By The Roar -
December 5th 2009 @ 3:03am
Loading ...2010 World Cup draw: live blog
The Australian Socceroos during a training session in Brisbane, Monday, Oct. 13, 2008, ahead of their World Cup qualifier match against Qatar on Wednesday. AAP Image/Dave Hunt
The crucial 2010 FIFA World Cup draw is upon us, so join The Roar’s live blog on Saturday morning from 3:45am (AEDT) as we discover who the Socceroos will face in the group stage in South Africa.
Some intriguing possibilities loom for the Socceroos with the giants of world football in pot one, dangerous African and South American opponents in pot three and European luminaries in pot four.
The official pots for the 2010 FIFA World Cup draw:
Pot 1 (seeds)
South Africa, Germany, Brazil, Italy, Spain, England, Argentina, Holland.Pot 2 (Asia, Oceania and North/Central America)
Australia, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, New Zealand, USA, Mexico, Honduras.Pot 3 (Africa and South America)
Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay.Pot 4 (Europe)
France, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland, Greece, Serbia, Denmark, Slovakia.
Who will the Socceroos be grouped with?
Will they avoid the heavyweights in pot one and strike gold by being selected with South Africa?
Does a grudge match against the likes of Italy and Uruguay await?
Which countries will be lumped together in the ‘group of death’?
Discuss the draw as it happens by joining fellow Roarers and our expert football columnists, leave comments and interact in real time here from Saturday at 3.45am onwards.
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(101)
Marshall said | December 4th 2009 @ 11:07am | Report comment
Got my fingers crossed we pull South Africa
AndyRoo said | December 4th 2009 @ 11:34am | Report comment
I just thought of one negative about drawing South Africa…. those games will surely be the ones plagued by those horn things the most.
Redb said | December 4th 2009 @ 11:54am | Report comment
England. That would be huge.
Gibbo said | December 4th 2009 @ 11:58am | Report comment
how long does this all go for? like should i wake up at 3.45, or is there going to be ‘build up’ until 4.30?
AndyRoo said | December 4th 2009 @ 12:21pm | Report comment
Good question Gibbo.
Will we have to sit through local dances and such?
Edit: SBS have program space of 2hrs and 10mins for the event
AndyRoo said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:48am | Report comment
Sure enough I just turned it on and what do i see …local dancers
Pippinu said | December 4th 2009 @ 12:28pm | Report comment
…I recommend an extra hour of sleep.
AndyRoo said | December 4th 2009 @ 12:32pm | Report comment
I personally noted the time of the recap in daylight hours….I just didn’t want to admit to not being hard core on a sports blog.
Gibbo said | December 4th 2009 @ 1:05pm | Report comment
work chrissie party tonight. i think i’m kidding myself either way!!
The Bear said | December 4th 2009 @ 1:56pm | Report comment
Will get my two cents in now – as busy tomorrow. Group A or B please.
tifosi said | December 4th 2009 @ 2:40pm | Report comment
Cant wait for the draw !!!
Just read this from yahoo. Aussie fans have bought over 27,000 tix !!
http://au.sports.yahoo.com/football/news/article/-/6548893/jordaan-pays-tribute-socceroos-fans
Football_Wunderkind said | December 4th 2009 @ 5:46pm | Report comment
To all people saying that Sth Africa, Swiss and Algeria will be the dream group. I’m sure South Africa can’t be drawn with any other African team. When it’s time (for the Sth African group aka Group A) to draw from Pot 3 (the African-Paraguay/Chile/Uruguay pot) there will be a separate bowl with the 3 Sth American teams in it. They’ll pull out 1of Para/Chile/Uru from that bowl and still keep the African and South American sides in separate pot 3’s. So when it comes time to draw from pot 3 for the Brazil group… they will pull from the African side so that Brazil don’t face a Sth American team. The whole MO from FIFA is to keep all the regions apart where possible. Obviously European teams will be grouped together in some way shape or form. Still on “Pot 3″… when it come times to draw a team from Pot 3 for say the England group.. they will do a ’side draw’ to decide if that Pot 3 team comes from ‘Pot 3 Africa’ or ‘Pot 3 Sth America’… i am pretty sure this is how it will be done. They did something similar last 2006 draw with Serbia & Montenegro but on a smaller scale.
