'Humble' Irish Request and Final Draw Excitement

Some eyebrows were raised when the Irish FA made a "humble" request to Fifa to consider including Ireland in the World Cup Finals as the 33rd team. The grudging reason as we all know was the controversial play-off exit to France with the aid of Thierry Henry's 'magical' hand.

According to Fifa president Sepp Blatter, Ireland did make the request but he ruled out the possibility of allowing an extra team into the finals.

"Naturally they were unhappy with what happened and asked very humbly whether they could be team number 33....I will bring it to the attention of the executive committee but if we do that, we will also have to bring in Costa Rica," said Blatter.  

The Final Draw

The Fifa's executive committee meets Wednesday in Cape Town, two days ahead of the final draw for the World Cup.

Excitement is in the air, not only for the 32 qualified nations, but millions of people will view the draw live on Friday in more than 200 countries.

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