Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Latest World Cup Blog Updates

Latest World Cup Blog Updates

Link to World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010

FIFA v UEFA: The Rankings Of Doom Are Doomed.

Posted: 19 Oct 2009 12:30 PM PDT

While everyone was busy anxiously awaiting FIFA’s latest release and the seeding for the playoff spots, UEFA was busy concocting a ranking of their own and releasing it under unsuspecting eyes. At this point it means little and will only serve to put Euro 2012 qualifying seeding into perspective, still some way off yet, but it’s always interesting to see how others differ from the entirely rubbish FIFA ranking system. And, in some cases, are they rubbish themselves?

UEFA prefer a simple method: 20% based on WC2006 qualifying and finals; 40% based on Euro2008 qualifying and finals; 40% based on WC2010 qualifying and finals.

With one-sixth still yet unfinished, these rankings will change before they dance the dance for a shot at Polkraine 2012. But for now, the “intermediate standings” and how the reflect against big ol’ FIFA.

UEFA:


FIFA:

There are a few answers which cloak as questions:

Is Germany the second best team in Europe right now? Yes. Basel pretty much cleared that up and it stands strong 18mos later.

Is Portugal better than Russia? No.

Should Croatia respectfully bow out of the rankings until Polkraine qualifying starts anew such that there isn’t a beastly black sheep nonparticipant in sixth? Yes.

Is Sweden the 12th best team in Europe? No. Are they 24th? No. Are they somewhere in between? Yes.

Does UEFA account for “style”? Probably. (See: Turkey.)

Can we just put Pavel Nedved in the Czech Republich’s 11th spot? Sure, why not.

How the hell did Greece creep top ten in UEFA? No clue.

But finally the most important question:

Can we scrap the acronym rankings, both of which are inherently flawed, and move to an entirely subjective system which unashamedly flaunts its favortism? Yes we can.

UEFA’s World Cup Playoffs Announced.

Posted: 19 Oct 2009 10:02 AM PDT

The slightly controversial UEFA bridesmaid’s draw has taken place and fortunately it’s gone off without controversy. Somehow, someway, despite UEFA being involved, Liverpool and Chelsea will not meet. Who knew?

It’s rather pedestrian, really, as perhaps the two best teams - France and Russia - were handed the easiest draw. But then that’s really the point of seeding, isn’t it? (This is not to suggest FIFA has actually set out to do something and it worked. Never.)

Ireland, maybe the most vocal club in qualifiers regarding this little seeded system, were rewarded with a jaunt to France land. This’ll teach them not to dare test the wrath of Sepp.

The right to eulogize Jonathan Wilson’s halftime funeral will go to Guus’ Russia or underdogs Slovenia. All due respect to Slovenia, this is Guus’ domain and the Russian boys are going to the big dance, which should set up a controversial knockouts date with the Italians nicely.

Greece and Ukraine is already making a nap sound good. Ukraine might have the slight advantage due to simply being a better team, but Euro 2004 proved for at least a 20 year buffer period that “paper results” aren’t a great concern for Greece. Neither is joga bonito.

As for Portugal and Bosnia & Herzegovina, this is the darling of the playoffs. The hugely disappointing wannabe big boys in qualifying with one of the world’s best players up against the young upstarts with a mean attack. Cristiano Ronaldo is nice and all, but the two-pronged assault of Ibisevic and Dzeko just might make them the favorites.

Predictions

France
Russia
Ukraine
B&H

Indonesia’s “Green World Cup” 2022 Bid

Posted: 19 Oct 2009 06:59 AM PDT

When you look at the list of nations bidding to host World Cups 2018 and 2022, it’s very very easy to dismiss Indonesia. The nine other bids all have either superior football traditions or superior infrastructure or superior financial muscle. Or in most cases all three. There’s also the question of letting a team ranked 129th in the world qualify automatically. But the Indonesia bid has something other bids don’t: The potential to save the whole world. At least a little bit.

While the nine other bids are based on the idea that “we really really want it”, Indonesia has spotted the current corporate trend for environmentalism and gone for it. They’re proposing the “Green World Cup 2022″ in Indonesia.

Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) chairman Nurdin Halid told the Jakarta Post earlier this month that “Our deforestation rate has contributed much to world pollution. By hosting the World Cup, we wish to build infrastructure and facilities that are environmentally friendly so we can give more to the planet.”

Sounds like an absolutely brilliant idea if you ask me. Not only does the “Green World Cup 2022″ idea make the Indonesia bid stand out, it also gives it the moral high ground and puts pressure on FIFA. If they ignore the Green World Cup and award 2022 (which is when Indonesia have said they’d prefer to host) to one of those other carbon-producing bids, then FIFA looks like it hates planet earth.

The downside is that it seems there are almost zero details available explaining exactly what would make Indonesia 2022 such an environmentally friendly tournament.

Maybe they’d follow Norwegian club Rosenborg’s lead and do it all on the basis of smart stadiums that don’t use excessive amounts of energy? Maybe the still to be built World Cup stadiums will be made entirely of recycled materials? Maybe they’ll demand that all players and fans walk to Indonesia for the tournament, to save all that jet fuel exhaust being pumped into the atmosphere?

It’s possible that all the details are in the official bid Indonesia sent to FIFA and just not yet available to the public. I genuinely hope so. But given the fact that the Indonesian 2022 bid website has a lot of “coming soon”s on it, and that both the above bid logos are from a Facebook group and not yet official (like these ones are), I suspect that there’s still a lot of work to be done.

It would be deeply depressing if the “Green World Cup 2022″ idea is just an empty marketing trick. There’s enough greenwashing (companies falsely promoting products as being environmentally friendly, because they know it sells well) around already.

But even if it’s just a gimmick, Indonesia 2022 is still the first bid to float the idea of a green World Cup. Green things have a tendency to grow if given enough care and attention, so maybe we’ll see a whole host of green bids for World Cup 2026.
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