World Cup Draw 2010 - lack of sleep preparation.

Whilst the World Cup won't feed the world it certainly can inspire it!

So I woke up at 3am to be inspired. Nervous with anticipation and dread of who Australia would draw. I put on my 1974 replica Johnny Warren's shirt and tuned into SBS. I will never watch a World Cup came without thinking of the legend. And he would have been proud of South Africa's presentation of the highly anticipated draw.

Over 1 and a half hours the draw could have been drawn out, but the presentation had the history of both the World Cup and African football interspersed with the teams that had qualified. Well done, professional and everything that you would expect from a FIFA organised event. And yet, I was surprised. That seems to be the feeling of this World Cup since South Africa was announced as the host nation. The presentation was excellent, better than 2005, of that there is no doubt and that was done by the Germans! Well done to Charlize Theron and Zakumi the 2010 official mascot.



The event that I dreaded, 1 and a half hours of drawn out platitudes and rhetoric to find out who would be drawn who in the 2010 FIFA World Cup was an excellent morning's viewing for millions around the world.

Who would Australia draw, what delights or moans of agony would I emit?

I hoped for South Africa as the lowest ranked team in the World Cup....that was not to be. England, purely for our sporting traditions and Italy for the diving contest. But Germany it was.
We avoided Portugal and France as teams that may have been unlucky not to be seeded. Group D is where Australia ended up being drawn alongside Ghana and Serbia. Tough group and the eventual words, "group of death" will be bandied around most media forums for the next few months up to and including the world cup. But let us be honest, the World Cup should be and is never easy. No game can be taken for granted and to qualify for the World Cup is an achievement for every nation.

In saying that both Groups D and G do seem to be the most difficult groups of the World Cup.
Group D seeing Brazil, Portugal and the Ivory Coast as extremely good teams, 3 does not go into two though. Kaka vs Ronaldo.....team mates and enemies, arguably two of the best players in the world to face off in their group match on the 25th of June.

The Australian coach Pim Verbeek was interviewed by SBS's Les Murray immediately after the draw and stated what you would expect from a keen tactician. "The draw is good, but tough, we will be ready." As will we, the supporters, preparing as we did this morning for a lack of sleep. I cannot wait for the sleepless nights of June 2010!

Group A

Match	Date	Venue	Team 1	Team 2	Kick-off (AEST)
1	11 June	Johannesburg	South Africa	Mexico	00:00
2	11 June	Cape Town	Uruguay	France	04:30
17	16 June	Tshwane/Pretoria	South Africa	Uruguay	04:30
18	17 June	Polokwane	France	Mexico	21:30
33	22 June	Rustenburg	Mexico	Uruguay	00:00
34	22 June	Mangaung/Bloemfontein	France	South Africa	00:00

Group B

Match	Date	Venue	Team 1	Team 2	Kick-off (AEST)
3	12 June	Johannesburg	Argentina	Nigeria	21:30
4	12 June	Nelson Mandela Bay	Korea Republic	Greece	00:00
19	17 June	Mangaung/Bloemfontein	Greece	Nigeria	00:00
20	17 June	Johannesburg	Argentina	Korea Republic	04:30
35	22 June	Durban	Nigeria	Korea Republic	04:30
36	22 June	Polokwane	Greece	Argentina	04:30

Group C

Match	Date	Venue	Team 1	Team 2	Kick-off (AEST)
5	12 June	Rustenburg	England	USA	04:30
6	13 June	Polokwane	Algeria	Slovenia	21:30
22	18 June	Johannesburg	Slovenia	USA	00:00
23	18 June	Cape Town	England	Algeria	04:30
37	23 June	Nelson Mandela Bay	Slovenia	England	00:00
38	23 June	Tshwane/Pretoria	USA	Algeria	00:00

