Ok, who esle thinks Iraq-US in confederations 09 would be a great piece of theater?

Wow.

Looking forward to the Iraq/USA group matchup in the Confederations Cup in 09'

Ok, who esle thinks Iraq-US in confederations 09 would be a great piece of theater?

This is a clear indicator that the country is making great progress. Could Iraq have won the Asian Cup if Saddam were in power? Of course not. President Bush sends his congratulations to the team and to the country and would welcome a soccerball match between Iraq and America should it occur.

USA vs Iraq would be a ratings and media blockbuster for soccer, but it's possible both teams are not in the same group. I think they have a drawing for it. Should be interesting.

Mission Accomplished!

I first became aware that Iraq had won at around noon local time when a small convoy of Iraqis came parading down Route 7 in Falls Church, hanging out the windows, honking horns and waving Iraqi flags. Thankfully, they abstained from the traditional firing of automatic weapons into the air.

This is nice for everyone. Congrats to Iraq. This is just could for the soul.

Now if this means I avoid deploying again, I'll be speechless.

"I first became aware that Iraq had won at around noon local time when a small convoy of Iraqis came parading down Route 7 in Falls Church, hanging out the windows, honking horns and waving Iraqi flags. Thankfully, they abstained from the traditional firing of automatic weapons into the air."

Well they didn't refrain from firing here in Kirkuk. I had two bullets land with 25 feet of me yesterday while playing softball. Needless to say, I'm NEVER pulling for Iraq to win another game.

good for Iraq. The country needs something positive, that's for sure.

If there is a U.S vs Iraq game in the Confed Cup of '09 this will be the first time that a team will be SUPER motivated to play the U.S.

I know I shouldn't be, but I was surprised by how much press this has received today. Sports updates had it and it was even on the frontpage of USA Today(although there were no pie charts or graphs to go along with it). Too bad just about nobody cares or knows what the Asian Cup is or what it means for Iraqi soccer.

I love soccer so everything you are about to read is fact. Well, the FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009 will be full of good matches in the first round. It is very easy to group everything now that we have 5 qualified teams: South Africa (host nation), Italy (World Champions), Brazil (South American champion), United States (North American champion), and Iraq (Asian champion). For the sake of the presentation, we will say the European champions are Holland, the African champions are Cameroon, and the Oceanian champions are New Zealand. There are a few rules FIFA uses to group teams in the tournament. This are the rules from the most important to least:

1- The host nation and world champions always gets seeded separetly. (Top seeds)

2- The European champions and South American champions gets seeded separately. (Second seeds)

3- No 2 teams from the same continent can be seeded in the same group in round 1. (Third seeds)

4-In the event that Italy also win the EuroCup then the runner-up in the World Cup will take the place (France) so there will be 2 European teams regardless.

5-In the case that South Africa become African champions then the spot will be given to the runner-up the in African Cup of Nations.

With those rules in mind the groups are looking like this:

Group A: South Africa , Holland, ?, ?
Group B: Italy , Brazil , Cameroon, ?

Now we have USA, Iraq, and New Zealand as left overs. Since Group B is obviously stronger then Group A at the momment, FIFA seeds the left-overs (USA and Iraq) according from strongest to weakest. Out of the three, North America is considered the strongest. After them come Asia and then Oceania. Since Group A have the weakest teams FIFA will put the strongest of the 3 (USA and Iraq) in Group A. That leaves New Zealand in Group B. Now the groups look like this:

Group A: South Africa , Holland, United States, Iraq

Group B: Italy , Brazil , Cameroon, New Zealand

So there it is. Everything makes sense. We have 3 great matches brewing in 2 years:

Italy vs Brazil: Only one word can define this one....REMATCH!!!!

USA vs Iraq: do I need to say anything

South Africa vs Euro Champions; For the sake of seeing the improvement in the team.

So what does everyone think?

I guess I'm a "soccer fan first, a person second."

"...FIFA seeds the left-overs (USA and Iraq) according from strongest to weakest."

Will FIFA bother seeding the leftovers at all, as opposed to a random draw? In all other FIFA-sponsored tournaments, from the WC and WWC on down, the second through fourth spots in four-team groups are pretty much filled at random, subject to a few geographical constraints to prevent the likes of a USA-Mexico matchup in group play. That accounts for the inevitable "group of death" in any tournament, which could easily be avoided if they took seeding more seriously.

>> If there is a U.S vs Iraq game in the Confed Cup of '09 this will be the first time that a team will be SUPER motivated to play the U.S.>>

Actually, no. US/Iran at the '98 World Cup was about the same.