vic_orthdox
Global Moderator
Doesn't guard his lines as well as Mark Bosnich though...
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World Cup 2010
- Thread starter BoyBrumby
- Start date
- Status
duffer
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Schwarzer has still bailed us out plenty of times this campaign. We've probably had the rub of the green in most of our away games but hey, after all the ****ty luck we've had in years gone by I'll take it now.
Johnners
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
If by rub of the green, you mean poor finishing at times and a lucky goal, then yes. If not, the referees inability to award free-kicks to Australia suggests otherwise.
All evens out in the end though, but if it wasn't for Schwarzer, Australia wouldn't be on top of their qualification group.
All evens out in the end though, but if it wasn't for Schwarzer, Australia wouldn't be on top of their qualification group.
ripper868
International Coach
Definetly agree, I love schwarzer just as much as the next bloke, especially as i was a keeper in my younger days.
Still, if we had to play higher calibre opposition like that found in the oceanic group, australia would be struggling to maintain that bagel
BoyBrumby
Englishman
Should probably make some kind of "Eriksson working his magic again" dig, but CBA.
Magrat Garlick
Rather Mad Witch
Not inconceivable. They play Iran at home in early June - so if they win that, draw in Seoul (there's been three draws between the Koreas so far) and beat the UAE (who have scraped one point from four games) at home, that should be enough.
All that said, Iran and North Korea have met 18 times, and North Korea are yet to win.
Magrat Garlick
Rather Mad Witch
That time again.
All times UTC, all opinions my own, etc.
Africa
13.00, Nairobi, grp B: Kenya vs Tunisia (a major couple of weeks for Kenyan sports: the opening qualifier of a World Cup match, the cross-country running World Championships where they could take back the crown that's belonged to Rift Valley neighbours Ethiopia for ten years, and the cricket World Cup qualification. This is a make-or-break match for the world # 99, who need to take advantage of their home games; they showed promising things in the qualification and had their best regional cup finish in seven attempts when they went to the final of the CECAFA Cup in January, eventually losing 0-1 to Uganda. They haven't beaten Tunisia since what is probably the team's greatest achievement, the silver medal at the 1987 All-Africa Games, and Tunisia, who were not top seeds in qualifying despite having made it through the last three campaigns successfully, will be very happy if they were to continue their run of unbeaten games against Kenya.)
13.30, Kigali, grp C: Rwanda vs Algeria (Rwanda, led by Hamarkameratene star Olivier Karekezi, were beneficiaries of an Ethiopian disqualification to make it through, but still posted an encouraging 3-1 home win over Morocco, which was a key to gaining enough points. Visitors Algeria start as slight favourites, having come away from Kigali with a draw in their last, and only, visit in 2004; after putting out Senegal in qualification, they have been rewarded with a group from which they should make it to the Africa Cup of Nations, and they could even make it sweaty for Egypt should they win the next match in June.)
16.00, Accra, grp A: Togo vs Cameroon (Togo were the chaos story in the 2006 Cup, rumoured to have sacked German coach Otto Pfister twice during the finals, and are now 4/1 outsiders against neighbours Cameroon, despite going through the 2006 qualification without dropping points at home. They're boosted by the presence of Emmanuel Adebayor, their only world class footballer, but Cameroon will be hoping not to repeat the mistakes of 2006, when they dropped points against bottom-dwellers Libya and Sudan and went out one point behind Ivory Coast, and they have won four of their last five encounters with Togo, and with a much wider array of stars - Samuel Eto'o, 124-cap man Song, and England First Division regulars Andre Bikey and Geremi - should have a deep enough squad to win. Oh, and they nabbed Pfister after he abandoned Togo - with two years in the chair, he's the third-longest serving manager in Cameroon history.)
17.00, Omdurman, grp D: Sudan vs Mali (the mildly failed state of Sudan produce some decent footballers, and it appears some of the oil profits that are siphoned off to local warlords end up in the hands of local football heroes, as none of the players earn their money abroad. Mali, with indubitable talent - Frederic Kanouté and Mohamed Sissoko represent the West African nation - have never made a World Cup and frankly underperformed considerably during their history. They are 3/2 favourites despite falling 2-3 in Omdurman during the preliminary rounds, though they did finish ahead on points tallied during all six games.)
18.00, Ouagadougou, grp E: Burkina Faso vs Guinea (in a group which is expected to be a West African tussle - Malawi, the Southern representative in the group, last qualified for the African Cup of Nations 25 years ago - the Burkinabe have an opportunity to reverse the slide they've been on for the past few years. Guinea, with three successive ACN quarter-finals, is perhaps the strongest team in Africa never to have appeared at the World Cup, but with tricky opposition up next from regional giant Ivory Coast, they could use the psychological boost an away win will give them.)
19.00, Casablanca, grp A: Morocco vs Gabon (Gabon start as 9/1 outsiders, having lost 0-6 in the teams' previous encounter, though in 2001 Gabon sneaked a 1-0 win in Fèz during the African Cup of Nations; by then Morocco had already qualified, however. The easiest match to pick on Saturday.)
Sunday
13.00, Maputo, grp B: Mozambique vs Nigeria (Sunday's games are more of a formality. Mozambique, who eked through in a group ahead of footballing minnows Madagascar and Botswana, have only played Nigeria once, a 0-1 friendly defeat. They last qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations in 1998 and most of their players are in an amateur Mozambican league. Nigeria may not be the continental force they once were, and could be pushed by both Tunisia and Kenya, but this really is easy stuff.)
17.00, Kumasi, grp D: Ghana vs Benin (the last three matches have the blockbuster teams in each group at home, and are thus very much favoured to go with home wins. Benin are perhaps the team that has the most to offer, but face a Ghana side who were, admittedly, mildly shaken in the group stage, but won five of six matches during the last African Cup of Nations and have one of the best sides in Africa.)
17.00, Abidjan, grp E: Ivory Coast vs Malawi (This is a mismatch which we really should have left behind in the preliminary stage, but oh well. Malawi is here and will do their best to cling to third place, but their points will come from other games than this. 2-0 at the very least.)
17.30, Cairo, grp C: Egypt vs Zambia (not a game you'd realistically expect the visitors to do anything with, either, having not beaten Egypt since 1996 - with a side still very depleted from the plane accident which killed 30 people, 18 of whom where national team players.)
Asia
06.30, Pyongyang, grp 2: North Korea 2-0 UAE (North Korea come through their last easy game with flying colours, with army defender Park Nam-Chol scoring a rare but vital goal. They'll be sitting pretty at the top of the group, and a couple of draws could be enough for the North to qualify for a World Cup for the first time since 1966.)
10.23 (don't ask), Saitama, grp 1: Japan vs Bahrain (Japan are the heaviest favourite with betfair tippers this week, and for good reason; Asia's traditionally strongest side have admittedly had some strange blips in Bahrain recently, but are in reasonably decent home form despite failing to break through the Australian wall in February. A win here could conceivably open up a seven-point gap with three games to play, which would mean Australia and Japan are pretty much booked for South Africa.)
12.00, Tashkent, grp 1: Uzbekistan vs Qatar (despite rotten form for the hosts, you can get 7/2 odds on an away win, which is fairly generous given the return leg was won 3-0 by the Qatari; then again, the past record in Uzbekistan is two wins for the home side. A win for the Uzbeks would pretty much pave the way for the Aussie-Japan top two.)
14.30, Teheran, grp 2: Iran vs Saudi Arabia (Iran are yet to lose in this qualifying campaign, but have drawn six from ten matches, which leaves them with the moderately difficult task of gaining points in Korea to make sure they qualify - they've warmed up with moderately convincing one-goal wins over Kenya and Kuwait. Saudi Arabia warmed up with being held to 0-0 by an Iraq side under a caretaker coach, and find themselves outside the qualifying positions at present, but with a draw here they will be looking to take advantage of a relatively easy run-in with two home games from the last three.)
Europe
14.00, Moskva, grp 4: Russia vs Azerbaijan (it should be three easy points for Hiddink's Russia, who are still having a tough time of qualifying. There is a gulf in class between the two best teams, though, and Russia could open up a gap here.)
15.00, Caerdydd, grp 4: Wales vs Finland (Finland have a game in hand on Wales, and could conceivably go up to second; if Finland win it's probably the end for Wales, who will be three points adrift of Russia and with their next game against Germany, but a Wales win, a more likely prospect, would see the Finns having to catch up with a five-point deficit.)
15.45, Chişinău, grp 2: Moldova vs Switzerland (easy away win.)
16.00, Luxembourg, grp 2: Luxembourg vs Latvia (two bottom dwellers with little to contribute. The big news is that Luxembourg isn't last, but they should actually lose here.)
16.00, Yerevan, grp 5: Armenia vs Estonia (one point between them from eight games played.)
17.15, Belfast, grp 3: Northern Ireland vs Poland (Northern Ireland are second, but with one more game played - against San Marino - and do need to put up a solid result here to be regular contenders. Another home defeat would see them slip to fifth.)
18.00, Larnaka, grp 8: Cyprus vs Georgia (Anorthosis, by name from Ammachostos but in reality of Larnaka, were the underdog in this year's Champions League, yet the national team have failed to get more than the point from Tbilisi in their three qualifying games so far. Now they're nine points behind Ireland, but face a Georgian side who are even more out of it, having been driven from their home match by a rampaging Russian army. Anything but three points here would eliminate either side from second-place contention.)
