FIFA 2010 World Cup
Seedings have been announced for the upcoming World Cup draw on Friday December 4th, 2009. The 32 teams that will be competing in South Africa next year, have been split into four pots, pot one being the eight top seeded teams. Two surprises in the top eight are the absence of France and Portugal, who many had predicted to be named in the elite group.
Pot 1, comprises of, South Africa (host nation), Argentina, Brazil, England, Germany, Holland, Italy, and Spain.
The gala event to determine who will face who in the group stages, will be held at the Cape Town International Convention Center at 5pm GMT, and will have a host of celebrities, including, England international David Beckham, award winning actress Charlize Theron, Carol Manana, South Africa’s “First Lady of Sport”, Ethiopian Olympic gold medalist Haile Gebrselassie, South African cricketer Makhaya Ntini, Springbok Rugby World Cup captain John Smit, and South African footballer, Matthew Booth.
Other guests will also include several ex World Cup players, including Franz Beckenbauer, Michel Platini, Eusebio and Roger Milla. South African president Jacob Zuma will also be amongst the star studied guest list and Nelson Mandela will be presented to the audience of 2,000 via video message.
Theron will be the guest presenter and will be assisting FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke with the drawing. Most of the 32 coaches of the qualified teams are expected to be present. However, Diego Maradona will not be at the proceedings. Maradona is currently serving a 2 month ban from all soccer activities after his recent outburst after Argentina qualified for South Africa.
The draw will be televised globally to over 200 countries and is expected to have an audience of over 200 million. The show will also include international acts from the world of music, and films of past World Cup moments and history.
When all is said and done, will we be left with eight groups of four. The top two teams in each group will then progress into the knockout round of 16. No group will consist of more than one country from the same federation, except for Europe where no more than two European teams will be drawn in the same group.
Draw will be broadcast live on FSC starting at 11am EST
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