| The draw for the 2006 football World Cup was | | | | |
| held in Leipzig Germany on December 9th 2005. | | | | The favourites remain multi winners and |
| This is the greatest sporting event on earth | | | | current holders Brazil, but the usual |
| after the Olympic games and has been eagerly | | | | suspects Italy, Holland, Spain, France, |
| looked forward to. The 32 teams were | | | | England, Argentina, & Portugal all have their |
| allocated into 8 groups of four in a | | | | enthusiastic followers. Don't forget Germany |
| televised ceremony that was watched live in | | | | too, for on their own soil they will be very |
| over one hundred and sixty countries. The top | | | | hard to beat, even if on paper they do not |
| two teams in each group will progress to the | | | | have a great side this time. Trophies are |
| straight knockout stages. | | | | never won on paper, and they will be there or |
| | | | thereabouts, they always are. |
| The first team drawn from the balls was | | | | |
| England, could that be an omen, could they | | | | Groups C & E look the toughest to qualify |
| possibly end the tournament finishing first? | | | | through. The African challenge is greater and |
| Fifa had controversially seeded them second, | | | | possibly stronger than ever before despite |
| due in part to their recent thrilling injury | | | | their two most successful nations, Nigeria |
| time win over the old foe, Argentina. | | | | and Cameroon, failing to make it this time. |
| | | | Can the Asian countries, particularly Japan |
| Group A consists of Germany, Costa Rica, | | | | and South Korea, maintain the huge progress |
| Poland & Ecuador | | | | they made in 2002, although of course that |
| | | | was on home soil, and it will be interesting |
| Group B consists of England, Paraguay, | | | | to see how Australia perform. They have |
| Trinidad & Tobago, & Sweden | | | | qualified for the first time since 1974 and |
| | | | they did recently beat England, albeit in a |
| Group C consists of Argentina, Ivory Coast, | | | | friendly game where England played two |
| Serbia & Montenegro, & Holland | | | | different teams through the match. Most of |
| | | | the Australian players ply their trade in the |
| Group D consists of Mexico, Iran, Angola, & | | | | English premiership, so they will know many |
| Portugal | | | | of the other players well enough, and vice |
| | | | versa. |
| Group E consists of Italy, Ghana, the USA, & | | | | |
| the Czech Republic | | | | I must mention first time qualifiers Trinidad |
| | | | and Tobago, the smallest nation to make it to |
| Group F consists of Brazil, Croatia, | | | | Germany, and how delighted they must have |
| Australia & Japan | | | | been to draw England. Their talisman and |
| | | | former European Cup winner Dwight York will |
| Group G consists of France, Switzerland, | | | | lead his nation with great pride. Most of the |
| South Korea, & Togo | | | | T & T players play their football in the |
| | | | English lower leagues, but that will make |
| Group H consists of Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia, | | | | them only a more dangerous opponent, and |
| & Saudi Arabia | | | | England will certainly not take them lightly. |
| | | | |
| The matches kick off in Munich on June 9th | | | | It promises to be the greatest football |
| and will last a month, the final being played | | | | tournament yet seen, and certainly more |
| on July 9th in Berlin. | | | | overseas supporters will travel to Germany |
| | | | than ever before. Provisional figures suggest |
| While it is easy to look at the groups and | | | | that England will take over 100,000 |
| pick the likely two qualifiers, we all know | | | | supporters alone, and when you consider that |
| that is not how it will turn out. Memories | | | | at some grounds only 30,000 tickets will go |
| are fresh of the failure of the holders | | | | on open sale, it promises to produce a mighty |
| France to progress from the group stage in | | | | scramble for them. Holland, France and Italy |
| 2002, dumped out after barely scoring a goal | | | | will also take huge followings, as will the |
| by the likes of Senegal. | | | | Czech Republic, Spain, Sweden and Poland. |
| | | | German hotelkeepers are in for a very busy |
| The odds makers were quick to cut England's | | | | summer. |
| odds slightly to 6/1 to win the tournament on | | | | |
| the back of what looks like an easier group. | | | | England hope to do well, though deep down |
| There will be hundreds of millions of pounds | | | | everyone suspects yet another Brazilian |
| traded on this event worldwide before the | | | | victory led by their flamboyant star |
| winners are known. You can still obtain a | | | | Ronaldhino, but an England versus Brazil |
| free £20 bet on by entering the | | | | final would be an attraction worth seeing. |
| promotional code 6CHE3VPWJ when prompted. | | | | That's the hope in England for sure. |