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| Soundoff: How Would You Seed for the World Cup 2010 Draw? Posted: 24 Nov 2009 04:10 AM PST
The four teams in each group will be drawn from four separate “pots” each containing eight teams, so as to keep the better teams away from each other in the group stage. So if, for example, Brazil and Spain are in Pot 1, they’ll definitely avoid each other in the group stage. Despite all the mock draws, no one actually knows for sure which teams will be in which pots, and we won’t know until December 2nd. Here’s what FIFA has to say:
Got that? So, rather than doing mock draw based on shaky guesswork, I thought it would be more interesting to The only rule right now is that our World Cup hosts South Africa will definitely be seeded in Pot 1. Might seem unfair as they’re absolutely not amongst the best eight teams in the world, or even close, but that’s the reward they get for building all those stadia and inviting the rest of us to come over and visit for the month. So… here are the 32 teams of World Cup 2010, in alphabetical order: Algeria And here’s what I’m asking/inviting you to do: Based on how you think the four pots either will be or should be divided, please do one of the following: 1. Split the 32 teams into four pots of eight (Pot 1 is the strongest, Pot 4 the weakest), or |
| A Guus Hiddink and Diego Maradona Double Act at World Cup 2010? Posted: 23 Nov 2009 01:40 PM PST
…There are whispers being whispered that the Argentine Football Association may approach Guus Hiddink and offer him a role coaching Argentina alongside Diego Maradona at World Cup 2010. I’ll let that sink in for a second.
Plus, Hiddink’s Russia narrowly missed out on World Cup 2010 (on away goals to Slovenia) so he won’t have a team at World Cup 2010. The Dutchman has coached at the last three World Cup with three different teams (Netherlands, South Korea and Australia) and he certainly wasn’t planning to miss this one. No doubt that Maradona and Hiddink would be an odd couple. I’m not quite sure what one would make of the other. But as a neutral, I’m hoping this doesn’t come to pass. Here’s why: I’d much much prefer to see Hiddink coaching a less fancied team at World Cup 2010. Just because having Hiddink will give that team a fighting chance. In many many ways he would have been the perfect coach for the South African team before they rehired Carlos Alberto Parreira. More importantly, if Hiddink is co-coach then it ruins The Diego Maradona Experience. And I was looking forward to The Diego Maradona Experience at World Cup 2010. Because he’ll definitely deliver something dramatic. Either a complete disaster or a glorious triumph. Hiddink would do a lot take the edge off that. As a neutral I’d prefer the drama, but I can understand if Argentina fans feel differently. Last but not least, it ruins the potential Maradona narrative and robs El Diego of his shot at glory. Because if Argentina win the World Cup under Diego Maradona, then that’s a story to remember. If they win it with Hiddink, then it’s Hiddink’s World Cup, and not quite as exciting. |
The internets are currently overflowing with World Cup 2010 mock draws and pretend groups of death right now. But don’t get confused. The draw for the eight groups of World Cup 2010 groups has not happened yet, and will not happen until Friday, December 4th, 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa.
To be clear, this is just a rumour right now. Nothing more, and certainly nothing official. Plus Guus Hiddink is officially contracted to the Russian national team until July 2010. So let’s not get carried away. But…| You are subscribed to email updates from World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010 To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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