Nov. 22 – The countdown to select the groups at Costa do Sauipe has begun. Now that the 32 participants to the June/July World Cup are known, on December 6 we will also know what their first matches will look like. And Prandelli’s Italy did not manage to rank well enough to be one of the 8 seeded teams, and will therefore play against Brazil, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Belgium, Switzerland, Colombia, or Uruguay. Ranking first in the group will be a harder task then, if the hosts, world and European champions, the Germans or the Seleccion are in the same group… But at least Italy can take comfort in the fact that the team will not face immediately its European neighbous: England, Portugal, the Netherlands, Russia, Greece, Croatia and Bosnia are all in the same pot. The exception is France, which is in pot 3; but Italy and France will compete in the same group only if the group seeded team is Brazil, Argentina, Colombia or Uruguay, as regulation prohibits more than two European teams playing in the same group. As for the other teams in pot 3 and 4, the Italian team needs to keep its eyes open for surprises, but it should also be well prepared for the challenge.
