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World Cup 2010
- Thread starter BoyBrumby
- Start date
- Status
roseboy64
Cricket Web Content Updater
No he wasn't captain but he did play. Scored the goal in the last qualifier to get the team through.
GIMH
Norwood's on Fire
[url="http://uk.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUKTRE49A3Y220081011]More on this...[/url]
Barney Rubble
International Coach
Link is broken, it says "http://" twice at the beginning, plus there's a rogue double inverted comma in there.
Bizarre story, FWIW.
GIMH
Norwood's on Fire
I just checked the link, and this is it : http://uk.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUKTRE49A3Y220081011Dunno why it's turning out like it is when you click it, click the one above though, if you're interested, should work
Magrat Garlick
Rather Mad Witch
You lack a closing quotation mark.
Chubb
International Regular
Faroe Islands 1-1 Austria
VERDINSMEISTARASKAP!
It's a point. Faroese football will consider this comp a success now. The coach recently announced his retirement, so maybe they did it for him. Austria have a history with the Faroe Islands, cos the Puffins beat them in their first ever international match.
VERDINSMEISTARASKAP!
It's a point. Faroese football will consider this comp a success now. The coach recently announced his retirement, so maybe they did it for him. Austria have a history with the Faroe Islands, cos the Puffins beat them in their first ever international match.
Craig
World Traveller
1990 wasn't it?
Magrat Garlick
Rather Mad Witch
Full update
Africa
The first of two qualifying rounds concluded, with ablaze cars, protesting players that return at the last minute, and wins for hapless organisers.
Saturday
12.30 UTC, grp 12, Blantyre: Malawi 2-1 Congo Kinshasa (a second-half turnaround courtesy of Norrköping's Russel Mwafulirwa sent Malawi into almost guaranteed second place as Egypt were not likely to be turned over by the continent's worst side, Djibouti.)
13.00, grp 1, Dar-es-Salaam: Tanzania 3-1 Cape Verde (Tanzania took an important win for pride, but had already squandered their chances of qualification with a 1-1 draw at home to Mauritius. However, they did make it almost impossible for Cape Verde to qualify, as they go forward with three points from the "top-three" games.)
14.00, grp 2, Windhoek: Namibia 4-2 Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe's Dynamos have been the Cinderella story of the African Champions League this year, as they have reached a late stage in the competition despite barely having room on the ticket to print the price. With good results against group leaders Kenya, Zimbabwe hoped for a similar performance from the national team, but fell 4-0 within 50 minutes and could not put pressure on the leading teams. Their hopes did in any case rely on an unlikely Kenyan away victory in West Africa.)
14.30, grp 1, Yaoundé: Cameroon 5-0 Mauritius (Mauritius were unceremoniously swept aside, as expected)
14.30, grp 5, Sekondi: Ghana 3-0 Lesotho (Ghana, in so much trouble after poor away results, recovered with a 3-0 victory against the group's poorest side. However, they relied on developments in the other game to even qualify...)
14.30, grp 5, Libreville: Gabon 1-0 Libya (and Bruno Mbanangoye duly complied. Libya, who had taken four straight victories and led the group, crashed to third and out of the qualifying spots, now denied the chance of repeating their appearance at the 2008 ACN. Gabon finished second, and with six points, looked likely to go through.)
14.30, grp 7, Abidjan: Ivory Coast 3-0 Madagascar (an easy home win quelled all doubts, though other teams will look in hope at their away record; just three draws from three games. They remained unbeaten, however.)
14.30, grp 7, Gaborone: Botswana 0-1 Mozambique (with a lowly Madagascar side expected to do poorly against Ivory Coast, the winner here would likely finish second. A largely home-based Botswana side was not able to deny Mozambique, however, who have resurged somewhat. With five points in head-to-head play, Mozambique looked on the brink of qualification.)
15.00, grp 4, Malabo: Equatorial Guinea 0-1 South Africa (a win for South Africa sends them into second place as Nigeria go through unbeaten. They will now play friendlies until the World Cup, as most other hosts seem to manage pretty well with.)
15.00, grp 4, Abuja: Nigeria 4-1 Sierra Leone (Sierra Leone fail to hold on to second place.)
15.00, Rades: Tunisia 5-0 Seychelles (the last placed Seychelles were outclassed by Tunisia, hunting goal difference to secure first place, though their seven points in top three matches should be enough anyway.)
15.30, grp 11, Accra: Togo 6-0 Swaziland (after horror shows on away soil, Togo, of the players' strikes during the 2006 Cup, relied on Arsenal's Adebayor's return to demolish Swaziland. After revealing to London newspapers he would protest, Adebayor turned up anyway, keeping at least one 2006 qualifier's hopes alive. Zambia won the group despite Adebayor's heroics.)