18.00, Ramat-Gan, grp 2: Israel vs Greece (Greece messed up a heavy advantage in the group of life by losing at home to Switzerland, and have three tricky away games to look forward to in 2009. If they can take a point here they will at least be heading the group for another few days, which will be useful before the return leg at Iraklion on Crete - an island almost equidistant from the two mainlands.)
18.45, Constanţa, grp 7: Romania vs Serbia (With France stumbling and bumbling, Serbia have established themselves as a contender to qualify yet again, despite their mildly embarrassing run-out against Argentina in the finals four years ago and their 1-2 defeat in France. They have an away win on their hands and managed to dispose of Lithuania; Romania have managed the first, largely because it was against the Faroes, but were humbled by the basketball nation and failed to correct it against France. With four of the last six games away from home, Romania will be facing a difficult catch-up unless they win here, whereas Serbia could ensure their gap is large enough to secure second.)
19.00, Ta'Qali, grp 1: Malta vs Denmark (Denmark are suddenly finding that maligned Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner is showing occasional semblance of form for the London side, and as Malta's last competitive win came in 2006 and their biggest star plays for Coventry, they should not be threatened; even phlegmatic previous Danish generations have never dropped points in six previous clashes with the island nation.)
19.00, Leipzig, grp 4: Germany vs Liechtenstein (Liechtenstein have the honour of starting as the heftiest outsider of the week, priced at 200/1 - for comparison, the Demons winning the flag currently sell at shorter odds, while Arsenal overhauling the other three £PL contenders is priced slightly longer. Yet, the stadium in Leipzig was sold out a couple of weeks ago; the city, whose footballing traditions stretch back to the foundation of the German Football Association in 1900, has a 40,000-seater stadium at its disposal, but the city's main clubs, stuck in occasionally violent inter-city rivalry, are only on the fourth and fifth tier.)
19.30, Tirana, grp 1: Albania vs Hungary (Albania started promisingly with points against Sweden and Portugal, but have since regressed to their minnow norm, only managing a 0-0 draw on Malta to write themselves out somewhat. Nevertheless, betters have the Hungarians as slight outsiders, perhaps recalling Hungary's horrific away streak of seven competitive away losses, which was recently broken with a win at Malta. It should be noted that this streak includes losses in Malta, Moldova, and even Norway.)
19.45, Maribor, grp 3: Slovenia vs Czech Republic (Petr Rada, former assistant to retiring Karel Brückner, has only managed two wins from six matches - including friendlies - in charge of the Czech team. The qualifying season began poorly, with the Czechs dropping points in Belfast and Chorzow, and they are tied on points with Slovenia, who are back to ski jumping fever after Zlatko Zahovic' retirement.)
19.45, Genk, grp 5: Belgium vs Bosnia-Hercegovina (Bosnia have exploited the weaknesses of Estonia to stand with a pretty hefty goal difference, joint third-best of all 53 nations in the qualifying; Belgium's football fans, meanwhile, endure a torrid time, and they haven't qualified for a major championship since 1994 - they were part of the 2000 European Championship, but only by virtue of hosting. In a group where Spain have booked first place, the winnere here find themselves chasing Turkey for second spot, an achievable goal.)
19.45, Kaunas, grp 7: Lithuania vs France (What does Lithuania have in common with Canada, America, Mongolia, India and Australia? Answer: football isn't the major team sport. As perhaps the only country in Europe, a heavy basketball tradition pervades the country, and they've punched well above their weight in basketball and considerably below the weight at the round-ball code. Despite this, the country had some notable successes on the football field in 2008, with an away win over Romania, and the club FBK Kaunas winning the Baltic League and eliminating Rangers from Europe. This has now been rather swiftly set back by a one-man-show from football's most bone-headed Russian owner, Vladimir Romanov. The naturalised Lithuanian, most known in Britain for turning Hearts from a club fielding eleven mediocre Edinburghers to a club fielding eleven mediocre Lithuanians, demanded that the association of clubs, not the federation, should select the referees. The federation refused to acquiesce, and as a consequence, Romanov withdrew his two clubs, Kaunas and Atlantas of Klaipeda. With traditional club Žalgiris - thrice Lithuanian champions and once third in the Soviet league - failing to meet financial standards, this leaves the Lithuanian league with five teams, hardly ideal for selling the brand of football to a largely indifferent populace. At present, they are second, but even Domenech can't mess up this one?)
19.45, Podgorica, grp 8: Montenegro vs Italy (Six goals for from four games; Italy continue to specialise in what they do best, an epically dull 1-0 win. Another one is expected here, even though Montenegro is better than the last seed they were unceremoniously handed after seceding from Serbia.)
19.45, Dublin, grp 8: Republic of Ireland vs Bulgaria (this is the match where Ireland can confirm the group to be a two-horse race. Ireland and Italy are as yet the only teams to win games in the group, and Bulgaria have dropped points in Montenegro and Georgia as well as the home match with Italy, but a seven-point deficit isn't impossible considering
19.45, Amsterdam, grp 9: Netherlands vs Scotland (Netherlands are expected to confirm that they will qualify in first, and a win here will open up an 8-point lead with four to play. That will leave the other four rank teams of this group to fight for a runners-up spot - where someone will need to start a run of form in order not to finish last on the second-place table.)
20.45, Porto, grp 1: Portugal vs Sweden (Swedish TV news bulletins have talked incessantly about Cristiano Ronaldo for the past week or so, which I suppose makes a change from interminable ice hockey play-offs, but still suggests they don't have a flipping clue about the other ten players. Anyway, the teams are fourth and fifth but not facing serious challenges from Hungary and Albania, who are ahead on points temporarily, and after Sweden failed to take advantage of territorial dominance at Råsunda in October, they will be looking to score some goals in this game.)
CONCACAF
23.00, Ciudad de México: Mexico vs Costa Rica (How many chances does a Mexican football manager usually get? Not many. And with four embarrassing defeats in the last six months - to Jamaica, Honduras, Sweden, and the United States - Sven-Göran Eriksson's spot is perhaps the least secure in the Latin American football sphere, which usually says something. Despite these defeats, and despite Costa Rica leading the hexagonal stage - after only one match, admittedly, and shared with Yankland - they're a cool 6/1 to win the game. As shown in this clip - from about 40 seconds onwards it starts to get good even if you don't have a clue about Spanish - Shakhtar Donetsk striker Nery Castillo has little patience with the Mexican media, and was quoted with the following: "your problem? That I'm in Europe and you're not.")
23.00, Port of Spain: Trinidad and Tobago vs Honduras (T&T's draw in El Salvador was described as a lose-lose situation, and the Soca Warriors now need three points at home to in-form Honduras, who despite their loss in Costa Rica remain favourites to take fourth spot in the group and a play-off match.)
01.11, San Salvador: El Salvador vs United States (this is the sort of game the US never fails to lose, which iswhy they've qualified for the World Cup every single time since 1990. The US have a 33-5 goal difference in the last eleven matches with El Salvador, they've dropped points once in those eleven games, and their last defeat came in 1992.
South America
20.00, Montevideo: Uruguay vs Paraguay (if Uruguay are to shake their status as chokers, this is the match to do it. Home game, they trail the secure qualification spots by three points despite being the most scoring team, and Paraguay, who have a ten-point gap and are essentially qualified already, are missing goalscoring giant Roque Santa Cruz, who nurtures a knee tendon. Uruguay are somewhat hampered by having a Europe-based squad, but apparently outplayed Argentina in patches, and probably have the third strongest player base in South America at the moment - yet, if they lose, Uruguay have resigned themselves to a fierce battle for fifth place and the uncertain play-off route.)
22.10, Buenos Aires: Argentina vs Venezuela (If you asked El Diez who he'd most like to face in his first competitive game, and he happened to be in a fit state to answer questions, he'd probably admit that Venezuela at home is as good as you can get. The teams have played 15 times, and Argentina have won all 15 - Argentina went 609 minutes without conceding a goal to Venezuela between 1996 and 2004 - and the average win for Argentina in these clashes is a solid 4-0. Only twice have Venezuela held Argentina to within one goal. In short, they fully deserve their 26/1 outsider role, and if Maradona's team can't win here they should probably sack him immediately.)
00.20, Bogotá: Colombia vs Bolivia (15 years ago, this might have been a top clash, but as it stands, Bolivia are too weak to muster a challenge and Colombia are too inconsistent to hope for anything better than fifth in the league stage. Bolivia haven't won in Colombia since 1994 - not for lack of attempts, they've met four times - and should go to the bottom of the group after this.)
Sunday
22.00, Quito: Ecuador vs Brazil (ah, Quito. At 2,800 metres above sea level, a feared destination for all visiting teams, and a major reason Ecuador have qualified for the past two World Cups - lowland Paraguay and Uruguay, who traditionally produce better footballers, have struggled to overcome the altitude disadvantage. Indeed, in the return leg, Brazil won a handsome 5-0, but if Dunga's team were to repeat the 2004 performance with a 0-1 defeat, it could be the final straw for this coach, too. Ecuador's home record during this qualification is a respectable 3-1-1, compared to their 0-2-3 record away, but some things should be noted: they have not played any of the top three sides at home yet, they did take a point in Argentina, and LDU of Quito is the reigning champions of the continent.)
