Football World Cup Qualifiers for SA 2010

[BobHelm]

I didn't really want to start yet another football thread (as I imagine that the many,many non football lovers are already hacked off with how many we have.... )
I have never been a fan of the Confederations Cup as I have seen it as more of a 'how well are we organised for the real deal' than about football. However I must point out how well Egypt are doing in the competition. Were VERY unlucky to lose 4-3 to Brazil and have now beaten World Champions Italy 1-0. Italy now have to beat Brazil to go through to the semi-finals. Good luck the underdogs & hope this means the World Cup tradition of a team from the Continent holding it win it bode well for Egypt in the real thing. The rest of the African sides are just a tad too unpredictable to do it I think (& SA way too below standard even at home).

[immortal1977]

Yeah, it was a great result for Egypt last night to beat the World Champions. Against Brazil they were indeed unlucky to lose in injury time, last night they were a little lucky that Italy did not make a goal as they had some really good chances the second half. The Egyptian goalkeeper did a very good job !

But I think Spain will win the Confederation Cup this year....

[747man]

Aussies beat Uzbeks 2-0 in a very lacklustre game in Sydney, left Tim Cahill on the bench which would make David Moyes happy!. Other results went their way so they need 1 point from 3 games with 2 of those at home.

Zidane,Made me happy too,No Injuries to Our Tiny Tim,BUT STUPID to fly him to the " OTHER "side of the World to WATCH,And Did you notice He did'nt perform at ALL in Evertons game against Wigan.....Jetlag without a doubt took it's nasty effect.......

Total Arrogance yeah players shouldn't represent there countries! He should have stayed home and protected his hubcaps!!

Guess this is an attempt at a Scouse..........JOKE.......Ha ! Ha ! Ha !.....Anyway I DONT think Bentleys have Hub Caps........Do They ???? Hard Luck Ba Bob,Keep on trying ONLY a bit harder NEXT time..... Anyway see Our Tim scored TWICE & is now considered a HERO in Australia.....Well at least for this week anyway !!!!! =D> =D> =D>

[BobHelm]

In a somewhat amazing result USA beat Spain 2-0 to progress through to the final of the Confederation Cup- probably against Brazil, although South Africa could pull off a shock I guess...
USA ended a world record run by Spain which had seen them go 35 games undefeated.

[wazza]

The score line was only 2-0 Bob, but what was the ego score for the Spanish ?

[Zidane]

I suppose after 35 matches unbeaten Spain had to lose sometime.A big surprise it was to the USA but be in no doubt that Spain will be a force to be reckoned with in the World Cup Finals.
And in terms of importance in International football,the Confederation Cup is about as relevant as the Carling Cup for the top league teams.
Its disappointing not to see Torres and Alonso in the final but far sadder news on the same day was the elimination of Maria Sharapova in the second round of the tennis at Wimbledon !

[BobHelm]

Couple of matches last night. (Most games were friendlies).

Scotland suffered a 4 - 0 mauling away from home to Norway. Having Calderwood sent off after 33 minutes hardly helped their cause. Scotland now 3rd (on goal difference) from Macedonia.
Azerbaijan 0-2 Germany, who are now 4 points clear of Russia, but have played one game more. Must fancy their chances.
Faroe Islands 0-1 France. Hardly an inspiring performance, but a win is a win. France now 2nd. Lithuania are 3rd, have played 1 game more & are 4 points behind. Serbia still top of the group (although have played 1 more game than France) and are 5 points clear.
Belarus 1-3 Croatia. Good win for Croatia, but they are still 7 points behind leaders England.
Slovenia 5-0 San Marino. No surprises but Slovenia are now only 2 points behind second places Northern Ireland.

England drew with Holland 2-2 in a friendly. Creditable result for England away to the first side in Europe to qualify for World Cup.
Plus Point : Defoe came off the bench to score both England's goals.
Minus point : Both the Dutch goals were clear defensive errors. First an awful backpass by Ferdinand. Second a Barry pass straight to Arjen Robben.

[Zidane]

Absolute shocker for the Scots and the Republic of Ireland lost 3-0 at home to Australia but at least that was a friendly.
Have to hope the likes of Ferdinand and Rooney havent picked up knocks to add to Uniteds injury woes.
But a good result for England.Capello has got them playing with some spirit.Doubt if they would have recovered from two goals down under Sven and definitely not McClaren !

[Zidane]

Some scores from last nights qualifiers....

Scotland 2 Macedonia 0
Denmark 1 Portugal 1......beginning to look like Ronaldo wont be taking part in South Africa.
Croatia 1 Belarus 0
Poland 1 N.Ireland 1
Cyprus 1 Republic of Ireland 2
Switzerland 2 Greece 0
France 1 Romania 1
Spain 1 Belgium 0

In friendly matches,England beat Slovenia 2-1 (Lampard and Defoe the scorers) but Australia lost 3-1 to South Korea.
The big match for England is Wednesday night at home to Croatia....8pm UK time and 2am Thursday morning Thai time.If England win they have qualified for the finals !

