Preliminary Draw of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil

[Cymro]

Looking on the bright side Kazakhstan have some of the best prostitutes in the world.

Cleanest, not best. And it's just in the region. And Turkmenistan's are cleaner etc etc.

Poor Kazakhs, they have had England and now Ireland and I bet that film will be a talking point whn they come to Dublin. They must be cursing Borat.

[Crosby87]

Some people on here will make every team we play against sound like the best team ever, turn average players into Pele (Pandev) or complain about everything Trap does.
I think the real issue will come down to if we make Euro or not. Team will need to regroup quick after Euro if we make it and get focused.
And of course the other conversation is, if we do not make Euro and Trap moves on, who the hell will the manager be? It will be like starting over again. But at least we will know one way or the other in Sept. Is it fair to assume that if we make Euro and Trap retires that Tardelli will be the man and it will offer some continuity?
Still cant wait to hit the gym in prep for the Swedish bikini team. GTL every day.

[bennocelt]

Sweden (a really clinical team in how they qualify for tournaments, but I don't see us losing to them. Ibrahimavich could be retired from international football by the time we play them. I picture us taking 2 points off them).

Thats not a positive surely!!

[DannyInvincible]

IncidentallyI think were were the second best team in pot 3.

We're ranked behind Israel and Switzerland, so third, officially.

Out of interest, do Kazakhs consider themselves a European or Asian people? Pete Mahon recently said it was one of the worst places he's ever been, and that wasn't even discussing the logistical nightmare that it was getting there in the first place.

[DannyInvincible]

Poor Kazakhs, they have had England and now Ireland and I bet that film will be a talking point whn they come to Dublin.

I should hope not. The joke's been done to death, seems to completely miss the satirical point behind the character's creation in that it perpetuates the ignorance of the Western world Sacha Baron Cohen was obviously ridiculing and is undeniably insulting/racist. I cringe when I hear people still going on about it with any mention of Kazakhstan just in the same way I cringe when I see things like this:

Anyway...

[paul_oshea]

That black guys accent isn't bad at the end

[Crosby87]

In Fairness Danny the he also picked Kazakhstan b/c of the rampant anti-semitism there. Which you I am sure would not excuse.
However as Pineapple pointed out the movie is from 2006 so who cares. I cannot imagine it being a big deal and how many Kazakhies are really going to travel to Dubs anyway? They will be lucky if they can get the team over here.
Incidentally the funniest Borat thing is from the HBO show where he is on a farm and pretends to not know what a chicken is. What the **** is that thing? Farmer: Its a chicken. Borat: A whhhaaat?
I dont care what year it is, that is still funny.

[paul_oshea]

Except he reused the joke from when he was Ali G over here about 10 years ago on Channel 4....

[Brendan 82]

I can't find any info about whether or not the playoffs will be seeded. I'm sure fifa will adjust things to their liking if need be.

[paul_oshea]

There was something during the week about it still being seeded. It is definitely seeded like before.

[BonnieShels]

first reaction is that I'd only swap our group for A, B or possibly E. So we didn't get a good draw, but not the worst draw either that's clearly Group I
Should beat all the lower seeds. As said above, we can beat Sweden, Sweden can beat us. Germany to top the group, it's what they do.
not ecstatic about it, not disappointed with it.

G is pretty terrible too.

[Closed Account 2]

The draw is ok, I think we can aim for second. Germany are a pain because they are the best 1st seed in terms of grinding out results. By that I mean that even if we were to somehow get 2 draws or a win and a defeat against them, the Germans are very unlikely to slip up against the Swedes, Austrians (they actually just beat them in Vienna a few weeks ago, 2-1 out played at times but like a typical German they still won) and there is no chance the Germans will drop points in Kazakhstan or the Faroe Islands. Müller is also a sensational player, if he was Spanish people on here would be creaming themselves about him - I still think the Germans would have won in Durban if he hadnt been suspended. The Germans are very very slick, in Durban the Australians created a few chances against them but were still punished 4-0. Russia played them in Dortmund in October 2009 and were sensational, hitting the post and bar (Dzagoev ran the show) but the Russians still lost.