00.10, Lima: Peru vs Chile (Chile's young team - their eldest statesman is PAOK defender Pablo Contreras - are aiming to secure only the second Chilean qualification for the World Cup in the last 24 years, though it should be noted at this point that they were banned from TWO World Cups following their goalkeeper's simulation - FIFA were stricter in the olden days. Anyway, the Chileans have altitude to contend with as well, and are ranked as outsiders by betfair tippers, though they play the worst side in the league; I can only assume it has something to do with their recent performance in the Andes, a 0-1 loss to Ecuador. Peru's 5-20 goal difference doesn't lie, however: they are rank.)
All times UTC, all opinions my own, etc.
Africa
13.00, Nairobi, grp B: Kenya vs Tunisia (a major couple of weeks for Kenyan sports: the opening qualifier of a World Cup match, the cross-country running World Championships where they could take back the crown that's belonged to Rift Valley neighbours Ethiopia for ten years, and the cricket World Cup qualification. This is a make-or-break match for the world # 99, who need to take advantage of their home games; they showed promising things in the qualification and had their best regional cup finish in seven attempts when they went to the final of the CECAFA Cup in January, eventually losing 0-1 to Uganda. They haven't beaten Tunisia since what is probably the team's greatest achievement, the silver medal at the 1987 All-Africa Games, and Tunisia, who were not top seeds in qualifying despite having made it through the last three campaigns successfully, will be very happy if they were to continue their run of unbeaten games against Kenya.)
13.30, Kigali, grp C: Rwanda vs Algeria (Rwanda, led by Hamarkameratene star Olivier Karekezi, were beneficiaries of an Ethiopian disqualification to make it through, but still posted an encouraging 3-1 home win over Morocco, which was a key to gaining enough points. Visitors Algeria start as slight favourites, having come away from Kigali with a draw in their last, and only, visit in 2004; after putting out Senegal in qualification, they have been rewarded with a group from which they should make it to the Africa Cup of Nations, and they could even make it sweaty for Egypt should they win the next match in June.)
16.00, Accra, grp A: Togo vs Cameroon (Togo were the chaos story in the 2006 Cup, rumoured to have sacked German coach Otto Pfister twice during the finals, and are now 4/1 outsiders against neighbours Cameroon, despite going through the 2006 qualification without dropping points at home. They're boosted by the presence of Emmanuel Adebayor, their only world class footballer, but Cameroon will be hoping not to repeat the mistakes of 2006, when they dropped points against bottom-dwellers Libya and Sudan and went out one point behind Ivory Coast, and they have won four of their last five encounters with Togo, and with a much wider array of stars - Samuel Eto'o, 124-cap man Song, and England First Division regulars Andre Bikey and Geremi - should have a deep enough squad to win. Oh, and they nabbed Pfister after he abandoned Togo - with two years in the chair, he's the third-longest serving manager in Cameroon history.)
17.00, Omdurman, grp D: Sudan vs Mali (the mildly failed state of Sudan produce some decent footballers, and it appears some of the oil profits that are siphoned off to local warlords end up in the hands of local football heroes, as none of the players earn their money abroad. Mali, with indubitable talent - Frederic Kanouté and Mohamed Sissoko represent the West African nation - have never made a World Cup and frankly underperformed considerably during their history. They are 3/2 favourites despite falling 2-3 in Omdurman during the preliminary rounds, though they did finish ahead on points tallied during all six games.)
18.00, Ouagadougou, grp E: Burkina Faso vs Guinea (in a group which is expected to be a West African tussle - Malawi, the Southern representative in the group, last qualified for the African Cup of Nations 25 years ago - the Burkinabe have an opportunity to reverse the slide they've been on for the past few years. Guinea, with three successive ACN quarter-finals, is perhaps the strongest team in Africa never to have appeared at the World Cup, but with tricky opposition up next from regional giant Ivory Coast, they could use the psychological boost an away win will give them.)
19.00, Casablanca, grp A: Morocco vs Gabon (Gabon start as 9/1 outsiders, having lost 0-6 in the teams' previous encounter, though in 2001 Gabon sneaked a 1-0 win in Fèz during the African Cup of Nations; by then Morocco had already qualified, however. The easiest match to pick on Saturday.)
Sunday
13.00, Maputo, grp B: Mozambique vs Nigeria (Sunday's games are more of a formality. Mozambique, who eked through in a group ahead of footballing minnows Madagascar and Botswana, have only played Nigeria once, a 0-1 friendly defeat. They last qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations in 1998 and most of their players are in an amateur Mozambican league. Nigeria may not be the continental force they once were, and could be pushed by both Tunisia and Kenya, but this really is easy stuff.)
17.00, Kumasi, grp D: Ghana vs Benin (the last three matches have the blockbuster teams in each group at home, and are thus very much favoured to go with home wins. Benin are perhaps the team that has the most to offer, but face a Ghana side who were, admittedly, mildly shaken in the group stage, but won five of six matches during the last African Cup of Nations and have one of the best sides in Africa.)
17.00, Abidjan, grp E: Ivory Coast vs Malawi (This is a mismatch which we really should have left behind in the preliminary stage, but oh well. Malawi is here and will do their best to cling to third place, but their points will come from other games than this. 2-0 at the very least.)
17.30, Cairo, grp C: Egypt vs Zambia (not a game you'd realistically expect the visitors to do anything with, either, having not beaten Egypt since 1996 - with a side still very depleted from the plane accident which killed 30 people, 18 of whom where national team players.)
Code:
Group A Group B Group C
Cameroon 0-0 0 Nigeria 0-0 0 Egypt 0-0 0
------------------- ------------------- -------------------
Morocco 0-0 0 Tunisia 0-0 0 Zambia 0-0 0
Gabon 0-0 0 Kenya 0-0 0 Algeria 0-0 0
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Togo 0-0 0 Mozambique 0-0 0 Rwanda 0-0 0
Group D Group E
Ghana 0-0 0 Ivory Coast 0-0 0
------------------- -------------------
Mali 0-0 0 Guinea 0-0 0
Benin 0-0 0 Burkina Faso0-0 0
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sudan 0-0 0 Malawi 0-0 0
Top team to World Cup, top three teams to Africa Cup of Nations06.30, Pyongyang, grp 2: North Korea 2-0 UAE (North Korea come through their last easy game with flying colours, with army defender Park Nam-Chol scoring a rare but vital goal. They'll be sitting pretty at the top of the group, and a couple of draws could be enough for the North to qualify for a World Cup for the first time since 1966.)
10.23 (don't ask), Saitama, grp 1: Japan vs Bahrain (Japan are the heaviest favourite with betfair tippers this week, and for good reason; Asia's traditionally strongest side have admittedly had some strange blips in Bahrain recently, but are in reasonably decent home form despite failing to break through the Australian wall in February. A win here could conceivably open up a seven-point gap with three games to play, which would mean Australia and Japan are pretty much booked for South Africa.)
12.00, Tashkent, grp 1: Uzbekistan vs Qatar (despite rotten form for the hosts, you can get 7/2 odds on an away win, which is fairly generous given the return leg was won 3-0 by the Qatari; then again, the past record in Uzbekistan is two wins for the home side. A win for the Uzbeks would pretty much pave the way for the Aussie-Japan top two.)
14.30, Teheran, grp 2: Iran vs Saudi Arabia (Iran are yet to lose in this qualifying campaign, but have drawn six from ten matches, which leaves them with the moderately difficult task of gaining points in Korea to make sure they qualify - they've warmed up with moderately convincing one-goal wins over Kenya and Kuwait. Saudi Arabia warmed up with being held to 0-0 by an Iraq side under a caretaker coach, and find themselves outside the qualifying positions at present, but with a draw here they will be looking to take advantage of a relatively easy run-in with two home games from the last three.)
Code:
4 games unless stated
Group 1 Group 2
Australia 6-0 10 North Kor(5)7-4 10
Japan 7-3 8 South Korea 8-3 8
------------------- -------------------
Bahrain 4-5 4 Iran 5-4 6
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Qatar 4-8 4 Saudi Arabia3-5 4
Uzb'stan 1-6 1 UAE (5) 4-11 1
Top two teams to World Cup, third-placed to play off with each other and then with New Zealand14.00, Moskva, grp 4: Russia vs Azerbaijan (it should be three easy points for Hiddink's Russia, who are still having a tough time of qualifying. There is a gulf in class between the two best teams, though, and Russia could open up a gap here.)
15.00, Caerdydd, grp 4: Wales vs Finland (Finland have a game in hand on Wales, and could conceivably go up to second; if Finland win it's probably the end for Wales, who will be three points adrift of Russia and with their next game against Germany, but a Wales win, a more likely prospect, would see the Finns having to catch up with a five-point deficit.)
15.45, Chişinău, grp 2: Moldova vs Switzerland (easy away win.)
16.00, Luxembourg, grp 2: Luxembourg vs Latvia (two bottom dwellers with little to contribute. The big news is that Luxembourg isn't last, but they should actually lose here.)
16.00, Yerevan, grp 5: Armenia vs Estonia (one point between them from eight games played.)
