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Bafana to play 2010 qualifiers
23/11/2007 12:14 - (SA)
Durban - South Africa will play in the 2010 Soccer World Cup qualifiers although guaranteed a place at the finals as hosts.
Bafana Bafana need to compete because the World Cup fixtures also count toward the African Nations Cup to be staged by Angola a few months before the quadrennial international football showpiece.
It is the first time a World Cup host has played in the qualifying rounds since 1934 champions Italy defeated Greece 4-0 in Milan a few months before lifting the trophy.
And the qualifiers could prove a blessing, offering a Bafana Bafana squad struggling under 1994 World Cup-winning coach Carlos Alberto Parreria of Brazil precious competitive practice.
South Africa are among 48 countries who will be split into 12 groups on Sunday during a World Cup qualifying draw that includes Asia, Europe and Concacaf, the North and Central America football region.
The winners of each African round-robin pool plus the best eight runners-up advance to the third and final stage where winners of five four-nation groups secure slots at the first World Cup to be staged in Africa.
If South Africa top a third-round group, the runners-up will qualify for a competition never won by Africa with Cameroon (1990) and Senegal (2002) going furthest by reaching the quarter-finals.
Officials in the Indian Ocean city say the rankings of world football governing body Fifa will determine the seedings, meaning 1998 and 2002 qualifiers South Africa are unlikely to be among the 12 top seeds.
Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke said the seedings had been decided, but would not be announced until approved by the World Cup organising committee a day before the draw.
South Africa are ranked 17th in Africa and another country set for a second seed is Angola, shock qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup in Germany at the expense of star-studded Nigeria.
Togo, the other unexpected 2006 qualifiers from Africa, will have to play all three second-round home matches in a neutral country as punishment for crowd violence last month that left two Mali players needing medical help.
The top three teams in each third-round group qualify for the 2010 African Nations Cup plus Angola, who are set to become only the second country in the region after South Africa to host the biennial continental championship.
- AFP
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