JP said | December 4th 2009 @ 6:18pm | Report comment
From the Fifa website: To ensure geographic separation…the first two African teams drawn from Pot 3 will be placed into the groups with Brazil and Argentina. The first South American team drawn from Pot 3 will be placed into Group A with South Africa
Pippinu said | December 4th 2009 @ 6:51pm | Report comment
YOu’re right of course – but you keep reading from a wide range of souces that the dream group for Australia will include Sth Africa and Algeria in it!! (incl some newspaper articles)
Tony Tannous said | December 4th 2009 @ 10:17pm | Report comment
Like everyone, the anticipation has been killing me ahead of the draw, so I did my own crystal ball gazing a couple of days ago and here’s what I came up with.
To start, I tried to rank each pot in order of strength, from toughest to weakest (if there is such a thing at this level), looking into the respective styles and strengths of the 32 teams.
The idea was to work out who the Socceroos would and wouldn’t prefer to draw.
So here they are;
Pot 1; Spain (Euro champs, quality everywhere), Brazil (tend to unite and lift for the big occasions), England (this time they have Capello, and I sense better mentality), Germany (mentally tough), Italy (Lippi is back), Argentina (Messi is god, but Maradona as manager??), Holland (Weak qualification group? We’ve competed well against them recently), South Africa (played some lovely stuff in Confed Cup, and now they have Perreria, not as bad as many think and would trouble us with their ability to keep the ball. Just ask NZ, http://www.theroar.com.au/2009/06/20/a-sing-along-an-average-nz-and-the-boys-are-in-the-mood/)
Pot 2; USA (physical and powerful, hard to match up against), Mexico (they’re back, play lovely stuff, and will appreciate altitude), Australia (we’re organised, tough to break down and mentally tough), Japan (fast, neat football, but lack the mental toughness and ruthlessness), South Korea (solid, sound defence), Honduras (quick, good on the counter), North Korea (extremely hard to break down, park the bus stuff), NZ (better than they showed at Confed Cup with Nelsen in the team. Will wait for set pieces, wont be pretty).
Pot 3; Ivory Coast (chock full of quality, both technical and powerful), Chile (playing some fantasy stuff apparently, great technically, but do concede), Ghana (quality midfield), Cameroon (good mix of young and old, quality footballers), Paraguay (traditionally very solid defensively, counter attackers, best at home, lack genuine match breakers, good match-up for Australia), Uruguay (nothing spectacular, physical, rely on Forlan), Nigeria (strong and quick), Algeria (some pace and plenty of quality technique – no soft touch)
Pot 4; Portugal (poor in qualifying and can melt mentally, but still have quality), France (rubbish coach but enough quality), Serbia (second time around, look a dark horse), Denmark (traditionally counter attackers, look solid defensively), Greece (master tactician, hard to break down), Slovenia (beat Slovakia twice, and Russia), Slovakia (quality midfielders in Wiess and Hamsik, but first time here, will they do a Serbia from four years ago?), Switzerland (have Hitzfeld but traditionally struggle for goals at this level, a bit one-paced in midfield and can get caught at the back, I’d have them in a second)
After all that, and looking at all the options, in my opinion the teams we want to avoid are the highly technical teams, blessed with skill and pace. They would have the ability to play through us, and based on our lack of pace at the back, get in behind us.
For example, from Pot 3 I sense we’d prefer a Paraguay or Uruguay sooner than facing an Ivory Coast, Ghana or Cameroon.
If we are fortunate enough to get the hosts from Pot 1, then we can’t get Ivory Coast, Ghana or Cameroon, and that would be a blessing. The three Africans from Pot 3 would be a big threat.
However, if we were to not draw South Africa (and lets face it, that’s the most likely scenario – a 7 in 8 chance) but draw either Brazil or Argentina, then we can’t play Paraguay or Uruguay (or Chile). Then there is potential to draw one of the above three strong Africans, or Nigeria or Algeria. The later would be the preference.
If we were to get a South American from Pot1 and African from Pot 3, it would have to be Argentina (because of Maradona) and Algeria, although the later is no push-over (they beat Egypt, and look what they did to the world champs at Confed Cup)
In that sense, it may be better for us to have two Europeans, one of the seeds and obviously one from Pot 4.
Why? We may match up better against the Europeans, our players are more in tune with the style. Our players and the nation would be buzzing for England, but under Capello they are a quality side. But mentally, when the pressure is on, history weighs them down. It would be a great match-up.
Italy and Germany are traditionally strong mentally. Maybe Holland is a better match up for us.
From Pot 4, there shouldn’t be much in a game with any of these nations, they all look tight, but if I was to have one, it would be Switzerland, because they traditionally bring nothing to these tournaments (not a great nation mentally), followed perhaps by Slovakia, because it’s there first time (dangerous because they’ll be there to party, just like us 4 years ago).
So, here, I believe, are our best case scenarios;
South Africa, Australia, Paraguay/Uruguay, Switzerland
or
Holland/England, Australia, Paraguay/Uruguay/Algeria, Switzerland
If we draw one of the South Americans from pot one, then there’s a good chance we’ll have one of the big Africans from Pot 3. Then we’re in danger of being in a group of death. Hope not.
Looking forward to more, see you in the morning.
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:08am | Report comment
Welcome to The Roar’s live coverage of the draw. One piece of news that would excite the footballers among you is the launch of the 2010 world cup ball, the Jabulani from Adidas;
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1143498.html#adidass+jabulani+introduced+world
SBS had an exhibtion of balls dating back to the Tango of 1974. Markl Milligan had a chance to touch the latest ball, and seemed a littel non-plused.
While I was in Germany, I managed to start a ciollection of replica ball puzzles, dating back to the Tango, so now I’ve got to find a way of getting my hands on a jabulani puzzle, and keep the collection going. Anyone got a collection of actual world cup balls?
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:13am | Report comment
There has been much talk of the first world cup in Africa, and it’s importance in leaving a legacy for the continent.
Meanwhile, the Italians have handed to trophy they won in Germany back to Fifa, confident they can get it back.
Even Kevin Rudd gets a mention as Sepp Blatter starts to take control of proceedings, as he does.
Marshall said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:17am | Report comment
FIFA loves this chessy stuff.
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:21am | Report comment
A great little trip down memory lane, with a South African elder chronologically tracking the history of the world cup through a story-tell, some great memories and names, including the great Portugese striker Eusebio, who is on-hand in South Africa.
Pippinu said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:47am | Report comment
Got to see Socrates and Tardelli in 1982, but what about Zico and Eder???!!!!
Pippinu said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:48am | Report comment
….and Schumacher’s shirt front!!??
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:24am | Report comment
‘FIFA loves this chessy stuff’- indeed it does Marshall – It loves to tell everyone how grand it’s reach is and how much good it brings to the world.
Only 20 or so minutes till the real stuff.
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:27am | Report comment
Craig Foster was analysing the groups at the start of the coverage and appears to agree with much of my preview above . The teams he appeared to nominate for the Socceroos were England from Pot 1, Paraguay from Pot 3 and Greece from Pot 4. I’d take that.
Marshall said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:28am | Report comment
Hello Charlize
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:30am | Report comment
Ah ‘74, no mention of Rale’s Socceroos?
Adrian Musolino said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:36am | Report comment
Hey everyone!
It seems in the rehearsal Australia pulled – England, Nigeria and France. Ouch!
Let’s hope the real thing is more kind.
Marshall said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:40am | Report comment
The ball looks good….. Charlize too.
Pippinu said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:44am | Report comment
I thought I recognised her face!!
tifosi said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:42am | Report comment
How long is this !!! Get to the draw already.
Pippinu said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:43am | Report comment
Ok – I”m on – good show so far!
Pippinu said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:44am | Report comment
This is what they mean about the fat lady!!
Adrian Musolino said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:46am | Report comment
Here we go!
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:47am | Report comment
Lucky man the general sec
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:50am | Report comment
Charlize or Heidi?
Who would do Australia 2022?
Pippinu said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:52am | Report comment
Hannah Montana
Pippinu said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:50am | Report comment
Ony 2,300 goals from 853 matches
Marshall said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:57am | Report comment
Would we have Warnie pulling the balls at our draw?
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 3:58am | Report comment
This is a handy tool from the Fifa site. Basically, the closer we are the group A, the earlier we play. What price A2 and the opening game?
http://www.fifa.com/live/competitions/worldcup/finaldraw/index.html
Here they come..
Hale the great one – what a legend. Where’s Bruce?
