The Hand Of Gaul
Yes, that was a handball. Deux handball, no less. Thierry Henry’s last-gasp equalizer sent the French through to South Africa and sent Ireland scrambling to try to force a replay “in the interests of fair play.”
I agree that’s the fair thing to do. I don’t think there’s any way in hell it’ll happen. That opens up a whole can of worms that I’m sure FIFA - which, let’s be honest, would rather have France in their party than Ireland - has no interest in opening. Any team that gets jobbed could appeal for a replay (no pun intended) and that’s just not going to happen, I don’t think.
So here are the 32 finalists, with their current world rankings (note, new rankings came out 11/20, so these reflect the latest numbers):
Africa (5)
11 Cameroon
16 Ivory Coast
22 Nigeria
28 Algeria
37 Ghana
Asia (4)
21 Australia
43 Japan
52 South Korea
84 North Korea
Europe (13)
1 Spain
3 Netherlands
4 Italy
6 Germany
7 France
9 England
10 Portugal
13 Switzerland
16 Greece
20 Serbia
26 Denmark
33 Slovenia
34 Slovakia
North, Central America and Caribbean (3)
14 United States
15 Mexico
38 Honduras
Oceania (1)
77 New Zealand
South America (5)
2 Brazil
8 Argentina
17 Chile
19 Uruguay
30 Paraguay
Host Country (1)
86 South Africa
#91 South #84 North Korea #86 South Africa is the lowest-ranked team in the field, while #8 #10 Croatia is the highest-ranked team that didn’t qualify.
For the US, now it’s all about the draw (and, no, not about the losses to Slovakia and Denmark, simmer the hell down, people) on December 4 at 11:00 a.m. ET on ESPN2. It’s highly unlikely the US will be seeded (South Africa gets one of the seeds as host, leaving only seven for the others, and we’re not one of the seven), meaning it’s not going to be easy.
But it’s not supposed to be easy. The hard makes it great. It’s the World Cup Finals. The last three and a half years since the disappointment in Germany have all been leading up to this. The next eight six-plus months are about preparing to play in South Africa starting in mid-June.
Tags: soccer, World Cup, World Cup qualifiying
November 19th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
I would think FIFA could have gone either way, especially if the South African OC is concerned. The Irish travel very well (probably better than the French) and like anywhere in the Anglosphere, I’m sure there are plenty of “Irish” in SA willing to help fill stadiums.
November 19th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Yeah, but that would be admitting that financial concerns trump established tradition, and while we KNOW that financial concerns trump established tradition, they’re not going to come right out and say it AND open a can of worms for the next time it happens.
But the referee should not work a high-level match for a while.
November 20th, 2009 at 5:55 am
#91 North Korea
As for seeding, no chance if they use the same system as last time - http://www.football-rankings.info/2009/11/2010-world-cup-seeding-update-20.html - and hard to imagine a system that FIFA would employ where the US makes the top 7.
November 20th, 2009 at 6:54 am
#91 is North Korea, not South. Just sayin’.
November 20th, 2009 at 8:20 am
Yes, yes, fixed it.