International Football Talk

International Football Talk Final Mock World Cup Draw

2009-12-03T14:20:00.000-08:00

So the World Cup draw is less than 24 hours away. Players, coaches, celebrities are in Cape Town, South Africa preparing for what will take place tomorrow. We at International Football Talk have been having a Mock Draw marathon this week. With all the possible procedures FIFA may use. FIFA are using the same procedure they used in 2006 for the draw. However, Netherlands will be seeded and France will be not as FIFA decided to use the world rankings for seeding purposes instead of a formula of world rankings and past World Cup performance. With that said I did a complete draw this time around. Including group positioning with selecting A2, A3, A4, B2, B3, B4, etc. to determing when and where games will be played. I will layout the entire schedule below if FIFA were to draw this exactly. All times are local South African time. South Africa is 6 hours ahead of eastern time during the summer. So matches on the east coast would be 7:30a.m., 10a.m., and 2:30p.m. From there you can figure out game times depending on where you live.

Pot A - South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain
Pot B - Australia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, New Zeland, Honduras, Mexico, United States
Pot C - Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay
Pot D - Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland

Group A
- South Africa
- Denmark
- Honduras
- Paraguay

South Africa v. Denmark Friday, June 11th 4p.m. @Johannesburg, Soccer City
Honduras v. Paraguay Friday. June 11th 8:30p.m. @Cape Town

South Africa v. Honduras Wednesday, June 16th 8:30p.m. @Pretoria
Paraguay v. Denmark Thursday, June 17th 1:30p.m. @Polokwane

Denmark v. Honduras Tuesday, June 22nd 4p.m. @Runstenberg
Paraguay v. South Africa Tuesday, June 22nd 4p.m. @Bloemfontein

Group B
- Argentina
- Cameroon
- Greece
- New Zealand

Argentina v. Cameroon Saturday, June 12th 1:30p.m. @Johannesburg, Ellis Park
Greece v. New Zealand Saturday, June 12th 4p.m. @Port Elizabeth

Argentina v. Greece Saturday, June 17th 4p.m. @Johannesburg, Soccer City
New Zealand v. Cameroon Saturday, June 17th 8:30p.m. @Bloemfontein

Cameroon v. Greece Tuesday, June 22nd 8:30p.m. @Polokwane
New Zealand v. Argentina Tuesday, June 22nd 8:30p.m. @Durban

Group C
- Spain
- Slovakia
- North Korea
- Chile

Spain v. Slovakia Saturday, June 12th 8:30p.m. @Rustenberg
North Kora v. Chile Sunday, June 13th 1:30p.m. @Polokwane

Spain v. North Korea Friday, June 18th 4p.m. @Cape Town
Chile v. Slovakia Friday, June 18th 8:30p.m. @Johannesburg, Ellis Park

Slovakia v. North Korea Wednesday, June 23rd 4p.m. @Pretoria
Chile v. Spain Wednesday, June 23rd 4p.m. @Port Elizabeth

Group D
- Netherlands
- Ivory Coast
- Portugal
- United States

Netherlands v. Ivory Coast Sunday, June 13th 4p.m. @Durban
Portugal v. Unites States Sunday, June 13th 8:30p.m. @Pretoria

Netherlands v. Portugal Friday, June 18th 1:30p.m.@Port Elizabeth
United States v. Ivory Coast Saturday, June 19th 1:30p.m. @Rustenberg

Ivory Coast v. Portugal Wednesday, June 23rd 8:30p.m. @Nelspruit
United States v. Netherlands Wednesday, June 23rd 8:30p.m. @Johannesburg, Soccer City

Group E
- England
- Nigeria
- Australia
- Switzerland

England v. Nigeria Monday, June 14th 1:30p.m. @Johannesburg, Soccer City
Australia v. Switzerland Monday, June 14th 4p.m. @Bloemfontein

England v. Australia Saturday, June 19th 4p.m. @Durban
Switzerland, v. Nigeria Satuday, June 19th 8:30p.m. @Pretoria

