Korea eagerly awaits World Cup draw

This Friday sees one of the biggest days of the soccer calendar in Korea and around the world. The fact that it happens once every four years makes it all the more eagerly-awaited.

The great and the good of the soccer world (and this writer) will be heading to Cape Town. Known as the "Mother City" by South Africans, the city will be giving birth to the countdown to the 2010 World Cup -- the draw.

At the international convention center that lies in the shadow of the iconic Table Mountain, the 32 teams that have qualified for the global soccer festival will find out who they will play in the group stage. They will be placed into eight groups of four with the top two progressing to the second round.



That is the Promised Land for South Korea, and to be honest, all of Asia`s qualified quartet. Japan and South Korea progressed past the first round back in 2002 when they hosted the competition. Neither has done so on foreign soil, though the Taeguk Warriors came close in 2006 in Germany. North Korea famously made the last eight back in 1966, defeating the Italians on the way. Australia qualified through the Asian zone this time around and will represent the giant continent on the global stage for the first time in June.

None of them can face each other in the group stage and all have been placed in Pot Three along with three teams from North and Central America as well as New Zealand (the pots are provisional and will be confirmed on Wednesday but are likely to stay the same). Pot One consists of the eight top seeds, Pot Two contains eight European teams and Pot Four is made up of five African and three South American contenders. There will be no Korean Derby in South Africa or a rip-roaring clash with old rivals Japan if the teams don`t make it out of their groups.

Just which teams are named as top seeds is always a bone of contention and always contains the host. As well as South Africa there are the giants of world soccer -- Germany, Brazil, Italy, England, Spain, Argentina and France. If Korean coach Huh Jung-moo was able to choose, he would probably, like all other coaches, wish for South Africa.

Home support for the host (which includes the controversial vuvezelas -- air horns so loud and constant that some visiting teams complained during the recent Confederations Cup in June) will not, in the minds of potential opponents, outweigh the team`s weaknesses on the field. France and Argentina also qualified unimpressively and their names will not provoke the trepidation of the past, despite the talent at their disposal.

In the second all-European pot, a team like Slovenia and Slovakia will be much less glamorous but much more preferable than deadly dates with the Netherlands and Portugal. In the fourth pot, any one of the three South American members of Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay present a better bet than five tricky looking African nations. South Korea doesn`t have the best of records against quality African opposition.

Just as he should, coach Huh Jung-moo has declared that he is unconcerned about what the draw will throw up and is happy to face anyone.

"There is no guarantee of a good result even when you play against teams that are thought to be weak," Huh told local media last week. "For us, who we get in the draw is not a big deal; we just want to win against each team we play. The most important thing is that we do well. If we let out standards slip then we will have difficulties."

Despite his words, when Huh arrives in Cape Town and catches up on his sleep ahead of the draw, he may dream of a group such as South Africa, Slovenia and Paraguay. The thought of one containing Brazil, Ivory Coast and the Netherlands would excite the fans and the media but would interfere with the coach`s sleep just as much as the jetlag.

(johnduerden@hotmail.com)





By John Duerden /Contributing writer