The Official Draw and Dates for World Cup Qualifying took place in Johannesburg, South Africa earlier today, and included CONCACAF Hexagonal dates. There will be two meetings between CONCACAF champions USA, who will play at next year’s FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa, and rivals Mexico, who only managed to sneak into the final qualifying section after picking up one point from their last three games, including losses to Jamaica and Honduras.  Coach Bradley is happy.

**The first installment of the trans-Rio Grande clasico between the US and Mexico will take place in the US on Wednesday 11 February, while the return leg in Mexico will be staged on Wednesday 12 August.**

Full CONCACAF Schedule after the jump…

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We’re about two years away from World Cup 2010. I’m a huge fan of the game and have always wanted to attend a World Cup since I watched Italy win in 82. However the current World Cup 2010 news is not good at all: The South African stadium contruction is way behind schedule because of strikes, there’s a huge shortage of hotel space, transportation is poor, local violence and cultural tension in SA is way up, airfares on US carriers are skyrocketing, Blatter is talking to several backup (and more convenient) countries, and the world economy is in the tank. For the first time, I am thinking I don’t want to go - I don’t want to spend the money, I don’t want to be in an unsafe environment, I don’t want to risk anything happening down there so far from the US/Europe. Maybe a trip to London and watching in some pubs would be an overall better option. Maybe I should take the money and buy a 60 inch hi-def Samsung and watch from my couch. I am leaning against the trip…

But what do you think? Are you planning on going to South Africa, assuming it will be there? Would you prefer another locale? Are my concerns about the danger of the place real or not? Where do you plan on watching the World Cup? Thoughts?

DOUBLE UPDATE - Looks like Germany is out of contention if FIFA deems South Africa unable to host the 2010 World Cup after the DFB’s Theo Zwanziger admitted his country could not match the success of the 2006 World Cup.

UPDATE - Looks like our man Sepp is pretty worried about South Africa, especially when FIFA admits to speaking with THREE different Football Associations about the possibilities of hosting the 2010 World Cup on short notice.

“I have spoken to three possible, not only possible, but three associations and countries that would be able to stage the World Cup in one year’s time,” Blatter said in an interview broadcast on Thursday by Sky News. “They need one year (to prepare).”

This is not looking good for either FIFA or South Africa. Can you imagine what South Africa’s going to do if this World Cup is pulled from them after starting construction on four new stadiums throughout the country?

Will South Africa be ready to host the 2009 Confederations Cup, the warm up tournament for all South Africans venues set to host the 2010 World Cup?

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UPDATE -  They ended up moving the date to July 12th at Allianz Arena in Germany, but everything is a go for Goal4Africa and Nelson Mandela’s 90th Birthday Celebration on July 18th.

Clarence Seedorf, Rino Gattuso, Gigi Buffon, Emmanuel Adebayor, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, and Fabio Cannavaro are just a few of the 40 players coming together in the highly symbolic match.

The Humanitarian Initiative Goal4Africa was conceived from a simple idea, education and football.

On July 18th at the Allianz Arena in Munich, world stars Clarence Seedorf (the 1st Global Ambassador for Goal4Africa), Steven Gerrard, Rino Gattuso and Kaka will play a two team World All-Star match in celebration of Nelson Mandela’s 90th Birthday and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The campaign will continue to run up to the 2010 World Cup with the goal being to raise $90 million, with fans being able to pledge money for every goal scored by their favorite team over the next two years.

image via JCI

I got an email from a friend of mine today, “Start dreaming about it…” he says, and attaches the link below. He’s a nut like me, huge soccer fan, travels to US and FCD games, brings his cowbell, gets his occasional internet-rant on, enjoys a pint or three, and likes a good soccer babe.

We get along great. Funny thing is, I barely know the guy. I have no idea what his last name is or what he does. I’ve never seen him outside a stadium. But as you can see, he’s trying to ramp me up for WC 2010.

This next World Cup is going to be CRAZY too - everybody 10,000 miles from home (and commitments) and spending loads to sleep 10 to a room (if your lucky and not in a game park - with man eating bears!). I’ll be straight with you - I’ve got no money for this. I need a new car. I want a big new tv. I want to be settled down by then. Why can’t I settle down? Heck, I want a house! This isn’t convenient!!!

Man, I feel it starting….

http://www.southafrica.info/2010/vuvuzela.htm

FC Uptown

Image via Vuvuzela

South African Sports Minister Makhenkesi Stofile wins the award for the 2nd Dumbest Thing said all week, with “We’ll contract the players and tell the coach to work with them” two years before the 2010 World Cup.

Quick question, doesn’t that mean you’ll have to get all those signatures within the next 3-4 months?

The main reason behind Sotfile’s stance, “We have to prevent THEM from embarrassing US”. Trust me Minister, you’re gonna have bigger problems to worry about than the team you turn out.

How about saving yourself all the money you’d be spending (by forcing your players to sign less than legit contracts or be nationally vilified for not being South African enough) and focus on ummm, let’s say Rolling Blackouts and Violence.

image via SRSA

South Africa will get a test run in the form of the 2009 Confederations Cup.  With kickoff set for June 14th at Port Elizabeth and a stadium that has yet to be completed, Sepp Blatter will definitely find out if South Africa is capable of holding such a huge event.

Host South Africa, World Cup holder Italy and the six regional champions in the form of Iraq, Egypt, United States and Brazil will be fighting for a kitty of $3.75 million to the winner.  $3.25 million will go to the runner-up and the rest receiving $1.4 million for their troubles.

image via SoccerSafari

This British school teacher, Kate Drew decided to live a little dangerously on a Zimbabwean game reserve and as you can see, it quickly got out of control.  Amazingly the 28 year old made it out alive with only 13 stitches and a few stains on her tank top from the 400lb lion.

image via DailyMail

There has been all kinds of talk about whether or not South Africa will be ready to host the 2010 World cup. The tournament is only two years away, and apparently they have a very long way to go to be ready. With all that needs to be done, it has come out that South African Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi has proposed that prostitution be legalized for the World Cup. The argument being that this would not only free up police and security officers, but also make it the “best world Cup possible.” Now I want to see South Africa succeed and host an incredible tournament, but I’m not so sure that legalized prostitution should be your game plan for making it great. The next couple of years are going to be interesting. I hope South Africa can pull this one off, but there is lots of chatter about FIFA moving the World Cup if South Africa doesn’t get their ish together. Stay tuned for this one…

image via LastKick

In 2 years South Africa will be the host the FIFA World Cup, 2010 edition. But since the announcement, questions have plagued Sepp Blatter and FIFA as to whether South Africa could really pull this event off. New stadium construction delays, violence (the murder of an Austrian footballer during the FIFA delegations) and poverty continue to hang over the heads of the South African delegation, but rolling blackouts and power failures could be their downfall. A couple of years ago the United States experienced a smaller form of these rolling blackouts, but when the economy already faces a 25% unemployment rate and businesses are losing money, food and essential production (remember the mining of gold and platinum) each and everyday, questions may start arising as to whether it might be necessary to move the tournament to a more stable location. This story in the NY Times is a must read.