Brazil and Portugal were propelled onto a World Cup collision course when the final draw was made on Friday, while Lady Luck smiled on Fabio Capello’s England.
The Brazilians and Portuguese will clash in Group G and will be joined by top African side Ivory Coast and unknown quantities North Korea in what will inevitably be dubbed the “Group of Death.”
“It’s a very interesting group,” Brazilian coach Dunga said. “Against Portugal, with their style of play and their players, it will be like Brazil against Brazil. The big question mark is with North Korea. I will have to take a close look at them. Ivory Coast — they are very strong side.”
PHOTO: AFP
England coach Capello had reason to be happy as his men drew a relatively lightweight trio of the US, Algeria and Slovenia.
Ironically it was David Beckham, who plays for the Los Angeles Galaxy, who pulled out the ball which paired up the Americans with England in the World Cup for the first time since 1950 when the US pulled off a shock 1-0 win.
“It’s not so bad,” Capello said of England’s draw. “We played against the USA and Slovenia at home — we played well, we won, but when we have to play here in June it will be difficult. Algeria beat Egypt and will not be easy, they have a really good team now. When you play at the World Cup, every game is not easy.”
Asked if England could win the tournament, he replied: “We have to win.”
Hosts South Africa were given a tough assignment, getting 1998 winners France, Central America powerhouse Mexico and Uruguay.
Their Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said his side was not afraid of any of the teams they had drawn.
“We are going to play the ball on the ground. We are going to prepare ourselves, we are not afraid. Mexico are a good side, France have got players in the Champions League and they are good side,” Parreira said.
France coach Raymond Domenech said: “We have landed the hosts and that is never easy. We will be playing away from home. The groups are well balanced though. There really isn’t a ‘Group of Death’ as such this time around.”
Group B has Diego Maradona’s Argentina, South Korea, Nigeria and Greece, with Germany, Australia, Ghana and Serbia making up an open Group D.
Germany team manager Oliver Bierhoff said: We are glad we did not draw France or Portugal, but Australia, Serbia and Ghana will also not be easy.”
Coach Joachim Loew agreed: “We are quite happy with this draw, it’s an interesting group.”
The Netherlands fared well, getting Japan, Cameroon and Denmark in Group E. Defending champions Italy also blew a sigh of relief bagging New Zealand, Paraguay and rookies Slovakia in Group F, while in Group H, European champions Spain go up against Honduras, Chile and Switzerland.
Italian coach Marcello Lippi, however, warned that appearances can be deceptive.
“The more you think a group will be easy, the more difficult it becomes,” Lippi said. “I’m neither satisfied nor upset. They are all difficult opponents, but then we will also cast an eye on the [possible] second round and quarter-final [opponents].”
The Dutch were also wary, although coach Ben van Marwijk did admit that it could have been worse.
“We have to avoid being too arrogant. That is the lesson to be learned from Euro 2008, but at the same time we have to remain confident,” Marwijk said.
The draw, which saw the 32 qualified teams split into eight groups of four for the first round stage of the June 11 to July 11 tournament, laid down the battle lines for what will be the first World Cup to be played on African soil.
With the eyes of the soccer world firmly focused on this historic city perched on the southern tip of the continent, it was an evening full of symbolic significance both for Africa and for South Africa, coming as it did just 15 years after the end of the apartheid era.
After a show that featured both traditional and modern African music, the stage was handed over to South African-born Academy Award winning actress Charlize Theron who took on the duties of main presenter to be joined on stage later by other sporting celebrities, including Beckham.
First, as prearranged, out of the seeded Pot 1 were hosts South Africa who who, at 86th in the world, are the lowest ranked team in the competition.
They were followed in turn by heavyweights Argentina, England, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Brazil and Spain.
It was then a question of who would go up against them from the three remaining pots which had been carefully assembled to ensure that teams from the same continent would be kept apart as far as possible.
The latter contained the two most dangerous floaters in the draw — France and Portugal — and when Portugal were flung in with Brazil the atmosphere turned electric in the main auditorium of the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
Taiwanese exports to the US are to be subject to a 20 percent tariff starting on Thursday next week, according to an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday. The 20 percent levy was the same as the tariffs imposed on Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by Trump. It was higher than the tariffs imposed on Japan, South Korea and the EU (15 percent), as well as those on the Philippines (19 percent). A Taiwan official with knowledge of the matter said it is a "phased" tariff rate, and negotiations would continue. "Once negotiations conclude, Taiwan will obtain a better
FLOOD RECOVERY: “Post-Typhoon Danas reconstruction special act” is expected to be approved on Thursday, the premier said, adding the flood control in affected areas would be prioritized About 200cm of rainfall fell in parts of southern Taiwan from Monday last week to 9am yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Kaohsiung’s Taoyuan District (桃源) saw total rainfall of 2,205mm, while Pingtung County’s Sandimen Township (三地門) had 2,060.5mm and Tainan’s Nanhua District (南化) 1,833mm, according to CWA data. Meanwhile, Alishan (阿里山) in Chiayi County saw 1,688mm of accumulated rain and Yunlin County’s Caoling (草嶺) had 1,025mm. The Pingtung County Government said that 831 local residents have been pre-emptively evacuated from mountainous areas. A total of 576 are staying with relatives in low-lying areas, while the other 255 are in shelters. CWA forecaster
RSS