone , then the other three pots off where you are situated in the world "

Surely they have to do it one way or the other?? I think teams like Portugal and France will be pissed I would be very pissed!!

[OumaFan]

I'm not really looking forward to it to be honest (which sounds a bit strange after the Confederations Cup), we lost an important player and I think were going to struggle to score goals, that's the thing about our team, Charlie Davies, who we lost, is not even really one of our top five players but we have no depth, nobody to replace him, I just feel like were going to go out in the first round.

I have to admit I laugh from time to time at England's lack of success but if they have a striker go out then they can put in Defoe, or Carlton Cole, Emile Heskey ( it just makes me laugh, he's not bad I guess) for whatever reason we never produce strikers, our two best attacking players are our attacking mids Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey. And Davies actually looked like a real actual goal scorer for a while there. Oh well.

Plus American soccer fans are kind of conspiracy theorists. If there's a sport where anti-Americanism could play some part it would be soccer/football and the World Cup, reasonable or not (probably not ) we kind of assume we'll get put in with three good teams.

Edit-I am looking forward to the World Cup overall, I love it, always have, since before I even knew there was a Premier League, etc. Just not looking forward to our chances.

[OumaFan]

Lyle is going to come in and say yeah but what about Kenny Cooper? Honestly, meh. He's ok. I guess.

[CutMeMick]

I still have nightmares of Owen and Klose getting past our defenders. I wake up on cold sweat.
We always fall short and truthfully the way we've been playing I doubt we even make it past the round of 16.

I think it'll be Brazil again, you whats funny anytime they talk about great sports dynasties they NEVER list Brazil, IMO the greatest sports dynasty ever.

As long as Spain faces Brazil they will never win. Spain's style is too slow of a tempo that allows Brazil to defend well and then counter.

[CutMeMick]

Well I'm wit you Ouma it is funny to see England trip over and over. EPL def. has a rich history and history but IMO LFP is much better league.
Would like to see USA vs. England just to show them that they are not as better then the USA as they think they are I think the US has a really good chance to pull our a win.

[OumaFan]

Well the US had their chance in 2002, beat Portugal, Mexico and then were in the quarterfinals and really probably outplayed Germany but lost, making the semifinals would have been great for us. And then in 2006 we were stuck in a tough group and Donovan who's probably our best player was absolutely effing horrible and we don't have enough good players for one really important guy to totally flake out.

This year, I don't know, I have low expectations but I had high ones in 2006 so who knows.

[Drago]

Well I'm wit you Ouma it is funny to see England trip over and over. EPL def. has a rich history and history but IMO LFP is much better league.
Would like to see USA vs. England just to show them that they are not as better then the USA as they think they are I think the US has a really good chance to pull our a win.

i would be sweating on that match 4 sure mick

[Drago]

Well I'm wit you Ouma it is funny to see England trip over and over. EPL def. has a rich history and history but IMO LFP is much better league.
Would like to see USA vs. England just to show them that they are not as better then the USA as they think they are I think the US has a really good chance to pull our a win.

your wish has been granted

cant ever remember england having an easier group stage ever

[ono]

To be honest, given how much France struggled to qualify, i'd be annoyed if they were seeded above England seen as though we breezed through.

[OumaFan]

haha, England and the US in the same group