As it turns out, only the top three teams are seeded when they draw for the UEFA playoffs. Spain ended up drawing Slovakia, dashing my hopes of a Czech-Slovak clash. The Czechs will face Norway; Switzerland and Turkey meet in the third pairing.
It's kind of hard to imagine the higher seeds (the Czechs, Spain, and Turkey) losing here; Spain hasn't missed a World Cup since 1974, the Czechs are top five in the world, and Turkey finished third place overall last time out. The three lower-rated sides have less overall pedigree, both currently and historically. On the other hand, that's why they play the games; the home-and-home ties give anyone a chance. In 2001, the Czechs were ranked tenth in the world and lost out to a Belgium side rated #33; #27 Slovenia took out #15 Romania as well. So let's not book the plane tickets just yet.
According to ESPN.com, the top eight seeds for the Cup (i.e. the "anchor teams," so to speak, of each group) would be Brazil, Spain, Mexico, Germany, Italy, Argentina, France, and England, if FIFA uses the same formula they used to seed teams in the last two World Cups. It's funny to think that Spain would be an anchor team if they made it but could potentially still miss; the Netherlands, currently #2 in the world, would take over as an anchor team if Spain blows it.
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