What: Fifa World Cup 2010 draw
Where: Cape Town, South Africa
When: December 4, 2009 5pm GMT.
The 32 teams will be seeded in four pots to be confirmed, perhaps, as late as the eve of the draw itself.
The 90-minute ceremony will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. More than 2,000 guests will be present in addition to a media presence of around 800.
2 comments:
http://republicanredefined.com/2009/11/25/world-cup-2010-obamas-next-global-initiative/
As the summer of 2010 draws near, this president will prepare himself to take center stage at the world’s biggest gathering of sports enthusiasts. President Obama will embrace the “world’s game’” at the pinnacle of its spectacle, and will shine brightly as the biggest star at the world’s biggest game in its most unusual of settings. As the Cup ventures to Africa for the first time in the competition’s history, the first African-American President will take full advantage of the opportunity to share his message of a “changed America” with an audience of 700,000,000+ who will tune in for the Final and the more than 5 billion viewers who will watch the full slate of games. For a President committed to “restoring” America’s image in the global community, the World Cup will be his greatest moment. World-wide “apology tours” and UN speeches reach only a limited audience, but the pulpit that is the World Cup will be limitless.
So yes, he will go. He will go and the world will embrace him. He will take with him his message of hope, of change, and of a nation recast in the image of a new and refined face on the world’s stage. He will arrive in Johannesburg not as a conquering hero but as a returning son, and he will attempt to undue the atrocities envisioned in his own mind by bowing at the alter of the world’s greatest game. The only question is whether once the applause stop and the cheers go silent, will anyone truly listen to the Chosen One and his message? Africa embraced Ali because he was a smooth talker and promised big results, upon which he delivered. South Africa rallied around Nelson Mandela because he personified much needed change and his very freedom generated hope, which has helped sustain the country’s march to actualized equality. Will President Obama finally find his moment of redemption where he will for the first time connect with citizens of the world and generate tangible results, or will this simply be another love, apology, and appeasement tour that will do little more than generate hype, big crowds, and adoring audiences but only succeed in diminishing further the nation’s position in the global community? Perhaps a more fitting question to be posed regarding our prognosticating Chief Executive would be – as he fills out his tournament bracket as he did with the NCAA Basketball tournament, will he bet on the United States when he picks a winner or will he think such a choice will represent exceptionalism and lead to yet another apology tour if we should win?
"only succeed in diminishing further the nation’s position in the global community?"
I'm sorry you feel this way. Must be tough for you.
Love, Sanford
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