I think had we drawn the Spanish or even the Dutch, we might have had a chance of them dropping one or two points against the other teams (as we will invariably do).

Sweden really aren't all that good. They are well organised and can be a physical threat. But they have big weaknesses at the back, their best defenders are past it Mellburg (33) Majsterovic and Petter Hanson (both 34), their only reliable defender with a bit of pace is the lad at Genoa Grandquist. In midfield they have a lot of average ball winners, but a lack of creativity. Wilhelmsonn looked like a promising player but has utterly stagnated since he moved to the Middle East, Kallestrom is ok but not massivly creative, he's no Johnas Turn he's a bit of a poor man's Hackan Mild. There is a lot of hype about Albin Ekdal, but he's yet to play for them and he hasnt set the world alight in a very mundane Juventus side. They do have Ibrahimovic upfront and Elmander too, but these are both immobile strikers and if we can cut of the creativity they shouldnt be too much of a handfull, they've no real pace which is a good thing looking at our back line. I'd be more worried about Rosenburg or Markus Burg running at our center backs, but they've faced pacier attackers in the past and shut them out. We should be beating the Swedes at home and aiming for a draw away. They were lucky to get to Euro 2008, getting a 3-0 default in Copenhagen against the Danes after a mad home fan struck the ref, which caused the game to be abandoned. If the Danes had won that they would have finished ahead of Sweden and made it to Euro 2008. Northern Ireland beat the Swedes 2-1 in Windsor Park and drew 1-1 away. In WC2010 qualification they were beaten home and away by the Danes 1-0 home and away, drew 0-0 with Portugal home and away and drew 0-0 in Albania. People are saying their current form (in Euro2012s) good, to an extend that's true, but theyve yet to face their hardest away games (aside from in Holland where they went down 4-1), their remaining games are Hungary away, Finland away, Holland at home and San Marino away, I'll be surprised if they get more than 4-5 points from those.

[DannyInvincible]

Sounds like a good summary.

Groups E and G really are weak groups. Such an outcome was probably made all the more inevitable with Norway and Greece in the first pot.

Do people reckon this group is easier or tougher than our qualification group for Euro 2008, which also featured Germany? Fair enough, we didn't qualify then, but I think that group was tougher, albeit with an extra team. Sweden might be around the same level as the Czechs were then (or are they?), but I don't think Austria are as good as Slovakia would have been. They'd be more on a par with Cyprus (embarrassing 5-2 drubbing aside) or maybe Wales then. Would that be a fair assessment? Six points has to be the aim with Austria if we're to entertain any hope of qualification.

Kazakhstan are ranked lower than the likes of Liechtenstein. They can't really pose a huge deal of threat, can they? Surely we should expect a guaranteed 12 points from them and the Faroes or we might as well just pack it in now? As should Sweden and Germany, however, I suspect. Interestingly, Germany, Austria and Kazakhstan are all competing in the same Euro 2012 qualifying group at the minute. Germany are romping home to a first-place finish in that with the other two doing relatively poorly. Austria's most impressive result to date would have to be a 4-4 away draw against Belgium. Otherwise, their only points came against Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, losing their other home game with Belgium along with their Germany and Turkey games.

[MeathDrog]

Germany beatable? LOL.

[mypost]

I don't think Austria are as good as Slovakia would have been. They'd be more on a par with Cyprus (embarrassing 5-2 drubbing aside) or maybe Wales then. Would that be a fair assessment? Six points has to be the aim with Austria if we're to entertain any hope of qualification.

Austria took 6 points off us the last time we played them. They're not rubbish like Cyprus, and will be a real banana skin. There's no Andorra, San Marino or Lichtenstein in the group, the Faroes have obviously improved enough to climb a pot, so no real 6 point pushovers for us in the group.