2006 FIFA World Cup Germany

[tamu33]

Hedi Klum will be co-hosting the WC draw on Friday Dec. 9th at 2pm. (Central) on ESPN2

The basic rule of the draw is that no two teams from one continent can be placed in the same group. However, there is an exception to this rule for European teams as, with 14 nations through, there must be two UEFA teams in six groups. This is the reason Serbia & Montenegro have been placed into a seperate group. By the nature of the draw, Serbia will be placed in a group with either Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.

DRAW POTS:

Pot One: Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico and Spain

Pot Two: Australia, Angola, Ghana, Ivory Coast, 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, United States

Special pot: Serbia & Montenegro

HOW THE DRAW WILL WORK:

• The eight seeded teams will be drawn into eight different groups. Germany have already been allocated Group A and Brazil Group F.

• The eight unseeded European sides, in pot three, will be drawn.

• The lowest-ranked European side, Serbia and Montenegro, will be allocated to one of the groups containing either Brazil, Argentina or Mexico to ensure there is no more than two European sides in any group.

• The pot containing the five African countries, Australia and the two remaining South American sides, pot two, will be drawn.

• The pot containing the four Asian countries, the USA, Costa Rica and Trinidad, pot four, will be drawn.

FIFA said the World Cup winner will earn $18.75 million. Each team will be guaranteed at least $1.5 million per group game, assuring each team a minimum of at least $4.5 million.

[jessexy]

The US could be in real trouble here. last WC, they got to face a struggling Portugal, mediocre Poland, and the host (read:home-field advantage) South Korea that ended up making the semis.

but this year could be a nightmare draw for the US. they could end up with any of the heavyweights and a strong second-tier Euro team. then play a second tier South American team or a unpredictable African team.

I would hate to see them in a pool like this:

Brazil Argentina France
Ghana Ivory Coast Australia
Netherlands Portugal Czech Republic

For the record, i was close on these horror groups for the US. They were drawn into a group with Ghana and Czech. Argentina and Ivory Coast were together with Holland. and Brazil and Australia will face each other. Bad draw for the USA.

now for my picks

A. 1 Germany 2. Poland with a small fight from Costa Rica, but not much.

B. 1. England 2. Sweden T&T will be the favorite underdogs

C. 1. Netherlands 2. Argentina The Serbs wont even score a goal. game 3 (ARG v. HOL) will be a stinker cuz theyll both be qualified already. the other game 3 (IVC v. SER) will be fun as the both bow out.

D. 1. Mexico 2. Portugal

E. 1. Italy 2. United States US takes 3 points from Ghana and the Czechs, but lose to Italy after a good fight as they are the 2nd team from this group. Bruce is considered a God after this WC

F. 1. Brazil 2. Australia Aussies slide through on points

G 1. France 2. Switzerland These teams qualified together in the same group in Europe and are regional rivals. Togo and Korea dont have enough. This is the most open group of all, though.

H. 1 Spain 2. Ukraine Shevchenko from Ukraine can beat S. Arabia and Tunisia by himself. he'll have too.

Second Round
Germany v. Sweden- Home team advantage
Holland v. Portugal- Holland goes through
England v. Poland- England repays the Poles from last year in Qualifying
Mexico v. Argentina- Mexico has a chance, but Argentina knows Europe
Italy v. Australia-Depends on Italian team focus, but this doesnt look tough
France v. Ukraine- Who knows? France may be too tired, but I'm picking them
Brazil v. United States-USA tries to look good against better team. Fight hard. This is a successful WC for USA, considering the horrible draw
Spain v. Switzerland-Spanish beat Swiss, but are challenged

Quarterfinals
Germany v. Holland- Holland has just as many fans at game cuz they are next door, which takes away home field. Holland wins on PKs
Italy v. France- France is too old and tired. Italy is thru.
England v. Argentina- England cannot handle this pressure. Sven is fired!
Brazil v. Spain- Brazil. Enough said.

Semifinals
Holland v. Italy- Holland comes out on top
Argentina v. Brazil-Epic Battle, looks like best game of Century. Brazil wins cuz Dida saves the day. Thank the Virgin Mary they finally have a good keeper after winning 5 with mediocre ones.