17.15, Belfast, grp 3: Northern Ireland vs Poland (Northern Ireland are second, but with one more game played - against San Marino - and do need to put up a solid result here to be regular contenders. Another home defeat would see them slip to fifth.)
18.00, Larnaka, grp 8: Cyprus vs Georgia (Anorthosis, by name from Ammachostos but in reality of Larnaka, were the underdog in this year's Champions League, yet the national team have failed to get more than the point from Tbilisi in their three qualifying games so far. Now they're nine points behind Ireland, but face a Georgian side who are even more out of it, having been driven from their home match by a rampaging Russian army. Anything but three points here would eliminate either side from second-place contention.)
18.00, Ramat-Gan, grp 2: Israel vs Greece (Greece messed up a heavy advantage in the group of life by losing at home to Switzerland, and have three tricky away games to look forward to in 2009. If they can take a point here they will at least be heading the group for another few days, which will be useful before the return leg at Iraklion on Crete - an island almost equidistant from the two mainlands.)
18.45, Constanţa, grp 7: Romania vs Serbia (With France stumbling and bumbling, Serbia have established themselves as a contender to qualify yet again, despite their mildly embarrassing run-out against Argentina in the finals four years ago and their 1-2 defeat in France. They have an away win on their hands and managed to dispose of Lithuania; Romania have managed the first, largely because it was against the Faroes, but were humbled by the basketball nation and failed to correct it against France. With four of the last six games away from home, Romania will be facing a difficult catch-up unless they win here, whereas Serbia could ensure their gap is large enough to secure second.)
19.00, Ta'Qali, grp 1: Malta vs Denmark (Denmark are suddenly finding that maligned Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner is showing occasional semblance of form for the London side, and as Malta's last competitive win came in 2006 and their biggest star plays for Coventry, they should not be threatened; even phlegmatic previous Danish generations have never dropped points in six previous clashes with the island nation.)
19.00, Leipzig, grp 4: Germany vs Liechtenstein (Liechtenstein have the honour of starting as the heftiest outsider of the week, priced at 200/1 - for comparison, the Demons winning the flag currently sell at shorter odds, while Arsenal overhauling the other three £PL contenders is priced slightly longer. Yet, the stadium in Leipzig was sold out a couple of weeks ago; the city, whose footballing traditions stretch back to the foundation of the German Football Association in 1900, has a 40,000-seater stadium at its disposal, but the city's main clubs, stuck in occasionally violent inter-city rivalry, are only on the fourth and fifth tier.)
19.30, Tirana, grp 1: Albania vs Hungary (Albania started promisingly with points against Sweden and Portugal, but have since regressed to their minnow norm, only managing a 0-0 draw on Malta to write themselves out somewhat. Nevertheless, betters have the Hungarians as slight outsiders, perhaps recalling Hungary's horrific away streak of seven competitive away losses, which was recently broken with a win at Malta. It should be noted that this streak includes losses in Malta, Moldova, and even Norway.)
19.45, Maribor, grp 3: Slovenia vs Czech Republic (Petr Rada, former assistant to retiring Karel Brückner, has only managed two wins from six matches - including friendlies - in charge of the Czech team. The qualifying season began poorly, with the Czechs dropping points in Belfast and Chorzow, and they are tied on points with Slovenia, who are back to ski jumping fever after Zlatko Zahovic' retirement.)
19.45, Genk, grp 5: Belgium vs Bosnia-Hercegovina (Bosnia have exploited the weaknesses of Estonia to stand with a pretty hefty goal difference, joint third-best of all 53 nations in the qualifying; Belgium's football fans, meanwhile, endure a torrid time, and they haven't qualified for a major championship since 1994 - they were part of the 2000 European Championship, but only by virtue of hosting. In a group where Spain have booked first place, the winnere here find themselves chasing Turkey for second spot, an achievable goal.)
19.45, Kaunas, grp 7: Lithuania vs France (What does Lithuania have in common with Canada, America, Mongolia, India and Australia? Answer: football isn't the major team sport. As perhaps the only country in Europe, a heavy basketball tradition pervades the country, and they've punched well above their weight in basketball and considerably below the weight at the round-ball code. Despite this, the country had some notable successes on the football field in 2008, with an away win over Romania, and the club FBK Kaunas winning the Baltic League and eliminating Rangers from Europe. This has now been rather swiftly set back by a one-man-show from football's most bone-headed Russian owner, Vladimir Romanov. The naturalised Lithuanian, most known in Britain for turning Hearts from a club fielding eleven mediocre Edinburghers to a club fielding eleven mediocre Lithuanians, demanded that the association of clubs, not the federation, should select the referees. The federation refused to acquiesce, and as a consequence, Romanov withdrew his two clubs, Kaunas and Atlantas of Klaipeda. With traditional club Žalgiris - thrice Lithuanian champions and once third in the Soviet league - failing to meet financial standards, this leaves the Lithuanian league with five teams, hardly ideal for selling the brand of football to a largely indifferent populace. At present, they are second, but even Domenech can't mess up this one?)
19.45, Podgorica, grp 8: Montenegro vs Italy (Six goals for from four games; Italy continue to specialise in what they do best, an epically dull 1-0 win. Another one is expected here, even though Montenegro is better than the last seed they were unceremoniously handed after seceding from Serbia.)
19.45, Dublin, grp 8: Republic of Ireland vs Bulgaria (this is the match where Ireland can confirm the group to be a two-horse race. Ireland and Italy are as yet the only teams to win games in the group, and Bulgaria have dropped points in Montenegro and Georgia as well as the home match with Italy, but a seven-point deficit isn't impossible considering
19.45, Amsterdam, grp 9: Netherlands vs Scotland (Netherlands are expected to confirm that they will qualify in first, and a win here will open up an 8-point lead with four to play. That will leave the other four rank teams of this group to fight for a runners-up spot - where someone will need to start a run of form in order not to finish last on the second-place table.)
20.45, Porto, grp 1: Portugal vs Sweden (Swedish TV news bulletins have talked incessantly about Cristiano Ronaldo for the past week or so, which I suppose makes a change from interminable ice hockey play-offs, but still suggests they don't have a flipping clue about the other ten players. Anyway, the teams are fourth and fifth but not facing serious challenges from Hungary and Albania, who are ahead on points temporarily, and after Sweden failed to take advantage of territorial dominance at Råsunda in October, they will be looking to score some goals in this game.)
Code:
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
Denmark (3) 6-2 7 Greece 9-2 9 Slovakia 8-5 9
------------------- ------------------- -------------------
Hungary 4-2 7 Israel 8-5 8 N Ireland(5)8-4 7
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Albania (5) 3-2 6 Switzerland 7-6 7 Czech Rep 5-2 7
Portugal 6-3 5 Latvia 4-6 4 Poland 6-4 7
Sweden (3) 2-1 5 Luxembourg 3-7 4 Slovenia 5-3 7
Malta (5) 0-11 1 Moldova 2-7 1 S Marino(5) 1-15 0
Group 4 Group 5 Group 6
Germany 12-4 10 Spain 10-1 12 England 14-3 12
------------------- ------------------- -------------------
Russia (3) 6-3 6 Turkey 5-2 8 Croatia 8-4 7
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Wales 4-3 6 Belgium 7-5 7 Ukraine (3) 4-1 7
Finland (3) 4-6 4 Bos i Herc 12-4 6 Belarus (3) 4-5 3
Azerbaij (3)0-2 1 Estonia 2-13 1 Kazakh 5-11 3
Liec'st (3) 0-8 1 Armenia 1-12 0 Andorra 1-12 0
Group 7 Group 8 Group 9
Serbia 9-3 9 Italy 6-2 10 Netherl (3) 5-1 9
------------------- ------------------- -------------------
Lithuania 6-3 9 Rep Irel 5-2 10 Scotland (3)2-2 4
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
France (3) 5-6 4 Bulgaria (3)2-2 3 Iceland 4-6 4
Austria 5-7 4 Mont'gro(3) 3-4 2 FYR Macd (3)2-3 3
Romania (3) 3-5 4 Georgia (5) 3-7 2 Norway (3) 2-3 2
Faroe Is 1-5 1 Cyprus (3) 2-4 1
Top team to World Cup, all runners-up teams except worst to knock-out play-off
Code:
Runners-up table
Republic of Ireland 3 2 1 0 4-2 7
Russia 3 2 0 1 6-3 6
Lithuania 3 2 0 1 5-3 6
Israel 3 1 2 0 6-4 5
Turkey 3 1 2 0 3-2 5
Hungary 3 1 1 1 3-2 4
Croatia 3 1 1 1 4-4 4
Scotland 3 1 1 1 2-2 4
--------------------------------------------
Norn Iron 3 0 1 2 1-4 123.00, Ciudad de México: Mexico vs Costa Rica (How many chances does a Mexican football manager usually get? Not many. And with four embarrassing defeats in the last six months - to Jamaica, Honduras, Sweden, and the United States - Sven-Göran Eriksson's spot is perhaps the least secure in the Latin American football sphere, which usually says something. Despite these defeats, and despite Costa Rica leading the hexagonal stage - after only one match, admittedly, and shared with Yankland - they're a cool 6/1 to win the game. As shown in this clip - from about 40 seconds onwards it starts to get good even if you don't have a clue about Spanish - Shakhtar Donetsk striker Nery Castillo has little patience with the Mexican media, and was quoted with the following: "your problem? That I'm in Europe and you're not.")
