Yesterday, England and Holland's soccer teams were handed a piece of good news when it was revealed that they will be among the 8 seeded teams in pot 1 when the World Cup draw takes place tomorrow.
France and Portugal, on the other hand, were dealt a bitter blow by the news, as they will now be in pot 4, which is reserved for Europe's second-tier teams. This means that they will have to face one of South Africa, Brazil, Italy, Spain, Germany, Argentina, England, or Holland.
Teams from pots 1 and 4 will be joined by one from pot 2 (comprised of qualifiers from Asia, north or central America, or Oceania) and one from pot 3, which has five African and three South American sides.
One thing is for sure ahead of the draw tomorrow. All the teams will want to see South Africa's name appear from pot 1 when the draw for their group occurs. Soccer fans may also feel that an Ivory Coast side which includes Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Emmanuel Eboue and the Toure brothers is by far the most dangerous prospect in pot 3, whilst Mexico's previous World Cup record just about makes them the trickiest side lurking in pot 2.
One uncertainty, however, is set to cause a lot of controversy over the coming days and weeks. This uncertainty surrounds the thinking behind the process by which FIFA decided the seeded teams. The official explanation of their method came via general secretary Jerome Valcke, who remained adamant that there was no hidden agenda aimed to punish France after Thierry Henry's handball in the World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland.
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Interestingly, the announcement of the seeds hasn't really affected the betting in the Betfair winner market. England are into 7.8 (+680) from 8.0 (+700) but other than that it's "as you were" with Brazil and Spain sharing favoritism at 5.8 (+480) with Argentina 12.0 (+1100) and Germany 14.5 (+1350) amongst the other favorites.
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