From the FIFA website folks. What we have been waiting for. http://www.fifa.com/Service/MR_M/45958_E.html France is A1 & Brazil is B1 We shall see what happenes at the Draw on February 12, 2003
Death Group I. Brazil Turkey Japan/Cameroon USA Death Group II France Cameroon Japan USA In other words, any configuration without NZ is hard!!
That's going to be a brutal schedule--3 games in 5 days. Is that an advantage or disadvantage for US? Other teams have greater depth, which could hurt us. OTOH, Arena showed ability in World Cup to effectively use different line-ups against each opponent to get the most out of the depth that we do have. Other questions: Have media rights been sold yet? Does SUM have them in US? For those more adept at time-zone-shifting, what do those game times (18.00, 19.00, 21.00) mean for US viewers?
I hope we don't draw Turkey twice. Of course, it could be worse if we were to draw Brazil twice. Sachin
Just edited it...meant Cameroon, of course. Question...what if we go 0-2-1 in this tournament? (Certainly not outside the realm of possibility). Would this be considered a failure?? I guess I would have to look at the context -- who the other guys bring, and who we bring. But this tournament will be very challenging no matter how you slice it. Good prep for qualifying.
If France and Turkey cannot be in the same group, and if Brazil and Columbia cannot be in the same group, as per the committee, then there are de facto TWO positions locked in with respect to each group: Group A France Colombia Group B Brazil Turkey Remaining teams are Cameroon, USA, Japan and New Zealand. Random draw should determine the remaining positions, with New Zealand as the (seemingly) weakest team in the field... Personally, I would LOVE to play Brazil, Turkey and Japan in Group B, but that really puts the onus on the USMNT to perform up to snuff if it wants to advance to the semi-finals. Just the way we like it... PRESSURE. Good stuff for the FIFA Rankings, as well -- if we get some results.
IIRC, he also said something very similiar about the Gold Cup. And, it seemed clear to me in that tournament that he fullly wanted to win it. Look for the CONFED Cup roster to be a mix of vets, WC '06 "shoe-ins", and untested talent. That will allow him to evaluate "new blood" in a realistic setting--to see if they can fit in with the core team and can step up in a pressure situation.
sometime on paper will tottaly different than on the pitch, world cup is one example, most favourites out of the tournament in the first round or second.
France Colombia U.S. N.Z. is the group I'd like to see. We get to play France in France which will rule and New Zealand in our group gives us the best chance to advance - which is what we want, right?
Boy, I am writing too fast... Of course, Colombia has to be in a different group than Brazil... My "Death Groups" were meant to be options... Anyway, a group of Brazil Turkey Japan/Cameroon USA would be VERY difficult. A group of France Columbia Japan USA would be tough but less difficult A group of France Columbia New Zealand USA would probably be the best draw we could hope for.
bring them on let see what they got, french, Brazil, Turkey...... we've been grown up and flying high....we are the team w/ confidence now.
Here would be my rankings for the Confederations Cup Participants. On the right are the FIFA rankings for these teams: Brazil - 1 France - 2 Turkey - 8 USA - 10 Japan - 26 Cameroon - 19 Colombia - 22 New Zealand - 49 Keep in mind that all of these teams are experiencing at least as much, if not more, turnover than the US squad in the next couple of years, especially in their coaches. Brazil and France, who seem to generate a neverending supply of talented young players, will not be affected as much. Japan has built a very solid youth system, but they have lost the very coach who built that system, and a rather ominous cloud of question marks hangs over their team. How will they fare when they aren't on their home turf? My guess - not as well. Turkey is a squad that, if they don't identify some young talent in key positions, will be on the very old side by 2006. It will be interesting to see if Turkey will use the Confederations Cup to start locating those young players, or if they'll stick with their very successful 2002 team. Needless to say, this is an extremely tough competition. Regardless of what group we end up in, we have our work cut out for us. Bruce Arena chimed in on how he sees this competition here. Towards the middle of the article, he says, "We won't win as many games in 2003 because we are going to take the opportunity to look at lots of young players. Events like the FIFA Confederations Cup [June] and the CONCACAF Gold Cup [July] are the kinds of competitions where you find out if people can step up to the international game." Also in this article Bruce identifies Kyle Martino, Daniel Hernandez, and Leo Cullen as players