Pot Observations

By David Patrick Lane | December 2nd, 2009 | 2 Comments

TEN POT OBSERVATIONS.

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1. FIFA got the seedings right. Pot 1 seeds earned their ranking. France did not. France’s final appearance was four years ago.

2. Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay have come out of the pot alignment better than most. Each of the smaller South American nations will avoid the big five African qualifiers in the 1st Round.

3. Argentina and Brazil cannot avoid the African qualifiers from Pot 3. The seeds for two potential Groups of Death have now been sown. Has FIFA put Brazil at risk for an early bath?

4. The most frightening Group of Death would be: Brazil, Mexico, Côte d’Ivoire and Portugal.

5. The dark horse of Pot 2 is Honduras.

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Can Mexico still beat the United States?

By Editor | June 26th, 2009 | No Comments



Mexico’s Giovanni dos Santos looks good in the video, above, scoring twice in a 4-0 win over lowly Venezuela. But can Dos Santos and this teammates play like this in early August when they meet the United States again in regional World Cup qualifiers? Three teams qualify automatically and the US is currently second behind Costa Rica. Mexico is fourth behind Honduras. Though Mexico has won all their home games (they’ve been less successful on the road), their neighbors, the United States–now also gloating from beating world number one, Spain–currently has Mexico’s number. Which just makes football fan and actor Diego Luna (quoted in lad magazine, COMPLEX) depressed:

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