By Andrew Warshaw in Rio de Janeiro
July 30 – Eighty-one years to the day since Uruguay won the first ever World Cup, the race for Brazil 2014 was launched in earnest today at a glittering $20 milion qualifying draw ceremony that threw up a whole host of intriguing match-ups that will get under way in Septemer next year.
World champions Spain will have to get past France to qualify for the finals after the two countries were drawn together at the end of a sparkling night here.
Spain were the very last country drawn from the pots at the preliminary draw the swish Marina da Gloria that marked the countdown to the first World Cup held in this country since 1950.
Most attention, as usual, was focused on Europe and with France excluded from the pot of top seeds by FIFA’s ranking system – behind the likes of Norway – Les Bleus coach Laurent Blanc was left incredulous with the outcome.
Only the group winners are guaranteed to qualify with the best runners-up having to play off, and France will not want that after their infamous playoff game against the Republic of Ireland when only Thierry Henry’s handball got them to South Africa last summer.
Blanc said: “I don’t understand why France is in the second group?
“Why are Greece, Norway and Croatia are ranked higher?”
German coach Oliver Bierhoff declared himself satisfied after being grouped with Sweden, Ireland, Austria, Faroes Islands and Kazakhstan.
“It’s very intersting for our players play against Ireland,” he said.
“They must be motivated and focused, Ireland is a team that are in such good shape, they have some intersting players that can make things difficult, but I prefer to play in this atmosphere.”
The good and the great of world football thronged the draw ceremony, where strong winds had even torn a hole in the canopy.
They were greeted by a crowd of 200 or so human rights protestors outside, alarmed that poor families would be removed from their homes in preparation for the tournament and the vast majority of the population will not have enough money to pay for tickets.
They were not the ones ones bickering with the organisers.
The Brazilian Government have not seen eye to eye with the local Organising Committee headed by Ricardo Teixeira, the FIFA Executive Committee member and head of the CBF, the Brazilian Football Federation.
Teixeira (pictured above left) even excluded Pele over a long-running feud before the President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, personally intervened to appoint the country’s most iconic sporting figure as their 2014 ambassador.
Just to rub salt into Teixera’s wounds, Pele was given a standing ovation at the draw when Rousseff made a point of singling him out for praise.
England, not for the first time, got lucky in the draw when they headed a group that included Euro 2012 joint hosts Poland and Ukraine, Montenegro, Moldova and San Marino.
The African zone threw up some mouth-watering encounters with Ivory Coast against Morocco the pick of the bunch.
Australia’s clash with Saudi Arabia was the highlight of the Asian draw where Japan and South Korea, the two powerhouses, look to have it relatively easy.
Qatar, the 2022 World Cup hosts, will face Iran, Bahrain and Indonesia.
In the CONCACAF region, the United States should sail through as usual but Mexico may not have it all their own way against Costa Rica while New Zealand, unbeaten in South Africa last year, will again start favourites from Oceania.
The eagerly awaited pageant was the first major test of Brazil’s organisational skills. It over-ran by more than 20 minutes but as colourful ceremonies go, it was compelling stuff, showcasing this country’s many qualities.
“The new Brazil will be ready to dazzle the world,” said Rousseff (pictured with FIFA President Sepp Blatter)
Although they have won the trophy a record five times, this huge nation of 190 million where football never sleeps has not played host for over half-a-century.
So keen were the organisers to ensure the 100-minute draw, televised to a global audience of millions, ran smoothly that Rio’s second largest airport was closed for four hours to avoid the kind of deafening screeching that greeted FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s only news conference here as well as a string of promotional events.
Nearby Santos Dumont International airport receives 43 incoming aircraft on Saturdays and the interrupted flights were transferred to another airport 40 kilometres away, much to the annoyance of those involved.
Just over a year after Spain beat Netherlands in the World Cup final in Johannesburg, the qualifying tournament will involve 824 matches played over 880 days before the identity of the 31 nations joining hosts Brazil in the finals will be known.
Five of FIFA’s six Confederations went into the draw since the South American qualifiers consist of all its member nations, minus Brazil of course, playing against each other home and away in a single group between October 2011 and October 2013.
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