Nigeria v. Australia Thursday, June 24th 8:30p.m. @Rustenberg
Switzerland v. England Thursday, June 24th 8:30p.m. @Cape Town

Group F
- Italy
- Uruguay
- France
- South Korea

Italy v. Uruguay Monday, June 14th 8:30p.m. @Cape Town
France v. South Korea Tuesday, June 15th 8:30p.m. @Rustenberg

Italy v. France Sunday, June 20th 1:30p.m. @Nelspruit
South Korea v. Uruguay Sunday, June 20th 4p.m. @Bloemfontein

Uruguay v. France Thursday, June 24th 4p.m. @Polokwane
South Korea v. Italy Thursday, June 24th 4p.m. @Johannesburg, Ellis Park

Group G
- Germany
- Slovenia
- Mexico
- Ghana

Germany v. Slovenia Tuesday, June 15th 4p.m. @Johannesburg, Ellis Park
Mexico v. Ghana Tuesday, June 15th 8:30p.m. @Port Elizabeth

Germany v. Mexico Sunday, June 20th 8:30p.m. @Johannesbrg, Soccer City
Ghana v. Slovenia Monday, June 21st 1:30p.m. @Cape Town

Slovenia v. Mexico Friday, June 25th 4p.m. @Nelspruit
Ghana v. Germany Friday, June 15th 4p.m. @Durban

Group H
- Brazil
- Serbia
- Algeria
- Japan

Brazil v. Serbia Wednesday, June 16th 1:30p.m. @Durban
Algeria v. Japan Wednesday, June 16th 4p.m. @Nelspruit

Brazil v. Algeria Monday, June 21st 4p.m. @Port Elizabeth
Japan v. Serbia Monday, June 21st 8:30p.m. @Johannesburg, Ellis Park

Serbia v. Algeria Friday, June 25th 8:30p.m. @Bloemfontein
Japan v. Brazil Friday, 25th 8:30p.m. @Pretoria

Round of 16 (in bracket order)
A1 v. B2 Saturday, June 26th 4p.m. @Port Elizabeth
C1 v. D2 Saturday, June 26th 8:30p.m. @Rustenberg
E1 v. F2 Monday, June 28th 4p.m. @Durban
G1 v. H2 Monday, June 28th 8:30p.m. @Johannesburg, Ellis Park
B1 v. A2 Sunday, June 27th 8:30p.m. @Johannesburg, Soccer City
D1 v. C2 Sunday, June 27th 4p.m. @Bloemfontein
F1 v. E2 Tuesday, June 29th 4p.m. @Pretoria
H1 v. G2 Tuesday, June 29th 8:30p.. @Cape Town

Quarterfinals (in bracket order)
A1/B2 v. C1/D2 Friday, July 2nd 8:30p.m. @Johannesburg, Soccer City
E1/F2 v. G1/H2 Friday, July 2nd 4p.m. @Port Elizabeth
B1/A2 v. D1/C2 Saturday, July 3rd 4p.m. @Cape Town
F1/E2 v. H1/G2 Saturday, July 3rd 8:30p.m. @Johannesburg, Ellis Park

Semifinals
July 2nd winners Tuesday, July 6th 8:30p.m. @Cape Town
July 3rd winners Wednesay, July 7th 8:30p.m. @Durban

3rd place playoff
Semifinals losers Saturday, July 10th 8:30p.m. @Port Elizabeth

World Cup Final
Semifinal winners Sunday, July 11th 8:30p.m. @Johannesburg, Soccer City

Official FIFA World Cup Draw Procedure

2009-12-02T14:35:00.000-08:00

Click here for Official 2010 Final Draw Procedure

FIFA Announces Seeds and Pots

2009-12-02T07:11:00.000-08:00

Today was a much anticipated day across the football world. It was the day FIFA would announce the seeds and pots for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It was pretty much as expected. The only difference is that France was not seeded and Netherlands was. Could this be punishment for the Thierry Henry handball incident. FIFA says no, but they probably just didn't want to hear any more bitching from the English speaking media about France doesn't deserve to be in or what would have inevitably come up was France doesn't deserve to be seeded. So they appeases those people, sort of by not making France seeded and giving it to Netherlands who has looked quite impressive in qualifying.

