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Archive for December 2013

Socceroos drawn in tough group

The Socceroos were drawn in a tough group that includes the two finalists from the 2010 FIFA World Cup in the 2014 World Cup draw.

The Socceroos were drawn in Group B which also has Spain, Netherlands and Chile.

Spain are the defending champions whilst the Netherlands were the runners up from the previous tournament.

Also both Spain and the Netherlands qualified for the finals without losing a single match.

' Chile qualified third in the South American qualifiers only four points behind leaders Argentina. Also Chile is playing on its continent.

So it will be a mountain to climb for the Socceroos in Group B.

The rest of the World Cup draw is as follows:

Group A: Brazil, Croatia, Mexico, Cameroon.

Group B: Spain, Netherlands, Chile, Australia.

Group C: Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast, Japan.

Group D: Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy.

Group E : Switzerland, Ecuador, France, Honduras.

Group F: Argentina, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Iran, Nigeria.

Group G: Germany, Portugal, Ghana, USA.

Group H: Belgium, Algeria, Russia, South Korea.

Category: Football | Comments : 0

All set for World Cup draw

The 2014 FIFA World Cup draw will take place today and all the 32 teams are waiting to see which group they will find themselves in at the tournament.

The draw will be conducted today in Costa do Sauipe and it will make or break the World Cup for some teams.

I think the way the seeding has come up for the 2014 edition of the World Cup will throw some interesting groups and some of them could be very difficult.

The eight seeded teams are Brazil, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Belgium, Uruguay and Switzerland and these teams will be in pot 1.

It’s interesting to see that European powerhouses Italy and the Netherlands are not seeded and so they will be in the unseeded European pot. These are two teams which reached the final in 2006 and 2010 but find themselves unseeded because they were not in top seven when the seeding cut was made.

So it’s quite possible to have one group with Brazil, Ivory Coast, Netherlands and Japan. That would be a very tough group and I hope that doesn't happen. You can replace Netherlands with Italy and it will be a tough group.

The Socceroos are in pot 3 and they are guaranteed to have one unseeded European team and either an African or unseeded South American team. However, if they are in a group with a seeded South American team then they will have an African team in the group just like 2010 in South Africa.

I am hoping that the draw will throw some interesting groups.

Category: General | Comments : 0

Mandela dies

Former South African president Nelson Mandela has died today at his home in Johannesburg.

Mandela was 95. He became reverred around when he chose to forgive the former apartheid rulers and try and build a new South Africa.

Mandela was real leader who cared for his people something that you don't normally see from the African leaders.

He also served just one term and left the limelight and this is on a continent where some leaders who do everything to make sure that they stay in power for as long as possible.

I think the whole world will mourn Mandela as a genuine leader who put country before self and chose not to dwell on the past but look forward to the future.

I join the rest of the world in mourning one of Africa's greatest statesman and I hope current and future leaders on the African leader will take a leaf from his book.

Category: Africa | Comments : 0