Play-off matches:
07.00, Wellington: New Zealand vs Bahrain (second leg. First leg 0-0. Wish I could come with some salient team info. Shane Smeltz will probably play.)
16.00, Moskva: Russia vs Slovenia (Slovenia aiming to qualify for their third major tournament, and maybe win a match once there; their finals record is 0-2-4. They're even more outsiders than NZ, though.)
18.00, Athina: Greece vs Ukraine (despite being European champions in 2004, Greece missed out on a trip to Germany, meaning that their World Cup record still stands at 0-0-3 with 10 conceded goals from 1994. Ukraine won the "most boring quarter-final award", shared with Switzerland, in the 2006 World Cup, and should be able to squeeze out a dull draw here before winning in front of possibly elated Kyivans.)
20.00, Dublin: Republic of Ireland vs France (hoping for Domenech's final downfall. I went on record as saying RoI's group was tough and they made it to the play-offs with ease, while France had to rely on the other teams falling over themselves to get there.)
20.30, Lisboa: Portugal vs Bosnia-Hercegovina (yeah, great timing to schedule the two fun matches to clash...sigh. Anyway, Portugal without Ronaldo is possible to beat, even though the Bosnian star players have gone somewhat off the boil in recent weeks; Dzeko missed some howlers for Wolfsburg against Hoffenheim, for example, though Misimović and Ibišević were both on the scoresheet, and Misimović had an excellent Champions League match in Turkey. Then again, Portugal have...Nani?)
02.00, San José: Costa Rica vs Uruguay 8a couple of exciting players in these squads, as European football clubs seems to have discovered there's half a continent north of Panama, but Luis Suárez, the Ajax striker who scores for fun, is a man I'd like to see at the World Cup. Must admit he didn't leave an amazing impression when Uruguay was up here in the icy wastes for a friendly last summer.)
Africa, final round:
13.00, Maputo, grp B: Mozambique vs Tunisia (perennial qualifiers Tunisia could make their fourth straight World Cup, despite eleven matches without a win at the finals - they won their first match, in 1978, then failed to win the next two and were away for 20 years. They even failed to beat Saudi Arabia last time around. They have the advantage in this group following two draws with Nigeria, but a draw will not do; the Nigerians will then have the edge on goal difference. Mozambique have plenty to play for, as again, a draw could conceivably not be enough.)
13.00, Nairobi, grp B: Kenya vs Nigeria (Kenya's only points are a 1-0 home win over Mozambique, and with Nigeria's squad fresh and rested - no club matches since Sunday - the Super Eagles should be able to get the job done and put pressure on Tunisia. The largest country by population in Africa, by some distance, should in theory have the deepest talent pool and have showed it at the U-17 World Cup by reaching the final at home, but can the senior Super Eagles pull together?)
13.30, Kigali, grp C: Rwanda vs Zambia (a rather theoretical match here; both teams have long been out of contention for the World Cup, and the little mountain state of Rwanda need to win by three goals to make the African Cup of Nations for the first time. Doesn't look likely after four straight losses in qualifying.)
15.30, Lomé: Togo vs Gabon (Gabon's stronghold on Morocco, with wins both home and away, has been the surprise in this group, and despite having had to go through a postponed match due to the death of their eternal dictator, they could even qualify for the World Cup. Adebayor will probably score a goal and put them out though, as a draw won't be enough unless Cameroon lose by two.)
15.30, Fes: Morocco vs Cameroon (Morocco, already out thanks to their horror shows against Gabon, need a win to make the Africa Cup of Nations; it would be their first failure since 1996, though they haven't done much once there recently - possibly due to having all their players in the French league, but that's taking a break for the ACN this year. Cameroon, with the best African performance in the history of the competition, still have a number of quality players and were missed at the 2006 Cup; frankly, for African football it's best if Morocco lay down without a fight, which it appears they've done as their selected squad has less than 125 caps between them. It includes Tottenham prodigy Adel Taarabt and plenty of players from the Moroccan domestic league, while Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh are among plenty of European legionnaires to miss out.)
16.00, Ouagadougou: Burkina Faso vs Malawi (The Burkinabe are stuck in second and are fighting for, possibly, two FIFA ranking spots come the draw in 2012.)
16.00, Abidjan: Ivory Coast vs Guinea (Ivory Coast already qualified, with 16 goals scored in five matches - possibly the most impressive qualifying campaign from a non-cricketing nation, even taking into account an easy group - and the only thing here is whether they put their neighbours out of the Africa Cup of Nations.)
17.00, Omdurman: Sudan vs Benin (Sudan have punched above their weight just to get here, and with one point from five matches, they've been rather embarrasingly shown up - only Rwanda have a worse record. Benin continue with respectable results and will be a tricky proposition at the ACN, but can not make the World Cup.)
17.30, Cairo, grp C: Egypt vs Algeria (marred by off-football activities - the Algerians claim they were bombarded by stones while travelling in the bus from the airport, while the Egyptians brush the allegations off and say the Algerians damaged the bus themselves. Perhaps as much of a hate clash as you can get between Arab states. A 2-0 win would be remarkable; the teams would then be tied on goal difference and head-to-head results, and we'd have a play-off on "neutral" ground...in Sudan, couple of hundred miles to the south, which would definitely be to the Egyptians' advantage. I'd like Zidan to appear at the World Cup once, though...and the African champions Egypt )
Sunday 17.00, Kumasi: Ghana vs Mali (Ghana have won, Mali are third unless they win or Benin mess up.)
Code:
Group A
Cameroon 5 3 1 1 7-2 10
Gabon 5 3 0 2 9-6 9
Togo 5 1 2 2 2-7 5
Morocco 5 0 3 2 3-6 3
Code:
Group B
Tunisia 5 3 2 0 7-3 11
Nigeria 5 2 3 0 6-2 9
Mozambique 5 1 1 3 2-5 4
Kenya 5 1 0 4 3-8 3
Code:
Group C
Algeria 5 4 1 0 9-2 13
Egypt 5 3 1 1 7-4 10
Zambia 5 1 1 3 2-5 4
Rwanda 5 0 1 4 1-8 1
Code:
Group D
Ghana 5 4 0 1 7-1 12
Mali 5 2 2 1 6-5 8
Benin 5 2 1 2 4-5 7
Sudan 5 0 1 4 1-7 1
Code:
Group E
Ivory Coast 5 4 1 0 16-4 13
Burkina Faso 5 3 0 2 9-11 9
Malawi 5 1 1 3 4-10 4
Guinea 5 1 0 4 7-11 3
