FIFA is urging South Africa to spread word about the 2010 World Cup.

You would think that the World Cup, the largest and most prestigious international football competition, could sell itself, but apparently that’s not the case:

World Cup Organising Committee chief executive officer Danny Jordaan criticised what he saw as a lack of enthusiasm in the country.

“There is only one country that will host this World Cup and that is South Africa. And yet you find countries like Canada, Australia are more enthusiastic it seems than our own South African population,” he said.

Ouch.

Maybe one of the reasons why the World Cup has not been attracting the sort of attention FIFA expects is because of the precarious positions of some traditional powers:

France sits in third place in European qualifying Group 7 at 1-1-1, trailing Serbia and Lithuania by a whopping five points. Les Bleus are in jeopardy of falling even further behind on March 28, when they play at Lithuania.

The top team in each European group advances to South Africa, and the second-place teams are paired into two-leg playoffs for a spot. But the real danger for France is finishing out of the top two and being eliminated altogether. Austria and Romania are also tied with France at four points, and one of them could get hot as well.

“Nobody said it would be easy, especially not me,” beleaguered coach Raymond Domenech told reporters recently. “We still have matches to play. Qualification plays itself out in a series of matches.”

The French public is less convinced. In the last home qualifier, the 80,000-seat Stade de France was barely half full.

Portugal
Imagine this scenario: The world’s best player not in the World Cup.

The problem for Cristiano Ronaldo, the reigning FIFA Player of the Year, and Portugal is not their distance from first place in European Group 1; they’re only two points out of the top spot. The problem is how many teams are ahead of them.

The 2006 semifinalists are 1-1-2 and tied with Sweden for fifth place in the seven-team group, and Sweden has played one fewer game. That makes the March 28 qualifier against the Swedes in Porto even more of a must-win. After that, the next three are on the road.

What got Portugal, now coached by Carlos Queiroz after Felipe Scolari left for Chelsea, into this mess was a 3-2 loss at home to Denmark.

Said Ronaldo: “I know that from now on everything will be more complicated.”