Ankf00
12-09-05, 02:11 PM
T minus 2 hours :cool:
US missed out on being one of the 8 #1 seeds as did The Netherlands. We could theoretically be in the same group as HOL & Brasil :eek:
The formula for calculating seeding pools HAD been last 3 WC appearances + last 3 FIFA year end rankings...
So naturally, seeing as the US showed well in 94 and 02 and has been top 10 in FIFA rankings lately but was dead last in 98, FIFA changed their previous method for seeding and only factored in the last 2 WC's... which means our dead last showing in '98, factored as 1/6th of the overall rating. So the US is in another pool of teams now Americas teams, they cannot be in the same group as Mexico, Costa Rica, or Trinidad & Tobago b/c they're CONCACAF teams as well...
WC finishes and FIFA rankings weighed in at 50% each...
2002 counted as 67% vs. 1998 at 33%, so 33% & 16.5% each...
and the last 3 FIFA year end ratings were weighted equally, so 16.5% for each one of those...
Which group Germany & Brasil will be in has been predetermined b/c I think the stadii in Munich & Berlin have the largest capacity and those 2 teams will be the biggest draws. And it's been predetermined which groups will play in which cities, so today which teams are in which groups will be decided.
and funny blog from the Dallas Morning News' soccer guy
The World Cup Final Draw happens in about 3 hours. Whenever I think of a draw like this, I always think of Bruce Arena, the cocksure American manager. He was the Olympic coach in 1996 when the Americans were drawn into a particularly tough group, one that included Argentina.
Remember, the '96 Games were in Atlanta (with soccer played throughout the region). Usually, host nations get some kind of a break, even if the draw is supposedly random.
Which all led to a classic Arena quote, well-known inside soccer circles: "Americans are too stupid to know how to fix a draw."
and hopefully this time around the refs aren't rigging the whistles for the host nation :saywhat: That South Korean **** was bull ****. 1-1 draw my arse, fouls were something like 70 against us and only 15 or 20 against them :saywhat:
US missed out on being one of the 8 #1 seeds as did The Netherlands. We could theoretically be in the same group as HOL & Brasil :eek:
The formula for calculating seeding pools HAD been last 3 WC appearances + last 3 FIFA year end rankings...
So naturally, seeing as the US showed well in 94 and 02 and has been top 10 in FIFA rankings lately but was dead last in 98, FIFA changed their previous method for seeding and only factored in the last 2 WC's... which means our dead last showing in '98, factored as 1/6th of the overall rating. So the US is in another pool of teams now Americas teams, they cannot be in the same group as Mexico, Costa Rica, or Trinidad & Tobago b/c they're CONCACAF teams as well...
WC finishes and FIFA rankings weighed in at 50% each...
2002 counted as 67% vs. 1998 at 33%, so 33% & 16.5% each...
and the last 3 FIFA year end ratings were weighted equally, so 16.5% for each one of those...
Which group Germany & Brasil will be in has been predetermined b/c I think the stadii in Munich & Berlin have the largest capacity and those 2 teams will be the biggest draws. And it's been predetermined which groups will play in which cities, so today which teams are in which groups will be decided.
and funny blog from the Dallas Morning News' soccer guy
The World Cup Final Draw happens in about 3 hours. Whenever I think of a draw like this, I always think of Bruce Arena, the cocksure American manager. He was the Olympic coach in 1996 when the Americans were drawn into a particularly tough group, one that included Argentina.
Remember, the '96 Games were in Atlanta (with soccer played throughout the region). Usually, host nations get some kind of a break, even if the draw is supposedly random.
Which all led to a classic Arena quote, well-known inside soccer circles: "Americans are too stupid to know how to fix a draw."
and hopefully this time around the refs aren't rigging the whistles for the host nation :saywhat: That South Korean **** was bull ****. 1-1 draw my arse, fouls were something like 70 against us and only 15 or 20 against them :saywhat: