A shattered England will be praying for a lucky break at the preliminary draw for the 2010 World Cup tomorrow after seeing their Euro 2008 dreams crushed.
With the pairings and groups for the first stage of European qualifying being decided in Durban, South Africa, the hapless English will be desperate to avoid the traditional big guns to ease their passage to the showpiece event.
Forced to watch next year's Euros from home after failing to get the point they needed against Croatia on Wednesday, England have until August next year to sort themselves out before World Cup qualifying starts.
First and foremost they need a coach after Steve McClaren was dumped, with Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill regarded as the best-placed candidate.
The Europeans face a different format than at previous World Cups, with 53 teams split into nine groups, eight of six teams and one of five.
The nine group winners will automatically qualify with the best eight runners up playing off for the last four tickets to South Africa.
UEFA President Michel Platini welcomed the changes.
"It's a good compromise solution, because I wasn't really happy with the format for the last qualifying competition with groups of seven and eight teams," he said.
As well as England, defending champions Italy, and powerhouses Germany and France will be in the draw.
Twenty teams from Asia will also be in the hat tomorrow in what promises to be a glitzy affair, led by seeds Australia, South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Japan, as the pairings for their third round are decided.
Like England, Australia, South Korea, and Iran are currently without coaches, while Japan is waiting to see whether Ivica Osim recovers from a serious stroke that sent him to hospital last week.
They will be split into five groups of four with the winners and runners-up progressing to round four. The continent has four automatic places to play for with the fifth ranked team challenging Oceania's best side for a fifth berth.
Forty-eight countries from Africa will be watching intently with the draw having added interest because the fixtures double as 2010 African Nations Cup qualifiers.
Countries from the region will be split into 12 groups of four with winners and the best eight runners-up advancing to a third round where they will play off to be one of five continental representatives.
The North, Central and Caribbean zone has 35 teams in contention for three places, with the US and Mexico favorites to go through to the tournament from June 11 to July 11 in nine South African cities.
Exempt from the draw are South America, whose qualifiers are already under way in a home-and-away league format, and Oceania, whose preliminary competition began with the South Pacific Games in August.
Once the 32 teams for the finals are decided, the draw for the World Cup proper will be held in December 2009.
For South Africa, the draw tomorrow is a chance to show the world it can properly organize and pull off what will be its first real World Cup test.
Concerns have been voiced about stadium construction amid recent strikes by workers, with the last one, in Nelspruit, only resolved on Thursday as thousands of delegates and journalists began arriving for the draw.
A workers' strike also halted construction at a stadium in Cape Town earlier this year.
But organizers are confident that everything is on schedule and that tomorrow's preliminary draw will illustrate the country's organizational skills.
"We will not fail on the delivery of stadiums on time," said chief executive of the local organizing committee Danny Jordaan. "We hope that if there are any doubting thomases, then after Sunday they will only be thomases."
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care