The Draw

Heidi Klum with the new World Cup ball
picture taken from fifaworldcup.com

With the qualifiers done and the draw completed in Leipzig, we can look forward to a cracker of a world cup in Germany next summer. Germany and Costa Rica kick off to start the cup finals in exactly 6 months.

The Group of Death this time around is likely to be Group C with Argentina, Netherlands, Ivory Coast (who topped the African table) and Serbia & Montenegro. Italy have it tough too... with Ghana (lots of pace), Czech Republic (always a challenge) and the US (who missed out on a seeding only because Germany, ranked below them, are the hosts). I would love to see the US go far - I love this team they have... and it would do wonders for the game here. Also, in the absence of India in the finals, it is the closest I have to a home team.

Brazil, France, Germany, Mexico and Portugal should have it easy. England, Paraguay and Sweden in the same group can make it a scrappy affair. I would like to think Spain have it easy - with Tunisia and Ukraine providing some competition (what'd they think? It's the finals!), but not enough to knock them out. However, having seen their dismal performances in earlier campaigns, nothing would surprise me.

There it is. 6 months to go. Barring extenuating circumstances, I plan to be there to watch a game or two in person. Let the games begin!