23.00, Port of Spain: Trinidad and Tobago vs Honduras (T&T's draw in El Salvador was described as a lose-lose situation, and the Soca Warriors now need three points at home to in-form Honduras, who despite their loss in Costa Rica remain favourites to take fourth spot in the group and a play-off match.)
01.11, San Salvador: El Salvador vs United States (this is the sort of game the US never fails to lose, which iswhy they've qualified for the World Cup every single time since 1990. The US have a 33-5 goal difference in the last eleven matches with El Salvador, they've dropped points once in those eleven games, and their last defeat came in 1992.
Code:
Costa Rica 2-0 3
USA 2-0 3
El Salvador 2-2 1
-------------------
T & T 2-2 1
- - - - - - - - - -
Honduras 0-2 0
Mexico 0-2 0
Top three to World Cup, fourth to play-off with South America20.00, Montevideo: Uruguay vs Paraguay (if Uruguay are to shake their status as chokers, this is the match to do it. Home game, they trail the secure qualification spots by three points despite being the most scoring team, and Paraguay, who have a ten-point gap and are essentially qualified already, are missing goalscoring giant Roque Santa Cruz, who nurtures a knee tendon. Uruguay are somewhat hampered by having a Europe-based squad, but apparently outplayed Argentina in patches, and probably have the third strongest player base in South America at the moment - yet, if they lose, Uruguay have resigned themselves to a fierce battle for fifth place and the uncertain play-off route.)
22.10, Buenos Aires: Argentina vs Venezuela (If you asked El Diez who he'd most like to face in his first competitive game, and he happened to be in a fit state to answer questions, he'd probably admit that Venezuela at home is as good as you can get. The teams have played 15 times, and Argentina have won all 15 - Argentina went 609 minutes without conceding a goal to Venezuela between 1996 and 2004 - and the average win for Argentina in these clashes is a solid 4-0. Only twice have Venezuela held Argentina to within one goal. In short, they fully deserve their 26/1 outsider role, and if Maradona's team can't win here they should probably sack him immediately.)
00.20, Bogotá: Colombia vs Bolivia (15 years ago, this might have been a top clash, but as it stands, Bolivia are too weak to muster a challenge and Colombia are too inconsistent to hope for anything better than fifth in the league stage. Bolivia haven't won in Colombia since 1994 - not for lack of attempts, they've met four times - and should go to the bottom of the group after this.)
Sunday
22.00, Quito: Ecuador vs Brazil (ah, Quito. At 2,800 metres above sea level, a feared destination for all visiting teams, and a major reason Ecuador have qualified for the past two World Cups - lowland Paraguay and Uruguay, who traditionally produce better footballers, have struggled to overcome the altitude disadvantage. Indeed, in the return leg, Brazil won a handsome 5-0, but if Dunga's team were to repeat the 2004 performance with a 0-1 defeat, it could be the final straw for this coach, too. Ecuador's home record during this qualification is a respectable 3-1-1, compared to their 0-2-3 record away, but some things should be noted: they have not played any of the top three sides at home yet, they did take a point in Argentina, and LDU of Quito is the reigning champions of the continent.)
00.10, Lima: Peru vs Chile (Chile's young team - their eldest statesman is PAOK defender Pablo Contreras - are aiming to secure only the second Chilean qualification for the World Cup in the last 24 years, though it should be noted at this point that they were banned from TWO World Cups following their goalkeeper's simulation - FIFA were stricter in the olden days. Anyway, the Chileans have altitude to contend with as well, and are ranked as outsiders by betfair tippers, though they play the worst side in the league; I can only assume it has something to do with their recent performance in the Andes, a 0-1 loss to Ecuador. Peru's 5-20 goal difference doesn't lie, however: they are rank.)
Code:
Paraguay 10 7 2 1 18-6 23
Brazil 10 4 5 1 15-4 17
Argentina 10 4 4 2 13-7 16
Chile 10 5 1 4 14-13 16
-------------------------------------------
Uruguay 10 3 4 3 19-10 13
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ecuador 10 3 3 4 12-17 12
Colombia 10 2 5 3 4-8 11
Venezuela 10 3 1 6 12-18 10
Bolivia 10 2 3 5 13-22 9
Peru 10 1 4 5 5-20 7
Top four to World Cup, fifth to play-off with CONCACAF
Last edited:
luckyeddie
Cricket Web Staff Member
Just settling down with a few minutes of Iran v Saudi Arabia.
There's a centre forward on show who reminds me of a former Manchester United star.
I think his name's Sharia Law.
There's a centre forward on show who reminds me of a former Manchester United star.
I think his name's Sharia Law.
Neil Pickup
Request Your Custom Title Now!
I don't know what's worse - you taking the time to write all that, or me actually reading it all...Fishy said:
Neil Pickup
Request Your Custom Title Now!
Artur Boruc. LOL.
Craig
World Traveller
Awesome. Such knowledge has been put to use there, great work. BTW how long did it take?
Magrat Garlick
Rather Mad Witch
About an hour, I reckon.Awesome. Such knowledge has been put to use there, great work. BTW how long did it take?
Personally, I do it to win the family World Cup tipping comp.
Magrat Garlick
Rather Mad Witch
Results - still six games to be played today, will edit
Africa
13.00, Nairobi, grp B: Kenya 1-2 Tunisia (Kenya's World Cup dreams all but over after the first match, as they'll now need two away wins to be in contention for a top spot in the group. Oliech's second half equaliser threatened to rally for Kenya, only to be pegged back two minutes later, and Tunisia held on from there.)
13.30, Kigali, grp C: Rwanda 0-0 Algeria (not a very intriguing game, with Algeria failed to take their first away win in competitive football for five years. Rwanda have lost some ground in the battle for third but are still in the running.)
16.00, Accra (GHA), grp A: Togo 1-0 Cameroon (despite playing on neutral ground, Togo were lit by an early Adebayor strike, and completed a fully deserved 1-0 victory, against the odds. Indeed, Adebayor missed a penalty after being fouled by Geremi in the 76th minute. There's still very difficult trips to Cameroon and Morocco to overcome, but Togo are applying vigorously for a spot in South Africa.)
17.00, Omdurman, grp D: Sudan 1-1 Mali (Frederic Kanouté scored the first goal, but Sudan immediately pegged back, denying Mali the chance to put some pressure on Ghana in the fight for the only World Cup spot from this group.)
18.00, Ouagadougou, grp E: Burkina Faso 4-2 Guinea (two goals for the hosts before the half-hour pretty much settled the game; diminutive talent Alain Traoré and Charleroi club veteran Mahamoudou Kéré scored the goals for the side which includes a number of under-22 players who are just finding their feet in Europe.)
20.00, Casablanca, grp A: Morocco 1-2 Gabon (Gabon's win is perhaps the most surprising of the day, with Morocco suddenly looking likely to fail to qualify for the third successive qualifying campaign.)
Sunday
13.00, Maputo, grp B: Mozambique 0-0 Nigeria (two goals ruled off-side prevented Mozambique from taking a win against an admittedly understrength Nigeria, who were nevertheless outplayed in territory and didn't deserve to get a point out of the match.)
17.00, Kumasi, grp D: Ghana 1-0 Benin (Ghana scored in the first minute of an entertaining game, where Benin pushed hard for the equaliser throughout the second half, but couldn't quite break through and now lie bottom of the very tough Group D.)
17.00, Abidjan, grp E: Ivory Coast 5-0 Malawi (The news story of the game: a wall collapsed, and in the following chaos, 19 people died and more than 130 were injured after panic broke out. The match was apparently oversold and too many people attempted to squeeze into the 25-year-old stadium. Requiescat in pace.)
17.30, Cairo, grp C: Egypt 1-1 Zambia (Zaki scored an early goal, yet Egypt couldn't hold on at home, much to the frustration of the home crowd. Zambia showed fine patience away from home and could even have come away with three, forcing the Egypt coach into frustration and tactical substitutions. Egypt top their easy group thanks to goals scored and alphabetical order, but it seems like the Copper Bullets are finally rebuilding under the charge of former Cambridge United manager Hervé Renard.)
Asia
06.30, Pyongyang, grp 2: North Korea 2-0 UAE (North Korea come through their last easy game with flying colours, with army defender Park Nam-Chol scoring a rare but vital goal. They'll be sitting pretty at the top of the group, and a couple of draws could be enough for the North to qualify for a World Cup for the first time since 1966.)
10.23 (don't ask), Saitama, grp 1: Japan 1-0 Bahrain (Celtic veteran Shunsuke Nakamura broke the deadlock shortly after half-time with a free kick, and Japan rode home to take back group lead briefly.)
12.00, Tashkent, grp 1: Uzbekistan 4-0 Qatar (Farhod Tadiyev, a striker at Rivaldo's new club Pakhtakor Tashkent, scored thrice as the Uzbeks finally showed some of the form they had during the preliminary rounds and the 2006 campaign. They're back in third, and will be buoyed, if slightly jet-lagged, for their clash in Australia in four days' time.)
