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| 2010 World Cup Qualifying | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Sep 9 2008, 05:12 AM (3,177 Views) | |
| Yogi | Apr 2 2009, 10:34 AM Post #61 |
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That was a great win for Slovakia against their rivals. It was a pretty even match but the Slovakia defense was holding up well and denying many scoring opportunities for the Czechs. Finally the late game winner came as Manzanares described. Seems as if the Czechs just have not found adequate replacements for retired vetrans like Nedved, Koller and Galasek. Those are big shoes to fill, both figuratively and in Koller's case literally! Mutu is still hurt and he seems to be Romania's talisman. Without him they are not the same team. Meanwhile Ribery keeps scoring big goals to help France. When all around him is stagnant, he is rising to the challenge. He really is an extraordinary player. |
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| Mr. Pither | Apr 2 2009, 09:40 PM Post #62 |
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Thank you Simon for the info on why Crouch started for England. You are correct that while he looks very awkward, he actually is an effective player and his volleyed goal against Ukraine was well taken. Andriy Shevchenko scored? Now THAT is a surprise! Wales should have been awarded a penalty as the German defender slipped, handled the ball then the Welsh attacker fell over his prone body. Toshack also was upset about Germany's first goal, a tremendous volley by Ballack as Aaron Ramsey thought there was a Welsh throw in and thus was not anywhere near Ballack when he received the ball and struck his volley. But to me that is simply looking for excuses and a credible argument could be made that the handling was unintentional. Germany were the better team. Wales played better than they did against Finland but South Africa is not going to be in Wales travel plans for 2010. Holland are in a very easy group but they are putting up some impressive scores. Huntelaar seems to be coming into his own while Kuyt is continuing his Liverpool form with the Oranje. Then around them you have players like Robben, van Persie and Sneijder. No wonder the Oranje are looking good now. van Marwijk's task is to get this team playing like that against better opposition. |
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P-I-T-H-E-R ...as in Brotherhood, but with PI instead of the BRO and no HOOD | |
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| Nkono | May 25 2009, 08:26 PM Post #63 |
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France don't have any qualifying matches until next August but they are playing two friendlies in early June against Nigeria and Turkey. And this is the team Domenech has called up: Goalkeepers: Cedric Carrasso (Toulouse), Hugo Lloris (Olympique Lyon), Steve Mandanda (Olympique Marseille). Defenders: Eric Abidal (Barcelona), Jean-Alain Boumsong (Olympique Lyon), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Rod Fanni (Stade Rennes), Philippe Mexes (AS Roma), Bacary Sagna (Arsenal), Sebastien Squillaci (Sevilla), Julien Escude (Sevilla). Midfielders: Patrick Vieira (Inter Milan), Abou Diaby (Arsenal), Alou Diarra (Girondins Bordeaux), Lassana Diarra (Real Madrid), Yoann Gourcuff (Girondins Bordeaux), Jeremy Toulalan (Olympique Lyon), Florent Malouda (Chelsea). Forwards: Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea), Karim Benzema (Olympique Lyon), Andre-Pierre Gignac (Toulouse), Thierry Henry (Barcelona), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Sidney Govou (Olympique Lyon), Loic Remy (Nice). Vieira is back which I find a little surprising. Florent Malouda who ended the season playing very well for Chelsea also will make it. I also liked the selecton of Toulouse goalie Carasso who has had an excellent season while at forward leading scorer in Ligue 1 Gignac gets brought back in and Nice's Loic Remy is the new face. Note Gallas is not here but the pair of Sevilla centerbacks, Squillaci and Escude are. These friendlies should give Domenech the opportunity to try out different combinations of players. That alone should make these worthwhile matches. |
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| Nkono | Jun 2 2009, 04:23 PM Post #64 |
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Well France lost 1-0 to Nigeria and it was a deserved result too. Henry, Sagna, Abidal and Malouda did not play and Gourcuff, Govou and Toulalan entered as second half subs. Remy started at right wing and had adiscreet first match for les Bleus. France lacked heart and could not break down Nigeria's well organzied defense or ball winning midfielders. A few times in the first half they got through but Nigeria's excellent goalie Enyeama was quick to react. The crowd in St Etienne were harsh on any players from their rivals Lyon but naturally Domenech, another ex Lyon player, was the one who receievd the harshest treatment. Just a poor overall display from a French team which looks leaderless. |
