Road to WC South Africa 2010

Qualifying campaign has started in most places, this thread is for any news, results of all regions, we'll mostly concentrate on the European groups, here are the results from opening match day:

Saturday, 06 September 2008
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Albania 0-0
(HT 0-0) Sweden



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Andorra 0-2
(HT 0-0) England
J Cole 49
J Cole 55

Bookings:
Silva 48
Vieira 52
Lima 56




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Armenia 0-2
(HT 0-0) Turkey
Sanli 61
Senturk 77

Bookings:
Mkhitaryan 57
Bookings:
Zan 70




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Austria 3-1
(HT 2-0) France
Janko 9
Aufhauser 42
Ivanschitz (pen) 73
Govou 61

Bookings:
Janko 14
Aufhauser 45




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Belgium 3-2
(HT 1-0) Estonia
Sonck 39
Defour 75
Sonck 79
Zeniov 57
Oper 90

Bookings:
Puri 88




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Croatia 3-0
(HT 2-0) Kazakhstan
Kovac 13
Modric 35
Petric 79

Bookings:
Kovac 78
Bookings:
Irismetov 21
Chichulin 90




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Cyprus 1-2
(HT 1-1) Italy
Aloneftis 28
Di Natale 8
Di Natale 90+2

Bookings:
Garpozis 36
Nicolau 69
Charalampidis 73
Bookings:
Toni 35
Cassetti 38
Camoranesi 85




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FYR Macedonia 1-0
(HT 1-0) Scotland
Naumoski 5

Bookings:
Naumoski 7
Shumulikoski 27
Pandev 62
Bookings:
McFadden 71




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Georgia 1-2
(HT 0-1) Rep of Ireland
Kenia 90+2
Doyle 13
Whelan 70

Bookings:
Khizanishvili 26
Aleksidze 54




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Hungary 0-0
(HT 0-0) Denmark
Bookings:
Torghelle 57
Gera 64
Babos 75
Bookings:
Jensen 11
Poulsen 60
Poulsen 75




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Israel 2-2
(HT 0-1) Switzerland
Benayoun 73
Sahar 90
Yakin 45
Nkufo 56

Bookings:
Golan 16
Cohen 63
Bookings:
Huggel 24




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Liechtenstein 0-6
(HT 0-1) Germany
Podolski 21
Podolski 48
Rolfes 65
Schweinsteiger 66
Hitzlsperger 76
Westermann 87

Bookings:
Burgmeier 18
D'Elia 57




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Luxembourg 0-3
(HT 0-2) Greece
Torosidis 37
Gekas 45
Charisteas (pen) 77

Bookings:
Leweck 22
Lombardelli 29
Kitenge 69
Hoffmann 76
Strasser 82
Lang 90
Bookings:
Katsouranis 70




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Malta 0-4
(HT 0-1) Portugal
Said o.g. 24
Hugo Almeida 61
Simao 71
Nani 78




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Moldova 1-2
(HT 0-2) Latvia
Alexeev 76
Karlsons 8
Astafjevs 22

Bookings:
Lascenov 22
Golovatenco 90
Bookings:
Klava 25
Laizans 82




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Montenegro 2-2
(HT 0-1) Bulgaria
Vucinic 62
Jovetic (pen) 82
Petrov 11
Georgiev 90

Bookings:
Jovetic 12
Pavicevic 14
Vucinic 20
Pekovic 66
Bookings:
Dimitrov 31
Angelov 61

Sent off:
Angelov 81




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Norway 2-2
(HT 1-1) Iceland
Iversen (pen) 36
Iversen 50
Helguson 39
Gudjohnsen 68

Bookings:
Steinsson 36
Gislason 56
Hreidarsson 90+1




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Poland 1-1
(HT 1-1) Slovenia
Zewlakow (pen) 17
Dedic 35

Bookings:
Kowalcyzk 69
Saganowski 83
Bookings:
Dedic 11
Koren 16
Komac 59
Brecko 78




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Romania 0-3
(HT 0-1) Lithuania
Stankevicius 31
Mikoliunas 69
Kalonas 87

Bookings:
Goian 37
Niculae 68
Bookings:
Cesnauskis 27
Mikoliunas 44
Zelmikas 48
Kalonas 87




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Serbia 2-0
(HT 1-0) Faroe Islands
Bookings:
Lokin 81

Sent off:
Naes 83




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Slovakia 2-1
(HT 0-0) Northern Ireland
Skrtel 46
Hamsik 70
Durica o.g. 81

Bookings:
Hamsik 3
Bookings:
Gillespie 34
Evans 69




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Spain 1-0
(HT 0-0) Bosnia-Herzegovina
Villa 58

Bookings:
Puyol 49
Bookings:
Berberovic 6
Damjanovic 14
Salihovic 61




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Ukraine 1-0
(HT 0-0) Belarus
Shevchenko (pen) 90+3

Bookings:
Tymoschuk 44
Bookings:
Korytko 7
Kutuzov 28
Kulchy 88

some upsets already... French fell to Austria who worked their socks off, and taken their goals clinically; Macedonia 1-0 over Scotland; Romania humbled at home 0-3 to Lithuania.

