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Live from Leipzig for the World Cup draw

December 9th, 2005

Five teams right now look like favorites to win the title: Italy, England, Argentina, Brazil, and Spain. France and Germany need breaks but can challenge; smart coaches are hoping their team can avoid having to face Holland, the Czechs or Ghana early on.

(2:23 ET) FIFA President Sepp Blatter and ex-FIFA president Joao Havelange have just entered the Messe Congress Hall for the Final Draw ceremony …

Well, we’re about an hour away from the start of the draw for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

The actual draw itself will take place between 8:20-8:50 p.m. local time (2:20-2:50 p.m ET) and the rest of the show will be filled with supermodels, adidas soccer balls and Franz Beckenbauer.

When the World Cup was last here in 1974, the draw wasn’t this big a deal. Remember: these were the days prior to big TV money entering the picture and the draw was a quiet, quick affair.

The mood is tense: Here in the hall adjacent to the draw ballroom, some 2500 journalists are fretting and fussing; I would guess that the 1000-some FIFA VIPs and staff are also in high twitter. Certainly the ones walking about here look dazed and pallid; then again, three days under fluorescents will do that to you.

But they’ve got a lot on their mind. This morning, the head of Germany’s policemen’s union fretted that there were too few flatfeet to patrol the areas in cities where matches will be telecast on big-screen TVs. While it would be improper for me not to note that he has a vested interest in this matter, if FIFA thinks the crowds will be as well-behaved as they were in Korea, they’re nuts.

Fact is, Germany is tense with good reason. There have been hooligan incidents, a high-profile ref’fing scandal and questions over FIFA’s methods of selling the tickets. And that’s just the football part of the equation.

Employment here in Leipzig is about 20%, which would make anyone glum. While the vast majority of townspeople have been polite and friendly, there is a palpable air of frustration about with us darned foreigners. I will shamefully admit I am part of the problem — my German is awful — but that said, in 2002, the Koreans didn’t openly sigh or wave folks off who came-a-calling to their businesses with phrase-books in hand and humble expressions on. German Organizing Committee head Franz Beckenbauer has exhorted his countrymen to smile, but even that comes with a caveat: Der Kaiser was quoted as saying: “It’s only for a few weeks.”

Not a good start, folks.

http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/5153676

Entry Filed under: WorldCup2006