never understood what mysterious criteria are applied by EGMs on this, but there should surely be some!
It is a MAJOR advantage in terms of contributions to defenses and rebounds, and at NT/U21 level it can lead to interesting surprises - when I led Italy NT I had some bad time against home teams. Unfortunately SA has not enough talent to play for a top spot in a WC, but passing to the second round would be GREAT for the country, the managers - and of course the coach.
Good luck guys, I am with you!