world cup draw
You may have noticed from past blogs that your local English brewer gets a bit excited when a bit of football (yeah, soccer to you) is thrown into the mix! Well tomorrow is a VERY, VERY SPECIAL DAY … it’s time for the 2010 World Cup Draw. In an unprecedented move, ESPN will cover the draw LIVE, broadcasting the draw results, analysis and expert opinion between 12pm and 3 pm. So, you know where you should be right … yeah, the Pratt Street Ale House! Take that long lunch break you know you deserve (c’mon, it’s Friday, right) and settle down with a pint of Oliver Ale (we’ll be running some beer specials to mark the occasion) and find out who your team will draw in the opening round.
Here’s how the draw works. 32 teams have qualified for the World Cup Finals in South Africa next year. They will be split into eight groups of four, the top two from each progressing to the knock-out stage. For the draw the 32 have been divided into four pots and every group will contain one team from each pot. Here are the pots:
Pot 1. (SEEDS) South Africa, Germany, Italy, Brazil, ENGLAND, Spain, Holland, Argentina.
Pot 2. Japan, South Korea, Australia, North Korea, Honduras, Mexico, New Zealand, USA.
Pot 3. Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay.
Pot 4. Denmark, Slovakia, Serbia, Switzerland, France, Portugal, Slovenia, Greece.
Believe it or not, FIFA anticipates a worldwide viewing audience of 200 million for the draw. Join us at The Pratt Street Ale House to see what all of the fuss is about.