Pots for Fifa World Cup 2006 draw

[Axel Janssen]

Hi,


The draw will take place this friday at 20:00 in Leipzip, Germany.

more info:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4356050.stm

here they are:
POT ONE
Germany (hosts)
Brazil (holders)
Argentina
England
France
Italy
Mexico
Spain

POT TWO-
Australia
Angola
Ghana
Ivory Coast
Togo
Tunisia
Ecuador
Paraguay

POT THREE
Croatia
Czech Republic
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Sweden
Switzerland
Ukraine

POT FOUR
Iran
Japan
Saudi Arabia
South Korea
Costa Rica
Trinidad & Tobago
US
Special pot: Serbia & Montenegro

The 8 groups will contain 1 team from each of the pots.
Serbia Montenegro will be put in a group with a non-european team from pot 1.

A suprise might be Mexico in pot 1, but they have played really strong in Confed Cup last summer. The dutch might bitch a bit for not being among the pot 1 teams.


My bets for easiest/strongest possible groups for one team of pot 1:

Easiest (just my prejudices):
Angola or Togo, Poland or Croatia, Trinidad & Tobago or Saudi Arabia

Strongest (just my prejudices):
Paraguay or Ghana, Netherlands or Czech Recoderanch, Serbia & Montenegro or Japan

Axel
[ December 06, 2005: Message edited by: Axel Janssen ]

[Paul Sturrock]

I was depressed to notice that England are effectively seeded second. I don't know if life would be bearable if they actually won it...

[Axel Janssen]

... and as its now very questionable that the new chip enabled ball (link) will be used, because the technology appears not ready they might do the same as in the middle of the last century:
winning the World Cup with such a very special sort of "goal"




[ December 06, 2005: Message edited by: Axel Janssen ]

[Peter Rooke]

In 66 I think Brazil would have won it, if Pele had not been hacked until he was injured. We (England) also had the "Hand of God" goal.

Get the feeling it will be Brazil's World Cup (again), but Germany will be hard to beat (they never give in!) at home.

Us English have the best team since the 90's - we just need a defensive holding midfielder (eg like Keane, Viera)..

[Janhavi Namshikar]

Originally posted by Paul Sturrock:
I was depressed to notice that England are effectively seeded second. I don't know if life would be bearable if they actually won it...

Totally agree on this, England don't deserve the second seeding.
Surprising to see the Netherlands not getting the seeding

Janhavi.

[Dave Lenton]

Originally posted by Peter Rooke:
Get the feeling it will be Brazil's World Cup (again), but Germany will be hard to beat (they never give in!) at home.

I've got a feeling that Argentina could be the team to beat this year, but failing that Germany must have a good chance.

Us English have the best team since the 90's - we just need a defensive holding midfielder (eg like Keane, Viera)..

But who? Gerard is more of an attacking player, King is more of a defender, Carrick isn't experienced enough.... Its a bit ironic - for years we had a good central midfield but where lacking in left-sided players, and as soon as the Coles comes along we look a bit shaky in the centre.

Doesn't matter who we get, the chances are that it'll be the same story as ever. In the group stages we'll have a couple of disappointing draws, an lucky win and scrape through to the knock out stages. Then we'll have another lucky win to send the country into a frenzy of excitement before loosing to Germany on penalties in the next round.

Then Sven will resign to take over at Real Madrid.

[Paul Sturrock]

Originally posted by Dave Lenton:
But who? Gerard is more of an attacking player, King is more of a defender, Carrick isn't experienced enough....

Ledly King isn't half bad. Carrick would be worth a gamble I'd say. I get the feeling watching England that Sven is won't risk the potential criticism if he drops one of England's undoubtably world class midfielders to replace them with a player who is more suited to the position that needs filling. A few times recently I've watched them and thought that Beckham shouldn't have been playing, not when it could have been Wright-Philips or Gerrard down the right, rarther than not playing Wright-Philips or using Gerrard as a holding midfielder, which is a waste.

Originally posted by Dave Lenton:

I've got a feeling that Argentina could be the team to beat this year, but failing that Germany must have a good chance.

Can't agree more. In amoungst all the hype when England recently beat them you couldn't help but notice that England took the lead afterCrespo and the hugely impressive Riquelme had been subbed. Credit where credit is due, it was a good victory, but for large periods of the game Argentina bossed the midfield.

Germany only really have a chance because its in Germany though. They don't currently have a particularaly good side (sorry Axel, but you know its true ). I watched them draw with Scotland in Hampden during the qualifiers for the European championships. Not very impressive. If they cannae beat us they really don't deserve to do well.
[ December 07, 2005: Message edited by: Paul Sturrock ]

[Badriprasad Bumbabol]

We need to start making a list of JavaRanchers who are planning to be in Germany for the World Cup.