The FIFA Organising Committee approved the procedure for the final draw today. The seeding was based on the October 2009 FIFA World Ranking and seven squads joined hosts South Africa as seeded teams for the final draw which will take place Friday, December 4, 2009. The committee also approved the composition of the other pots as well as the procedure for the final draw. Pot B will be composed of teams from Asia, North, Central America and the Caribbean and Oceania. Pot C will include teams from Africa and South America. Pot D will have the remaining European teams.

Hosts South Africa will be automatically positioned as A1; the other seeded teams will be drawn into the other groups B–H, but will always be in position 1 of their group. Groups will be drawn from A to H and the positions in the group will be drawn for Pots B to D. Geographical criteria will also be respected, meaning that no two teams from the same confederation will be drawn in the same group (except European teams, where a maximum of two will be in a group). That is, South Africa cannot play the African teams from Pot C and Argentina and Brazil cannot be drawn against the three remaining South American teams. So without any further rambling here are the seeds and pots.

Pot A (Seeded Teams)
- South Africa
- Brazil
- Spain
- Netherlands
- Italy
- Germany
- Argentina
- Italy

Pot B (Asia, Oceania, CONCACAF Teams)
- Australia
- Japan
- North Korea
- South Korea
- New Zealand
- Honduras
- Mexico
- United States

Pot C (Africa and South America Teams)
- Algeria
- Cameroon
- Ghana
- Ivory Coast
- Nigeria
- Chile
- Paraguay
- Uruguay

Pot D (European Teams)
- Denmark
- France
- Greece
- Portugal
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Switzerland

World Cup Ball

2009-12-01T20:05:00.001-08:00

Here is a look at the ball for the World Cup.

South Africa 2010 Mock Draw

2009-12-01T16:01:00.000-08:00

In our final installment of pre mock draws before we actually know what the procedure is. We are going to use a Champions League style draw. Teams were ranked 1-32 in what I call a FIFA coefficient taking into account past World Cups and FIFA rankings. Each pot will have 8 teams. No team outside of Europe can face a team from the same confederation in the group stage. With that said, here are the pots and the groups.

Pot A – South Africa, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Spain, England, France, Argentina
Pot B – Portugal, Netherlands, Mexico, USA, Switzerland, Paraguay, Ghana, Cameroon
Pot C- Korea Republic, Japan, Australia, Ivory Coast, Greece, Nigeria, Serbia, Uruguay
Pot D – Denmark, Chile, Slovenia, Honduras, Slovakia, Algeria, New Zealand, Korea DPR

Group A - South Africa, Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand
Group B - England, USA, Nigeria, Korea DPR
Group C - Brazil, Cameroon, Greece, Slovakia
Group D - Germany, Ghana, Japan, Chile
Group E - Italy, Paraguay, Korea Republic, Denmark
Group F - Spain, Mexico, Ivory Coast, Slovenia
Group G - Argentina, Portugal, Serbia, Honduras
Group H - France, Switzerland, Uruguay, Algeria

Round of 16
Netherlands over USA
Brazil over Ghana
Ivory Coast over Italy
Argentina over Uruguay
England over Australia
Germany over Cameroon
Spain over Denmark
Portugal over France

Quarterfinals
Brazil over Netherlands
Argentina over Ivory Coast
England over Germany
Spain over Portugal

Semifinals
Brazil over Argentina
Spain over England

3rd place game
England over Argentina

World Cup Final
Brazil over Spain

There you have it. The next time we put out one of these mock draws we will be using the format that FIFA will announce tomorrow. We will preview what can happen and preview the draw. Unitl then I hope you enjoyed this and I hope you are more informed. In our final mock draw we will be posting video of it so you can understand a little better visually how the draw will work.

