England world cup 2014 qualifying campaign

(17-11-2013 14:14 )William H Bonney Wrote:  

(17-11-2013 13:32 )Regenerated Wrote:  As for England - I can plausibly see a group of death against Brazil, Ivory Coast and Netherlands.

Fortunately that draw's impossible. If England draw Ivory Coast or any other African country, the only European sides they can face in the group stage are Spain, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. Similarly, if England draw the Netherlands they can't also be drawn with the Ivory Coast or any other African country.

Oh. How come?

(17-11-2013 16:21 )Regenerated Wrote:  Oh. How come?

Because if England draw the Netherlands it follows that the Netherlands must have been the single European team placed in pot 3 alongside the African countries and Chile and Ecuador. Therefore England can't be drawn against both the Netherlands and an African country. Or alternatively it means that England must have been the single European team placed in pot 3 alongside the African countries and Chile and Ecuador, meaning that England could well draw the Netherlands but not another African country.

Fair enough. My guess would be though that England and Netherlands would be in the same pot of European teams - ie: pot 2, 3 or 4 before the draw begins. Therefore we probably couldn't draw the Netherlands anyway.

(17-11-2013 16:59 )Regenerated Wrote:  My guess would be though that England and Netherlands would be in the same pot of European teams - ie: pot 2, 3 or 4 before the draw begins.

The problem is that apart from the seeds there are 9 European countries and 8 groups to be drawn and nobody knows which country will be the odd one out and placed in a different pot. If for the sake of argument the odd one was the European country with the highest ranking it would be the Netherlands. If the odd one was the European country with the lowest ranking it would be one of the play off qualifiers. But maybe they will randomly draw a country out of the 9.

It would be interesting I suppose if a European country was randomly selected to be the odd one placed in the pot of CONMEBOL and CAF nations. I don't think so though. I think FIFA will probably keep it logical and select the lowest ranked country in the nine. FIFA don't like dramas and controversy - it's much more likely for them to take the safe option and just pick the lowest ranked team. As long as they explain the process before hand of course. At least then there's less chance of any fallout coming back at them from somebody complaining of a bum draw. Not that I think anybody would complain...

... but you never know...

I called the Psychic channel and asked for England's draw in advance and this is what they gave me.

England
Ghana
Brazil
USA

(17-11-2013 18:27 )7 stars of the orient Wrote:  I called the Psychic channel and asked for England's draw in advance and this is what they gave me.

England
Ghana
Brazil
USA

That's not the Psychic Channel, that's the Horror Channel!!

(17-11-2013 17:32 )Regenerated Wrote:  ... but you never know...

Oh i'm sure he does

(17-11-2013 13:32 )Regenerated Wrote:  Yeah I can't see France making it now. They might win the second leg but I've just got a feeling Ukraine will either score or restrict them to just a one goal win.

Well what do I know...

#Good to mock oneself occasionally.. might as well get it in early.

By another goal that should never ha5ve stood platini must be a few hundred euros down this morning