16.00, grp 6, Monrovia: Liberia 0-0 Algeria (Liberia kept their unbeaten home record alive. Algeria managed to collect three yellow cards in their hunt for victory, which would have assured them first place...)
16.00, grp 6, Dakar: Senegal 1-1 Gambia (...but thanks to an 87th-minute equaliser from Bergen-based Tijan Jaiteh, Algeria won anyway. Disgruntled Senegalese fans set fire to a bus outside the Football Federation as they realised their side had missed the boat in qualifying. Gambia - entirely surrounded by Senegal, for the record - had brief reason to celebrate their greatest success on the senior stage, though with only five points carried forward their second round place was still in limbo.)
18.00, grp 10, Bamako: Mali 2-1 Chad (Mali eased to top of the group, though a late equaliser could have put pressure on them. Chad condemned to last place, making life easy for CAF after they disqualified Chad for not turning up for a match in June.)
18.00, grp 10, Omdurman: Sudan 2-0 Congo Brazzaville (more war-zone football is likely after Sudan came from behind in the group to reach second place on goal difference. A 1-0 defeat would have been enough for Congo, so, by sod's law, they lose by two. And this is not the war-torn Congo, either.)
19.30, grp 8, Rabat: Morocco 4-1 Mauritania (a group thrown into turmoil after Ethiopia's meddling in the football federation's affairs - Rwanda had seemed assured of first place but after cancellations of results and this trouncing, they ended up fourth. It was rather academic, as they gathered nine points in their four counting games and thus made it through anyway.)
Five matches were left, and the following nine nations had secured qualification in first place: Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Zambia, Mali and Benin.
In addition, Rwanda, Togo, Gabon and Sudan were as good as qualified on the second place status, and in two of the unsettled groups both teams were certain to qualify (Egypt and Malawi from 12, Tunisia and Burkina Faso from 9). In group three, Angola were ranked higher than Uganda, but Angola were already eliminated due to poor results against the top three, while Uganda would qualify with a win despite being the only team to drop points to Niger. In group two Guinea met Kenya - the visitors had qualified, the hosts needed a win. The uncertain onlookers, Mozambique and Gambia, needed a fair few results to go their way.
Sunday
13.00, grp 3, Kampala: Uganda 2-1 Benin (Geofrey [sic] Massa, who plies his trade in Egypt, put pressure on Angola with a four-minute brace of goals, and also burst Gambia's bubble; they now needed help from Angola to qualify)
13.30, grp 9, Bujumbura: Burundi 1-3 Burkina Faso (Burkina Faso's footballers may not be well known on the world stage, though agents from French and Belgian clubs have been tapping the country for years. In any event, even without their strongest players, they took a comfortable win to seal the group win.)
15.00, grp 3, Luanda: Angola 3-1 Niger (already eliminated Angola pulled themselves together in the second half, putting three goals behind the Niger goalkeeper to send Uganda, too, out of the tournament, to the benefit of Angola's fellow Lusophones, Mozambique.)
16.00, grp 2, Conakry: Guinea 3-2 Kenya (not as close as it sounds; Guinea led 3-0 with ten minutes to spare. Dynamo Kyiv striker Ismaël Bangoura opened the account, while Hull City's Kamil Zayatte, no doubt buoyed by the absence from Hull, netted the third. Kenya qualify anyway, eliminating Gambia from the ranks.)
18.00, grp 12, Cairo: Egypt 4-0 Djibouti (not much to see here, move along)
Seeds for the next round:
Pot 1: Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria
Pot 2: Algeria, Guinea, Mali, Morocco, Tunisia
Pot 3: Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Kenya, Zambia
Pot 4: Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sudan, Togo
One team from each pot into each group - so there will be five groups of four. The winners go through to the World Cup and the top three teams to the African Cup of Nations in Angola. (There might have been a free pass for the team that drew Angola in their second round group; as Angola failed to qualify, however, that solves that problem.)
FIFA rankings have been used, which means Egypt, as champions of the continent, are seeded in the top pot despite having made a grand total of one World Cup since WWII. (Yes, I know Zidan and Zaky haven't played all of those.) No real groups of death here yet, though if Rwanda continue to be as strong at home and Burkina Faso continue their form, they might be a tough axe to grind for some of the top seeds.
Europe
14.00, grp 9, Glasgow: Scotland 0-0 Norway (Chris Iwelumo's legendary miss from two yards stole most of the headlines, though Scandinavian news outlets claimed Norway had been closest to the win. The same Scandinavian news outlets also profess doom unless Norway beat Netherlands on Wednesday.)