14.30, Teheran, grp 2: Iran 1-2 Saudi Arabia (Iran dominated for most of the match, yet Saudi Arabia came out on top after a an excellent come-back in an entertaining second half. Iran opened the scoring on 57 minutes with a fine strike from Osasuna midfielder Shojaei, who at 24 is just beginning to forge a decent career in Europe, but it was cancelled out twelve minutes from time by Naif Hazazi, a talented young forward from Al-Ittihad of Jeddah, and the lithe Osama al-Harbi glanced in the winner with four minutes to play to seal Iran's first defeat in 33 home matches, with Germany triumphing in October 2004. Iran have fallen to fourth in the group and need some exceptional results in Korea to make the direct qualification, but the group is certainly wide open.)
Europe
14.00, Moskva, grp 4: Russia 2-0 Azerbaijan (Russia, pretty much unbeatable on their artificial grass, struggled to get out of first gear, but took the lead through a Pavlyuchenko free-kick. Zyryanov confirmed the victory with nineteen minutes to spare.)
15.00, Caerdydd, grp 4: Wales 0-2 Finland (Wales dominated early on, but just before half-time veteran Jari Litmanen fed through Jonatan Johansson, who put Finland into the lead with a lovely shot from the edge of the box. Finland took over in the other half and settled the game through journeyman Shefki Kuqi's goal in injury time.)
16.00, Luxembourg, grp 2: Luxembourg 0-4 Latvia (a comfortable win for Latvia, and Luxembourg are very firmly back as European minnows.)
16.00, Yerevan, grp 5: Armenia 2-2 Estonia (in a see-saw game between the two worst teams, Armenia came back with three minutes from time to nab a point.)
16.45, Chişinău, grp 2: Moldova 0-2 Switzerland (Dortmund star Alexander Frei ensured Switzerland took a comfortable lead, and Gelson Fernandes added another in injury time. The victory apparently not as easy as it sounded; Moldova do have a habit of making things look hard but never actually being close to earning points.)
17.15, Belfast, grp 3: Northern Ireland 3-2 Poland (a well earned victory for Northern Ireland; Poland had pegged back in the first half against the run of play thanks to the quick forward Ireneusz Jeleń. 21-year-old Jonny Evans, a man with more national caps than club matches despite moving to Manchester United at 16, took advantage of a corner to give Norn Iron the lead early in the second half. Poland subbed on Dortmund midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski, recently recovered from a torn thigh muscle, in the second half, but immediately afterwards Michał Żewłakow ensured that the Poles would have a mountain to climb as his backpass took an unfortunate route off the Windsor Park turf and outdid Artur Boruc. An injury time consolation goal from Marek Saganowski means their goal difference won't take a plunge, but there is still no clear favourite in this group.)
18.00, Larnaka, grp 8: Cyprus 2-1 Georgia (Cyprus comfortably better on the day, and they moved off last place, but haven't played well enough against the top sides to make it to their first major championship.)
18.00, Ramat-Gan, grp 2: Israel 1-1 Greece (In an open game, Rehhagel's side did what they do best - lie low and counter - and got the 1-0 lead through Theofanis Gekas, who pounced on a defensive error. A more well-built attack lay behind the equaliser, but it couldn't prevent Israel falling to third in the group, though they're only a point behind Greece and Switzerland.)
18.45, Constanţa, grp 7: Romania 2-3 Serbia (In a match watched by the presidents of both nations, Romania had the opportunity to close the gap to two points, but instead found Serbia running away with the early lead, then handed the visitors a further advantage when Dorel Stoica headed in a corner kick. It's Romania's first ever loss in the Black Sea resort of Constanţa. Romania now travel to the disarrayed Austria for one last, desperate shout at qualification.)
19.00, Ta'Qali, grp 1: Malta 0-3 Denmark (Denmark took the lead on twelve minutes, and never exploded, but nevertheless took home a comfortable victory.)
19.00, Leipzig, grp 4: Germany 4-0 Liechtenstein (it took four minutes for Michael Ballack to set the Ossi crowd alight. Marcell Jansen made it two before ten minutes and the mercy killing was stopped at four.)
19.30, Tirana, grp 1: Albania 0-1 Hungary (Hungary continue to hunt Denmark, and though their last five games are considerably tougher - including a double-header with a Portuguese side in need of points and a trip to Denmark - they've at least got out of Albania with three.)
19.45, Maribor, grp 3: Slovenia 0-0 Czech Republic (a dull draw doesn't sort this group out much, though it does give Northern Ireland a breather at the top of the group.)
19.45, Genk, grp 5: Belgium 2-4 Bosnia-Hercegovina (Belgian football still has some way to go back to their 1980s heights, as an appalling result at home to Bosnia and Hercegovina means they're out of the race to join Spain at the top two. As per usual, protesting Bosnian fans with flares caused a ten-minute delay of the kick-off.)
19.45, Kaunas, grp 7: Lithuania 0-1 France (a moment of brilliance from Gourcuff and Ribéry - the latter slotting into the top corner from 25 yards - means France are on some kind of wobbly course still)
19.45, Podgorica, grp 8: Montenegro 0-2 Italy (without Mirko Vučinić, who earns money in Rome, Montenegro had little to fight the 0-1 machine that is Italy. After converting an early penalty, the game was pretty much gone, and they were even allowed a second goal thanks to Samp striker Giampaolo Pazzini.)
19.45, Dublin, grp 8: Republic of Ireland 1-1 Bulgaria (Bulgaria were handed a slight life in the group by Kevin Kilbane, whose knee touched Stilian Petrov's shot to trump Shay Given and tie the scores at one-all. Ireland scored after just 40 seconds, but Bulgaria earned the point and could, with a win at home in Sofia, still catch the Irish for second place.)
19.45, Amsterdam, grp 9: Netherlands 3-0 Scotland (Scotland were outclassed as Netherlands registered their largest win in Bert van Marwijk's tenure, while Scotland fell behind Iceland in the run for second place thanks to goal difference. It should be noted at this point that Iceland are not playing this week, but lost a friendly to the Faroe Islands a week ago.)
20.45, Porto, grp 1: Portugal 0-0 Sweden (Sweden had no expansive plans for this game and barely got a shot at goal, yet Swedish media will probably nod in agreement that one point was deserved against the flamboyant, technically dominant but tactically flawed, etc., Portuguese. Both sides are ahead of Albania in the table, anyway. Hooray.)
21.00, Madrid, grp 5: Spain 1-0 Turkey (It took a centre back to break Turkish luck this time around, getting free at the back post and pouncing on chaos in the box after an hour played. Spain thus take a comfortable six-point lead at the half-way stage.)
CONCACAF
23.00, Ciudad de México: Mexico 2-0 Costa Rica (Omar Bravo and Pavel Pardo converted the domination of possession and territory, as Mexico earned a fully deserved win and showed that there may be some hope for Mexico yet. 32-year-old Pardo was man of the match, as he bossed the midfield and the referee; the second goal was a rather soft penalty after a gentle push by Roy Myrie, which Pardo converted himself.)
23.00, Port of Spain: Trinidad and Tobago 1-1 Honduras (a Dwight Yorke-less Trinidad earned one point, a result neither side will be happy with, when Portsmouth-contracted talent Khaleem Hyland came off the bench to equalise in the dying seconds.)
01.11, San Salvador: El Salvador 2-2 United States (another home draw for El Salvador, and though much more convincing than their home result against Trinidad, they handed away a great chance to qualify for the first time since 1982 when Hejduk equalised with three minutes to spare.
South America
20.00, Montevideo: Uruguay 2-0 Paraguay (a comfortable win for Uruguay means they temporarily move into the top four; Fenerbahçe defender Diego Lugano and Atlético Madrid striker Diego Forlán provided the goals.)
22.10, Buenos Aires: Argentina 4-0 Venezuela (the average win for Argentina was 4-0 before the match, and that's how it ended. Diego keeps his job for another couple of nights.)
00.20, Bogotá: Colombia 2-0 Bolivia (Colombia finally begun to score goals, with the two from this game comprising a third of their overall scoring in the qualifying series. Bolivia were outplayed and showed little that suggest they have anything to offer at a World Cup.)
Sunday
22.00, Quito: Ecuador 1-1 Brazil (after being comprehensively outplayed for the first 70 minutes, Brazil fluked a goal off the boot and the keeper's back. Credited with the goal was Júlio Baptista, a 45-cap man who has made more of a name for himself with the Selecão than with his club sides despite an attractive 150-minute-per-goal ratio in La Liga. However, with a minute to go of regulation time Rubin Kazan midfielder Cristian Noboa - who will feature in the CL next season unless he moves clubs - equalised on debut. Brazil's sixth draw and even their rock solid defence is going to pot - will there be a new manager before the crucial June away tie in Uruguay?)
00.10, Lima: Peru vs Chile (Chile's young team - their eldest statesman is PAOK defender Pablo Contreras - are aiming to secure only the second Chilean qualification for the World Cup in the last 24 years, though it should be noted at this point that they were banned from TWO World Cups following their goalkeeper's simulation - FIFA were stricter in the olden days. Anyway, the Chileans have altitude to contend with as well, and are ranked as outsiders by betfair tippers, though they play the worst side in the league; I can only assume it has something to do with their recent performance in the Andes, a 0-1 loss to Ecuador. Peru's 5-20 goal difference doesn't lie, however: they are rank.)
