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The World Cup 2010 Draw : The English Perspective (part one)

Published by Ian John on December 5, 2009

A minute by minute summary of last nights World Cup 2010 draw from an entirely English perspective…

5.25pm : Flipped onto the BBC Coverage which consisted of Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, John Motson and Mark Lawrenson in the studio with Jonathan Pearce in South Africa. Lawrenson thinks England have a good chance to go far in the tournament as we are “handy up front”. Alan Shearer makes his usual obligatory obvious remarks with the added charisma of a car crash. Nice to see Motty out of mothballs for the draw, but what is Gary Lineker doing with that awful mini-beard that he has going on? All three pundits agree that Capello gives England an added dimension. Motson believes he is the nearest England have had as a manager to the great Sir Alf Ramsey. High praise indeed.

5.27pm : Obligatory video of Euro 1990. Gazza’s wizardry, Platt’s volley against Belgium, Gazza’s booking and tears and the eventual defeat on penalties. Just the thing to breed some optimism ahead of the draw. I don’t know why the don’t go the whole hog and show England’s chances being flushed down the pan.

5.33pm : An interview with David Beckham. What has he done to his hair now? I thought Lineker’s bum-fluff goatee was the worst hair of the day until Beckham turned up with what looks like a haircut that Brooklyn did while his dad was asleep. Terrible. Still, as a footballer, all the pundits agree, he needs to go to the tournament for England as he offers us something different. Crap hairstyling one can only presume.

5.41pm : Interview with Danny Jordaan, who says that the World Cup 2010 will be the “most unifying moment in the history of our country”. Strong and emotive words.

5.46pm : The rundown of the 31 qualifiers who joined the hosts South Africa in the finals begins. We give a cheer when England appear with selected highlights of the team. Oddly enough for France they haven’t shown the Thierry Henry handball goal that got them to the finals. Strange eh?

5.49pm : Before the draw starts we are treated to the Soweto Gospel Choir singing. My word, the female lead singer was a whole lotta woman! Loved the outfits though, at least we have already seen with the stadia, people and teams participating, this is probably going to be the most vibrant and colourful world cup ever.

5.51pm : Charlize Theron, looking rather lovely in a red dress, hosts the draw along with Jerome Walcke who welcomes her to the stage with the biggest duo of sloppy wet kisses that are picked up quite audibly on the microphone, much to the crowds amusement. Can’t say I blame him though, Charlize does look very nice. Jerome explains the draw in the most monotonous overstated way possible, as is FIFA’s trademark, all aided to the backdrop of some god-awful Jean Michel Jarre reject music that no doubt has been specially commissioned for the event. Jonathan Pearce commentary over the top is understated for him, verging on the dull almost. We should have got Terry Wogan in to do it.

5.55pm : The people who will draw the teams and the position of the teams in each group are announced. They include Haile Gabreselassi and David Beckham. Nice to see a mix of sports and cultures included. At last now we’ve all said hello and snogged Charlize, can we get on with the flamin’ draw now? It seems we can…

6.03pm : UNDERWAY!!!! South Africa will be first out of the pot and go into Group A. By the very fact that South Africa are in this half of the draw, it should mean that teams in Groups A, B C and D could have it slightly easier in the latter stages. Argentina out next, which draw plenty of boos from us sat at home. Then out we come! England! In Group C! Not sure if this has any meaning or not but at least there is a chance of us playing one game near where the team is likely to be based. Germany out next in D which is pleasing, of all the seeds, I think they are the ones we are most likely to beat. Holland go into E, Italy into F, Brazil into G and Spain into H. Not sure the two favourites will like that. Should Brazil or Spain slip up in their group and finish second, they may well meet in the second round. Still though, so much can happen yet and its early days.

6.13pm : Now time for Pot B to be drawn and this is pretty straightforward as we go through from Group A-G one after the other. South Africa get…Mexico! Ooh! In my view the toughest side in Pot B. Not a host friendly draw that one. Argentina get South Korea. I don’t think Maradona will be too displeased at that, they are a middling team in pot B. England get… USA! I knew we’d get drawn against either them, New Zealand or Australia! Not the easiest in that group but it could have been worse I suppose. Germany get Australia! Ha! That group is shaping up nicely. The Dutch get Japan in Group E, Italy get the best draw in New Zealand in F, Brazil will face North Korea in group G as they did in 1966 and Spain will also not be too displeased at drawing Honduras. At the half way stage, the draw is now taking shape… Italians will probably be the happiest so far.

Image Courtesy of ***Shine 2010*** at Flickr.com

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