14.00, grp 4, Helsinki: Finland 1-0 Azerbaijan (Roy Hodgson's side have a thankless task to qualify from a group with two of the European Championship semi-finalists, but are still unbeaten after a Forssell penalty helped them overcome Azerbaijan.)
15.00, grp 7, Tórshavn: Faroe Islands 1-1 Austria (this was the Austrians' first visit to the Faroes - the famous 1-0 victory coming on neutral ground. It didn't help tstl.)
15.45, grp 2, St Gallen: Switzerland 2-1 Latvia (after a horror return to international football for Alexander Frei, he scored a goal on Latvia today, only for a ten-men Latvia to equalise with 20 minutes left. However, Blaise Kufo, a naturalised Congolese, turned things around quickly.)
16.15, grp 6, London: England 5-1 Kazakhstan (apparently, England were so disappointing they only recorded the largest victory of the evening. Disastrous.)
16.30, grp 4, Caerdydd: Wales 2-0 Liechtenstein (easy win for Wales, helped by an own goal.)
16.30, grp 8, Tbilisi: Georgia 1-1 Cyprus (after being driven from their home by Russian forces last month, Georgia achieved a point in another rather dull game, with Schalke's Levan Kobiashvili earning Georgia's first point in the qualifying series.)
17.00, grp 6, Kharkiv: Ukraine 0-0 Croatia (good news for England, as their prime opponents squabbled to a goalless draw.)
17.45, grp 1, Budapest: Hungary 2-0 Albania (Albania fell from the top of the table after a not entirely surprising result.)
18.00, grp 1, Solna: Sweden 0-0 Portugal (Sweden squandered four great chances, and were disappointed, despite apparently controlling the Portuguese - my source is, I will admit, Swedish tabloids.)
18.00, grp 1, København: Denmark 3-0 Malta (easy, easy, easy.)
18.00, grp 5, Istanbul: Turkey 2-1 Bosnia-Hercegovina (Bosnia took a first-half lead, but a disorganised team failed to hold on and were broken down by the Turks, as is usual in the history of the region. Turkey recovered from the poor result last month.)
18.15, grp 2, Luxembourg: Luxembourg 1-3 Israel (no continued surprises.)
18.15, grp 7, Beograd: Serbia 3-0 Lithuania (Lithuania failed to find their form from a month ago, outclassed by Serbia, who top an unpredictable group seven.)
18.15, grp 8, Sofia: Bulgaria 0-0 Italy (more headlines for the disturbances before the game, as 30 hooligans clashed with several arrests and one policeman injured. Not so much passion on the pitch, where a dull goalless draw was played out.)
18.30, grp 3, Serravalle: San Marino 1-3 Slovakia (Slovakia third despite the embarrassment of conceding a goal to San Marino.)
18.30, grp 3, Chorzów: Poland 2-1 Czech Republic (Petr Rada, a former midfielder for Czechoslovakia, has taken over for Karel Brückner. They seem to struggle under their new coach, though losses in Poland are hardly disastrous in itself, but coupled with a draw in Norn Iron, they'll be playing catch-up.)
18.30, grp 2, Pireas: Greece 3-0 Moldova (Greece spent half an hour trying to get through while Moldova never threatened much; then Charisteas netted a free kick and the walls came down. Watched the first 30 minutes, but couldn't see the goal as someone else leaned in front of the TV.)
18.40, grp 7, Constanţa: Romania 2-2 France (Bretonic talent Yoann Gourcuff saved a point for France with his second-half equaliser, provoking shrieks of anguish from Rutland, after Romania's two second-half goals had threatened to send France into crisis. But surely Domenech can't cling on for much longer.)
18.45, grp 3, Maribor: Slovenia 2-0 Northern Ireland (Slovenia were the winners of the clash between the two smallest nations to ever have achieved major qualification from Europe, after two goals in the late game, which sends them joint first with Poland.)
18.45, grp 4, Dortmund: Germany 2-1 Russia (a splendidly entertaining game where Russia came out with guns blazing in the second half, pegging back after bizarre errors in the German defence and just a couple of yards of accumulated offside away from a point. It would be a travesty if either side misses out on the Cup.)
18.45, grp 5, Brussel: Belgium 2-0 Armenia (two first-half goals secured a win for Belgium, who are still very much in the hunt for a qualifying spot.)
18.45, grp 9, Rotterdam: Netherlands 2-0 Iceland (no respite in the hour of crisis for Iceland, as Netherlands were simply too good. They're top despite a game in hand and should laugh their way to the Cup.)
18.45, grp 5, Tallinn: Estonia 0-3 Spain (an easy victory for Spain, who is one of only two teams not to concede goals or drop points in this qualifying campaign.)