World Cup Mock Draw

2009-12-01T09:48:00.000-08:00

As we continue this week with Mock Draw mania we continue onto a third possible option FIFA may use. This one is the most geographic scenario. I allocated the pots as follows Pot A seeded teams, Pot B Asia/Oceania and Africa, Pot C CONCACAF and CONMEBOL teams, and Pot D European teams. As I've stated before this draw is a little different and a little less based on number balance. the seeded South American teams will draw from Pot B twice one team each from Asia/Oceania and one team each from Africa before. Those seeded South American teams will not draw from Pot C the Americas pot. Also South Africa will draw from the Asia/Ocenia side before all remaining Pot B teams are placed together in the same pot. The seeded teams from South America will draw from Pot C Americas pot and all seeded teams will draw from Pot D European pot. Here is how the draw turned out.

Group A - South Africa, Japan, Uruguay, Denmark
Group B - Spain, Australia, United States, Slovakia
Group C - France, Ghana, Chile, Switzerland
Group D - Italy, Ivory Coast, Honduras, Slovenia
Group E - Brazil, Algeria, Korea DPR, Greece
Group F - England, Cameroon, Mexico, Netherlands
Group G - Germany, Korea Republic, Paraguay, Portugal
Group H - Argentina, Nigeria, New Zealand, Serbia

After the groups were selected as I've done before I selected group winners and runners up and played out the knockout stage portion of the tournament.

Round of 16
United States over Uruguay
Ghana over Italy
Brazil over Netherlands
Germany over Nigeria
Spain over Denmark
France over Ivory Coast
England over Greece
Portugal over Argentina

Quarterfinals
Ghana over United States
Brazil over Germany
Spain over France
England over Portugal

Semifinals
Brazil over Ghana
Spain over England

3rd place game
England over Ghana

World Cup Final
Brazil over Spain

There you have it. You can see how much teams are likely to advance based on the draw and the various matchups. Obviously you can tell I'm picking Brazil to win the World Cup though. In our next installment of Mock Draw mania we will use option 4 FIFA may possibly use. It is the same format that UEFA uses for the Champions League. Each nation will be ranked 1-32. Then teams 1-8 will be put into Pot A, 9-16 in Pot B, 17-24 Pot C, and 25-32 Pot D. South Africa will be in Pot A since they are the hosts. In the UEFA format teams from the same country cannot be drawn together we will do the same with teams from the same confederation aside from Europe. However, a group can't have more than two European teams. The way you do this is 8 balls with each team on it. Place them seperately and pull one ball from each team in a particular pot. Once a team is selected you must look and see if all the scenarios are possible or not and place teams in pots accordingly. That draw will be up a little later in the day.

FIFA World Cup Mock Draw

2009-11-30T18:11:00.000-08:00

In this mock draw we changed the format from the expected format of what was used in 2006. In these format we paired African and CONCACAF unseeded teams together in Pot B and put unseeded South American and Asia/Oceania teams in Pot C and had the unseeded European teams in Pot D. This is how the draw turned out.

Group A - South Africa, United States, Paraguay, Portugal
Group B - Germany, Algeria, Korea Republic, Greece
Group C - Spain, Cameroon, Uruguay, Denmark
Group D - Brazil, Ghana, Korea DPR, Serbia
Group E - England, Nigeria, Chile, Netherlands
Group F - France, Mexico, Japan, Slovakia
Group G - Italy, Ivory Coast, Australia, Switzerland
Group H - Argentina, Honduras, New Zealand, Slovenia

Just like we did with the previous mock draw we picked group winners and runners up and played out the knockout stage of the tournament.