who have a chance at making an impact at the International Level. He also mentions that our defense is the one area where we appear to be short on options, "For some reason today we have more midfielders and forwards than can start and we are short of defenders, especially wide backs," he said. "I don't see any reason for it. These things go in cycles. Ten years ago we seemed to have nothing but defenders and goalkeepers." In the Daily Herald article published today, Kent McDill also states that one of Arena's top priorities is to identify defenders. "Chief among his goals is to locate capable defenders, an area that was lacking in the U.S. team that made it to the quarterfinals in South Korea last summer." Based on those comments and others by Arena, I am led to believe that this US Confederations Cup Team will be much like the 1999 version. A group of prospects that Arena thinks might be able to contribute to the World Cup Qualifying Campaign and the Cup itself, but a squad that will be short on experience and long on question marks. The squad that Arena called in for El Salvador certainly represents that. I would not expect to see Claudio Reyna, healthy or not, in France next year. The same might be true of John O'brien. In the meantime, there is a very short list of friendlies available for young applicants to prove they belong on the field next summer. This makes the El Salvador game and preceding camp all the more meaningful for young defenders like McCarty, Barrett, Dunseth, Quill, Suarez, Califf, and even Carlos Bocanegra. Bruce has issued the invitation. We need defenders. Can this group of young prospects advance in such a tough competition? I believe they can, regardless of the draw. The potential is there for a highly athletic, physically imposing, and well-skilled all around team, including the defense. Whether that potential translates to success will be the key to the US prospects both in the Confederations Cup and beyond.
Well if it's 8PM in England & France then on the east coast it would 2PM in the afternoon. So 18.00hrs in France is 12.00hrs here on the east coast, 09.00hrs on the west coast. I believe Univision will broadcast the Confederations Cup, as I remember that they secured the rights to show it here in the USA. As for the players getting picked, If there is a good ammount of depth for this Confed Cup squad then I truly believe we can move on to the Finals. As we remember the 1999 tournament in Mexico we finished 3rd place. At least a medal. It's either the cup or bust.
Nutmeg, Good post. One thing I am disagree--JOB will be in France. He will be the veteran leaders in 2006. The defense problem is not just find a good defense line but also find a leader. Eddie Pope never step up in that role. So Bocanegra, Suarez, Robinson all have a chance here. I just make a wide guess for US defenders group for 2003 Confed Cup: Right back--Suarez, Klein and Onyewu. Mulrooney tried in that position too. The problem is if Onyewu got enough first team football to be ready. I suspect Cherundolo may move the right midfield position. Left back--Gbandi may get a chance after two monthes MLS play. Some midfielders may have to be playing that position to get in the field. I think Bobby Convey may get in there due to the conjuction in center midfield. Center back--Very clear. A veteran like Pope will be around plus all young center backs.
France - 13:00 GMT (England) 12:00 NYC - 7:00 Chi - 6:00 Den - 5:00 LA - 4:00 hopefully that will clear things up.
I have no problem with the seeds or the separation of UEFA and CONMEBOL teams. The problem will be if the U.S. is "randomly" selected into the group with Brasil and Turkey, with Japan added for spice. One group would have 4 teams that qualified for the World Cup and advanced out of the group stage while the other group would be much weaker. It would, however, keep the U.S. and France apart while Japan would get a chance for revenge against the U.S. and Cameroon would play France, games that would draw good crowds. I don't expect strange referee events at these games. FIFA's credibility, such as it is, was badly damaged by the antics at the World Cup. The Confederations Cup may have a bad ref or two but I don't expect a replay of the horror movie played in the quarterfinals of the World Cup. I would, however, not be at all surprised to see the draw ocur in a not so random fashion. Just my opinions.
Brazil Japan Turkey U.S. That group would be complete murder. Even the supposed low man, Japan, is deceptive, as by that time they will have become acclimated to Zico's new system
To most on BigSoccer this would come as a complete failure and Arena should get fired immediately upon his return from France.. But to most people who know a thing or two about development, this tournament is all about finding players who will help this country improve towards qualification for Germany 06'... It's a fine line I assure you.....