South America
19.00, La Paz: Bolivia 3-0 Peru (Bolivia got off bottom spot with a confident showing at home.)
20.00, San Cristóbal: Venezuela 0-4 Brazil (after twenty minutes, Brazil led 3-0, and powered home easily. Despite any number of raws, they're still likely to go through.)
21.10, Buenos Aires: Argentina 2-1 Uruguay (Uruguay failed to exploit a team that hadn't won in four games, after early goals from Agüero and Messi. Argentina held on to a 2-1 lead with a goalless second half.)
23.20, Bogotá: Colombia 0-1 Paraguay (Salvador Cabañas' fluky cross with the outside of the boot floated into the net, the only goal of the match.)
Sunday 21.55, Quito: Ecuador 1-0 Chile (Ecuador brought Chile back to the pack with a narrow win in the highlands.)
Halfway through the league and already, it looks like three places are comfortably assigned. It would take something of an earthquake to put Brazil and Argentina out - though they rarely please their own crowd, they even more rarely fail to qualify. Paraguay will be safe with another two wins, I think - there has been plenty of draws and 26 points ought to do for the top four. That leaves a tussle for fourth and fifth, where Chile does have the advantage of playing Uruguay and Ecuador at home; any of the bottom seven could, indeed, put together a run of form to get across the line, but I hope that Uruguay make it.
CONCACAF
19.30, grp 3, Paramaribo: Suriname 1-4 Costa Rica (Costa Rica were the first side to make it to the league stage of six after an excellent performance, winning comfortably in Suriname.)
22.00, grp 3, Port-au-Prince: Haiti 0-0 El Salvador (Later on in the night, El Salvador failed to find a hole in Haiti's defence, but realistically, they only need a point from their last two games.)
23.00, Washington DC: United States 6-1 Cuba (USA joined Costa Rica in the next round after trouncing a dejected Cuba, who are all but eliminated and will serve as goal difference punching bag for Guatemala and T&T)
00.00, Kingston: Jamaica 1-0 Mexico (a rejuvenating victory for Jamaica leaves them with a pretty straightforward situation. Two matches must be won, else they can pack their bags. Mexico's away record isn't that scary, though a fine performance by the Reggae Boyz all the same.
01.30, San Pedro Sula: Honduras 3-1 Canada (Honduras keep putting pressure on Mexico, after coming back from Czech 2nd tier player André Hainault's equaliser. A repeat of last year's Gold Cup result - a 2-1 win for Honduras - could see Mexico out at an early stage, which would surely mean the end of Sven-Göran Eriksson's tenure)
02.00, Guatemala City: Guatemala 0-0 Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad and Tobago will have the advantage of knowing goal difference following another draw with Guatemala. However, they trail by three goals, and will need to drub Cuba - or take points off the US, not entirely unlikely now that they've qualified and may not wish to anger European club managers - to qualify.)
Africa
The first of two qualifying rounds concluded, with ablaze cars, protesting players that return at the last minute, and wins for hapless organisers.
Saturday
12.30 UTC, grp 12, Blantyre: Malawi 2-1 Congo Kinshasa (a second-half turnaround courtesy of Norrköping's Russel Mwafulirwa sent Malawi into almost guaranteed second place as Egypt were not likely to be turned over by the continent's worst side, Djibouti.)
13.00, grp 1, Dar-es-Salaam: Tanzania 3-1 Cape Verde (Tanzania took an important win for pride, but had already squandered their chances of qualification with a 1-1 draw at home to Mauritius. However, they did make it almost impossible for Cape Verde to qualify, as they go forward with three points from the "top-three" games.)
14.00, grp 2, Windhoek: Namibia 4-2 Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe's Dynamos have been the Cinderella story of the African Champions League this year, as they have reached a late stage in the competition despite barely having room on the ticket to print the price. With good results against group leaders Kenya, Zimbabwe hoped for a similar performance from the national team, but fell 4-0 within 50 minutes and could not put pressure on the leading teams. Their hopes did in any case rely on an unlikely Kenyan away victory in West Africa.)
14.30, grp 1, Yaoundé: Cameroon 5-0 Mauritius (Mauritius were unceremoniously swept aside, as expected)
14.30, grp 5, Sekondi: Ghana 3-0 Lesotho (Ghana, in so much trouble after poor away results, recovered with a 3-0 victory against the group's poorest side. However, they relied on developments in the other game to even qualify...)
14.30, grp 5, Libreville: Gabon 1-0 Libya (and Bruno Mbanangoye duly complied. Libya, who had taken four straight victories and led the group, crashed to third and out of the qualifying spots, now denied the chance of repeating their appearance at the 2008 ACN. Gabon finished second, and with six points, looked likely to go through.)
