WORLD CUP 2006 GERMANY

The stage is set for a great tournament. The groups have been decided, we already knew who the 32 teams were - the 32 nations whose players would compete for the most famous, prized & loved trophy in the entire planet - the FIFA World Cup. Let's face it, there is only one true World CUp, everything else is just for show. This is the only competetion which is true to the word "WORLD" as almost every nation (and the ones that don't attempt to take part are truly worthless and should be assimilated by a bigger country near you) enters in some point of the qualification stage. So earlier this year the final qualified teams were known, some countries that should have made it didn't and many tears were sprung. Now let's get down to the main course. (Note:- Even if India is not in it and has never ever qualified and doesn't even seem remotely near qualification, watch me & several of my countrymen go bonkers during the matches). The World Cup draw was staged amid elaborate pomp, circumstance and ceremony in Leipzig. But the razzmataz was a mere distraction as the 32 countries who will participate in the World Cup finals next Summer in Germany waited anxiously to findg out exactly who they will face in the group stage of the global jamboree... Why Liepzig? For one thing it was where the German Fooball Federation was founded 105 years ago. And for another, it was where the first peaceful protests were held that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the uniificaton of Germany. And the special guests who helped make the draw included some famous World Cup faces: Roger Milla Christian Karembeu Johan Cruyff Cobi Jones Pele Masashi Naklayama Lothar Matthaus Lucas Radebe. Once they got down to business, the composition of the eight groups, each of four teams, graduall became known. And here is it what it looks like:

GROUP A
Germany, Ecuador, Poland, Costa Rica

GROUP B
England, Paraguay, Sweden, Trinidad & Tobago

GROUP C
Argentina, Holland, Serbia & Montenegro, Ivory Coast

GROUP D
Mexico, Angola, Portugal, Iran

GROUP E
Italy, Ghana, Czech Republic, USA

GROUP F
Brazil, Australia, Croatia, Japan

GROUP G
France, Togo, Switzerland, South Korea

GROUP H
Spain, Tunisia, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia

I can't wait for the World Cup to start and my picks for the group stage are England vs Sweden, Italy vs Czech Rep & ofcourse Argentina vs Holland.

Song for the day - "Big City Nights" - SCORPIONS