Africa
13.00, Nairobi, grp B: Kenya 1-2 Tunisia (Kenya's World Cup dreams all but over after the first match, as they'll now need two away wins to be in contention for a top spot in the group. Oliech's second half equaliser threatened to rally for Kenya, only to be pegged back two minutes later, and Tunisia held on from there.)
13.30, Kigali, grp C: Rwanda 0-0 Algeria (not a very intriguing game, with Algeria failed to take their first away win in competitive football for five years. Rwanda have lost some ground in the battle for third but are still in the running.)
16.00, Accra (GHA), grp A: Togo 1-0 Cameroon (despite playing on neutral ground, Togo were lit by an early Adebayor strike, and completed a fully deserved 1-0 victory, against the odds. Indeed, Adebayor missed a penalty after being fouled by Geremi in the 76th minute. There's still very difficult trips to Cameroon and Morocco to overcome, but Togo are applying vigorously for a spot in South Africa.)
17.00, Omdurman, grp D: Sudan 1-1 Mali (Frederic Kanouté scored the first goal, but Sudan immediately pegged back, denying Mali the chance to put some pressure on Ghana in the fight for the only World Cup spot from this group.)
18.00, Ouagadougou, grp E: Burkina Faso 4-2 Guinea (two goals for the hosts before the half-hour pretty much settled the game; diminutive talent Alain Traoré and Charleroi club veteran Mahamoudou Kéré scored the goals for the side which includes a number of under-22 players who are just finding their feet in Europe.)
20.00, Casablanca, grp A: Morocco 1-2 Gabon (Gabon's win is perhaps the most surprising of the day, with Morocco suddenly looking likely to fail to qualify for the third successive qualifying campaign.)
Sunday
13.00, Maputo, grp B: Mozambique 0-0 Nigeria (two goals ruled off-side prevented Mozambique from taking a win against an admittedly understrength Nigeria, who were nevertheless outplayed in territory and didn't deserve to get a point out of the match.)
17.00, Kumasi, grp D: Ghana 1-0 Benin (Ghana scored in the first minute of an entertaining game, where Benin pushed hard for the equaliser throughout the second half, but couldn't quite break through and now lie bottom of the very tough Group D.)
17.00, Abidjan, grp E: Ivory Coast 5-0 Malawi (The news story of the game: a wall collapsed, and in the following chaos, 19 people died and more than 130 were injured after panic broke out. The match was apparently oversold and too many people attempted to squeeze into the 25-year-old stadium. Requiescat in pace.)
17.30, Cairo, grp C: Egypt 1-1 Zambia (Zaki scored an early goal, yet Egypt couldn't hold on at home, much to the frustration of the home crowd. Zambia showed fine patience away from home and could even have come away with three, forcing the Egypt coach into frustration and tactical substitutions. Egypt top their easy group thanks to goals scored and alphabetical order, but it seems like the Copper Bullets are finally rebuilding under the charge of former Cambridge United manager Hervé Renard.)
Code:
Group A Group B Group C
Gabon 2-1 3 Tunisia 2-1 3 Egypt 1-1 1
------------------- ------------------- -------------------
Togo 1-0 3 Nigeria 0-0 1 Zambia 1-1 1
Morocco 1-2 0 Mozambique 0-0 1 Algeria 0-0 1
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Cameroon 0-1 0 Kenya 1-2 0 Rwanda 0-0 1
Group D Group E
Ghana 1-0 3 Ivory Coast 5-0 3
------------------- -------------------
Mali 1-1 1 Burkina Faso4-2 3
Sudan 1-1 1 Guinea 2-4 0
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Benin 0-1 0 Malawi 0-5 0
Top team to World Cup, top three teams to Africa Cup of Nations06.30, Pyongyang, grp 2: North Korea 2-0 UAE (North Korea come through their last easy game with flying colours, with army defender Park Nam-Chol scoring a rare but vital goal. They'll be sitting pretty at the top of the group, and a couple of draws could be enough for the North to qualify for a World Cup for the first time since 1966.)
10.23 (don't ask), Saitama, grp 1: Japan 1-0 Bahrain (Celtic veteran Shunsuke Nakamura broke the deadlock shortly after half-time with a free kick, and Japan rode home to take back group lead briefly.)
12.00, Tashkent, grp 1: Uzbekistan 4-0 Qatar (Farhod Tadiyev, a striker at Rivaldo's new club Pakhtakor Tashkent, scored thrice as the Uzbeks finally showed some of the form they had during the preliminary rounds and the 2006 campaign. They're back in third, and will be buoyed, if slightly jet-lagged, for their clash in Australia in four days' time.)
14.30, Teheran, grp 2: Iran 1-2 Saudi Arabia (Iran dominated for most of the match, yet Saudi Arabia came out on top after a an excellent come-back in an entertaining second half. Iran opened the scoring on 57 minutes with a fine strike from Osasuna midfielder Shojaei, who at 24 is just beginning to forge a decent career in Europe, but it was cancelled out twelve minutes from time by Naif Hazazi, a talented young forward from Al-Ittihad of Jeddah, and the lithe Osama al-Harbi glanced in the winner with four minutes to play to seal Iran's first defeat in 33 home matches, with Germany triumphing in October 2004. Iran have fallen to fourth in the group and need some exceptional results in Korea to make the direct qualification, but the group is certainly wide open.)
Code:
5 games unless stated
Group 1 Group 2
Japan 8-3 11 North Korea 7-4 10
Australia(4)6-0 10 South Kor(4)8-3 8
------------------- -------------------
Uzb'stan 5-6 4 Saudi Arabia5-6 7
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Bahrain 4-6 4 Iran 6-6 6
Qatar 4-12 4 UAE 4-11 1
Top two teams to World Cup, third-placed to play off with each other and then with New Zealand14.00, Moskva, grp 4: Russia 2-0 Azerbaijan (Russia, pretty much unbeatable on their artificial grass, struggled to get out of first gear, but took the lead through a Pavlyuchenko free-kick. Zyryanov confirmed the victory with nineteen minutes to spare.)
15.00, Caerdydd, grp 4: Wales 0-2 Finland (Wales dominated early on, but just before half-time veteran Jari Litmanen fed through Jonatan Johansson, who put Finland into the lead with a lovely shot from the edge of the box. Finland took over in the other half and settled the game through journeyman Shefki Kuqi's goal in injury time.)
16.00, Luxembourg, grp 2: Luxembourg 0-4 Latvia (a comfortable win for Latvia, and Luxembourg are very firmly back as European minnows.)
16.00, Yerevan, grp 5: Armenia 2-2 Estonia (in a see-saw game between the two worst teams, Armenia came back with three minutes from time to nab a point.)
16.45, Chişinău, grp 2: Moldova 0-2 Switzerland (Dortmund star Alexander Frei ensured Switzerland took a comfortable lead, and Gelson Fernandes added another in injury time. The victory apparently not as easy as it sounded; Moldova do have a habit of making things look hard but never actually being close to earning points.)
17.15, Belfast, grp 3: Northern Ireland 3-2 Poland (a well earned victory for Northern Ireland; Poland had pegged back in the first half against the run of play thanks to the quick forward Ireneusz Jeleń. 21-year-old Jonny Evans, a man with more national caps than club matches despite moving to Manchester United at 16, took advantage of a corner to give Norn Iron the lead early in the second half. Poland subbed on Dortmund midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski, recently recovered from a torn thigh muscle, in the second half, but immediately afterwards Michał Żewłakow ensured that the Poles would have a mountain to climb as his backpass took an unfortunate route off the Windsor Park turf and outdid Artur Boruc. An injury time consolation goal from Marek Saganowski means their goal difference won't take a plunge, but there is still no clear favourite in this group.)
18.00, Larnaka, grp 8: Cyprus 2-1 Georgia (Cyprus comfortably better on the day, and they moved off last place, but haven't played well enough against the top sides to make it to their first major championship.)
18.00, Ramat-Gan, grp 2: Israel 1-1 Greece (In an open game, Rehhagel's side did what they do best - lie low and counter - and got the 1-0 lead through Theofanis Gekas, who pounced on a defensive error. A more well-built attack lay behind the equaliser, but it couldn't prevent Israel falling to third in the group, though they're only a point behind Greece and Switzerland.)
18.45, Constanţa, grp 7: Romania 2-3 Serbia (In a match watched by the presidents of both nations, Romania had the opportunity to close the gap to two points, but instead found Serbia running away with the early lead, then handed the visitors a further advantage when Dorel Stoica headed in a corner kick. It's Romania's first ever loss in the Black Sea resort of Constanţa. Romania now travel to the disarrayed Austria for one last, desperate shout at qualification.)
19.00, Ta'Qali, grp 1: Malta 0-3 Denmark (Denmark took the lead on twelve minutes, and never exploded, but nevertheless took home a comfortable victory.)
19.00, Leipzig, grp 4: Germany 4-0 Liechtenstein (it took four minutes for Michael Ballack to set the Ossi crowd alight. Marcell Jansen made it two before ten minutes and the mercy killing was stopped at four.)