Early days, but signs shows that you can take nothing for granted in football, it'll be a long campaign.

Italy really were lucky to get away with the 3 points. as for France and romania really bad results for them. overall good start to the long campaign.

Wednesday, 10 September 2008
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Albania 3-0
(HT 1-0) Malta
Bogdani 45
Duro 84
Dallku 89

Bookings:
Beqiri 64
Cana 64
Bookings:
Bajada 76




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Andorra 1-3
(HT 0-1) Belarus
Pujol (pen) 68
Verkhovtsov 37
Rodionov 79
Hleb 89

Bookings:
Ayala 8
Pujol 36
Lima 63
Bookings:
Hleb 62
Verkhovtsov 64




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Azerbaijan 0-0
(HT 0-0) Liechtenstein
Bookings:
Bahshiev 65
Chertoganov 70
Bookings:
Polverino 45
Buechel 52




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Bosnia-Herzegovina 7-0
(HT 2-0) Estonia
Misimovic 25
Misimovic (pen) 30
Misimovic 50
Muslimovic 52
Dzeko 54
Dzeko 72
Ibricic 88

Bookings:
Nadarevic 18
Bookings:
Klavan 52




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Croatia 1-4
(HT 0-1) England
Mandzukic 78
Walcott 26
Walcott 59
Rooney 63
Walcott 82

Bookings:
Simunic 40
Srna 47
Bookings:
Heskey 61

Sent off:
Kovac 53




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FYR Macedonia 1-2
(HT 0-0) Netherlands
Pandev (pen) 77
Heitinga 47
Van der Vaart 59

Bookings:
Naumoski 21
Georgievski 73
Ristic 86
Bookings:
Van Persie 15
Van der Vaart 75




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Faroe Islands 0-1
(HT 0-0) Romania
Cocis 59

Bookings:
Thomassen 24
Jacobsen 58
Davidsen 84
Bookings:
Costea 73

Sent off:
Ghionea 49




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Finland 3-3
(HT 2-2) Germany
Johansson 33
Vayrynen 43
Sjolund 53
Klose 38
Klose 45
Klose 83

Bookings:
Kallio 62




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France 2-1
(HT 0-0) Serbia
Henry 54
Anelka 64




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Iceland 1-2
(HT 0-1) Scotland
Gudjohnsen (pen) 77
Broadfoot 18
Robson 59

Bookings:
Helguson 61
Palmason 87
Bookings:
Broadfoot 12
Robson 38
Gordon 81

Sent off:
McManus 76




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Italy 2-0
(HT 1-0) Georgia
De Rossi 17
De Rossi 89

Bookings:
Pirlo 45+1
Aquilani 54
Bookings:
Kenia 68




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Kazakhstan 1-3
(HT 0-1) Ukraine
Ostapenko 70
Nazarenko 45
Shevchenko 53
Nazarenko 82

Bookings:
Azovskiy 20
Kuchma 65
Irismetov 63
Bookings:
Yarmash 57




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Latvia 0-2
(HT 0-1) Greece
Gekas 10
Gekas 49

Bookings:
Klava 70




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Lithuania 2-0
(HT 0-0) Austria
Danilevicius 53
Danilevicius 58

Bookings:
Pilibaitis 26
Bookings:
Aufhauser 52
Fuchs 66
Ivanschitz 90
Harnik 90+3




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Moldova 1-2
(HT 1-2) Israel
Picusciac 1
Golan 40
Saban 45

Bookings:
Epureanu 80
Lascenov 90+2
Bookings:
Cohen 42

Sent off:
Golovatenco 64




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Montenegro 0-0
(HT 0-0) Rep of Ireland
Bookings:
Pekovic 63




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Northern Ireland 0-0
(HT 0-0) Czech Republic
Bookings:
Ujfalusi 62
Kovac 81