I for one wouldnt miss it for anything even though I dont have any tickets.

Also would love to know whats the best team for you for the team you support, assuming the match is tomorrow.

I would go for this English team:
Robinson
Neville, Terry,Campbell,A Cole
Beckham,Lampard,Gerrard,J Cole
Rooney,Owen

Bench : Carrick,Rio,Defoe

My football knowledge is not extensive - So please feel free to correct/criticise my selection.

Go on, England.

[Axel Janssen]

Expectation for Germany to win are quite low here. The team is defitively better than last year, but not sure if it will be enough. There might be some psychological issue because with the exception of Bayern Munich german teams nearly allways loose in Champions League against really strong teams. And our best players don't play in foreign league. In 74 and 90 the german team had exceptionally strong players (Beckenbauer, M�ller, Math�us, Brehme). Ballack yet has to show that if he fits in this category. 54 was a very special case.
With the exception of Sweden 1958 european teams allways won the Cup when the event took place in Europe. On the other hand, Argentine or Brasil can allways win a world cup.
Maybe this time Spain? I see also chances for Italy, England or even the Netherland. I see Czech Republic and Portugal weaker than during Euro 2 years ago.

As the coach of our 54 world champion team used to say:
The ball is round and the game lasts 90 minutes

[Peter Rooke]

But who?

- thats the problem - we would have to use a defender. King or Terry would be my choice. As most teams tend to play with a forward (like Ronaldinho) in the "hole" just in front of the back four - the defencive midfielder is needed, to break up the play. Everywhere else on the pitch we have world class players, who could just win it, with a bit of luck and maybe a bit of help from a Russian linesman (again) :roll:

[Dave Lenton]

Originally posted by Paul Sturrock:
Credit where credit is due, it was a good victory, but for large periods of the game Argentina bossed the midfield.

This is the worrying thing. Pundits have been saying for years about how England's midfield is one of the best in the world, and players such as Gerard and Lampard will be at their peak for the World Cup, but Argentina outplayed them in midfield. OK, so we won, but it was undoubtedly very lucky.

[Dave Lenton]

Originally posted by Peter Rooke:
who could just win it, with a bit of luck and maybe a bit of help from a Russian linesman (again) :roll:

Maybe a team needs a bit of luck to win. Certainly we had a bit of luck in '66, and then a few years later Argentina had the "Hand Of God" incident go in their favour.

Goes to show, in a funny way, what a great sport football is. The fact that a tournament can be changed in a moment, and that sometimes the best team doesn't win, makes it so much more exciting them more predictable sports.

[Paul Sturrock]

Originally posted by Axel Janssen:

Maybe this time Spain?

That one reals its head each time a major final comes along. I've lost too much money on Spain as a "good outside bet" to chance on them doing it this time. There's something strange about that team (like England and penalties ) - full of good players, run away with the qualifying group and get nowhere in the finals.

[Peter Rooke]

full of good players, run away with the qualifying group and get nowhere in the finals.

- Sounds a bit like Holland, never understood how they have always failed to win.

"good outside bet"

- maybe, this time the Czech Recoderanch.

Oh no - not England and the dreaded penalties.

The most annoying thing about the England team is the captaincy, I just don't think Beckham has a strong personality to be a true leader: better to have Terry or Campbell or best of all Neville.
-------------------------------
'We are now in the middle of the centre of the first half' - DAVID PLEAT
Football Quotes

[Dave Lenton]

Originally posted by Peter Rooke:
The most annoying thing about the England team is the captaincy, I just don't think Beckham has a strong personality to be a true leader: better to have Terry or Campbell or best of all Neville.

Given that Beckham has just had another stupid sending off (for R Madrid), maybe he's not captain material. Besides, I've always thought that its better to have a captain in a defensive role - defending is normally when leadership is needed most on the pitch.

Beckham also seems to have a lack of passion. Compared to Tony Adams, and the way he would belt out the national anthem, play his heart out and lead by example, Beckham seems a bit quiet and not like a leader.

The problem is that taking the captaincy away from Beckham would demoralise him quite a bit, and its not good to upset him (and possibly the other players) just before a World Cup.

-----
Looks like the draw has been quite kind to England. It should be reasonably easy for them to qualify, but then again when has that ever stopped England making it hard for themselves?

[Paul Sturrock]

The most annoying thing about the England team is the captaincy

Ah. "The most annoying thing about England". Now there's a topic a Scot could talk about for years . So here goes: the most annoying thing about England is nothing to do with the team themselves, its the media hype. The draw was made and true, England have an (comparatively) easy group. They've missed Holland, the Czech Recoderanch, the USA, Australia and a few other tricky teams. But the immediate discussion after the draw was the really tricky game being Brazil in the final. Talk about arrogant presumption. If an England fan wants to know what really irritates fans of the other home nations, its these sort of comments. No team (even Brazil) should be thinking like that. Just remember what happened to France in Japan/Korea last time round.