Group D

Match	Date	Venue	Team 1	Team 2	Kick-off (AEST)
7	13 June	Durban	Germany	Australia	00:00
8	13 June	Tshwane/Pretoria	Serbia	Ghana	04:30
21	18 June	Nelson Mandela Bay	Germany	Serbia	21:30
24	19 June	Rustenburg	Ghana	Australia	21:30
39	23 June	Johannesburg	Ghana	Germany	04:30
40	23 June	Nelspruit	Australia	Serbia	04:30

Group E

Match	Date	Venue	Team 1	Team 2	Kick-off (AEST)
9	14 June	Johannesburg	Netherlands	Denmark	21:30
10	14 June	Mangaung/Bloemfontein	Japan	Cameroon	00:00
25	19 June	Durban	Netherlands	Japan	00:00
26	19 June	Tshwane/Pretoria	Cameroon	Denmark	04:30
43	24 June	Rustenburg	Denmark	Japan	04:30
44	24 June	Cape Town	Cameroon	Netherlands	04:30

Group F

Match	Date	Venue	Team 1	Team 2	Kick-off (AEST)
11	14 June	Cape Town	Italy	Paraguay	04:30
12	15 June	Rustenburg	New Zealand	Slovakia	21:30
27	20 June	Mangaung/Bloemfontein	Slovakia	Paraguay	00:00
28	20 June	Nelspruit	Italy	New Zealand	21:30
41	24 June	Johannesburg	Slovakia	Italy	00:00
42	24 June	Polokwane	Paraguay	New Zealand	00:00

Group G

Match	Date	Venue	Team 1	Team 2	Kick-off (AEST)
13	15 June	Nelson Mandela Bay	Ivory Coast	Portugal	00:00
14	15 June	Johannesburg	Brazil	North Korea	04:30
29	20 June	Johannesburg	Brazil	Ivory Coast	04:30
30	21 June	Cape Town	Portugal	North Korea	21:30
45	25 June	Durban	Portugal	Brazil	00:00
46	25 June	Nelspruit	North Korea	Ivory Coast	00:00

Group H

Match	Date	Venue	Team 1	Team 2	Kick-off (AEST)
15	16 June	Nelspruit	Honduras	Chile	21:30
16	16 June	Durban	Spain	Switzerland	00:00
31	21 June	Nelson Mandela Bay	Chile	Switzerland	04:30
32	21 June	Johannesburg	Spain	Honduras	00:00
47	25 June	Tshwane/Pretoria	Chile	Spain	04:30
48	25 June	Mangaung/Bloemfontein	Switzerland	Honduras	04:30

Most Tournament Wins
5 Brazil

Most Tournament Appearances
18 Brazil (only team to play in every FIFA World Cup finals)

Most Final Appearances
7 Brazil, Germany (including West Germany) 6 Italy 4 Argentina

Most Semi-Finals Appearances
11 Germany (including West Germany) 10 Brazil 8 Italy 4 Argentina, Uruguay, France, Sweden

Most Wins
64 Brazil 56 Germany (including West Germany) 45 Italy 33 Argentina

Most Draws
19 Germany (including West Germany), Italy 14 Brazil 13 Sweden

Most Losses
22 Mexico 20 Argentina 18 Germany (including West Germany) 17 Belgium, France, Sweden

Most Goals Scored
201 Brazil 190 Germany (including West Germany) 122 Italy 113 Argentina

Most Goals Conceded
112 Germany (including West Germany) 84 Brazil, Mexico 74 Argentina

Biggest Winning Margin
9 Hungary, 9-0 v Korea Republic, 1954; Yugoslavia, 9-0 v Zaire, 1974; Hungary, 10-1 El Salvador 1982

Most Goals Scored In A Match By One Team
10 Hungary, 10-1 v El Salvador, 1982

Most Goals Scored In A Match
12 Austria 7-5 Switzerland, 1954

Most Goals Scored In A Single Tournament
27 Hungary, 1954

Most Goals Conceded In A Single Tournament
16 Korea Republic, 1954

Midnight, Monday June 14 v Germany (Durban), 9.30pm, Thursday June 19 v Ghana (Rustenburg) and 4.30am, Saturday June 24 v Serbia (Nelspruit).