Rounders stats geeks tarnishing beautiful game

Noted sabremetrician Voros McCracken has, as Neate put it to me in an e-mail, "gone sideways" and is now plugging all sorts of statistical models into soccer. Today, he ranks the chances of qualifying to the World Cup in South Africa.

Don't make me say what Canada comes in at. I live on the top floor of my apartment complex after all. But, the chances of our next biggest readership, the USA, are pegged at 95.24%

Other notables:

• Brazil 99.88%
• Spain 99.09%
• Argentina 98.34%
• England 96.86%
• Germany 93.42%
• Italy 91.10%
• France 72.86%
• Ireland Republic 36.53%
• Scotland 16.36%
• Wales 3.16%
• Moldova 0.01%

What that all means, I have no idea, but, um, yeah...