Matthew Booooooooooooooooooooooooth – they love him
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:01am | Report comment
Here we go, pot 2 action
Adrian Musolino said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:01am | Report comment
Here we go – pot 2. Good luck Socceroo – we missed SA.
AndyRoo said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:02am | Report comment
We missed out on South Africa
Pippinu said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:02am | Report comment
We’re not with Sth Africa
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:02am | Report comment
Ah well, no SA,
Adrian Musolino said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:02am | Report comment
Mexico get the golden ticket.
Adrian Musolino said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:03am | Report comment
We miss out on England too!
Pippinu said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:04am | Report comment
No England either
tifosi said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:04am | Report comment
USA v Becks. Marketing Gold mine !!!
Adrian Musolino said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:04am | Report comment
We got Germany!
Colin N said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:05am | Report comment
That should be a good match.
Colin N said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:04am | Report comment
Oooooh USA with England.
Pippinu said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:04am | Report comment
We got Germany – all we nee now is Chile!!
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:05am | Report comment
No Argentina, no England, tough start for England.
74 all over for us – what posi?
Adrian Musolino said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:05am | Report comment
First game too.
AndyRoo said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:05am | Report comment
Shame it was the first game of the group, would have prefered the last when they might not need to win.
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:06am | Report comment
June 13 Durban, tough start, but they’re European, not the worse option, we match up well
Adrian Musolino said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:06am | Report comment
All Whites draw Italy
Pippinu said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:06am | Report comment
Italy gets NZ – but they have a poor record against minnows!!
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:07am | Report comment
Happy days for Italy
Colin N said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:07am | Report comment
Brazil and Spain got lucky, so far.
Colin N said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:09am | Report comment
And Italy of course.
Adrian Musolino said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:09am | Report comment
So far:
Group G: Brazil, North Korea
Group F: Italy, New Zealand
Group E: Netherlands, Japan
Group D: Germany, Australia
Group C: England, United States
Group B: Argentina, South Korea, Nigeria
Group A: South Africa, Mexico
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:09am | Report comment
The toughest group, and it’s early days still, looks C, Engl/USA, followed by ours and Holland/Japan.
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:10am | Report comment
Brazil v Ivory Coast – cant wait, what a game
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:11am | Report comment
Paraguay pls
Adrian Musolino said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:11am | Report comment
Australia get Ghana
Colin N said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:12am | Report comment
Ghana – Australia may well be screwed.
tifosi said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:12am | Report comment
australia is in a group of death
AndyRoo said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:13am | Report comment
Ghana, will make the African nations Cup a little bit more interesting from the Australian perspective
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:13am | Report comment
Ghana – tough – Essien, Appiah, Muntari, excellent midfield
AndyRoo said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:14am | Report comment
Group h looking very Latin
Adrian Musolino said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:15am | Report comment
We avoid France!
Pippinu said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:15am | Report comment
Avoided France – first bit of good news
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:15am | Report comment
A – tough for the host to get past Mexixco and France
tifosi said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:16am | Report comment
Group b is like USA 94 !!
Colin N said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:16am | Report comment
Good group for England.
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:16am | Report comment
5-0 Maradona scores against greece – symmetry?
AndyRoo said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:17am | Report comment
Good Draw for England
Adrian Musolino said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:17am | Report comment
Serbia completes the Socceroos group -
Socceroos
Germany
Ghana
Serbia
tifosi said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:17am | Report comment
tough group 4 aussies
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:19am | Report comment
Tough group – three quality sides. We’ve draw high up in the ranking for all three groups in my opinion. Not the toughest team, but nowhere near the weakest. Positives? Two European, and we should match up ok there.
Adrian Musolino said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:19am | Report comment
Portugal V Brazil!
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:19am | Report comment
G for Group of Death?
AndyRoo said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:21am | Report comment
3 possible top 4 teams in the one group. If there is a group of death that is the one.
Colin N said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:19am | Report comment
Brazil, Portugal and Ivoy Coast – looking forward to that!
AndyRoo said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:20am | Report comment
Feels tough but really, not that much tougher than getting Paraguay. If we play well we can make it through, can’t ask for more than that.
AndyRoo said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:33am | Report comment
Actually I got Serbia’s form mixed up with Slovenia’s or Slovakias.
Looks a very tough group for Australia.
