Preliminary Draw of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil

[Crosby87]

Can't wait to go to Sweden and come back with Elin Woods twin sister as the new Missus. And 3 points of course.

[eekers]

Swedens form lately has been poor so I think them as a 2nd seed is a relatively ok draw. Germany as about as tough as it gets, they quality year after year without fail. 2nd place is doable, lower seeds are very favourable.

Here's their results from the last 2 years

EURO qualification grp. E 7 Jun 11
Sweden 5-0 Finland

EURO qualification grp. E 3 Jun 11
Moldova 1-4 Sweden

EURO qualification grp. E 29 Mar 11
Sweden 2-1 Moldova

Friendly 9 Feb 11
Sweden 5-6 Ukraine

Friendly 8 Feb 11
Cyprus 0-2 Sweden

Friendly 19 Jan 11
Botswana 1-2 Sweden

Friendly 17 Nov 10
Sweden 0-0 Germany

EURO qualification grp. E 12 Oct 10
Netherlands 4-1 Sweden

EURO qualification grp. E 7 Sep 10
Sweden 6-0 San Marino

EURO qualification grp. E 3 Sep 10
Sweden 2-0 Hungary

Friendly 11 Aug 10
Sweden 3-0 Scotland

Friendly 2 Jun 10
Belarus 0-1 Sweden

Friendly 29 May 10
Sweden 4-2 Bosnia-Herzegovina

Friendly 3 Mar 10
Wales 0-1 Sweden

Friendly 23 Jan 10
Syria 1-1 Sweden

Friendly 20 Jan 10
Oman 0-1 Sweden

That's W12 D2 L1.

That only a loss to Holland, a draw with Germany and a draw with Syria in some winter break friendly.

[pineapple stu]

Delighted with that draw; five great trips. Germany and Torshavn were great trips last time out. Austria and Sweden should be good and convenient to get too, while Kazakhstan will be a real adventure - a place I've always wanted to visit. Nice mix of places.

Going to be tough to get out of though; Germany are usually certs to qualify and Sweden are always very solid in qualifying. Austria could be very tough fourth seeds.

But bring it on! New Fans' Forum threads to start too, and maybe a read over the old Faroes thread.

[paul_oshea]

Sweden's results so far in the Euro's http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro2012/tea...hes/index.html
Austria's results http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro2012/tea...hes/index.html

Sweden dont have any of that crap draw away win at home, as i said. They just win home and away.

[Park_Lane]

We're going to Kazakhstan.

I Like!

[geysir]

It's not a bad group, Germany will have it tough in Austria and Sweden are just the type of team that can take points of them. I'd say we have a 60/40 chance of finishing 2nd and if we improve on what Stan managed against Germany, we could give it a real go. Will Trap still be at the helm? he might be in a wheelchair by then.
The Faroes is the away trip of the group, but shít expensive to get to.

[Bungle]

Overall I'm quietly pleased with the group. My concern would be that the Germans will be very clinical and get through the group fairly easily and we won't have much of a chance of 1st. Sweden are like a mini-Germany in how they tend to qualify and traditionally be very ruthless in the kind of games where we have a history of dropping points.

Germany (one of the best teams in the world. Should win the group with a game or two to spare, but Ireland could on our day draw with them home and away. My head says we'll draw with them in Dublin and lose in Germany).

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).

Austria (could have been much worse with Poland, Bulgaria and Romania. I fancy us to take 4 points off them, but the Swedes will probably take 6 off them).

Faroes (6 points here)

Kazakhstan (pity we didn't get a Malta or a San Marino from this pot. I think we'll just beat them away with a scrappy 1-0; 6 points here. They

Obviously, much can change by the time this group kicks off. I'm sure there'll be some new young Irish lads coming up and playing well in the premiership/championship and some of our current hopes either flourishing or fading away, but I'm hopeful that we'll get 2nd and have a decent chance of qualification.

[DannyInvincible]

Ibrahimavich could be retired from international football by the time we play them.

He's only 30 in October. He's about a year and a half younger than Robbie and no-one's expecting Robbie to hang up his boots. Has Ibrahimović spoken of retiring? In saying that, I've always thought him a bit over-rated with a bad attitude to boot.

[Irwin3]

Going by the UEFA coefficient rankings and the FIFA rankings of UEFA teams, our group has the 'hardest' top 3 teams and the second 'hardest' top 2 teams (Group I with Spain/France having the 'toughest' 2 teams in a group). Basically it's just about as tough as it can get. As has been pointed out above, Sweden are currently enjoying some great form. Hopefully some players are soon to retire/drop off and we can nail that playoff spot (or better ).

[DannyInvincible]

It must be remembered that only the eight best runners-up throughout all the groups qualify for the play-offs. Even if we do manage second position, that alone won't guarantee a play-off place.

[pineapple stu]

Agree with Irwin3; think people are being a bit flippant about Sweden. We really are odds against to be going to Brazil unfortunately.

[paul_oshea]

Not all of us are flippant stu. I pointed out at the very start they are very clinical and always have been.

[mypost]

Delighted with that draw; five great trips. Germany and Torshavn were great trips last time out. Austria and Sweden should be good and convenient to get too, while Kazakhstan will be a real adventure - a place I've always wanted to visit. Nice mix of places.

They're accessible and expensive. All of them. No cheap and cheerful Eastern trips, like now. The team was held up out of the Faroes last time, so christ knows how the fans will get there and back.

On the pitch, not happy with getting the Germans or the Kazachs. Hopefully we can get the Vienna/Germany trips out of the way in the same week. That apart, it's a poor draw.

[tricky_colour]

Tough draw really, there are 9 teams in each pot and we got the 3rd best (by official Fifa rankings).
IncidentallyI think were were the second best team in pot 3.

England got it easy, Montenegro, were they not one of the 5th teams in Euro 2012, yep indeed they
were they were in pot 5 and and they are now englands toughtest opposition!!

What a fix!!!

[tricky_colour]

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

[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...