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Portugal 2-3
(HT 1-0) Denmark
Nani 42
Deco (pen) 85
Bendtner 82
Poulsen 89
Jensen 90

Bookings:
Nani 56
Danny 78
Bookings:
Tomasson 75




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Russia 2-1
(HT 1-0) Wales
Pavlyuchenko (pen) 22
Pogrebniak 81
Ledley 67

Bookings:
Robinson 20
Williams 46
Edwards 72
Ricketts 76




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San Marino 0-2
(HT 0-1) Poland
Smolarek 36
Lewandowski 68

Bookings:
Berretti 24
Simoncini 74
Marani 86




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Slovenia 2-1
(HT 1-0) Slovakia
Novakovic 22
Novakovic 81
Jakubko 83

Bookings:
Cesar 78
Matic 87
Suler 88
Bookings:
Senecky 55
Durica 69




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Spain 4-0
(HT 2-0) Armenia
Capdevila 8
Villa 17
Villa 79
Senna 82

Bookings:
Aleksanyan 28
Pachajyan 81




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Sweden 2-1
(HT 0-0) Hungary
Kallstrom 55
Holmen 65
Rudolf 90+3

Bookings:
Ibrahimovic 37
Bookings:
Gera 34
Hajnal 87




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Switzerland 1-2
(HT 1-1) Luxembourg
Nkufo 43
Strasser 28
Leweck 86

Bookings:
Yakin 29
Lustrinelli 78
Vonlanthen 87
Bookings:
Kitenge 22
Hoffmann 36
Kintziger 45
Lombardelli 67
Strasser 78
Reiter 81




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Turkey 1-1
(HT 0-1) Belgium
Emre (pen) 75
Sonck 31

Bookings:
Topal 39
Senturk 63
Bookings:
Swerts 26
Mudingayi 55
Vermaelen 71
Stijnen 89




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fuck me, England 4-1 over Croatia, what a sweet revenge after the disasters last year!

There are the usual shocks:

Luxembourg 2-1 over Swiss cheese

Portugal lost to Denmark 3-2 at home after some late goals

Nth Ireland holding a stalemate with Czech

Lithuania 2-0 over Austria (this after Austria smashed France 3-1 4 days ago); Lithuania now scored 5 goals and conceded none

Finland 3 Germany 3, what an exciting game that would have been!

as Jono said in the other thread

Bolivia 6 Argentina 1



easily the most smashing win in recent years

I still remembered Brazil teared Portugal apart 6-2 earlier this year, or late last year, but it was only a friendly

European results:

Wednesday, 1 April 2009
FIFA World Cup European Qualifying

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Andorra


0-2
(HT 0-2) Croatia


Klasnic (15)
Eduardo (35)



Bookings:

Lima (33)
Jimenez (57)

Bookings:

Eduardo (33)




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Austria


Hoffer (25, 44)

2-1
(HT 2-1) Romania


Tanase (24)



Bookings:

Prodl (10)
Pogatetz (45)
Scharner (59)

Bookings:

Marica (49)




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Bosnia-Herzegovina


Dzeko (12, 15)

2-1
(HT 2-0) Belgium


Swerts (8



Bookings:

Spahic (52)
Jahic (66)
Supic (90)

Bookings:

Sonck (56)


Sent off:

Witsel (61)




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Bulgaria


Popov (
Makriev (90)

2-0
(HT 1-0) Cyprus




Bookings:

Iliyan Stoyanov (36)
Manolev (44)
Yordan Todorov (77)

Bookings:

Konstantinou (17)
Christou (90)




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Czech Republic


Grygera (30)

1-2
(HT 1-1) Slovakia


Sestak (23)
Jendrisek (83)



Bookings:

Skrtel (49)
Strba (5
Sestak (61)




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Denmark


Andreasen (31)
Larsen (37)
Poulsen (80)

3-0
(HT 2-0) Albania




Bookings:

Larsen (
Jakobsen (41)

Bookings:

Dallku (41)
Vangeli (60)




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England


Crouch (29)
Terry (85)

2-1
(HT 1-0) Ukraine


Shevchenko (74)



Bookings:

Barry (10)
Johnson (73)
Beckham (87)

Bookings:

Mykhalyk (14)




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Estonia


Puri (82)

1-0
(HT 0-0) Armenia




Bookings:

Sergei Pareiko (90+2)

Bookings:

Mkrtchyan (86)




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France


Ribery (75)

1-0
(HT 0-0) Lithuania




Bookings:

Gourcuff (27)

Bookings:

Sernas (15)
Alunderis (45)
Danilevicius (51)




