Baloney. Our group was pretty weak in 1998. Before the fact, it was average in 2002. (AFTER the fact, when we all knew how strong SoKo was at home, we could tell it was a strong group.) 2006 was a very hard group, tough enough to be a GOD in alot of World Cups (not that one; Cote D'Ivoire, Holland, Argy, Serbia was.) But that's one of the last three.
Times in GMT from BBC website: 1700: Fifa's opening sequence, followed by a warm welcome from the top of Table Mountain. 1705: Message from Nelson Mandela. 1716: Trophy hand over. 1742: The official match ball is revealed. 1755: The draw is scheduled to begin. 1823: End of draw, followed by analysis
http://espn.go.com/ http://www.fifa.com/live/competitions/worldcup/finaldraw/index.html try any place, i'm sure one has to be decent..
For those not watching, the ESPN crew is Bob Ley, Alexi Lalas, Steve McManaman, and Efan Ekoku (who you've heard on the EPL broadcasts, assuming you watch those).
Awesome, just in time for lunch break. FYI, right now it's snowing in Houston...that's got to be sign!
The reality is at this point, you've got 30 teams who present a real challenge and then New Zealand and North Korea. Because of the seeding process, we can't draw either of those so we've got big challenges regardless. I think people rooting to draw South Africa are probably out ahead of themselves. Yes it's better than drawing a powerhouse like Brazil and Spain, but probably not by a ton. HFA is normally huge and appears to be even huger in the World Cup. They'll be tough.
I was surprised to learn recently that Elo ranked both Germany and Yugoslavia as being in the top 4 teams in the world heading into their matches against the US in 1998. Germany was ranked 2nd in the world (1st by the end of the group stage), and Yugoslavia was ranked 4th.
Another poster was making the point that drawing the powerhouse is a good thing, because they'll probably beat the other 2 as well.
I'd happily draw Germany for this reason. You can count on Germany to not let down and gift points or goal differential to other teams in the group.
Cooler still would be if someone swapped in an "Ireland" ball for a "France" ball. Imagine the reaction ...
Who cares if the reporters left to run after Figo? They don't make the decision. And I'd assume the actual bid presentations (to FIFA) aren't made in public in front of reporters anyway. I don't buy that at all.