so, should the usa manage to get to the cup finals, what are the odds we get drawn into group A with germany? will the finals draw on nov 29 be based on pots that keep seeded teams away from each other? if so, what's the criteria for the seeding? i can't imagine qualification via a half spot would help in any seeding criteria...
There is zero chance we get drawn into a group with Germany. New FIFA rankings came out this week and we're still ranked #1 with Germany #2. So if we beat Italy next Saturday, I think we'll still be a seeded team. Now, whether we end up in super tough group (such as Sweden, Nigeria, NK as we have for 2 world cups running--and Nigeria & NK were in our group in 1999, too) is another matter. The draw will be broadcast by FIFA if you're interested in that sort of thing.
But exactly how do they seed the teams. If the US makes it, they will be the 3rd team from Concacaf. Will they go by that or will they go by the rankings? I can't even remember how they did it last time. So far we've got: Europe: Germany #2 (host), England #10, France #8, Sweden #4, Norway #7 Asia: Australia #12, Japan #5, Korea DPR #6 North America: Canada #9, Mexico #22 Africa: Equatorial Guinea #62, Nigeria #27 South America: Brazil #3 Oceania: New Zealand #23 Playoff: USA #1 or Italy #11 South America 2: Chile #46, Argentina #28, or Columbia #32 And although you have to take the rankings with a grain of salt (or maybe several grains of salt) in order, the 19 teams still with a chance: 1. USA 2. Germany 3. Brazil 4. Sweden 5. Japan 6. Korea DPR 7. Norway 8. France 9. Canada 10. England 11. Italy 12. Australia 22. Mexico 23. New Zealand 27. Nigeria 28. Argentina 32. Columbia 46. Chile 62. Equatorial Guinea
FIFA have not said how they will decide the pots for the draw. But the lasts two or more WWC the top seed have been host, champion and the top seeded from FIFA ranking (so Sweden will probably be seeded). The other pots have been based on Confederation. FIFA have never as far as I remeber (30 or so years) seeded based on placement in the qualification (wich would be hard since UEFA teams very rarely have one). Speculations about most likely draw: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1588163
[quote 1. USA 2. Germany 3. Brazil 4. Sweden 5. Japan 6. Korea DPR 7. Norway 8. France 9. Canada 10. England 11. Italy 12. Australia 22. Mexico 23. New Zealand 27. Nigeria 28. Argentina 32. Columbia 46. Chile 62. Equatorial Guinea[/quote] Right now, at this moment, beating many of these teams would be a huge challenge for our current starting WNT.
By the way, Colombia has advanced along with Brazil from CONMEBOL, by virtue of their 1-0 victory over Argentina and Brazil's 3-1 result against Chile. Colombia could be an interesting team to watch in Germany. The same generation of players (U-17s in 2008, and U-20s in 2010) have had success at youth tournaments. Will they be able to continue it to the next level?
You can probably figure that if the US manages to get by Italy, that they will probably have one of the European teams not rated in the overall top four (England, France, or Norway), one of the Asian/Australia sides (Japan, Korea DPR, or Australia), and then probably SA2 or one of the African teams. If it's Nigeria, from what I've heard about them, we're going to have one hell of a tough group. I have to agree with Brooklyn Soccer, every game will be a struggle. Take England for instance. Kelly Smith and Eni Aluko against our backline. We would have two things to hope for in that game, just put up about six goals ourselves like Germany did last year and plain outscore them or pray that the refs are in an offsides mood and Aluko gets called every time she gets behind our defense. Of course, this could all be a moot point if Saturday goes badly.
Here are the groups we've been in for every Women's World Cup. Does anything stand out? 1991 (3 groups) United States Sweden Brazil Japan 1995 (3 groups) United States China PR Denmark Australia 1999 (4 groups) United States Nigeria Korea DPR Denmark 2003 (4 groups) United States Sweden Korea DPR Nigeria 2007 (4 groups) United States Sweden Korea DPR Nigeria Based on past history and taking into account the fact that Sweden is #4 and so possibly seeded... If we do get past Italy on Saturday here's what I think our group will be. USA, Nigeria, Korea DPR, France. Depends on how much the folks doing the draw want to screw Norway. So, I'll pick France to be in our group.
You always had one ou our* teams in your group so count on the UEFA team in it being Norway**. *=Scandinavian **=Sweden is probably seeded and Denmark failed to qualify so Norway is the only one of our's left
True. It is so predictable, isn't it. Only Denmark not being in the WWC field messes things up. But I couldn't decide whether those that fixed the draw would want to screw Norway more than they'd want to screw France. Given that the draw is in Germany I went with the easy Germany/France love-fest joke.
Considering that the alternatives include being grouped with Germany or Brazil, wouldn't being put in the USA's group count as an easy draw?
Not when you take the other members of the group (if they are Nigeria & Korea DPR) into consideration. The goal is to be top 2 and advance to knockout rnds. Look at England in 2007. They were in Germany's group but got to face Argentina and battle Japan for 2nd. Canada was in the Germany/Argentina/Japan group in 2003. And they came in 2nd (w/ Japan 3rd) Srsly. There have been a lot of repeat match-ups in the group stages over the last 2 iterations.
But USA, North Korea, and Nigeria looks much less formidable than Germany, North Korea, and Nigeria or Brazil, North Korea, and Nigeria.
The Draw With qualifying in the bag (phew), I suppose we need a place to discuss the upcoming WWC draw. It will be broadcast on ESPN3.com live from Frankfurt, coverage beginning at 1:45 pm EST Monday. Julie Foudy is jumping on a plane to be there as the U.S. representative. Does FIFA decide the top four seeds based on their own rankings? If so, that would be the United States, Germany, Brazil, and Sweden.
Re: The Draw Sorry, didn't see there was an existing thread for the draw. Mods feel free to delete this one.
Re: The Draw Julie should stay home...she has that nasty flu bug going around... As Abby W said in yesterday's post game comments this team has been going non-stop for the last 11 months. They desperately need to recharge their batteries. That said Pia also needs to bring in more young players like Alex Morgan (ie. LeRoux, Mewis to name a few), but she also needs to tweak the midfield and back line big time. At least she knows what the problem is and hopefully will work on it. I am sure no one will want to be in the USA's group. Here are is my mock draw. Teams on top of each group are the seeded ones. Germany Norway Colombia Japan USA Australia Eq. Guinea New Zealand Brazil France Nigeria Canada Sweden England Mexico No. Korea
http://www.facebook.com/pages/US-Womens-National-Soccer-Team/108702829151987 Interesting that Japan is head of Group B which looks like it might be the Group of death....
here are the pots and the draw procedure: http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/news/newsid=1342287/index.html
Here is a cbc story on the draw... Canadians are pissed off: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/sto...d&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=DTN+Canada:
Here is my mock draw #2. Teams on top of each group are the seeded ones. Germany Mexico Eq. Guinea England Japan Canada Nigeria Norway USA No. Korea Columbia France Brazil Australia New Zealand Sweden