This is like an early (late?) Christmas present for football fans.
At 5.30pm today, the draw for the Fifa Under-20 World Cup will be made in Auckland - and you can watch it live on Sky, or keep an eye on the ODT website.
There will be much excitement in the football community in the South as we wait with bated breath to see which teams will be coming to a renamed Otago Stadium in May-June.
Dunedin hosts all four teams in pool D, two from pool C and one other team for a second-round clash, so the city is guaranteed to see seven of the 24 teams.
Which names are we hoping to see drawn out of the barrel tonight?Here are my top five.-
1) Brazil: No further explanation required.
2) Argentina: Imagine all those little Messis and Agueros, in that famous blue-and-white striped shirt.
3) Germany: The third traditional powerhouse.
4) North Korea: Plenty of, er, interesting angles here.
5) Myanmar: Because every tournament needs a plucky underdog that most can't find on the map.
If you are wondering, the other teams to have qualified are host country New Zealand (already set for pool A, so no chance the Junior All Whites play in Dunedin), Austria, Hungary, Portugal, Serbia, Ukraine, Colombia, Uruguay, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, United States, Qatar, Uzbekistan and Fiji.
Four more teams will qualify from the African championships next month.
