by Brian Straus
Filed under: FIFA World Cup, US Soccer, U.S. Men’s National Team
FIFA’s World Cup organizing committee met Wednesday in some smoke-filled room in Cape Town and, in between bites of caviar and peeled grapes and just after confirming the delivery of a lifetime supply of Coca-Cola products to Jack Warner’s compound in Trinidad, announced the procedures and seeding for Friday’s World Cup draw (Noon, ESPN2).
The decision to base the eight top seeds (including the host) on FIFA’s monthly soda-sponsored national team rankings, ignoring past World Cup performance, means the U.S. came tantalizingly close to landing in the first pot — closer than any of us may have expected when seeding was mentioned as a motivation following October’s draw with Costa Rica. If FIFA and Coke want to promote their ranking, all the better for the Americans, who probably always will be higher than they deserve. But the pots announced Wednesday were anything but a favor. The road to next summer’s second round will be treacherous.
U.S. Close to World Cup Seed, Faces Tough Draw on Friday originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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