A dry run for Friday’s World Cup draw in Cape Town [Photo: PA]
PHEW. England are one of the eight seeds for the 2010 World Cup, despite only being ranked ninth in the world. Fabio Capello, fix yourself a drink.
The list of eight seeds in full:
South Africa (hosts), Spain, Brazil, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England, Netherlands
Portugal and France, both ranked above England by FIFA, miss out, despite strong records in recent major tournaments – many people will feel that it’s a big plate of karma for the French (and I doubt they’ll dare to kick up a fuss given what happened in Paris last month), but C-Ron’s Portugal can count themselves a bit unlucky not to be seeded, even if they did make it to South Africa via the play-offs.
Apparently, England’s strong performance in qualifying was a factor in the decision, but with so many English fans set to give generously to the South African economy next summer, you have to wonder about the political nature of the seedings; in terms of revenue alone, a successful World Cup would mean England making it to the last eight at least, and now that they are seeded, there is a good chance of this happening.
Do you think England got lucky, or do they deserve to be one of the eight seeds?