The 2010 World Cup thread

[sal]

Well, an exciting day for the world of football, as the drawing for group play in the World Cup took place today. I wouldn't say that there's a clear cut "Group of Death" this time around, but group G with Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast and Portugal looks to be toughest.

I was jumping for joy when Mexico got drawn into seeded South Africa's group, but the arrival of Uruguay and finally France sucked the joy out of me. That is going to be a tough fight. And USA vs. England should be a tasty showdown!

[B. Goren.]

GROUP A

SOUTH AFRICA

MEXICO

URUGUAY

FRANCE

GROUP B

ARGENTINA

NIGERIA

SOUTH KOREA

GREECE

GROUP C

ENGLAND

USA

ALGERIA

SLOVENIA

GROUP D

GERMANY

AUSTRALIA

SERBIA

GHANA

GROUP E

HOLLAND

DENMARK

JAPAN

CAMEROON

GROUP F

ITALY

PARAGUAY

NEW ZEALAND

SLOVAKIA

GROUP G

BRAZIL

NORTH KOREA

IVORY COAST

PORTUGAL

GROUP H

SPAIN

SWITZERLAND

HONDURAS

CHILE

[sal]

Group D should be interesting too. Serbia looked great in qualifying and seems to be improving as a footballing nation by leaps and bounds. And Ghana has alot of talent in their squad.

[Brad]

I don't know about Group G being the Group of Death; I think Group B could be very tough.

The Group of laughter (for lack of a better term) looks to be Group H; Spain look to have it easy (fortunately). As the Number 1 ranked team, I guess you're supposed to get a few bennies.

[sidewinder]

GROUP C

ENGLAND

USA

ALGERIA

SLOVENIA

No excuse this time. Only 3 teams of formation dustbins would be easier..

for the US that is

Edited December 4, 2009 by sidewinder

[Brad]

GROUP C

ENGLAND

USA

ALGERIA

SLOVENIA

No excuse this time. Only 3 teams of formation dustbins would be easier..

That's not very nice. Are you saying we can't play football worth a darn .

I don't know about Group G being the Group of Death; I think Group B could be very tough.

I went and looked at the FIFA rankings and I have to agree: Group B looks tough.

Edited December 4, 2009 by Brad

[sal]

I went and looked at the FIFA rankings and I have to agree: Group B looks tough.

And if Argentina's run of form from WC qualifiers continues, it could also end up being the most unentertaining group.

Edited December 4, 2009 by sal

[kenny weir]

GROUP D

GERMANY

AUSTRALIA

SERBIA

GHANA

GROUP F

ITALY

PARAGUAY

NEW ZEALAND

SLOVAKIA

Australia got no help from the mighty Gods Of The Draw.

NZ maybe not so bad.

But it doesn't matter.

We're there (I feel privileged to have two teams in South Africa), most of the world isn't and crazy shit happens!

Bring it on!

[bluesbro]

If I had to pick a Group of Death, it would be group A.

[sal]

If I had to pick a Group of Death, it would be group A.

Yeah, group A is tough. If I'm wrong about this, I apologize, because I'm in bed with a horrible cold and don't feel like researching, but I'm pretty sure.other than group G, group A is the only other group with three top 20 ranked teams.

[Van Basten II]

A pretty well balanced draw, no group really deserves the group of death label. For the sake of picking one would say the G group, the A group is competitive but has no powerhouses who could be eliminated from the first tour.

If you had to pick 16 teams to go through the second tour before the draw just guessing on team level, except for maybe Mexico don't think any of the 3 other teams would have earned many votes. The G group has a favourite who has a few tricky challenges to qualify and three tough teams who will fight tooth and nail to stay alive and maybe upset Brazil.

On the other of the spectrum, the Spanish seems to have an easy draw, my favourite enemy Porcy will be able to relax with an easy draw for la Squadra Azzura.

The most intriguing group might be the B group, plenty of different playing styles plus up and down performances over the last few competitions might make for an exciting and unpredictable fight for the two spots.

[sidewinder]

GROUP C

ENGLAND

USA

ALGERIA

SLOVENIA

No excuse this time. Only 3 teams of formation dustbins would be easier..

That's not very nice. Are you saying we can't play football worth a darn .

I need an 'irony, said in jest' smiley..

[brownie]

Italy and Spain will have no problem qualifying...

France does not deserve to be in this final round but ending up in group A means that it may qualify for the second round. Doubt that the team has any chance beyond that unless several of the good players among them manage to build a team spirit which has been lacking for much too long!

[kenny weir]

Watching a couple of A-League games tonight, one of the commentators quoted a headline in the Brit press referring to the relatively soft draw for England:

"Best group since the Beatles"

Haw!

[rockefeller center]

I don't know about Group G being the Group of Death; I think Group B could be very tough.

I went and looked at the FIFA rankings and I have to agree: Group B looks tough.

So you agree with yourself. That's good.

[Van Basten II]

I don't know about Group G being the Group of Death; I think Group B could be very tough.

I went and looked at the FIFA rankings and I have to agree: Group B looks tough.

So you agree with yourself. That's good.

It's not as easy as it seems

[Jim R]

If I had to pick a Group of Death, it would be group A.

Yeah, group A is tough. If I'm wrong about this, I apologize, because I'm in bed with a horrible cold and don't feel like researching, but I'm pretty sure.other than group G, group A is the only other group with three top 20 ranked teams.

According to this blog page, the toughest group by average rankings is group H (it has three top-20 teams).

[sal]

If I had to pick a Group of Death, it would be group A.

Yeah, group A is tough. If I'm wrong about this, I apologize, because I'm in bed with a horrible cold and don't feel like researching, but I'm pretty sure.other than group G, group A is the only other group with three top 20 ranked teams.

According to this blog page, the toughest group by average rankings is group H (it has three top-20 teams).

Three Spanish speaking nations in that group too. Should be fun group to watch. Hopefully the refs will be able to speak/understand Spanish.

[porcy62]

If I had to pick a Group of Death, it would be group A.

Yeah, group A is tough. If I'm wrong about this, I apologize, because I'm in bed with a horrible cold and don't feel like researching, but I'm pretty sure.other than group G, group A is the only other group with three top 20 ranked teams.

According to this blog page, the toughest group by average rankings is group H (it has three top-20 teams).

Three Spanish speaking nations in that group too. Should be fun group to watch. Hopefully the refs will be able to speak/understand Spanish.

All international ranking referees know the major insults in ten languages, it's chapter 2 of Fifa training.

[Van Basten II]

.

According to this blog page, the toughest group by average rankings is group H (it has three top-20 teams).

Proof #563543 that Fifa rankings are shite, maybe they'll prove me wrong during the competition but ain't no way Chile and Switzerland belong yet in the 20 top teams in the world. Also the methodology is far from perfect even if we take to face value those rankings. The group H rates better mostly because of a strong 4th wheel. If you take the three top teams than it shifts in favour of the group G.

If I had to pick a Group of Death, it would be group A.

All international ranking referees know the major insults in ten languages, it's chapter 2 of Fifa training.

Not sure which is more fun learning the course or teaching it ?

Edited December 5, 2009 by Van Basten II

[porcy62]

Not sure which is more fun learning the course or teaching it ?

Don't know I imagine it's something like this:

[Brad]

I don't know about Group G being the Group of Death; I think Group B could be very tough.

I went and looked at the FIFA rankings and I have to agree: Group B looks tough.

So you agree with yourself. That's good.

Sorry meant Group G :blush2:

[Jim R]

Proof #563543 that Fifa rankings are shite

,

I basically agree.

Also the methodology is far from perfect even if we take to face value those rankings. The group H rates better mostly because of a strong 4th wheel. If you take the three top teams than it shifts in favour of the group G.

Well, that's obvious. I guess the point is that Honduras will make things much more difficult (relatively speaking) for the other three teams in group H than North Korea will for the other three in group G. There's no question that Honduras is glad they're not in North Korea's position.

I haven't seen much of Switzerland or Chile, but it seems to me that once you get below the top 10 or 15 in the world, the accuracy and relevance of the rankings become more vague anyway. There simply aren't enough international matches (featuring full "A" teams) in-between world cups to give us a clear picture. Which is fine, because it makes the tournament more interesting.

[Van Basten II]

Agreed with your points Jim, generally a group is death usually implies that a well regarded team might not be able to qualfy, which i don't think is the case here, i do agree that the fight for what should be the second spot will be strongly contested in this group.

Amusing thing playing around with the ratings. The tightest level of competition between the second seeded teams and the last one belongs to the group D

GROUP D (21.00)

Germany (6)

Australia (21)

Ghana (37)

Serbia (20)

Only 17 ranks are separating the second sseeded team of Serbia from the lowest ranked team of Ghana.

I know, way too much in my hands

[sal]

So who do you think is going to be England's #1 keeper? It seems like they have a surplus in every position except for goalie. David James hardly seems like the ideal choice anymore. I'm curious to know who the USA are going to be firing shots at on day 2