The problem is that taking the captaincy away from Beckham would demoralise him quite a bit, and its not good to upset him (and possibly the other players) just before a World Cup.

I personally think England could be quite good without Beckham. Since he moved to Madrid he seems to have lost the endless running that defined Manchester United when he played for them. Its a real limitation that the captaincy keeps him in the team when his place could be better used by another player (Wright-Phillips for example).

[Kishore Dandu]

Irrespective of being in a tough group; this time US will reach atleast Semi-finals. I would not be surprised if they make it to the finals.

[Dave Lenton]

Originally posted by Kishore Dandu:
Irrespective of being in a tough group; this time US will reach atleast Semi-finals. I would not be surprised if they make it to the finals.

I'm sure they will do well. Much as it horrifies many people that a country who don't even know the name of the beautiful game may actually be good at it, the USA have been quietly moving up the rankings and building a very good team.

I'm not sure how well I want the US to do though. One of the players in the US squad, Bobby Convey, plays for the team I support (Reading). On the one hand I always like to see Reading players do well in international competitions, but on the other hand a few good performances from Convey could see his reputation improve and a big team come in to take him from us. That would be annoying as he's been such a better player this year, and is beginning to show how he's well worth a place in the World Cup.

[Paul Sturrock]

I watched the USA at Hampden draw 1-1 with Scotland, If that team were representative of their normal play, then their world ranking is exagerated. Bruce Areana said as much, pointing out that qualifying for a major competition (which feeds into your rankings) is much harder if you are a European team than if you are in the Concacaf group (where only really Mexico offer first class competition). Lets be honest here, any team which wants to do well in the World Cup must be able to beat Scotland. Still, as with every team in the finals, they are no mugs.

[Jesse Torres]

Predictions anyone? Which teams will reach final four slots?

[Paul Sturrock]

Argentina, who look very strong.

Brazil, because they are always there or thereabouts.

Germany, because they are at home.

England. Please god don't let them win it...

[Peter Rooke]

Here's some wild speculation:

Group Stages:

Group A: {Germany, Costa Rica, Poland, Ecuador} => {Germany, Poland}
Group B: {England, Paraguay, T & T, Sweden} => {England, Sweden}
Group C: {Argentina, Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro, Holland} => {Argentina, Holland}
Group D: {Mexico, Iran, Angola, Portugal} => {Portugal, Mexico}
Group E: { Italy, Ghana, US, Czech Rep} => {Czech Rep, Italy}
Group F: { Brazil, Croatia, Australia, Japan} => { Brazil, ???}
Group G: { France, Switzerland, South Korea, Togo} => {France, South Korean}
Group H: { Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia} => {Spain, ???}

Knock Out Stage:

Match A {Germany Vrs Sweden} => Germany
Match B { Argentina Vrs Mexico } => Argentina
Match C { England Vrs Poland } => England
Match D { Portugal Vrs Holland } => Holland
Match E { Italy Vrs ??? } => Italy
Match F { France Vrs ??? } => France
Match G { Brazil Vrs Czech Rep } => Brazil (this is Fifa world rating first against second)
Match H { Spain Vrs South Korea } => ???

Quarter Finals:

1 {Germany Vrs Argentina } => Argentina
2 { Italy Vrs France } => ???
3 { England Vrs Holland } => ???
4 { Brazil Vrs ??? } => Brazil

Brazil to Win

[K Riaz]

Originally posted by Janhavi Namshikar:

Totally agree on this, England don't deserve the second seeding.
Surprising to see the Netherlands not getting the seeding

Janhavi.

Why not? The seedings were based on the performances over the last two World Cups, and if you know *anything* about football, you will know that England did well in both, hence their higher seeding, as opposed to Holland, who did not even qualify for the last World Cup in Japan & South Korea.

RE: The Draw
I watched it live on the BBC (as did 350m people in 190 countries), it was great to see some great legends (Pele et al). How complicated was the FIFA arithmetric in deciding the groups?! I think if England are to win it, they will need to beat at least two of: Germany, Brazil and/or Argentina - they always end up loosing to one of these teams ('86 - Argentina, '90 - Germany, '98 - Argentina, '02 - Brazil). They should make the quarter finals at least, although a meeting with Germany will be interesting in Round 2 if England win their group and Germany finished 2nd (or vice versa).

The Argentina/Holland game should be a great game.

Can't wait until the 9th of June next year!