14.30, grp 7, Abidjan: Ivory Coast 3-0 Madagascar (an easy home win quelled all doubts, though other teams will look in hope at their away record; just three draws from three games. They remained unbeaten, however.)
14.30, grp 7, Gaborone: Botswana 0-1 Mozambique (with a lowly Madagascar side expected to do poorly against Ivory Coast, the winner here would likely finish second. A largely home-based Botswana side was not able to deny Mozambique, however, who have resurged somewhat. With five points in head-to-head play, Mozambique looked on the brink of qualification.)
15.00, grp 4, Malabo: Equatorial Guinea 0-1 South Africa (a win for South Africa sends them into second place as Nigeria go through unbeaten. They will now play friendlies until the World Cup, as most other hosts seem to manage pretty well with.)
15.00, grp 4, Abuja: Nigeria 4-1 Sierra Leone (Sierra Leone fail to hold on to second place.)
15.00, Rades: Tunisia 5-0 Seychelles (the last placed Seychelles were outclassed by Tunisia, hunting goal difference to secure first place, though their seven points in top three matches should be enough anyway.)
15.30, grp 11, Accra: Togo 6-0 Swaziland (after horror shows on away soil, Togo, of the players' strikes during the 2006 Cup, relied on Arsenal's Adebayor's return to demolish Swaziland. After revealing to London newspapers he would protest, Adebayor turned up anyway, keeping at least one 2006 qualifier's hopes alive. Zambia won the group despite Adebayor's heroics.)
16.00, grp 6, Monrovia: Liberia 0-0 Algeria (Liberia kept their unbeaten home record alive. Algeria managed to collect three yellow cards in their hunt for victory, which would have assured them first place...)
16.00, grp 6, Dakar: Senegal 1-1 Gambia (...but thanks to an 87th-minute equaliser from Bergen-based Tijan Jaiteh, Algeria won anyway. Disgruntled Senegalese fans set fire to a bus outside the Football Federation as they realised their side had missed the boat in qualifying. Gambia - entirely surrounded by Senegal, for the record - had brief reason to celebrate their greatest success on the senior stage, though with only five points carried forward their second round place was still in limbo.)
18.00, grp 10, Bamako: Mali 2-1 Chad (Mali eased to top of the group, though a late equaliser could have put pressure on them. Chad condemned to last place, making life easy for CAF after they disqualified Chad for not turning up for a match in June.)
18.00, grp 10, Omdurman: Sudan 2-0 Congo Brazzaville (more war-zone football is likely after Sudan came from behind in the group to reach second place on goal difference. A 1-0 defeat would have been enough for Congo, so, by sod's law, they lose by two. And this is not the war-torn Congo, either.)
19.30, grp 8, Rabat: Morocco 4-1 Mauritania (a group thrown into turmoil after Ethiopia's meddling in the football federation's affairs - Rwanda had seemed assured of first place but after cancellations of results and this trouncing, they ended up fourth. It was rather academic, as they gathered nine points in their four counting games and thus made it through anyway.)
Five matches were left, and the following nine nations had secured qualification in first place: Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Zambia, Mali and Benin.
In addition, Rwanda, Togo, Gabon and Sudan were as good as qualified on the second place status, and in two of the unsettled groups both teams were certain to qualify (Egypt and Malawi from 12, Tunisia and Burkina Faso from 9). In group three, Angola were ranked higher than Uganda, but Angola were already eliminated due to poor results against the top three, while Uganda would qualify with a win despite being the only team to drop points to Niger. In group two Guinea met Kenya - the visitors had qualified, the hosts needed a win. The uncertain onlookers, Mozambique and Gambia, needed a fair few results to go their way.
Sunday
13.00, grp 3, Kampala: Uganda 2-1 Benin (Geofrey [sic] Massa, who plies his trade in Egypt, put pressure on Angola with a four-minute brace of goals, and also burst Gambia's bubble; they now needed help from Angola to qualify)
13.30, grp 9, Bujumbura: Burundi 1-3 Burkina Faso (Burkina Faso's footballers may not be well known on the world stage, though agents from French and Belgian clubs have been tapping the country for years. In any event, even without their strongest players, they took a comfortable win to seal the group win.)
15.00, grp 3, Luanda: Angola 3-1 Niger (already eliminated Angola pulled themselves together in the second half, putting three goals behind the Niger goalkeeper to send Uganda, too, out of the tournament, to the benefit of Angola's fellow Lusophones, Mozambique.)