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Georgia


0-0
(HT 0-0) Montenegro




Bookings:

Iashvili (73)

Bookings:

Zverotic (44)
Jovetic (65)
Pekovic (90+1)




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Greece


Salpigidis (32)
Samaras (pen 67)

2-1
(HT 1-0) Israel


Golan (59)



Bookings:

Torosidis (50)
Katsouranis (86)

Bookings:

Ben-Haim (85)




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Holland


Kuyt (16, 41)
Huntelaar (25)
Van der Vaart (8

4-0
(HT 3-0) FYR Macedonia




Bookings:

Pandev (66)




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Hungary


Hajnal (7)
Gera (80)
Juhasz (90)

3-0
(HT 1-0) Malta




Bookings:

Bodnar (9)
Juhasz (4

Bookings:

Mifsud (16)
Bogdanovic (57)




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Italy


Iaquinta (10)

1-1
(HT 1-0) Rep of Ireland


Keane (89)



Bookings:

Grosso (67)
Iaquinta (80)
De Rossi (80)

Bookings:

McShane (74)


Sent off:

Pazzini (4)




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Kazakhstan


Renat Abdulin (9)

1-5
(HT 1-0) Belarus


Hleb (4
Kalachev (54, 63)
Stasevich (56)
Rodionov (8



Bookings:

Kukeyev (66)

Bookings:

Kulchy (66)




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Latvia


Jurijs Zigajevs (44)
Verpakovskis (75)

2-0
(HT 1-0) Luxembourg




Bookings:

Kacanovs (30)

Bookings:

Mutsch (82)
Kitenge (90+1)




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Liechtenstein


0-1
(HT 0-1) Russia


Zyryanov (3



Bookings:

Aniukov (82)




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Northern Ireland


Feeney (73)

1-0
(HT 0-0) Slovenia




Bookings:

McCartney (21)
Evans (3
Feeney (60)
Baird (89)

Bookings:

Dedic (21)
Suad Filekovic (82)




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Poland


Boguski (1, 27)
Smolarek (18, 60, 73, 81)
Lewandowski (43)
Jelen (51)
Lewandowski (63)
Saganowski (8

10-0
(HT 4-0) San Marino




Bookings:

Della Valle (45)
Bacciocchi (4
Selva (55)




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scotland


McCormack (39)
Fletcher (65)

2-1
(HT 1-0) Iceland


Sigurdsson (54)



Bookings:

Smarason (45)




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Switzerland


Nkufo (20)
Frei (53)

2-0
(HT 1-0) Moldova




Bookings:

Lichtsteiner (77)

Bookings:

Bulat (16)
Gatcan (45)




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Turkey


Senturk (26)

1-2
(HT 1-0) Spain


Alonso (pen 62)
Riera (90+3)



Bookings:

Uzulmez (37)
Asik (42)
Senturk (56)
Emre (90+1)

Bookings:

Xavi (45+2)
Sergio Ramos (64)




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Wales


0-2
(HT 0-1) Germany


Ballack (11)
Williams (og 4



Bookings:

Rolfes (77)




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Norway


3-2
(HT 0-1) Finland






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Serbia


2-0
(HT 1-0) Sweden






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Wish I could be bothered uploading some of the pictures of the areas where some of the big games will be played. Its a fucken hole ...

keep Nov 14th free, potential match venue North Harbour stadium, I expect to see all the regulars there live and loud!

Oct 10: 5th place Asia v New Zealand
Nov 14: New Zealand v 5th place Asia

could NZ make history again?

Speaking of international football... I finally got around to getting these up on facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=118242&id=552773297&l=be2058f2f9

Brazil vs. Italy from earlier this year.

boys lost 2-1 to tanzania last night

1-0 up at half time to lose it in the 89th :/

so Japan, Australia and South Korea are all through to the finals

England smashed Andorra 6-0 to go ever closer to a ticket to SA next year

Yeah good result, I missed England in the Finals last time

fkn Australia has to get through which means I get someone to despise as well as the Italians

I just cast an eye over the Euro tables a few days ago, was I right in thinking both/one of the Irlands and Scotland have a decent chance too? Must go look that up

Aussie are already through... And yes Scotland and Ireland are definitely in with a shout of making the play-offs. Unlikely they'll finish top and get an automatic spot though. Not 100% sure but I think in Europe the best second place team out of all the groups get an automatic spot, whereas the rest play off against each other in a two legged tie with the winner of each getting a spot. They subtract the result against the bottom team in each group before determining the best second placed team though just in case it comes down to goal difference so it doesn't become a case of who got the shittest minnow.