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| Merengue | Jun 7 2009, 10:36 AM Post #65 |
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2010 World Cup European qualifying collated results after Saturday’s matches: Group One Sweden 0 Denmark 1 At Stockholm Scorer: Thomas Kahlenberg 22 Missed penalty: Kim Kallstrom (Sweden) 12 Referee: Mike Riley (England) - - Albania 1 Portugal 2 In Tirana Scorers Albania: Erion Bogdani 28 Portugal: Hugo Almeida 27, Bruno Alves 90+3 Halftime: 1-1 Referee: Florian Meyer (Germany) - - - - Group Three Slovakia 7 San Marino 0 In Bratislava Scorers: Marek Cech 3, 32, Peter Pekarik 12, Miroslav Stoch 35, Jan Kozak 42, Martin Jakubko 63, Lubos Hanzel 68 Halftime: 5-0 Referee: Jerome Efong Nzolo (Belgium) - - - - Group Four Finland 2 Liechtenstein 1 At Olympic stadium, Helsinki Scorers Finland: Mikael Forssell 33, Jonatan Johansson 71 Liechtenstein: Mario Frick 13 Halftime: 1-1 Referee: Libor Kovarik (Czech Republic) - - Azerbaijan 0 Wales 1 In Baku Scorer: David Edwards 42 Referee: Markus Strombergsson (Sweden) - - - - Group Six Croatia 2 Ukraine 2 In Zagreb Scorers: Croatia: Mladen Petric 2, Luka Modric 68 Ukraine: Andriy Shevchenko 13, Olexiy Gai 54 Halftime: 1-1 Referee: Terje Hauge (Norway) - - Belarus 5 Andorra 1 In Grodno Scorers: Belarus: Gennady Bliznyuk 2, 76, Timofei Kalachyov 44, Sergei Kornilenko 50, 61. Andorra: Ildefons Lima 90+4pen Halftime: 2-0 Referee: Robert Kranjc (Slovenia) - - Kazakhstan 0 England 4 At Almaty Scorers: Gareth Barry 40, Emile Heskey 45+1, Wayne Rooney 73, Frank Lampard 77 penalty Halftime: 0-2 Referee: Kristinn Jakobsson (Iceland) - - - - Group Seven Serbia 1 Austria 0 In Belgrade Scorer: Nenad Milijas 7 penalty Halftime: 1-0; Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Pieter Vink (Netherlands) - - Lithuania 0 Romania 1 At Marijampole stadium Scorer: Ciprian Marica 38 Halftime: 0-1 Teams: Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden) - - - - Group Eight Cyprus 2 Montenegro 2 In Larnaca Scorers: Cyprus: Michael Konstantinou 13, Chrysostomos Michail 45 pen Montenegro: Dejan Damjanovic 65, 77 Halftime: 2-0 Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain) - - Bulgaria 1 Ireland 1 In Sofia Scorers: Bulgaria: Dimitar Telkiyski 29 Ireland: Richard Dunne 24 Halftime: 1-1 Referee: Claus Bo Larsen (Denmark) - - - - Group Nine Macedonia 0 Norway 0 In Skopje Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (Italy) - - Iceland 1 Netherlands 2 In Reykjavik Scorers: Iceland: Kristjan Sigurdsson 88 Netherlands: Nigel de Jong 8, Mark van Bommel 15 Halftime: 0-2 Referee: Mike Dean (England) The Netherlands automatically qualify for South Africa while Denmark, Serbia and England took giant steps towards the finals too. Portugal needed an injury time goal by defender Bruno Alves to beat Albania and keep their hopes alive. Sweden's home loss to Denmark, with a Kallstrom missed PK, might have ended their World Cup hopes. Once again Zlatan Ibrahimovic went missing in a big match for his national team. |
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| shelsoccer | Jun 8 2009, 07:20 AM Post #66 |
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Things do look questionable for Sweden, but there is a glimmer of hope. Three of Sweden's remaining five games are against group minnows, Albania (home) and Malta (home and away). The other games are away to Denmark and Hungary. If Sweden can take nine points from the minnows and manage a win vs. Denmark or Hungary, I'd think things might fall out in their favor for at least a playoff berth. At this point, I'd almost point to the game in Budapest. Sweden needs to eliminate Hungary as a contender in the group, see where things fall out with Portgual and essentially concede to Denmark (though we know that won't be the case when these two meet in Copenhagen). |
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| Mr. Pither | Jun 8 2009, 02:03 PM Post #67 |
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Both Sweden and Portugal are in precarious situations in that group as they trail Hungary for 2nd place and Denmark of course in first. Portugal still has home and away matches with Hungary, are away to Denmark and home to Malta. Not an easy schedule for them at all. But if Hungary are to make the playoffs they will have earne dit going against both Sweden and Portugal. This is shaping up to be one of the more interesting groups in Europe. Holland of course became as Merengue pointed out, the first nation from Europe to qualify for the World Cup. Not unexpected cosnidering the group they were in. One area to watch as Holland now has a year to prep for the finals is goalkeeper. Maarten Stekelenburg is the number 1 even if he was benched at Ajax by Marco van Basten in favour of U21 keper Kenneth Vermeer. But Bert van Marwijk the Oranje coach still has confidence in Stekelenburg. Of course with Martin Jol in and van absten out as Ajax coach, perhaps Stekelneburg will regain his job in Amsterdam. If not maybe Vermeer will get a look at from Holland? The other keepers van marwijk have used, young Michel Vorm of Utrecht or Feyenoord's veteran Henk Timmer have not really impressed either. Edwin van der Sar is certainly missed since his international retirement. |