16.00, grp 2, Conakry: Guinea 3-2 Kenya (not as close as it sounds; Guinea led 3-0 with ten minutes to spare. Dynamo Kyiv striker Ismaël Bangoura opened the account, while Hull City's Kamil Zayatte, no doubt buoyed by the absence from Hull, netted the third. Kenya qualify anyway, eliminating Gambia from the ranks.)
18.00, grp 12, Cairo: Egypt 4-0 Djibouti (not much to see here, move along)
Code:
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4
Cameroon 14-2 16 Guinea 9-5 12 Benin 12-8 12 Nigeria 11-1 18
------------------- Kenya 8-5 11 ------------------- -------------------
Cape Verde 7-8 9 ------------------- Angola 11-8 10 South Africa5-5 7
Tanzania 9-6 8 Zimbabwe 4-6 6 Uganda 8-9 10 Sierra Leone4-8 7
Mauritius 3-17 1 Namibia 7-12 6 Niger 5-11 3 Eq Guinea 4-10 3
Group 5 Group 6 Group 7 Group 8
Ghana 11-5 12 Algeria 7-4 10 Ivory Coast10-2 12 Morocco 11-5 9
Gabon 8-3 12 ------------------- Mozambique 7-5 8 Rwanda 7-3 9
------------------- Gambia 6-3 9 ------------------- -------------------
Libya 7-4 12 Senegal 9-7 9 Madagascar 2-7 6 Mauritania 2-12 0
Lesotho 2-16 0 Liberia 4-12 3 Botswana 3-8 5
Group 9 Group 10 Group 11 Group 12
Burk Faso 14-5 16 Mali 13-8 12 Zambia 2-1 7 Egypt 13-2 15
Tunisia 11-3 13 Sudan 9-9 9 Togo 8-3 6 Malawi 14-6 12
------------------- ------------------- ------------------- -------------------
Burundi 5-9 6 Congo Br 7-8 9 Swaziland 2-8 4 Congo Kin 15-6 9
Seychelles 4-17 0 Chad 7-11 6 Djibouti 2-30 0Pot 1: Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria
Pot 2: Algeria, Guinea, Mali, Morocco, Tunisia
Pot 3: Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Kenya, Zambia
Pot 4: Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sudan, Togo
One team from each pot into each group - so there will be five groups of four. The winners go through to the World Cup and the top three teams to the African Cup of Nations in Angola. (There might have been a free pass for the team that drew Angola in their second round group; as Angola failed to qualify, however, that solves that problem.)
FIFA rankings have been used, which means Egypt, as champions of the continent, are seeded in the top pot despite having made a grand total of one World Cup since WWII. (Yes, I know Zidan and Zaky haven't played all of those.) No real groups of death here yet, though if Rwanda continue to be as strong at home and Burkina Faso continue their form, they might be a tough axe to grind for some of the top seeds.
Europe
14.00, grp 9, Glasgow: Scotland 0-0 Norway (Chris Iwelumo's legendary miss from two yards stole most of the headlines, though Scandinavian news outlets claimed Norway had been closest to the win. The same Scandinavian news outlets also profess doom unless Norway beat Netherlands on Wednesday.)
14.00, grp 4, Helsinki: Finland 1-0 Azerbaijan (Roy Hodgson's side have a thankless task to qualify from a group with two of the European Championship semi-finalists, but are still unbeaten after a Forssell penalty helped them overcome Azerbaijan.)
15.00, grp 7, Tórshavn: Faroe Islands 1-1 Austria (this was the Austrians' first visit to the Faroes - the famous 1-0 victory coming on neutral ground. It didn't help tstl.)
15.45, grp 2, St Gallen: Switzerland 2-1 Latvia (after a horror return to international football for Alexander Frei, he scored a goal on Latvia today, only for a ten-men Latvia to equalise with 20 minutes left. However, Blaise Kufo, a naturalised Congolese, turned things around quickly.)
16.15, grp 6, London: England 5-1 Kazakhstan (apparently, England were so disappointing they only recorded the largest victory of the evening. Disastrous.)
16.30, grp 4, Caerdydd: Wales 2-0 Liechtenstein (easy win for Wales, helped by an own goal.)
16.30, grp 8, Tbilisi: Georgia 1-1 Cyprus (after being driven from their home by Russian forces last month, Georgia achieved a point in another rather dull game, with Schalke's Levan Kobiashvili earning Georgia's first point in the qualifying series.)
17.00, grp 6, Kharkiv: Ukraine 0-0 Croatia (good news for England, as their prime opponents squabbled to a goalless draw.)
17.45, grp 1, Budapest: Hungary 2-0 Albania (Albania fell from the top of the table after a not entirely surprising result.)