Final
Holland v. Brazil- 6 Time World Champions. good game cuz of the crazy Holland fans battle the fun Brazilian fans in the stands too. Who said Green and Orange dont mix.

[tamu33]

Jessy

My dad and I are heading to Germany for Pool play, pm if you want something. We are going to see Iran and the US, so we don't know which cities we are going to yet.

[Brent Burns]

Jessy

My dad and I are heading to Germany for Pool play, pm if you want something. We are going to see Iran and the US, so we don't know which cities we are going to yet.

I am sure you and your dad will enjoy driving on the Autobahn and will get a chuckle seeing the exit signs saying "Ausfuhrt." (I am not sure exactly of the spelling, but my sister and I had to laugh at that word when we were driving from the Netherlands through the heart of Germany to Switzerland). That was in the mid 1970s. If you do have time, you would want to check out the Mad King's Castle in the Bavarian country (deep south of Germany). That castle was a model for Disneyland's castle.

One of the German cities that I recalled going through was a very long name- Moengladbach. Something like that.

[Brent Burns]

I read that Bruce Arena commented that he will start making plans once he knows who would be playing US; he added that he would not want to be in the group playing against the host. That was exactly what jessexy said recently about US playing against South Korea in 2002.

Pele said that he could see the possibility of Germany and Brazil ending up in the championship game again.

At the draw today, people will see Pele, Johann Cruff and Heidi Klum (tamu33 was the first to say that Heidi will be there). I guess I will be checking out Yahoo! Sports this afternoon to find out about the results of the draw.

[jessexy]

Jessy
One of the German cities that I recalled going through was a very long name- Moengladbach. Something like that.

its Moenchengladbach. they have a team in the top German league and Kasey Keller (US goalkeeper) is the current starting keeper for them.

[Brent Burns]

Jessy
One of the German cities that I recalled going through was a very long name- Moengladbach. Something like that.

its Moenchengladbach. they have a team in the top German league and Kasey Keller (US goalkeeper) is the current starting keeper for them.

I said that, not tamu33. However, thanks for the correction. That was why I had to write that it had a very long name.

[ACE]

Italy, Ghana, US and Czech

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/s ... index.html

[shrekjr]

Italy, Ghana, US and Czech

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/s ... index.html

Should be a competitive group, the US has a chance here.

[FLAK]

Well, The U.S. road could be worse, but having to go through Italy and the Czech Republic wont be easy. Any group we ended up in wouldve been difficult though. One group in particular with the Netherlands, Ivory Coast, Argentina, and Serbia will definately be a good one, as well as group B with England, Sweden (These two countries somehow always end up together in every competition), Paraguay, and Trinidad. I think the U.S. can pull it off as long as Italy doesnt return to their normal form, the Czechs are a different story though. Oh and Brazils group is wide open besides the Brazilians; Croatia, Japan, Aussi Aussi Aussi Oy Oy Oy. This is gonna be a good World Cup this year.

[Sonny]

Italy, Ghana, US and Czech

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/s ... index.html

Should be a competitive group, the US has a chance here.

From what little I know about International soccer, groups A, C, & G look the toughest. I think the US should advance in their group.

[Brent Burns]

As fast as I could write down the info and at the same time I clicked on "Replay" to double-check the info after watching the Live Draw at Yahoo! Sports:

Group A: Germany, Costa Rica, Poland, Ecuador

Group B: England, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden

Group C: Argentina, Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivorie), Serbia and Montengro, the Netherlands

Group D: Mexico, Iran, Angola, Portugal

Group E: Italy, Ghana, United States, Czech Republic

Group F: Brazil, Croatia, Australia, Japan

Group G: France, Switzerland, Korea Republic, Togo

Group H: Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia


Now, Bruce Arena is going to start planning his team to play against other three teams in Group E. U.S. will be listed as E3.

Here's the match schedules for each group:

http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/schedule.html

[bste_lax]

Watched the thing on TV....and I thought the NCAA Selection Show was long and drawn out.....

[Thriller]

1990 world cup

Czech Rep. 5 Us 1
Italy 1 Us 0

[Sonny]

1990 world cup

Czech Rep. 5 Us 1
Italy 1 Us 0

Thank god it's the 2006 World Cup.