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P-I-T-H-E-R ...as in Brotherhood, but with PI instead of the BRO and no HOOD | |
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| Gunners | Jun 9 2009, 07:06 AM Post #68 |
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I really can't see Hungary holding on to a playoff spot. They've accumulated 12 points in their 4 matches against Albania and Malta, with their only other result coming from a 0-0 home draw with Denmark. In their only other match against a top side in the group, the Hungarians lost in Sweden. Their remaining group ties are at home vs Sweden, at home vs Portugal, at Portugal, and at Denmark. To remain in playoff position, they'll need some wins from that stretch, and it's tough to see where those wins will come from. Group 3 is also very interesting to me. Most observers assumed that the Czech Republic would win the group, with Poland taking the playoff spot. However, at this point, Slovakia are in first with 15 points, followed by Northern Ireland with 13, Poland with 10, and the Czech Republic and Slovenia with 8. Northern Ireland has played 7 matches, while the others have only played 6. Slovakia has already beaten the Czech Republic in Prague and has beaten Poland and Northern Ireland at home. Northern Ireland has done very well at home, but they still have away matches against the Czech Republic and Poland, along with a home match vs Slovakia. Should be very interesting to keep an eye on this group over the next several months. I'm picking Slovakia to win the group, with the Czech Republic taking the playoff spot. I suspect there will be many Dutch players, coaches, and sympathizers attempting to talk Edwin Van der Sar out of international retirement. This Dutch team has multiple weaknesses, but goalkeeping is perhaps the most significant of them. |
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| Mr. Pither | Jun 10 2009, 09:41 AM Post #69 |
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Good point about the difficulty of Hungary's remaining schedule. I suppose that does open a door for either Sweden or Portugal to walk in to 2nd. Provided they seize the opportunity.
Yes I imagine the pressure will build next season on van der sar esepcially if Stekelenburg cannot regain his starting job at Ajax. But so far van der Sar has been steadfast in saying his brief return last fall was only on an interim basis to cover the injured goalkeeprs at the time. Gunners, I would be curious to read what you consider the multiple other weaknesses on the current Dutch squad? Defense has traditionally been a soft spot for this team, except during the DeBoer-Stam days, but I think the current defense is adequate enough. It is not as strong as France's in 1998 but I think it can do the job. |
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P-I-T-H-E-R ...as in Brotherhood, but with PI instead of the BRO and no HOOD | |
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| Sporting | Jun 10 2009, 11:04 AM Post #70 |
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A rather amusing reference to the Andorra formation on The Guardian website for the game soon to begin (block letters mine): England (4-2-3-1) Green; Johnson, Lescott, Terry, A Cole; Beckham, Lampard; Walcott, Rooney, Gerrard; Crouch. Substitutes: Robinson, Neville, Bridge, Young, Wright-Phillips, Defoe, C Cole. Andorra (10-0-0) Alvarez; Ayala, Ildefons Lima, Sonejee, Antoni Lima, Txema Garcia, Jimenez, Andorra, Vieira, Moreno, Silva. Subs: Fernandez, Gomez, Escura, Moreira, Rodriguez, Genis Garcia, Vales. |
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| Martin | Jun 10 2009, 11:14 AM Post #71 |
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:lol: I know we have had this discussion before but I still think UEFA would be better off doing what both CONCACAF and Africa do and that is have a qualifying tournament to eliminate the weakest of the minnows before they take on the regions heavyweights. I know the argument against is it gives the fans in Andorra, the Faroe Islands and Liechtenstein the chance to see Rooney, Xavi and Ballack play against their countries. But the same could be said for fans in Mauritius, the Seychelles, St. Kitts & Nevis and Antigua wanting to see Drogba, Eto'o, Maraquez or Donovan. But is it fair to see 7-0 scores and wouldn't Andorran fans rather see their team play Faroe Islands, a game which they might actually have a chance to win? |
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| Gunners | Jun 10 2009, 02:03 PM Post #72 |