18.00, grp 1, Solna: Sweden 0-0 Portugal (Sweden squandered four great chances, and were disappointed, despite apparently controlling the Portuguese - my source is, I will admit, Swedish tabloids.)
18.00, grp 1, København: Denmark 3-0 Malta (easy, easy, easy.)
18.00, grp 5, Istanbul: Turkey 2-1 Bosnia-Hercegovina (Bosnia took a first-half lead, but a disorganised team failed to hold on and were broken down by the Turks, as is usual in the history of the region. Turkey recovered from the poor result last month.)
18.15, grp 2, Luxembourg: Luxembourg 1-3 Israel (no continued surprises.)
18.15, grp 7, Beograd: Serbia 3-0 Lithuania (Lithuania failed to find their form from a month ago, outclassed by Serbia, who top an unpredictable group seven.)
18.15, grp 8, Sofia: Bulgaria 0-0 Italy (more headlines for the disturbances before the game, as 30 hooligans clashed with several arrests and one policeman injured. Not so much passion on the pitch, where a dull goalless draw was played out.)
18.30, grp 3, Serravalle: San Marino 1-3 Slovakia (Slovakia third despite the embarrassment of conceding a goal to San Marino.)
18.30, grp 3, Chorzów: Poland 2-1 Czech Republic (Petr Rada, a former midfielder for Czechoslovakia, has taken over for Karel Brückner. They seem to struggle under their new coach, though losses in Poland are hardly disastrous in itself, but coupled with a draw in Norn Iron, they'll be playing catch-up.)
18.30, grp 2, Pireas: Greece 3-0 Moldova (Greece spent half an hour trying to get through while Moldova never threatened much; then Charisteas netted a free kick and the walls came down. Watched the first 30 minutes, but couldn't see the goal as someone else leaned in front of the TV.)
18.40, grp 7, Constanţa: Romania 2-2 France (Bretonic talent Yoann Gourcuff saved a point for France with his second-half equaliser, provoking shrieks of anguish from Rutland, after Romania's two second-half goals had threatened to send France into crisis. But surely Domenech can't cling on for much longer.)
18.45, grp 3, Maribor: Slovenia 2-0 Northern Ireland (Slovenia were the winners of the clash between the two smallest nations to ever have achieved major qualification from Europe, after two goals in the late game, which sends them joint first with Poland.)
18.45, grp 4, Dortmund: Germany 2-1 Russia (a splendidly entertaining game where Russia came out with guns blazing in the second half, pegging back after bizarre errors in the German defence and just a couple of yards of accumulated offside away from a point. It would be a travesty if either side misses out on the Cup.)
18.45, grp 5, Brussel: Belgium 2-0 Armenia (two first-half goals secured a win for Belgium, who are still very much in the hunt for a qualifying spot.)
18.45, grp 9, Rotterdam: Netherlands 2-0 Iceland (no respite in the hour of crisis for Iceland, as Netherlands were simply too good. They're top despite a game in hand and should laugh their way to the Cup.)
18.45, grp 5, Tallinn: Estonia 0-3 Spain (an easy victory for Spain, who is one of only two teams not to concede goals or drop points in this qualifying campaign.)
Code:
3 games played unless stated
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
Denmark 6-2 7 Greece 8-0 9 Poland 5-2 7
------------------- ------------------- -------------------
Sweden 2-1 5 Israel 7-4 7 Slovenia 5-2 7
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Portugal 6-3 4 Switzerland 5-5 4 Slovakia 6-4 6
Albania 3-2 4 Latvia 3-5 3 Czech Rep(2)1-2 1
Hungary 3-2 4 Luxembourg 3-7 3 N Ireland 1-4 1
Malta 0-10 0 Moldova 2-7 0 S Marino (2)1-5 0
Group 4 Group 5 Group 6
Germany 11-4 7 Spain 8-0 9 England 11-2 9
------------------- ------------------- -------------------
Wales 4-2 6 Belgium 6-3 7 Ukraine 4-1 7
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Finland (2) 4-3 4 Turkey 5-2 7 Croatia 4-4 4
Russia (2) 3-3 3 Bos i Herc 8-3 3 Belarus (2) 3-2 3
Azerbaijan 0-2 1 Armenia 0-8 0 Kazakh (4) 5-11 3
Liec'stein 0-8 1 Estonia 2-13 0 Andorra 1-8 0
Group 7 Group 8 Group 9
Serbia 6-2 6 Italy 4-1 7 Netherl (2) 4-1 6
------------------- ------------------- -------------------
Lithuania 5-3 6 Rep Irel (2)2-1 4 Scotland 2-2 4
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Austria 4-4 4 Mont'gro(2) 2-2 2 FYR Macd (2)2-2 3
France 5-6 4 Bulgaria (2)2-2 2 Norway (2) 2-2 2
Romania 3-5 4 Cyprus (2) 2-3 1 Iceland 3-6 1
Faroe Is 1-4 1 Georgia 2-5 1
Code:
Runners-up
Slovenia grp 3 3 2 1 0 5-2 7
Ukraine grp 6 3 2 1 0 4-1 7
Lithuania grp 7 3 2 0 1 5-3 6
Sweden grp 1 3 1 2 0 2-1 5
Israel grp 2 2 1 1 0 5-3 4
Belgium grp 5 2 1 1 0 3-1 4
Scotland grp 9 3 1 1 1 2-2 4
Wales grp 4 2 1 0 1 2-2 3
------------------------------------------
Rep of Ireland grp 8 1 0 1 0 0-0 119.00, La Paz: Bolivia 3-0 Peru (Bolivia got off bottom spot with a confident showing at home.)
