Dutch loom as threat in World Cup draw

Defending champion Brazil and host Germany were automatically seeded while the governing body handed Argentina, England, France, Italy, Mexico and Spain the other top spots. Those eight teams can't meet each other in the first round of next summer's monthlong tournament.

The Netherlands, runner-up in 1974 and '78 and ranked third by FIFA, is in a pot with seven more European teams: Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine.

Ruud van Nistelrooy, Roy Makaay and Arjen Robben give the Dutch have a strong attacking line to complement experienced goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.

"I really don't want to play against the Netherlands again," said striker Kevin Kuranyi, who was on the German team that tied the Dutch 1-1 at the 2004 European Championship and went out in the first round.

German great Franz Beckenbauer, who led the national team to a World Cup final victory over the Netherlands in 1974, isn't worried.

"Holland has a strong team again -- that has been the case traditionally," he said. "But it is not a disaster if we meet the Dutch in the preliminary round. After all, two teams will progress."

The 32 teams will be divided into eight groups of four, separated on the basis of geography and talent.

The United States, playing in the World Cup for the fifth time in a row and a quarterfinalist three years ago, will be kept apart from CONCACAF neighbors Costa Rica and Trinidad and Tobago and also can't be drawn to face seeded Mexico.

Also in the U.S. pot are the four Asian teams -- Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea. The Americans, coached by Bruce Arena, also could wind up against the Brazilians, Dutch and Serbs.

Despite the wealth of talent at his disposal, Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira would like to avoid tough teams.

"It would be good to avoid what happened to Argentina and France in 2002," he said, referring to the first-round exits of Argentina and defending champion France.

"We cannot allow that to happen again," said Argentine star Lionel Messi, who awaits his first major tournament at age 18. "I am sure Argentina has a very strong team and the players have the will to win the title. ... We would like to avoid playing against one of those strong teams in the first round."

The format sets up the possibility of the Dutch playing Brazil or Germany in the group phase. Although two teams will advance from each group, whoever is drawn to play against the Dutch could be in danger if it gets some tricky teams from the other two pots.

That's why Australia should be feared. Although the Australians have not played in the World Cup since 1974, they beat two-time winner Uruguay in a playoff to reach Germany 2006. They also have several stars from the English Premier League and one of the most respected coaches.

Guus Hiddink, a Dutchman who led the Netherlands to the semifinals in 1998 and South Korea to third place at the last World Cup in 2002, has been in charge of the Australians since July.

Other outsiders include African qualifiers Angola, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Tunisia, and South America's Ecuador and Paraguay. With talents such as Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill, however, Australia could provide a first-round shock.

Australia is the only one of the 32 teams in the draw that could face any of the other 31. The others are all limited to a degree because teams from their own confederations are in the draw.

Because of the way the teams have been separated, there's the possibility of a tough group, such as Brazil, Netherlands, Australia and Serbia-Montenegro.

The Serbs, the lowest ranked of the 14 European teams, have been put into a special pot so they will avoid going into a group with two other teams from their confederation. That means Serbia must play against either Brazil, Argentina or Mexico in the first round.

A comparatively easy group would be Mexico, Togo, Switzerland and Saudi Arabia.<