ENGLAND SEEDED FOR WORLD CUP
England have been named as one of the seeds for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany and will go into the tournament with the official tag as the second-best side on the planet.
Sven-Goran Eriksson's side came out second behind Brazil in the seedings system devised by FIFA's World Cup organising committee and announced in Leipzig on Tuesday.
As one of the eight top seeds, it means England will be kept apart from other other footballing heavyweights for the group stage of the tournament. Hosts Germany, holders Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Italy, Spain and France are also seeded.
This is the first time England will have been seeded since 1990 and could prove helpful to their chances - although they still managed to qualify from their their 'group of death' in the 2002 finals against Argentina, Sweden and Nigeria.
Eriksson expressed his delight after the announcement.
He said: "I think it's the right decision. We are one of the teams that have the potential to do very well in Germany and we have some of the best players in the world.
"Finishing top of our qualification group with the second-best record in the whole of Europe was a big achievement and I'm sure that has played a part in this decision.
"This is a big boost but, when the tournament starts, we must show on the pitch why we have been seeded.
"There are many very good sides that are going to be in Germany but I don't think that too many will want to face England."
Eriksson added on Sky Sports News: "I'm very happy we are seeded because we will avoid a lot of good teams in the group stages - it means we are doing very well.
"Maybe the performance against Argentina helped but it's very difficult to know what the rules for seedings were - it was very complicated.
"It's the World Cup so you know you have to meet some very good teams. Holland, Portugal, Sweden and the Czech Republic are all good teams.
"I have always been very confident we can win the World Cup.
"If we have all the players available we are one of four, five or six teams who can win it.
"But you need a bit of luck and all players to be available - let's hope they are all available in May."
The rest of the teams will be drawn on a geographical basis so that, for example, two African sides are not in the same group and not more than two European teams in one group.
The winner and runner-up in each group will go through to the last 16 knock-out phase, but even with the seedings there is still every chance of a tough group.
Football Association chairman Geoff Thompson said the seedings announcement was "excellent news" but warned that did not guarantee an easy draw on Friday - for example, England could still be drawn in a group with Holland, the Ivory Coast and 2002 semi-finalists Korea.
Thompson said: "You have only got to look at some of the unseeded European teams to see how strong the competition is.
"The emerging nations give a very good account of themselves these days so it is never going to be easy.
"At least we are seeded and that is good for the team and for the country as we were not seeded last time and it should give us an advantage."
FIFA's seeding system looked at teams' records in the 2002 and 1998 finals and their world ranking over the last three years and the major casualties were the USA and Holland.
Under the seedings system Brazil have 64 points followed by England (51), Spain (50), Germany (48), Mexico (47), France (46), Argentina (44) and Italy (44). The USA had 43 points and Holland 38.
Under the system, performances at the 2002 World Cup were given twice as much weight as at 1998, and the only surprise was that FIFA decided against using performances at the 1994 finals.
That greatly helped England who did not qualify for 1994 but made the quarter-finals in Japan and Korea for years ago.
Germany will be in Group A and Brazil in Group F, but the other sides will not know their groups until the actual draw on Friday.
Thompson said it was "entirely fair" that the 1994 tournament was not used because there were 32 teams in the last two World Cups and only 24 in 1994.
"It is right to use consistent criteria," he added. "It means that England are actually ranked second behind Brazil and I am absolutely delighted about that and it is a good result at the end of a successful qualifying campaign."
As hosts and holders, Germany and Brazil have been guaranteed the larger facilities and the larger stadiums in the competition.
FIFA confirmed the 23-man squads for the World Cup must be submitted by May 15 and no player will be allowed to appear for their clubs afterwards.
The only exception is the Champions League final on May 17.
FIFA general secretary Urs Linsi said: "We do not want burnt-out players coming to the World Cup. They have to have sufficient time to recover and to prepare with their national team.
"The 23 players on the list will not be available for any other competition after May 15, apart from the Champions League final on May 17."
Although it was originally thought that World Cup players will not be allowed to take part in the Football League play-off matches if their clubs are involved in those games after May 15, the FA have dispelled this fear.
"The FA have assured us that there is an understanding in place with FIFA that will enable players to play in the Championship play-offs," said a Football League spokesman.
"We are confident that this issue will be resolved."
Friday's draw will work in the following way:
The eight seeded teams in pot 1 (Germany, Brazil, England, Argentina, Mexico, Italy, Spain, France) will be drawn into eight different groups. Germany have already been allocated Group A and Brazil Group F.
The countries in pot 2 (Angola, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Tunisia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Australia) will be drawn into eight different groups.
Eight unseeded European sides in pot 3 (Croatia, Czech Republic, Holland, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine) will be drawn into the eight different groups.
The lowest-ranked European side Serbia and Montenegro will be allocated to one of the groups containing either Brazil, Argentina or Mexico to ensure there is no more than two European sides in any group.
Pot four (containing Iran, Japan, Korea, Saudi Arabia, USA, Costa Rica and Trinidad) drawn into seven different groups.