Round of 16
Portugal over Korea Republic
Spain over Ghana
England over Mexico
Ivory Coast over Honduras
Germany over United States
Brazil over Cameroon
France over Netherlands
Argentina over Italy

Quarterfinals
Spain over Portugal
Ivory Coast over England
Brazil over Germany
Netherlands over Argentina

Semifinals
Spain over Ivory Coast
Brazil over Netherlands

3rd place game
Netherlands over Ivory Coast

World Cup Final
Brazil over Spain

In our next installment during Mock Draw Mania week here at International Football Talk we will use Option 3 that FIFA could possibly use. This is less talked about but makes more sense based on geography. unseeded CONMEBOL and CONCACAF teams will be put in a pot of 6 to create the Americas pot. These teams would be drawn into groups not containing the seeded Americas teams. Then there would be the unseeded European pot. But then we would place all remaining teams from Africa, Asia, and Oceania together in a Pot of 10. The seeded South American teams would draw a team each from Asia/Oceania and then Africa. Meanwhile South Africa would draw a team from the Asia/Oceania side of the pot but not from Africa. To adhere to the team from the same confederation aside from Europe be placed in the same group. European seeded teams would draw a team of each full pot from pots B, C, and D. The next mock draw will be up within the next day.

2010 FIFA World Cup Mock Draw

2009-11-30T12:26:00.000-08:00

Here you have it the first of our mock draws this week. We will be using option 1 from our previous post on possible scenarios FIFA will use. Option 1 is very similar to the format FIFA used in 2006. Pot A will be the seeded teams, Pot B will be African/South American teams, Pot C will be European teams, and Pot D will be Asia/Oceania and CONCACAF teams. The sseded teams are South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. This is how the groups worked out.

Group A - South Africa, Paraguay, Serbia, Honduras
Group B - Argentina, Ivory Coast, Slovenia, New Zealand
Group C - Spain, Cameroon, Switzerland, Korea Republic
Group D - Italy, Ghana, Greece, Mexico
Group E - England, Uruguay, Denmark, Australia
Group F - Germany, Algeria, Netherlands, Korea DPR
Group G - Brazil, Nigeria, Portugal, United States
Group H - France, Chile, Slovakia, Japan

Now I went ahead and picked the group winners and runners up to advance to the Round of 16 and beyond. These are the results of those matchups.

Round of 16
Ivory Coast over Paraguay
Spain over Ghana
England over Germany
Brazil over Chile
Argentina over South Africa
Italy over Cameroon
Netherlands over Uruguay
Portugal over France

Quarterfinals
Spain over Ivory Coast
Brazil over England
Italy over Argentina
Portugal over Netherlands

Semifinals
Brazil over Spain
Portugal over Italy

3rd place game
Spain over Italy

World Cup Final
Brazil over Portugal

The next mock draw will be up in a couple hours. In that mock draw we will be using option two where Africa and CONCACAF are potted together and Asia/Oceania and South America are potted together.

Mock Draw Mania

2009-11-30T08:52:00.001-08:00

It is Mock Draw Mania this week at Internationa Football Talk. We will be posting mock draws for the 2010 FIFA World Cup using different formats to cover all possible procedures FIFA may use for Friday, December 4th FIFA World Cup Draw in South Africa. So if you love mock draws keep checking back here for mock draw postings throughout the week.

World Cup Draw: All You Need To Know

2009-11-28T16:45:00.001-08:00

Ok so FIFA will decide shortly how they will allocate teams to certain pots. Here are the most likely scenarios.

Option 1 would be the same format they used in 2006 except this time they wouldn’t need a special pot because there will be 8 unseeded UEFA teams. Pot A would contain the seeded teams, Pot B the UEFA teams, Pot C the African and South American teams, but to avoid teams from the same confederation ending up in the same group South Africa would draw from South America and the two seeded South American teams would draw from Africa before the South American and African teams would be placed into Pot C. Finally, Pot D would contain Asia, Oceania, and CONCACAF teams.

Pot A – South Africa, Italy, Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Spain

Pot B – Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, Potugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland

Pot C – Algeria, Camerron, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Chile, Paraguay, Uruaguay

Pot D – Australia, Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Republic, New Zealand, Honduras, Mexico, USA

Option 2 would be similar to option 1 but Pot C and Pot D would change. FIFA might use this since this time around the remianing unseeded South American teams have a lower combined ranking than the CONCACAF teams so they would group CONCACAF and Africa together to create a stronger pot C and a weaker Pot D creating the likelihood of more balanced groups. This would make Pot D Asia, Oceania, and South America. In this scenario South Africa would draw from CONCACAF before Pot C teams are placed in pot together and Argentina and Brazil would draw from Asia/Oceania before Pot D teams are placed together. Again this is to avoid teams in same confederation to be put into same group.

