The draw for the 2010 Football World Cup was held on Sunday in Durban, South Africa. In an ironic twist of fate, England have been drawn in the same group as its recent nemesis, Croatia, who had recently snuffed out England’s hopes of playing in Euro 2008.
England have been relegated to the second batch of European seeds following their 2-3 loss to Croatia at Wembley. The 2010 World Cup will see England and Croatia in a competitive group which also includes Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Andorra.
Stevan Bilic, Croatia manager, has reportedly admitted that, in spite of his team’s recent inspired performance in the 3-2 win over England, he did not particularly like the draw. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said
We are not afraid of anybody but England have a terrific team with brilliant players.
Defending champions Italy have been paired with Bulgaria,Cyprus, the Republic of Ireland, Georgia and Montenegro. Italy coach Roberto Donadoni said
Bulgaria, Ireland, Georgia and Montenegro are nations that don’t have a great football tradition but they are still difficult teams. Bulgaria are probably the main contender for us in this group.Italy are vying for a fifth World Cup title. 2004 World Cup runner-up France have been placed in a group with Austria, Faroe Islands, Lithuania, Romania and Serbia. Germany, in their group, has Russia, Wales, Finland, Azerbaijan and Liechtenstein for company.
The reigning European champions, Greece, secured the final place among the top seeds ahead of England, and have been paired with Israel, Switzerland, Moldova, Latvia and Luxemborg in what has to be the weakest group in the European zone.
The winners from the nine European groups would qualify for the finals in South Africa, with the eight-best runners-up going into playoff fixtures to decide the four other qualifiers.
Sunday’s draw also pitted North Korea and South Korea in the same group(Group 3) in the Asian qualifiers. China was placed in a tough group (Group 1) along with Australia, Iraq and Qatar.
In the African qualifying zone, hosts South Africa ( who, as hosts, are automatically through to the 2010 World Cup) must compete as the qualifiers count towards the 2010 African Nations Cup in Angola.
A potential United States versus Cuba semifinal is in waiting according to the draw for the CONCACAF Cup. The Americans play the winner of the opening round-series between Barbados and Dominica (the American have a first-round bye). If United States go through this schedule, they might face Cuba (who would be playing the winner of the opening series between Aruba-Antigua and Barbuda).
Cuba and the United States will be meeting in the World cup qualifiers for the first time since 1949 in Mexico. That time the Americans qualified for the World cup in Brazil and proceeded to defeat in England in one of the biggest upsets in footballing history.
At the glittering draw ceremony on Sunday, FIFA president Sepp Blatter and South African President Thabo Mbeki stated that preparations for the World Cup finals were well underway. At the start of the draw ( attended by around 3000 delegates and watched by a massive global audience), Blatter said,
It’s the kick-off, it’s the window to South Africa. Now there’s no doubt that the 2010 World Cup will be here, will be a big success.
Source: edition.cnn
