Looking ahead to World Cup qualifiers in September
South America
The top 4 teams qualify for the World Cup. The 5th placed team enters a home-and-away playoff with the 4th placed team from the North, Central America & Caribbean group.
Brazil currently lead the group by one point from Chile (26), Paraguay (24) and Argentina (22).
The real surprises are the Chileans, who have managed to overcome the handicap of ex-Liverpool winger Mark Gonzalez to score 23 goals. We can expect to hear more about the trio which has contributed 13 so far - Alexis Sanchez, Humberto Suazo and Matias Fernandez - next year.
Expect a late surge from Argentina, who’ve been a bit inconsistent so far. They play Brazil and Paraguay in early September, while Chile take on Brazil in the second of their scheduled September games.
Forthcoming fixtures:
September 5th
Argentina - Brazil
Chile - Venezuela
Colombia - Ecuador
Paraguay - Bolivia
Peru - Uruguay
September 8th
Uruguay - Colombia
Venezuela - Peru
Paraguay - Argentina
Bolivia - Ecuador
Brazil - Chile
North, Central America and Caribbean
Three sides qualify directly for South Africa 2010 and the fourth-placed team takes on the fifth-placed finisher in South American qualifying.
This one looked almost done and dusted for Costa Rica until a recent heavy defeat in Honduras put their plans on hold. Now four teams are vying for the three automatic places: Costa Rica (12 pts), Honduras and USA (10) and Mexico (9).
The US has the easiest of the September fixtures, facing El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago in the space of four days. They should win both.
Costa Rica and Mexico also square up in early September. This and the US – Costa Rica clash in October are the remaining key games.
Forthcoming fixtures:
September 5th
USA - El Salvador
Honduras - Trinidad and Tobago
Costa Rica - Mexico
September 9th
Trinidad and Tobago - USA
El Salvador - Costa Rica
Mexico - Honduras
Africa
One team qualifies from each group.
Ghana and the Ivory Coast are looking good in their respective groups. If the latter beat Burkina Faso in early September they will be six points ahead with two games to play.
Cameroon clearly need to bring Roger Miller out of retirement. They have one point from two games and must now beat Group A leaders Gabon to stand any chance of going through.
Forthcoming fixtures:
September 5th
Group A
Gabon - Cameroon
Togo - Morocco
Group B
Mozambique - Kenya
Group C
Rwanda - Egypt
Group E
Malawi - Guinea
Ivory Coast - Burkina Faso
September 6th
Group B
Nigeria - Tunisia
Group C
Algeria - Zambia
Group D
Ghana - Sudan
Benin - Mali
September 9th
Group A
Cameroon - Gabon
Asian play-off
The winner plays New Zealand in the Asia/Oceania Inter-Continental Play-Off
September 5th
Bahrain - Saudi Arabia in Manama
September 9th
Saudi Arabia - Bahrain in Riyadh
Keep an eye out for the scores and results at World Cup Bafana Bafana 2010 from this Saturday.
Showing posts with label Chile. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chile. Show all posts
21/08/2009
News from South America
Brazil have moved to counter the growing threat from Argentina by recalling striker Adriano for next month’s World Cup qualifiers.
The five times winners play away against Argentina and then face Chile at home.
Now recovered from off-field problems that almost caused him to quit football, Adriano has scored 10 goals in 16 games for Flamengo since returning from Italy in April.
Adriano’s return may be a timely move by coach Dunga. The ex-Inter man has form against Argentina, having headed the injury time equaliser in a 2-2 draw in the 2004 Copa America final and scoring twice in the 2005 Confederations Cup final in Brazil's 4-1 victory.
Liverpool midfielder Lucas also returns in place of the injured Kleberson.
Here’s the full squad:
Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Victor (Gremio)
Defenders: Andre Santos (Fenerbahce), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Maicon (Inter Milan), Filipe (Deportivo La Coruna), Lucio (Inter Milan), Luisao (Benfica), Miranda (Sao Paulo), Juan (AS Roma)
Midfielders: Elano (Galatasaray), Felipe Melo (Juventus), Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos), Josue (VfL Wolfsburg), Ramires (Benfica), Julio Baptista (AS Roma), Kaka (Real Madrid), Lucas (Liverpool)
Forwards: Luis Fabiano (Sevilla), Nilmar (Villarreal), Robinho (Manchester City), Adriano (Flamengo)
Meanwhile, Argentina and manager Diego Maradona are also making preparations for the clash in Rosario on September 5th.
“I'm only thinking of victory, I'm not considering defeat,” he said, before moving onto dangerous territory for someone who had a gastric band fitted in 2005.