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:22am | Report comment
Italy, England,fairly comfy
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:23am | Report comment
B, D, E, G – the toughest, and we’re among them
Chile v Spain – some nice football awaits
Adrian Musolino said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:23am | Report comment
Final groups -
Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece
Group C: England, United States, Algeria, Slovenia
Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana
Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon
Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia
Group G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal
Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile
tifosi said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:26am | Report comment
My take
Italy got blessed
france being in group A makes the draw balanced.
No real Group of Death but some tough groups.
USA v ENGLAND opening game in Group C . FIFA are loving that.
Australia are going to find it hard in Group D.
Robbos said | December 5th 2009 @ 7:15am | Report comment
I think you could call Group G the group of Death with Portugal, Brazil & Ivory Coast in it.
Tony Tannous said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:29am | Report comment
A is also very tough – hard to see the hosts existing that, which would be a shame. They’d need to at least beat uruguay and get something against Mexico and maybe France
Pippinu said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:30am | Report comment
Yes G looking like the group of Death – the others are quite balanced, although Italy probably ended up with the very best group as a seeded team.
H ends up being our Spanish colonial group.
With Australia’s group – you’d conclude it’s a tougher group than four years ago – Ghana replaces Japan – on their own continent, and a quality team – we will be hoping that both Germany and Serbia fail to acclimatise coming out of a European summer.
dasilva said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:31am | Report comment
Germany, Ghana, Australia, Serbia
A tough group but not impossible for Australia to qualify.
The last full strength match between Australia and Ghana was an evenly match performance with Australia drawing 1-1 (Australia were controlling the match before Grella was injured and substituted and they equalised). There was also the 1-0 win over Ghana at home in a 2nd string XI. This is a must win match and since Australia has a reasonable record against them, It’s not impossible to hope for a reasonable result against them.
Serbia and Germany are both teams hard teams but it could have been worst and we avoided the killers in Spain, Brazil for the seeds and France and Portugal for the European.
tifosi said | December 5th 2009 @ 4:38am | Report comment
Australia could face England in round of 16 though!!
Robi said | December 5th 2009 @ 5:23am | Report comment
Keep on dreaming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
albe said | December 5th 2009 @ 6:09am | Report comment
happy we’re playing such a tough group… Germany especially. I’d have been disappointed in something like groups F or C. If we’re to improve, we need to be challenged at these tournaments.
There’ll all the sort of team we struggle to play against. But then if we get a point first up against Germany, there’s still a chance to get to the final 16 again. Either way, we’ll be progressing as a football nation whether we get past the group or not.
pothale said | December 5th 2009 @ 6:31am | Report comment
First places in groups
France, Argies, England, Germany, Holland, Italy, Brazil, Spain
Second places more difficult to call.
Group A – Mexico,
Group B – South Korea? Very difficult to call – any one of the three could manage it.
Group C – USA
Group D – Serbia/Ghana tough-out
Group E – Denmark/Cameroon tough-out
Group F – Slovakia
Group G – Portugal
Group H – Swiss – boring
Robbos said | December 5th 2009 @ 7:25am | Report comment
A tough group for the Aussies, but it could have been tougher, we are playing teams with similar style to our own, tough physical teams, maybe all with more technique. But we don’t have the skillful latin sides to contend with, which I think we tend to struggle against, especially with our aging side with it’s lack of pace. If we can sneak 2nd & England wins their group, we face another physical side in the next round. Interesting, though we have no Guus this time & I feel not as strong a side as in 06, I think as shown in the qualifiers, the Socceroos are a tough, experienced side, though slighly boring, are able to get results.
I’m alot more confident as the teams in our group are not going to play us off the park, ala a Brazil, Spain, Italy & even France & Portugal on their good days.
Michael C said | December 7th 2009 @ 5:13am | Report comment
europe may be the supposed home of style and stylish design……well, ikea and lego,……..but, sheesh, the FIFA WC draw was a fine example of all the lack of style that normally is constrained to Eurovision.
The old Tattslotto draw on a Saturday night had more style,
and at the end of it all, Denmark got screwed over,
so, not happy Jan. (pronounce as you please!!).
AndyRoo said | December 7th 2009 @ 8:56am | Report comment
It was in South Africa…. I thought it was ok but then I timed my viewing to miss the first hour.