WORLD CUP 2010

[MosJan]

WORLD CUP 2010

FIFA might have agreed on rotation in principal, but, contrary to widely circulated reports, it has not yet agreed that Africa will be the first continent in the rotation.

Michel Zen-Ruffinen, FIFA's general secretary, said rotation has "a lot of potential problems" that have yet to be worked out.

"We have to be sure there'll be a real choice," he said. "Some confederations have more members capable of hosting the World Cup than others, and we have to be sure the pool of potential bidders is as wide as possible."

Meanwhile, former South African national team coach Clive Barker said South Africa, Morocco, Egypt and Nigeria are capable of staging the World Cup.

"I think FIFA has looked at Africa and decided that they can take the risk in 2010 and then they won't have to bring it back to the continent for another 20 years," he said. "They'll have breathing space."

Complicating matters for FIFA is the fact that by 2010 it will have been 32 years since a South American country last staged soccer's showcase event.

Which makes Brazil a good bet for 2014, the year the U.S. wanted the World Cup back.

 

 

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World Cup Qualifiers

SATURDAY'S RESULTS

* Andorra 0, Netherlands 5

* Armenia 2, Wales 2

* Azerbaijan 0, Moldova 0

* Bosnia 1, Austria 1

* Bulgaria 2, Iceland 1

* Croatia 4, Latvia 1

* Cyprus 0, Ireland 4

* England 2, Finland 1

* Germany 2, Albania 1

* Hungary 1, Lithuania 1

* Malta 0, Denmark 5

* Northern Ireland 0, Czech Republic 1

* Norway 2, Poland 3

* Russia 1, Slovenia 1

* Scotland 2, Belgium 2

* Sweden 1, Macedonia 0

* Luxembourg 0, Faroe Islands 2

* Yugoslavia 1, Switzerland 1

* Turkey 1, Slovakia 1

* Spain 5, Liechtenstein 0

* Romania 0, Italy 2

* Ukraine 0, Belarus 0

Note: Home team listed first