All Whites Drawn With World Cup Holders
Story by Jeremy Ruane

NB All dates and times quoted below are NZ time.

New Zealand has been drawn with holders Italy in Group F at the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals in South Africa, following the draw ceremony in the Cape Town International Conference Centre on December 5.

The All Whites will kick off their first Finals campaign in twenty-eight years against another European nation, Slovakia, in Rustenburg on June 15, before tackling the Italians in Nelspruit six days later.

The final group clash is against Paraguay in Polokwane on June 25, while Durban or Pretoria will be the next South African venue on the list should the All Whites progress to the round of sixteen.

While not the easiest of the eight groups in the finals, it is certainly not the toughest. The “Group of Death” tag in 2010 unquestionably goes to Group G, which features Brazil, Ivory Coast, North Korea and Portugal.

The opening match of the Finals, between hosts South Africa and Mexico, takes place in Johannesburg’s Soccer City on June 12, with Uruguay and France, the other countries in Group A, clashing in Cape Town later that day.

Australia have drawn tasty opposition in Germany, Ghana and Serbia, while England find themselves in a group from which they should progress comfortably. Algeria, Slovenia and the USA comprise their opponents.

Spain, too, should advance from a group in which Chile, Honduras and Switzerland make up their opposition, while close-run affairs are likely to materialise in the remaining groups, with some entertaining encounters likely.

Argentina find themselves encountering Greece, Nigeria and South Korea - by no means an easy group - while Holland will lock horns with Cameroon, Denmark and Japan in the initial stages of the world’s biggest sporting event in the first year of the millennium’s second decade.

The full draw (with teams in alphabetical order) reads:

Group A:
France, Mexico, South Africa, Uruguay

Group B:
Argentina, Greece, Nigeria, South Korea

Group C:
Algeria, England, Slovenia, USA

Group D:
Australia, Germany, Ghana, Serbia

Group E:
Cameroon, Denmark, Holland, Japan

Group F:
Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay, Slovenia

Group G:
Brazil, Ivory Coast, North Korea, Portugal

Group H:
Chile, Honduras, Spain, Switzerland

New Zealand’s schedule:
June 15, v. Slovakia in Rustenburg at 11.30pm
June 21, v. Italy in Nelspruit at 2am
June 25, v. Paraguay in Polokwane at 2am