“We're hungrier than Brazil,” insisted Maradona, thereby unintentionally inviting a global blog audience to submit their own jokes. Brazil currently lead the group by one point from Chile (26), Paraguay (24) and Argentina (22).
The five times winners play away against Argentina and then face Chile at home.
Now recovered from off-field problems that almost caused him to quit football, Adriano has scored 10 goals in 16 games for Flamengo since returning from Italy in April.
Adriano’s return may be a timely move by coach Dunga. The ex-Inter man has form against Argentina, having headed the injury time equaliser in a 2-2 draw in the 2004 Copa America final and scoring twice in the 2005 Confederations Cup final in Brazil's 4-1 victory.
Liverpool midfielder Lucas also returns in place of the injured Kleberson.
Here’s the full squad:
Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Victor (Gremio)
Defenders: Andre Santos (Fenerbahce), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Maicon (Inter Milan), Filipe (Deportivo La Coruna), Lucio (Inter Milan), Luisao (Benfica), Miranda (Sao Paulo), Juan (AS Roma)
Midfielders: Elano (Galatasaray), Felipe Melo (Juventus), Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos), Josue (VfL Wolfsburg), Ramires (Benfica), Julio Baptista (AS Roma), Kaka (Real Madrid), Lucas (Liverpool)
Forwards: Luis Fabiano (Sevilla), Nilmar (Villarreal), Robinho (Manchester City), Adriano (Flamengo)
Meanwhile, Argentina and manager Diego Maradona are also making preparations for the clash in Rosario on September 5th.
“I'm only thinking of victory, I'm not considering defeat,” he said, before moving onto dangerous territory for someone who had a gastric band fitted in 2005.
“We're hungrier than Brazil,” insisted Maradona, thereby unintentionally inviting a global blog audience to submit their own jokes. Brazil currently lead the group by one point from Chile (26), Paraguay (24) and Argentina (22).
21/07/2009
The best World Cup goals
If it wasn’t for the pointless narcissism and erratic production values I’d petition the government to attach wires to the head of every adult in the UK and feed 24-hour YouTube coverage into their otherwise befuddled heads.
Obviously I can’t do this, so the next best thing to do is mention footy highlights I recently spotted on a blatantly transparent trawl. You may not agree with these choices, but here are some fantastic goals from the history of the world’s greatest sporting tournament:
Del Piero wraps up the semi against Germany with this extra time beauty in 2006. The other one wasn’t bad either.
Bergkampf’s winner against Argentina in 1998. Worth it for the commentary alone.
Owen takes his bow on the world stage.
The second one against England in 1986. The first is criminal, but this is still superb.
Gemmill for Scotland in 1978. I'll never tire seeing the locals lap this one up.
Gerd Muller and the second goal in the 74 final. Class from one of the greatest ever strikers.
Gerson’s screamer from the 1970 final. The last goal was brilliant showboating. This was genius, and looks even better from behind the goal.
1966 and all that. This one put England on the way to the final.
I’m sure I’ve missed a few, but this is all a matter of personal choice. And yes, I will get around to finding footage from earlier tournaments in Chile, Sweden, Switzerland and Brazil. Anyone looking for film from France (1938), Italy (1934) or Uruguay (1930) thinks I have too much time on my hands. Talking of which, here are some people who actually do have too much time on their hands:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uD1LLAbCMw
All hail the marvellous Sean Lock.
Obviously I can’t do this, so the next best thing to do is mention footy highlights I recently spotted on a blatantly transparent trawl. You may not agree with these choices, but here are some fantastic goals from the history of the world’s greatest sporting tournament:
Del Piero wraps up the semi against Germany with this extra time beauty in 2006. The other one wasn’t bad either.
Bergkampf’s winner against Argentina in 1998. Worth it for the commentary alone.
Owen takes his bow on the world stage.
The second one against England in 1986. The first is criminal, but this is still superb.
Gemmill for Scotland in 1978. I'll never tire seeing the locals lap this one up.
Gerd Muller and the second goal in the 74 final. Class from one of the greatest ever strikers.
Gerson’s screamer from the 1970 final. The last goal was brilliant showboating. This was genius, and looks even better from behind the goal.
1966 and all that. This one put England on the way to the final.
I’m sure I’ve missed a few, but this is all a matter of personal choice. And yes, I will get around to finding footage from earlier tournaments in Chile, Sweden, Switzerland and Brazil. Anyone looking for film from France (1938), Italy (1934) or Uruguay (1930) thinks I have too much time on my hands. Talking of which, here are some people who actually do have too much time on their hands:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uD1LLAbCMw
All hail the marvellous Sean Lock.
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