Pot A – South Africa, Italy, Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Spain

Pot B – Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland

Pot C – Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Honduras, Mexico, USA

Pot D – Australia, Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Republic, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay

Option 3 is a little different. You would still have four pots but not all pots would have 8 teams. Pots A and B would stay the same, but Pot C and Pot D would be differeny and more based on geography. Pot C would conteain teams from Asia/Oceania and Africa, while Pot D would contain teams from the Americas. However Pot C would be split at first with teams from Asia/Oceania and Africa because in this scenario every group picks one team from each pot with the exception of the groups containing Argentian and Brazil as they would draw two teams from Pot C. One from the Asia/Oceania side and one from the African side.

Pot A – South Africa, Italy, Argentian, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Spain

Pot B – Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland

Pot C – Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Australia, Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Republic, New Zealand

Pot D – Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Honduras, Mexico, USA

Option 4 is similar to the draw procedure used in the UEFA Champions League. Teams would be ranked 1-32. Placed into 4 pots. However, still the teams from the same confederation cannot be drawn together would still apply much like teams from the same country can’t be drawn into the same group. Pot A would contain 1-8, Pot B 9-16, Pot C 17-24, and Pot D 25-32. I ranked the teams based on the seeding formula and not the FIFA rankings.

Pot A – South Africa, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Spain, England, France, Argentina

Pot B – Portugal, Netherlands, Mexico, USA, Switzerland, Paraguay, Ghana, Cameroon

Pot C- Korea Republic, Japan, Australia, Ivory Coast, Greece, Nigeria, Serbia, Uruguay

Pot D – Denmark, Chile, Slovenia, Honduras, Slovakia, Algeria, New Zealand, Korea DPR

I hope this helped with the possible scenarios of what FIFA might do and not confuse you anymore. If you follow the instructions its fairly easy to come up with mock draws. The following are mock draws under each option that FIFA could opt for.

Option 1 Mock Draw

Group A – South Africa, Denmark, Paraguay, Australia

Group B – Argentina, Slovakia, Ivory Coast, Mexico

Group C – Germany, Serbia, Uruguay, Korea DPR

Group D – Brazil, Greece, Nigeria, Honduras

Group E – France, Portugal, Ghana, Japan

Group F – Italy, Switzerland, Algeria, USA

Group G – Spain Slovenia, Chile, New Zealand

Group H – England, Netherlands, Cameroon, Korea Republic

Option 2 Mock Draw

Group A – South Africa, Netherlands, Honduras, Chile

Group B – England, Serbia, Ghana, Uruguay

Group C – France, Slovakia, Mexico, Korea DPR

Group D – Argentina, Portugal, Algeria, Australia

Group E – Spain, Denmark, Cameroon, Korea Republic

Group F – Italy, Slovenia, Ivory Coast, Paraguay

Group G – Germany, Switzerland, Nigeria, New Zealand

Group H – Brazil, Greece, USA, Japan

Option 3 Mock Draw

Group A – South Africa, Serbia, Korea DPR, Mexico

Group B – Spain, Greece, Nigeria, Chile

Group C – England, Denmark, Ghana, Paraguay

Group D – France, Slovakia, Ivory Coast, Honduras

Group E – Germany, Netherlands, Korea Republic, Uruguay

Group F – Italy, Slovenia, Australia, USA

Group G – Brazil, Switzerland, Japan, Cameroon

Group H – Argentina, Portugal, New Zealand, Algeria

Option 4 Mock Draw

Group A – South Africa, Paraguay, Greece, Honduras

Group B – Spain, Portugal, Uruguay, Algeria

Group C – Brazil, Switzerland, Ivory Coaat, New Zealand

Group D – Argentina, Cameroon, Australia, Denmark

Group E – Germany, Mexico, Nigeria, Slovakia

Group F – Italy, Netherlands, Korea Republic, Chile

Group G – France, Ghana, Japan, Slovenia

Group H – England, USA, Serbia, Korea DPR

Maradona Stands Firm

2009-10-22T22:59:00.000-07:00

Argentina coach Diego Maradona has no regrets over the lewd outburst he aimed at reporters after his side sealed a dramatic victory over Uruguay last week to qualify for next year's World Cup finals.