19.30, Tirana, grp 1: Albania 0-1 Hungary (Hungary continue to hunt Denmark, and though their last five games are considerably tougher - including a double-header with a Portuguese side in need of points and a trip to Denmark - they've at least got out of Albania with three.)
19.45, Maribor, grp 3: Slovenia 0-0 Czech Republic (a dull draw doesn't sort this group out much, though it does give Northern Ireland a breather at the top of the group.)
19.45, Genk, grp 5: Belgium 2-4 Bosnia-Hercegovina (Belgian football still has some way to go back to their 1980s heights, as an appalling result at home to Bosnia and Hercegovina means they're out of the race to join Spain at the top two. As per usual, protesting Bosnian fans with flares caused a ten-minute delay of the kick-off.)
19.45, Kaunas, grp 7: Lithuania 0-1 France (a moment of brilliance from Gourcuff and Ribéry - the latter slotting into the top corner from 25 yards - means France are on some kind of wobbly course still)
19.45, Podgorica, grp 8: Montenegro 0-2 Italy (without Mirko Vučinić, who earns money in Rome, Montenegro had little to fight the 0-1 machine that is Italy. After converting an early penalty, the game was pretty much gone, and they were even allowed a second goal thanks to Samp striker Giampaolo Pazzini.)
19.45, Dublin, grp 8: Republic of Ireland 1-1 Bulgaria (Bulgaria were handed a slight life in the group by Kevin Kilbane, whose knee touched Stilian Petrov's shot to trump Shay Given and tie the scores at one-all. Ireland scored after just 40 seconds, but Bulgaria earned the point and could, with a win at home in Sofia, still catch the Irish for second place.)
19.45, Amsterdam, grp 9: Netherlands 3-0 Scotland (Scotland were outclassed as Netherlands registered their largest win in Bert van Marwijk's tenure, while Scotland fell behind Iceland in the run for second place thanks to goal difference. It should be noted at this point that Iceland are not playing this week, but lost a friendly to the Faroe Islands a week ago.)
20.45, Porto, grp 1: Portugal 0-0 Sweden (Sweden had no expansive plans for this game and barely got a shot at goal, yet Swedish media will probably nod in agreement that one point was deserved against the flamboyant, technically dominant but tactically flawed, etc., Portuguese. Both sides are ahead of Albania in the table, anyway. Hooray.)
21.00, Madrid, grp 5: Spain 1-0 Turkey (It took a centre back to break Turkish luck this time around, getting free at the back post and pouncing on chaos in the box after an hour played. Spain thus take a comfortable six-point lead at the half-way stage.)
Code:
4 games played unless stated
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
Denmark 9-2 10 Greece (5) 10-3 10 NornIron(6)11-6 10
------------------- ------------------- -------------------
Hungary (5) 5-2 10 Swiss (5) 9-6 10 Slovakia 8-5 9
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Portugal (5)6-3 6 Israel (5) 9-6 9 Czech Rep(5)5-2 8
Sweden 2-1 6 Latvia (5) 8-6 7 Slovenia(5) 5-3 8
Albania (6) 3-3 6 Lux'bourg(5)3-11 4 Poland (5) 8-7 7
Malta (6) 0-14 1 Moldova (5) 2-9 1 S Marino(5) 1-15 0
Group 4 Group 5 Group 6
Germany (5)16-4 13 Spain 10-1 12 England 14-3 12
------------------- ------------------- -------------------
Russia 8-3 9 Bos-Herc(5)16-6 9 Croatia 8-4 7
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Finland 6-6 7 Turkey 5-2 8 Ukraine (3) 4-1 7
Wales (5) 4-5 6 Belgium (5) 9-9 7 Belarus (3) 4-5 3
Azerbaijan 0-4 1 Estonia 4-15 2 Kazakh 5-11 3
Liec'st 0-12 1 Armenia 3-13 1 Andorra 1-12 0
Group 7 Group 8 Group 9
Serbia (5) 12-5 12 Italy (5) 8-2 13 Netherlands 8-1 12
------------------- ------------------- -------------------
Lithuania(5)6-4 9 Rep Irel (5)6-3 11 Iceland 4-6 4
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
France 6-6 7 Bulgaria 3-3 4 Scotland 2-5 4
Austria 5-7 4 Cyprus 4-5 4 FYR Macd (3)2-3 3
Romania 5-8 4 Montenegro 3-6 2 Norway (3) 2-3 2
Faroe Is 1-5 1 Georgia (6) 4-9 2
Top team to World Cup, all runners-up teams except worst to knock-out play-off
Code:
Runners-up table
Russia 4 3 0 1 8-3 9
Hungary 4 2 1 1 4-2 7
Switzerland 4 2 1 1 7-6 7
Bosnia and Hercegovina4 2 0 2 12-4 6
Lithuania 4 2 0 2 5-4 6
Slovakia 3 2 0 1 5-4 6
Republic of Ireland 3 1 2 0 2-1 5
Croatia 3 1 1 1 4-4 4
-------------------------------------------
Iceland 4 1 1 2 4-6 4
Match against worst team in group not counted23.00, Ciudad de México: Mexico 2-0 Costa Rica (Omar Bravo and Pavel Pardo converted the domination of possession and territory, as Mexico earned a fully deserved win and showed that there may be some hope for Mexico yet. 32-year-old Pardo was man of the match, as he bossed the midfield and the referee; the second goal was a rather soft penalty after a gentle push by Roy Myrie, which Pardo converted himself.)
23.00, Port of Spain: Trinidad and Tobago 1-1 Honduras (a Dwight Yorke-less Trinidad earned one point, a result neither side will be happy with, when Portsmouth-contracted talent Khaleem Hyland came off the bench to equalise in the dying seconds.)
01.11, San Salvador: El Salvador 2-2 United States (another home draw for El Salvador, and though much more convincing than their home result against Trinidad, they handed away a great chance to qualify for the first time since 1982 when Hejduk equalised with three minutes to spare.
Code:
USA 4-2 4
Costa Rica 2-2 3
Mexico 2-2 3
-------------------
El Salvador 4-4 2
- - - - - - - - - -
T & T 3-3 2
Honduras 1-3 1
Top three to World Cup, fourth to play-off with South America20.00, Montevideo: Uruguay 2-0 Paraguay (a comfortable win for Uruguay means they temporarily move into the top four; Fenerbahçe defender Diego Lugano and Atlético Madrid striker Diego Forlán provided the goals.)
22.10, Buenos Aires: Argentina 4-0 Venezuela (the average win for Argentina was 4-0 before the match, and that's how it ended. Diego keeps his job for another couple of nights.)
00.20, Bogotá: Colombia 2-0 Bolivia (Colombia finally begun to score goals, with the two from this game comprising a third of their overall scoring in the qualifying series. Bolivia were outplayed and showed little that suggest they have anything to offer at a World Cup.)
Sunday
22.00, Quito: Ecuador 1-1 Brazil (after being comprehensively outplayed for the first 70 minutes, Brazil fluked a goal off the boot and the keeper's back. Credited with the goal was Júlio Baptista, a 45-cap man who has made more of a name for himself with the Selecão than with his club sides despite an attractive 150-minute-per-goal ratio in La Liga. However, with a minute to go of regulation time Rubin Kazan midfielder Cristian Noboa - who will feature in the CL next season unless he moves clubs - equalised on debut. Brazil's sixth draw and even their rock solid defence is going to pot - will there be a new manager before the crucial June away tie in Uruguay?)
00.10, Lima: Peru vs Chile (Chile's young team - their eldest statesman is PAOK defender Pablo Contreras - are aiming to secure only the second Chilean qualification for the World Cup in the last 24 years, though it should be noted at this point that they were banned from TWO World Cups following their goalkeeper's simulation - FIFA were stricter in the olden days. Anyway, the Chileans have altitude to contend with as well, and are ranked as outsiders by betfair tippers, though they play the worst side in the league; I can only assume it has something to do with their recent performance in the Andes, a 0-1 loss to Ecuador. Peru's 5-20 goal difference doesn't lie, however: they are rank.)
Code:
Paraguay 11 7 2 2 18-8 23
Argentina 11 5 4 2 17-7 19
Brazil 11 4 6 1 16-5 18
Uruguay 11 4 4 3 21-10 16
-------------------------------------------
Chile 10 5 1 4 14-13 16
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Colombia 11 3 5 3 6-8 14
Ecuador 11 3 4 4 13-18 13
Venezuela 11 3 1 7 12-22 10
Bolivia 11 2 3 6 13-24 9
Peru 10 1 4 5 5-20 7
Top four to World Cup, fifth to play-off with CONCACAF
Last edited:
Craig
World Traveller
And how good is there record?About an hour, I reckon.
Personally, I do it to win the family World Cup tipping comp.
BoyBrumby
Englishman
I have to say, given how unutterably woeful yer Slovaks were against us, Northern Ireland are a chance of runners-up in that group at least after beating the Poles.
Only a friendly, but boy they were limited in their ambition. Came with damage limitation as Plan A and weren't even that flash in that regards, although a fourth probably flattered us slightly.
Only a friendly, but boy they were limited in their ambition. Came with damage limitation as Plan A and weren't even that flash in that regards, although a fourth probably flattered us slightly.
Craig
World Traveller
The usual story then? Crap opposition, but England make a mountain out of a molehill?
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