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This Saturday sees the 2014 FIFA World Cup group draw held in the Brazilian city of Bahia, and collective breaths are being held as we wait to see who the Socceroos will come up against.
Some people will tell you that it doesn’t matter who Australia draw because we will always want to face the best. While this may be a true and noble viewpoint, part of me wishes Australia to have some luck on a number of fronts when the World Cup draw is completed.
Not only does it matter who we face, but it also matters which position we are drawn in.
I was initially excited at the prospect of a World Cup based in South America, because the time zone is more friendly for Australian TV times. The prime time matches for the Copa Libertadores and World Cup Qualifier matches would kick off between 8-10am Western Australian time.
These times for a World Cup would be perfect for the whole of Australia to enjoy a breakfast World Cup match and then trot off to work.
How naive I was. To my dismay, I found through research that the kick-off times are actually set for the standard Europe-friendly TV times.
This means the standard 2am-4am kick off times for a lot of the matches. For the knockout stages, it is definitely going to be the status quo.
There are a few group slots, however, that would be a dream slot for an Australian viewer.
So for all you Socceroos fans, here is the dream draw for Australia, including group position and opponents.
The magical group position is Group F and position 2.
The kick-off times for the team in that position will be:
* 16 June, 6am (WA) / 8am (EST)
* 22 June, 6am (WA) / 8am (EST)
* 26 June, Midnight (WA) / 2am (EST)
Now for the group opponents, and while it hasn’t been decided how the pots will be arranged, there is some educated guestimation which seems to have the pots work out as follows.
Pot 1: Brazil, Germany, Spain, Columbia, Uruguay, Belgium, Switzerland, Argentina.
Pot 2: Australia, Korea, Japan, Iran, Mexico, USA, Costa Rica, Honduras.
Pot 3: Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Algeria, Chile, Ecuador, France.
Pot 4: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Croatia, Russia, Holland, Italy, Portugal, England.
Everyone agrees that drawing Switzerland will be ideal, though these people should remember that Switzerland beat Spain in 2010 and their top club, Basel, has just beaten Chelsea home and away.
That said, Switzerland looks the least formidable out of the top seeds.
From Pot 3, I am hoping to draw Algeria and from Pot 4, I would like to see Bosnia and Herzegovina drawn.
That would leave a group consisting of:
Switzerland
Australia
Algeria
Bosnia and Herzegovina
The group Australia wants to avoid would look like:
Brazil
Australia
France
Holland
If we are drawn with Brazil, then that means horrific TV times for Australia.
All you Australian fans that want to see our boys play more than there times in Brazil, start crossing your fingers for Switzerland, Algeria and Bosnia to appear out of those tiny footballs.
For the fans that like sleep, start hoping our group position is F2.
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