The former national skipper let fly with insults at some Argentine journalists in the news conference that followed the 1-0 win, prompting FIFA to launch an investigation that could lead to a fine and suspension.

"I apologised to the ladies, not to those who talk about football on television... It was a release but I don't regret it," Maradona told the state TV station Canal 7 on Wednesday.

"After we qualified and I said what I said, everyone's offended... I said it during child protections hours," he said of the outburst following what he called ill-intentioned criticism of his team selection and perceived lack of tactical knowledge.

Argentina, who had qualified for the previous three World Cups with relative ease and not missed the finals since 1970, were in severe danger of not reaching South Africa following three defeats in a row between June and September.

"If we'd ended up out of the World Cup I'd have had to go and live in Haiti... The first man to be shot would have been Diego Armando Maradona."

He said the reason for the many team changes - calling up more than 70 players - in his 13 matches in charge since last November were for lack of form in some cases and (tactical) indiscipline in others.

"We got to the decisive matches (against Peru and Uruguay in October) with a lot of players from local (Argentine) teams who got us through," he said.
"
I knew I'd have my revenge and so now that I'm in the World Cup I say to the (journalists) 'you were wrong guys'."

He said he now had the time to talk things through with leading players Juan Sebastian Veron, Javier Mascherano, Gabriel Heinze and Lionel Messi and Argentine Football Association president Julio Grondona.
"Each player must show me and the coaching staff they can withstand a World Cup, which isn't easy. You have to withstand living together, injuries. We must build a good group who all help each other."

Reuters

Jones cleared to play for USA

2009-10-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

Schalke midfielder Jermaine Jones has been cleared to play international football for the USA after FIFA approved his switch from Germany.

Jones has played three times for the German national team.

The 27-year-old announced in June he was turning his back on Germany, frustrated at his lack of opportunities under coach Joachim Low.

He has made three appearances for Germany but since all three of his caps came in friendly matches, he is still permitted to represent another nation. As well as holding German citizenship, Jones also has a US passport.

The United States Soccer Federation confirmed the news on their website and FIFA have now approved the Jones' switch in allegiance.

The midfielder will now look to win a place in the USA squad for next summer's World Cup in South Africa when he returns from a broken shin which has prevented him from appearing in the Bundesliga so far this season.

courtesty of espnsoccernet staff

World Cup Mock Draw

2009-10-20T21:57:00.000-07:00

Pot A (Seeded)
South Africa
Italy
Argentina
Brazil
England
France
Germany
Spain
Pot B (Africa and South America)
Cameroon
Egypt
Ghana
Ivory Coast
Tunisia
Chile
Paraguay
Uruguay
Pot C (Europe)
Denmark
Netherlands
Portugal
Russia
Serbia
Slovakia
Switzerland
Ukraine
Pot D (Asia/Oceania and CONCACAF)
Australia
Bahrain
Japan
Korea DPR
Korea Republic
Honduras
Mexico
United States
So with those as the pots this is how my mock draw worked out. With the same draw procedure as used as was used in the 2006 World Cup.
Group A – South Africa, Chile, Serbia, Australia
Group B – Argentina, Ivory Coast, Ukraine, Japan
Group C – France, Ghana, Slovakia, United States
Group D – Spain, Paraguay, Denmark, Korea Republic
Group E – Germany, Egypt, Netherlands, Bahrain
Group F – Italy, Cameroon, Russia, Korea DPR
Group G – Brazil, Tunisia, Portugal, Honduras
Group H – England, Uruguay, Switzerland, Mexico