Hiddink: I won't be at South Africa

(PA) Monday 7 December 2009
Russia coach Guus Hiddink will not lead another team to the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™, the Dutchman has revealed.
Hiddink, who does not expect a decision on his future to be made until the new year, has also revealed his disappointment at Russia missing out on the finals after losing out in a play-off to Slovenia on away goals. He also admitted he could not watch the draw for the FIFA World Cup finals.
The 63-year-old, who has been linked with South Africa, Argentina and also Turkey who have not qualified for the finals, told Russian daily Sport Express: "My working relationships with my employers have always been based on the principles of plain speaking and honesty.
"And in this way I can say for sure that I haven't signed contracts with anybody, nor have I even held any talks, neither with clubs nor federations. I won't hide the fact that many have wanted to hold talks. But I have declined them all."

Low: We're stronger now

(AFP) Monday 7 December 2009
Germany coach Joachim Low warned his country's FIFA World Cup™ rivals that his team are 'technically stronger going into the 2010 edition than in 2006.
Germany finished third at the 2006 FIFA World Cup which they hosted and were runners-up to Spain at UEFA EURO 2008 in Austria and Switzerland.
"Tactically we're stronger than in 2006 and 2008," Low said in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. "We haven't shown this ability during all our qualifiers. But when matches became crucial, such as against Russia, we gave an extremely good tactical showing. We wouldn't have been capable of that four years ago."
Despite his confidence in his side, Low is taking nothing for granted in next year's finals in South Africa where Germany have been drawn in Group D with Australia, Serbia and Ghana.
"Those who talk of a lucky draw are badly informed," said Low. Serbia "play an incredibly good level of football, technically perfect and very fast" while Ghana, whom he considers the top African team along with Algeria, are "physical, with great speed and lots of stamina."
Australia will be Germany's first opponent on 13 June in Durban, and Low remains wary. "Australians fear no-one and nothing," he continued. "The players take risks with their British-inspired attitude and have a very positive attitude."

Source: Fifa.com

Draw ignites FIFA World Cup fever

Draw ignites FIFA World Cup fever
(FIFA.com) Friday 4 December 2009
The 32 teams participating at next year's FIFA World Cup™ finals discovered their fate this evening when the Final Draw for South Africa 2010 took place in Cape Town.

While South Africans learned that the host nation's Opening Match on 11 June would be played against Mexico at Soccer City, it was the Group D line-up which caused arguably the biggest stir. Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana will battle it out for two qualifying places for the Round of 16, meaning two nations with passionate support will depart the tournament early. There could be a high-profile casualty from Group G too, after Brazil, Korea DPR, Côte d'Ivoire, Portugal were drawn together.

The world is waiting

The world is waiting
(FIFA.com) Thursday 3 December 2009
The Final Draw of the FIFA World Cup™ is an occasion that the fans of the 32 qualifying nations and football lovers in general always look forward to, though the same cannot be said of the national coaches involved. That same blend of anticipation and dread will be in evidence once more on Friday evening when the Final Draw of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa takes place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

The show gets under way at 19.00 (local time) and no matter who gets drawn with who, there are sure to be some coaches smiling at their good fortune and others who might be more inclined to burst into tears.

The whole of South Africa has been eagerly awaiting this moment since it was given the honour of being the first African country to organise the finals in May 2004. The tournament hosts will be hoping that actress Charlize Theron, one of the country’s best-known ambassadors, will bring them luck when she joins FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke in presenting the Final Draw.

FIFA Organising Committee approves Final Draw procedure

FIFA Organising Committee approves Final Draw procedure
(FIFA.com) Wednesday 2 December 2009
The FIFA Organising Committee approved today the procedure for the Final Draw of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™, which will be held in Cape Town on Friday 4 December. The seeding was based on the October 2009 FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking (which you can see by clicking on the link to the right), and Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina and England are therefore the seven squads that join hosts South Africa as seeded teams for the Final Draw.