World Cup 2006 draw

Ace · Post by **Ace** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 8:47 pm

Some interesting fixtures there

I think I will be attending the Finland Holland game in Helsinki

(maybe the Czech Republic and Romania games too).

England Wales and Northern Ireland in the same group

First time I've seen that

England v Northern Ireland? That will be a weird one

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Ace · Post by **Ace** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 9:05 pm

BTW anyone ever attended a game in Estonia? I quite fancy the idea of that. Could go and watch Portugal. Or I wonder what Estonia v Russia would be like?

junot · Post by **junot** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 9:53 pm

Maybe Giggs will be banned for the England game? I'd guess that his two match ban will be their first two world cup games.

When did England last play in Belfast? I went to a qualifying game there in the mid 1980's, maybe that was the last time? It was quite an experience but there was no crowd trouble.

Ace · Post by **Ace** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 10:46 pm

junot wrote:When did England last play in Belfast? I went to a qualifying game there in the mid 1980's, maybe that was the last time? It was quite an experience but there was no crowd trouble.

Are N.Ireland fans not very pro Britain? I have no idea what to expect for that game, I've never seen that fixture. I would imagine most N.Irish people who would like a united Ireland would be Republic of Ireland fans. Could we expect a load of Glasgow Rangers/Chelsea types at that game?

Slothrop · Post by **Slothrop** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 1:05 am

Hmmmm... it doesn't look overly easy for Finland, does it? Then again, the Czechs have been a bit up and down in the past - could be they'll be a bust come the World Cup. I'll have to check out the age structure of the side. And the Dutch do occasionally self-destruct in apparently easy fixtures. Everyone will say the Swedes lucked out again, of course, but you never know... Hungary are due a revival and Iceland are no pushover, either.

My favourite group is No.2 - the Danes are going to do a lot of travelling to grotty ex-Soviet republics, and Greece meet Turkey (always good for a laugh). Not exactly a money-spinning group for anyone.

What price are Ladbrokes offering that Northern Ireland will go yet another 12 games without scoring a goal?

Slothrop · Post by **Slothrop** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 1:33 am

Hey... what is the reason for England, France, Italy and Spain automatically getting into a group with 6 rather than seven teams?

See the pdf file
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/releases/ ... ure_en.pdf

and scroll down to the boldface section on "Draw Procedure".

The 8 teams in pot A are drawn into the 8 groups and placed in position 1 in each group,
starting with group 1 from left to right. When England, France, Italy and Spain are drawn,
they will be placed in groups 4 to 8, starting with group 4 from left to right.

Is there some "sizeism" at work here? Pot A looks to be in order of merit rather than alphabetical, so...

Any explanations, Ace?

Ace · Post by **Ace** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 10:47 am

WLM wrote:Any explanations, Ace?

Nope always seems more complicated than Nuclear Physics to me these draws. Why can't they just put all the names in a hat and get Pele to pull them out or something

When did England last play in Belfast?

England were last in Belfast in 1985

Wales manager Mark Hughes has fond memories of the last time the Welsh faced England, the former Manchester United and Barcelona striker scoring on his international debut to secure a 1-0 victory at Wrexham in 1984.

No wonder I've never seen these games

Do you think England will play in Belfast?

Boyce insists Windsor Park will be fit to host the match, although there may well be security concerns surrounding the visit of England to Belfast.

Ace · Post by **Ace** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 11:47 am

WLM wrote:Greece meet Turkey (always good for a laugh).

Check out the gruelling ordeal of the Asian qualifying stage. Surely they should split this in two. Middle East and Asia.

Iraq v Palestine
China v Hong Kong

could be interesting fixtures. Imagine Israel was in a group like this:

Uzbekistan
Iraq
Palestine
Chinese Taipei

Makes sense to put them in the European group doesn't it

Niall Shaky · Post by **Niall Shaky** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 1:18 pm

Ace wrote:BTW anyone ever attended a game in Estonia? I quite fancy the idea of that. Could go and watch Portugal. Or I wonder what Estonia v Russia would be like?

That's a great idea. Could combine a football match with a night out in Tallinn.

Slothrop · Post by **Slothrop** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 1:29 pm

Ace wrote:
WLM wrote:Greece meet Turkey (always good for a laugh).
Check out the gruelling ordeal of the Asian qualifying stage. Surely they should split this in two. Middle East and Asia.

Iraq v Palestine
China v Hong Kong

could be interesting fixtures. Imagine Israel was in a group like this:

Uzbekistan
Iraq
Palestine
Chinese Taipei

Makes sense to put them in the European group doesn't it

Politically, yes, though my guess is the Israelis would probably find it easier to progress against Asian opposition. That continent has 4 and a half qualifiers, if I've understood correctly. On another issue, have to wonder if Israel will let the Palestinians travel to away games... I'd like to see Sepp Blatter going up against Sharon like he does with Ferguson.

But you don't need to go outside Europe for big match-ups. Even if the England-NI game will be swamped in spoilsport police, what price trouble when Bosnia-Herzegovina meet the Team Formerly Known As King Zog of the Chetniks in Sarajevo, in Group 7?

Ace · Post by **Ace** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 3:41 pm

WLM wrote:But you don't need to go outside Europe for big match-ups. Even if the England-NI game will be swamped in spoilsport police, what price trouble when Bosnia-Herzegovina meet the Team Formerly Known As King Zog of the Chetniks in Sarajevo, in Group 7?

Serbia and Mont v Bosnia

Ouch I missed that one

Ace · Post by **Ace** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 3:47 pm

Niall Shaky wrote:That's a great idea. Could combine a football match with a night out in Tallinn.

Jep I think I'm definitely going to do that. I was thinking of Portugal because:

A. They're the best team in that group and they have some great players.
and
b. I thought ajdias would be going, maybe we could get a few . to make the trip. (sounds like your up for it).

However I reckon the Russia game could be lively. Do the national team play in Tallin?

junot · Post by **junot** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 5:20 pm

England were last in Belfast in 1985

For that game a few of us went over to stay with a friend in Bangor, near Belfast. On the day of the match we had a good drink in a few Belfast bars and proceeded to walk to Windsor Park. We were feeling quite pleased as we walked, as we seemed to have blended in well with the locals and hadn't attracted any unwanted attention. Then, one of those army trucks appeared, with a gunner at the rear

The soldiers shouted over to us "alright lads", gave us the thumbs up and began chanting "England".
So we must have stuck out like sore thumbs for being English. No one bothered us though and we had a cracking day out

Ace · Post by **Ace** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 5:59 pm

junot wrote:Then, one of those army trucks appeared, with a gunner at the rear The soldiers shouted over to us "alright lads", gave us the thumbs up and began chanting "England".

Lol. So whats the score Junot? Will they let England fans travel there? Is there likely to be bother? I reckon the police will be all over that, so should be uneventful, however I remember England’s friendly against the Republic of Ireland at Lansdowne Road in February 1995

junot · Post by **junot** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 6:55 pm

Ace wrote:. Lol.. Will they let England fans travel there? Is there likely to be bother?.

I think they probably will, although we'll have to wait and see if they cause any havoc in portugal first

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