England got lucky with the World Cup draw, but are France being punished for Thierry Henry's handball? Martin Lipton's Big Lunchtime Read
England caught a lucky break in Cape Town this morning - and it will spark uproar in France.
FIFA's decision to decide the top seeds for Friday's World Cup draw solely on the October world rankings was unprecedented even if it worked out big-time for England.
It ensured England would join South Africa, Brazil, Spain, Holland, Italy, Germany and Argentina in the elite group who will be first out of the hat.
That means Capello will know immediately the date and venue of England's group games, even if not the opponents until they are drawn over the following hour.
Ideally, England will be pulled out as the top seeds in Group G, meaning two games in Johannesburg - one in each of the city's two stadia - and the final group match in Durban.
They would then return to Johannesburg for the last 16 game - assuming they win their pool - and would then play in Nelson Mandela Bay, the first of the two semi-finals in Capetown before returning to Soweto's Soccer City for the Big One on July 11.
Such a timetable would make the planned England headquarters in Rustenburg perfectly situated, just a short drive for four of the games and preventing too much travelling around this vast country.
Of course, the onus would then be on England to demonstrate they are genuine contenders for the greatest prize in the game, rather than just the make-weights they were under Sven Goran Eriksson and both 2002 and 2006, and Glenn Hoddle in 1998.
All will become a great deal clearer at around 7pm on Friday, when the full match schedule will be completed.
But Capello, inspecting the Royal Bafokeng Complex today before arriving in Cape Town for the draw tomorrow, will doubtless be preparing his battle plans already.
Yet while England - and Holland - were the beneficiaries of the seeding decision announced by FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke, France were left convinced they had been punished for Thierry Henry's handball against Ireland.
L'Equipe's initial reaction "La France perd la tete" - France loses its head -reflected disbelief that the runners-up in 2006 had not made the top tier.
It was not anticipated, especially with the influence French football has long had at the high table of the game, not only Platini but other high-ranking officials inside FIFA's Zurich headquarters.
While Valcke insisted the decision was nothing to do with Henry - whose conduct in Paris and the subsequent ramifications have forced this afternoon's extraordinary meeting of FIFA's 24-man ruling executive committee - it sure looked that way.
The fact that UEFA President Michel Platini raised no objections during the Organising Committee meeting suggested the Frenchman knows Les Bleus deserved some comeback for the way they "earned" their berth next summer.
Had the November rankings been used, France and Portugal would have been seeded, with England and Argentina dropping out into the geographical pools - which, in turn, would have been unbalanced, creating a further problem for FIFA.
Any system involving previous tournaments would have seen France stay in the upper tier, with the Dutch missing out, while had the rankings over the previous three years, rather than a one-month snap-shot, France would have been in at the expense of England.
Of course, things will not look so good if England find themselves in the same group as Ivory Coast - Didier Drogba and all - Portugal and Australia or the USA.
But when push comes to shove, what really matters is how you go out and perform, irrespective of the teams you have to beat - after all, you have to out-last all of them if you want to come home with the World Cup in your possession.
Whether England really can do that will be played out for the world to see next June and July.
That is where Capello will have to start earning his corn.
Things may look far harder by Friday evening. But having squeaked into the top tier in the lowest position, England will hope the luck continues to hold.
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