Jabulani...

Happiness, Celebration, World Cup 2010! The draws are out. Jabulani which means ' to celebrate' is the name of the official ball for the World Cup 2010 in South Africa. Group G (Ivory Coast, North Korea, Brazil & Portugal) is already fast being labeled the group of death. The rest of the draws are as follows:
Group A
A1 - South Africa
A2 - Mexico
A3 - Uruguay
A4 - France

Group B
B1 - Argentina
B2 - Nigeria
B3 - South Korea
B4 - Greece

Group C

C1 - England
C2 - United States
C3 - Algeria
C4 - Slovenia

Group D

D1 - Germany
D2 - Australia
D3 - Serbia
D4 - Ghana

Group E

E1 - Netherlands
E2 - Denmark
E3 - Japan
E4 - Cameroon

Group F

F1 - Italy (defending champions)
F2 - Paraguay
F3 - New Zealand
F4 - Slovakia

Group H

H1 - Spain
H2 - Switzerland
H3 - Honduras
H4 - Chile

My heart goes out to Ivory Coast who are being touted to be the 1st African country to win the world cup (I tout Ghana as the African team to go farthest). They were dealt the similar fate of being in the group of death at the 2006 world cup. If they make it out of the group of death next year, most likely in 2nd, they are most likely to meet Spain who are likely to finish top of their group. The US meanwhile are delighted with their draw which they believe would be 'easy'. It remains to be seen. Argentina vs. Nigeria would be the opener for group B, a repeat of the Atlanta '96 olympic final and the 2005 U-20 world cup final. Mikel n Messi, the two best players from that tournament have since progressed to their national teams and will clash in that Arg-Nig game.

The countdown is at 188 days to the world cup. Of course, the African Nations Cup will be on in January. Let the games begin.

By the way, an accomodation service has been launched for the general public on fifa.com for the available 1,725,190 room nights available at different properties for the next world cup.
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