20.00, San Cristóbal: Venezuela 0-4 Brazil (after twenty minutes, Brazil led 3-0, and powered home easily. Despite any number of raws, they're still likely to go through.)
21.10, Buenos Aires: Argentina 2-1 Uruguay (Uruguay failed to exploit a team that hadn't won in four games, after early goals from Agüero and Messi. Argentina held on to a 2-1 lead with a goalless second half.)
23.20, Bogotá: Colombia 0-1 Paraguay (Salvador Cabañas' fluky cross with the outside of the boot floated into the net, the only goal of the match.)
Sunday 21.55, Quito: Ecuador 1-0 Chile (Ecuador brought Chile back to the pack with a narrow win in the highlands.)
Code:
Paraguay 9 6 2 1 17-6 20
Brazil 9 4 4 1 15-4 16
Argentina 9 4 4 1 13-6 16
Chile 9 4 1 4 13-13 13
-------------------------------------------
Uruguay 9 3 3 3 17-8 12
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ecuador 9 3 3 3 11-14 12
Colombia 9 2 4 3 4-8 10
Bolivia 9 2 2 5 11-20 8
Venezuela 9 2 1 6 9-17 7
Peru 9 1 4 4 5-19 7CONCACAF
19.30, grp 3, Paramaribo: Suriname 1-4 Costa Rica (Costa Rica were the first side to make it to the league stage of six after an excellent performance, winning comfortably in Suriname.)
22.00, grp 3, Port-au-Prince: Haiti 0-0 El Salvador (Later on in the night, El Salvador failed to find a hole in Haiti's defence, but realistically, they only need a point from their last two games.)
23.00, Washington DC: United States 6-1 Cuba (USA joined Costa Rica in the next round after trouncing a dejected Cuba, who are all but eliminated and will serve as goal difference punching bag for Guatemala and T&T)
00.00, Kingston: Jamaica 1-0 Mexico (a rejuvenating victory for Jamaica leaves them with a pretty straightforward situation. Two matches must be won, else they can pack their bags. Mexico's away record isn't that scary, though a fine performance by the Reggae Boyz all the same.
01.30, San Pedro Sula: Honduras 3-1 Canada (Honduras keep putting pressure on Mexico, after coming back from Czech 2nd tier player André Hainault's equaliser. A repeat of last year's Gold Cup result - a 2-1 win for Honduras - could see Mexico out at an early stage, which would surely mean the end of Sven-Göran Eriksson's tenure)
02.00, Guatemala City: Guatemala 0-0 Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad and Tobago will have the advantage of knowing goal difference following another draw with Guatemala. However, they trail by three goals, and will need to drub Cuba - or take points off the US, not entirely unlikely now that they've qualified and may not wish to anger European club managers - to qualify.)
Code:
4 matches played
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
USA 11-1 12 Q Honduras 8-4 9 Costa Rica 15-2 12 Q
Guatemala 5-3 5 Mexico 7-3 9 El Salvador 7-1 7
------------------- ------------------- -------------------
Trin/Tob 4-5 5 Jamaica 2-6 4 Haiti 3-10 2
Cuba 3-14 0 Canada 4-8 1 E Suriname 3-15 1
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dontcloseyoureyes
BARNES OUT
Poor summary of the Argies game imo, whilst urgay "failed to capitalise", Argentina were superior for the whole match and were easily the better side.
Magrat Garlick
Rather Mad Witch
Urgh, yes. Stuart Baxter the new boss.
Not doubting that. Was more a comment on the relative standing in the league rather than the actual game.
dontcloseyoureyes
BARNES OUT
Good read anyway Morkeh, thanks. Keep up the good work.
Magrat Garlick
Rather Mad Witch
- Status