RocketFan007, yes... exactly. MadMax, it's o.k., let's not break up the IRISH/MEX alliance because of it. Leroy420, boo-hoo. All I got to say is: Yeah, we sucked against U.S. pwn3d. Think about it this way, dudes: How many TOP SEEDS in the last world cup made it past the FIRST ROUND? It means NOTHING. Don't sweat it. Svprnaut has the right frame of mind. Also to be shown on UNIVISION LIVE (no tape delay) at 1:30 p.m. CST
ESPN is saying that they will air the draw live, not on a tape delay. Maybe Univision has 30 minutes of "pre game" or something?
The official site lists it starting at 1:15. But who knows, they may have stuff going on before the actual draw. http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/fd/index.html
Yes. Univision likes to do a recap of how the teams got there and what is expected of each (Trinidad, grateful for coming to the big dance; France should bounce back from 2002; etc.). I know that there will be speeches, welcoming, etc., and that Heidi Klum (whew!) will be hosting. Dudes, I am telling you... don't sweat it: "The seedings system looked at teams' record in the 2002 and 1998 finals and their world ranking over the last three years." And STILL the U.S. didn't make it in a top SEED. It DOES suck. Anyway, I hope we meet again.
it makes me just as mad that serbia is the 'lowest ranked european team'. why? they were in a qualifying group with spain (who got a #1), and finished ahead of them. doesn't make sense to me.
serbia is like, a new country, so they got to earn their reputation. isnt this what its based on? Past performence in eurocup or whatever that's called, and World Cup Play?
Good to see that they took into account WC results from '98. How many players from the various teams were on their respective '98 teams and played minutes? Rediculous decision by the selection committee. It's just a way for the WC to get the "big name" teams as the #1 seeds and ignore the lesser regarded but still good teams (namely the US, but the Netherlands as well).
It's based on a combination of the FIFA World rankings and results in the 1998 and 2002 World Cup. That's why Serbia and USA get seeded behind teams that finished behind them in qualifying(Spain and Mexico). The United States barely missed getting seeded - having 43 points according to FIFA's calculations while Italy and Argentina had 44. I've got a bad feeling about the draw on Friday, that the US will end up in the Group of Death with either the Czech Republic or the Netherlands. POT ONE Germany (hosts) Brazil (holders) Argentina England France Italy Mexico Spain POT TWO Australia Angola Ghana Cote D'Ivoire 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 Serbia end up in the group with either Brazil, Argentina or Mexico. For the US it could be as bad as Brazil, Netherlands, Cote D'Ivoire or as good as Spain(sorry bovie ), Togo and Switzerland. We shall see.
It could've been worse. The last World Cup, they considered results from the past three World Cups - maybe it'll be better for 2010. The US, Serbia, Czechs and the Netherlands have the biggest gripes in the seeding process.
YESSSSS... saudi and usa... the only game ive ever been to was a friendly against the both in riyadh. greatest game ever. saudi whooped 3-1 atleast i wont have to see them gettin beat 8-0 this time.
Yeah, I have the same feeling, and I have an even worse onethat we're going to be grouped with Brazil. Oh well, prove to everyone how good we our, right? I think being grouped with the Asian teams is another huge disadvantage to not getting the one seed, we could really have used a game against the likes of Iran or Saudi Arabia.
Here's a pretty good article detailing the different draw possibilites for the US. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=351428&root=worldcup&cc=5901
LOLzing... they had me at "Mexico undeserving of a seed". Oops. Someone please research for me MEXICO's World Cup total wins, points, advancements past the 1st round, etc., against the United States and make a case. I will shut up AGAIN. Man, it still doesn't mean sh*t. I am not enjoying this whining. You shouldn't care who is the TOP SEED. If lucky, the U.S. will play a poor country like Ivory Coast or Czech Republic... top seeds don't mean sh*t.
Being seeded means that you're less likely to be in a tough group. As it stands we could end up playing Brazil, The Netherlands, and Paraguay in the group stage. If we were seeded then Brazil would be switched with an Asian team, that makes a huge difference. Basically the worst case scenerio isn't nearly as bad if you're seeded. And I doubt anybody would complain if The Netherlands would have been seeded and not us, but since we've proven that we're better than Mexico it's pretty dumb for them to be ranked ahead of us.
What are you talking about? The Czech Republic is a great team, easily one of the top five European squads, and Ivory Coast has alot of class players as well. Its a big deal that we didn't get a number one seed because now not only will we be grouped with a world power, we also won't be able to play one of the weaker Asian squads, one of which will be grouped with Mexico.
Actually, if we get grouped with Brazil, we couldn't be grouped with another South American team (Paraguay). We would instead he grouped with one of the African nations.