There was a programme on TV about the World Cup in South Africa to be held June-July 2010.It was very interesting to learn about the different climates at the venues.For instance in Durban it could be low 70'sf
but inland at Bloemfontein,surrounded by mountains,it could be near freezing for the night matches with a possibility of snow.....Cape Town,too,can be quite chilly at night that time of year.
Maybe it will be a case of Horlicks rather than cool energy drinks to refresh the players !

[Arnold.J.Lane]

England play Croatia tonight and if they win they have qualified for the finals.Its a 2am kick off over here so does anyone know if the match will be shown on Thai TV ?

Hey,Toon top of the Championship,things are looking good.No more players leaving so lets hope we get back at the first attempt.
I've not seen many posts from statto or Geordie since we went down so have faith guys !

[Zidane]

England 5 Croatia 1 (Gerrard 2,Lampard 2,Rooney).
ENGLAND QUALIFY FOR THE WORLD CUP FINALS IN SOUTH AFRICA =D> =D>

Hard to believe its less than 2 years since Croatia beat us 3-2 at Wembley and we failed to qualify for Euro 2008,leading to the sacking of Steve McClaren.
This campaign,Played 8 Won 8.

Not such good news for the other UK teams.Looks like none of them will qualify but,at least,the Republic of Ireland should be in the play offs.
Scotland 0 Holland 1
N.Ireland 0 Slovakia 2
Wales 1 Russia 3

Other scores
Albania 1 Denmark 1
Hungary 0 Portugal 1.....still a chance of Ronaldo making it via the play offs.
Latvia 2 Switzerland 2
Italy 2 Bulgaria 0
Spain 3 Estonia 0
Serbia 1 France 1

[polehawk]

Watching the replay this morning and it's quite an impressive, all-star caliber lineup for England with Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney, Terry and Barry in it. Lennon playing very good game, also. Congrats to the England supporters. =D>

[Galee]

Will someone please explain to me what that donkey Heskey does to merit his place in the team?

[Roy]

Great result, well done England =D> =D>

I think Capello seems to have the knack of being able to get the players to produce the goods when it matters. Unlike managers of the past who would of said after the match against Slovenia that it was just a friendly, Capello was reportedly furious at their shaky display and lo and behold a few days later England produce a great performance against a good team.

Had to watch the match with Chinese commentary but hey ho, can't have everything.

[BobHelm]

I think Hesky is played as a 'typical English centre forward' - tough, capable of getting to the long punt etc. & not intimidated by the centre backs. Sadly England have not got one of those, so Heskey is used as the nearest thing available... Carton Cole may just be that man for the main event.
Agree with Roy that Capello is the key to the improvement - he actually has them playing like a team rather than a bunch of individuals.
The daily Mail reprinted their player points for the last England (losing) display against Croatia - I was surprised how many of the current team actually turned up for that match (I can't say 'played' ).
Don't know how far they will go in the final but I don't think any other team will relish playing them either...

[Roy]

Just checked out the FIFA rankings and I did not realise that Croatia were ranked at No.9 so that makes scoring 9 past them in 2 games even more impressive.

Poor old Diego and Argentina lost again and are now really struggling to qualify, top results all round

[BKKSTAN]

Croatia gave Lennon so much space,his crossing passes were like taking free kicks without the set defense!

[wazza]

I watched the game in Kazakhstan, hoping the Croats might win and i wont have to wear a T shirt in Udon soon !

I must admit the goals were nicely done, Croats arent a weak side and all credit when its due etc.

Watching Sky today, its like England just have to turn up and dribble a few in to win.

Costs of 10 K GBP up for a few game tickets. fares, hotels , will put a few off, no doubt.

The Ozzie Wantabes qualified again this time round a few months ago, so we are raring to take on who ever ! LOL.

Now, will England choke like before, 1/4 finals and .... just like the Kiwi Rugby Sides, play their best games on the off years. Maybe Fawn will provide comments here.

Bookies have England as 3rd favourites behind Spain and Brazil, 6/1 , If Fawn was a betting man, he would have faxed the Bangkok Bank, got a new mortage sorted and slammed the lot down with those odds !


My mate from Oz will be over in Udon again, as he does every World Flop, as its cheaper to watch than in a pub in Oz .

[Zidane]

wazza,
There was no need to go all the way to Kazakhstan just to watch England qualify,surely ?
The match was on True Visions over here,albeit a little late at 2am.
Interesting to see what the Group stages draw for South Africa will throw up in December.
Here in Udon,I believe there are plans already to make the England World Cup strips at 150 baht !

See the Aussies are 3-0 ahead in the one day series,but its not really cricket !

[Roy]

That"s a thought, I will have to start saving for the World cup England shirts. Last time around I picked up a home and away strip for the costly sum of 300baht for the pair =D>
The home strip did have Beckham on the back which I kinda felt a bit gay wearing about town but for 150baht I can put up with a little bit of gayness and the girls in the bars seemed to like it. Not only was I "hansum man" but apparently I looked "same same" as Becks