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In fairness, I was probably being a bit harsh in discussing the Netherlands' weaknesses. That said, any side that is heavily reliant upon the health of Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben has to be considered somewhat vulnerable. Both Sneijder and Robben are world class players, but they also have had more than their share of health concerns. Additionally, as you alluded to, I think that the Dutch side could come up a bit short in defense against the top sides. The central defensive pairing of Andre Ooijer and Joris Mathijsen (sp?) is fairly solid, but significantly below the level of other elite national sides. Both players tend to play better for the national side than they do for their clubs, but I think that's largely because they don't face as much pressure due to the possession created by the Dutch midfield. Against the other top national sides in the world, the Dutch central defense will face greater pressure and could be exposed. The Dutch defense also really needs Johnny Heitinga to make a full recovery from injury and solidify the right back position (or potentially one of the central positions if necessary). At left back, Van Bronkhorst has been solid for years, but he isn't getting any younger, so that could also be a question mark by the time the World Cup rolls around. I have always been a big fan of the Dutch style, and I certainly think this team has the talent and potential to be a semifinalist at the 2010 World Cup. However, there are some red flags which suggest to me that the Dutch could be more vulnerable than many people think. It should be interesting to see what happens over the next year. |
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| Manzanares | Jun 10 2009, 09:14 PM Post #73 |
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Heitinga finally got healthy at the end of this just completed season for Atletico Madrid and he helped stabilize the defense as Atletico were able to assure a Champions League qualifying spot. He can be an effective right back, pretty decent going forward and a tough one on one defender. A somewhat light schedule on Wednesday in Europe as Serbia and England defeated minnows and moved closer to assuring a spot in South Africa. The complete schedule: Group One Sweden 4 Malta 0 In Gothenburg. Scorers: Kim Kallstrom 22, Daniel Majstorovic 52, Zlatan Ibrahimovic 56, Marcus Berg 58 Halftime: 1-0 Referee: Calum Murray (Scotland) - - Group Four Finland 0 Russia 3 In Helsinki. Scorers: Alexander Kerzhakov 26, 53, Konstantin Zyryanov 71 Halftime: 0-1 Referee: Konrad Plautz (Austria) - - Group Six England 6 Andorra 0 At Wembley Stadium, London. Scorers: Wayne Rooney 4, 39, Frank Lampard 29, Jermain Defoe 73, 75, Peter Crouch 80 Halftime: 3-0; Attendance: 57,897 Referee: Bas Nijhuis (Netherlands) - - Ukraine 2 Kazakhstan 1 In Kiev. Scorers: Ukraine: Sergiy Nazarenko 33, 47 Kazakhstan: Tanat Nusserbayev 19 Halftime: 1-1 Referee: Bruno Paixao (Portugal) - - Group Seven Faroe Islands 0 Serbia 2 In Torshavn. Scorers: Milan Jovanovic 44, Neven Subotic 62 Halftime: 0-1 Referee: Meir Levi (Israel) - - Group Nine Netherlands 2 Norway 0 In Rotterdam. Scorers: Andre Ooijer 33, Arjen Robben 50 Halftime: 1-0 Referee: Yuri Baskakov (Russia) - - Macedonia 2 Iceland 0 In Skopje. Scorers: Aco Stojkov 9, Filip Ivanovski 85 Halftime: 1-0 Referee: Said Ennjimmi (France) Good wins for Sweden and Russia while Holland maintain their perfect record in their group. |
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| Mr. Pither | Jun 11 2009, 09:07 PM Post #74 |
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You make a reasoned argument Gunners. And yes Sneijder and Robben are injury prone but they've each been 100% for the last World Cup and Euro that they competed in. Defense has almost always been a Dutch weakness when playing other top sides but van Marwijk think has added some steel to the team which should be useful in South Africa next year. I am not sure if having nothing to play for during the next year is a benefit or not but anytime you qualfy as easily as the Netherlands just did you cannot complain too much. Van Marwijk ahs time now to fine tune the team and maybe even convince van der Sar to end that international retirement. |
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P-I-T-H-E-R ...as in Brotherhood, but with PI instead of the BRO and no HOOD | |
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| Gunners | Jun 12 2009, 05:29 AM Post #75 |
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Yes, Van der Sar could be the key. I've never been impressed with Stekelenberg or Timmer. I haven't seen much of Vermeer, but perhaps he is the future of the position for the Netherlands. For me, the decision to bring back Mark Van Bommel has been instrumental for Van Marwijk's Dutch side. Van Bommel certainly has his flaws -- both on and off the field -- but he brings some steel to the Dutch midfield that otherwise can be lacking. When you combine Van Bommel with Sneijder and Nigel de Jong, I think there is a good argument that the Dutch have the best central midfield this side of Spain. |
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