Oh yeah i know they are i just worded that poorly

Having a look at the paper today, what the hell sort pf group is Euro Group one? Sweden Denmark Hungary and Portugal? Im no expert on the relative strenghts of european football sides but that seems ridiculous to me. or do 3 go through from that group or summit?

I always kinda liked Sweden and they have lost one game and arent looking very good at all

Portugal are in danger of missing out, another goalless stalemate

Just a prick of a group, admittedly Hungary have come from nowhere to be in the position they're in,and Denmark weren't seeded too highly after missing out on the last Euros and World Cup. Basically Hungary and Denmark were supposed to be shit.

ahhhh ok ty. yeah kinda good to see Hungary back as I remember pouring over a "History of the WC" type book when i was a kid and they were beasts back in the day

Or was that Uruguay? ...prob both. maybe

England are through, its 4-0 against Croatia after 70 minutes and given that the only needed a point they're quite literally heading for the WC.

All Whites are 2-1 ahead Jordan in a friendly, Rory Fallon has played really well so far so could be a great addition. They've played the whole second half with 10 men as well after Vicelich was bizarrely sent off. He was booked for handball then given a straight red a few seconds later, didn't get two yellows or anything like that so not sure what happened.

Edit: 4-1 Eduardo just scored.

Edit: Smeltz 3-1!!!

5-1 England over Croatia, what a strong message they're sending to the rest of Europe if not the world! Haven't seen the game yet but will watch the replay (stupid Sky TV showing the Dutch Scots game)

Albania 1-1 Denmark R
Andorra 1-3 Kazakhstan R
Armenia 2-1 Belgium R
Belarus 0-0 Ukraine R
Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-1 Turkey R
Czech Republic 7-0 San Marino R
England 5-1 Croatia R
Faroe Islands 2-1 Lithuania R
Germany 4-0 Azerbaijan R
Hungary 0-1 Portugal R
Israel 7-0 Luxembourg R
Italy 2-0 Bulgaria R
Latvia 2-2 Switzerland R
Liechtenstein 1-1 Finland R
Malta 0-1 Sweden R
Moldova 1-1 Greece R
Montenegro 1-1 Cyprus R
Northern Ireland 0-2 Slovakia R
Norway 2-1 FYR Macedonia R
Romania 1-1 Austria R
Scotland 0-1 Netherlands R
Serbia 1-1 France R
Slovenia 3-0 Poland R
Spain 1-0 Estonia L
Wales 1-3 Russia R

this is the rundown, as I'm typing Spain's game is still in progress.

Oh God. soccer. Is it that time again? So soon?

get lost fishboy, you don't even appreciate the beautiful game

All Whites will play Bahrain in the playoffs

is anyone actually keen to come down to Wellington to watch the return leg?

I'm gonna start getting tickets soon

AW won 3-1 against Jordan, positives for Herbert to take home before tackling Bahrain

This is how the World Cup is shaping up, the teams that don't have a qualified date are the current group leaders:

1. South Africa ------------- (Qualified as hosts)
2. Cameroon
3. Tunisia
4. Algeria
5. Ghana ------------- (Qualified 07/09/2009)
6. Ivory Coast
7. Australia ------------- (Qualified 06/06/2009)
8. Japan ------------- (Qualified 06/06/2009)
9. South Korea ------------- (Qualified 06/06/2009)
10. North Korea ------------- (Qualified 17/06/2009)
11. Bahrain or New Zealand
12. Denmark
13. Switzerland
14. Slovakia
15. Germany
16. Spain ------------- (Qualified 09/09/2009)
17. England ------------- (Qualified 09/09/2009)
18. Serbia
19. Italy
20. Netherlands ------------- (Qualified 06/06/2009)
21-24. 4 of Sweden, Greece, Slovenia, Russia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, France, Republic of Ireland, Norway
25. Honduras
26. United States of America
27. Mexico
28. Costa Rica v Colombia
29. Brazil ------------- (Qualified 05/09/2009)
30. Chile
31. Paraguay
32. Argentina

Croatia only a point above Uruguay iirc and a game up too. Not looking good...

I think you meant Ukraine, but yes they have an extra game on you guys

Squad for Bahrain announced:

(Club - Caps/Goals)

Goalkeepers:
James BANNATYNE (Team Wellington - 5/0)
Mark PASTON (Wellington Phoenix - 21/0)
Jacob SPOONLEY (Auckland City - 1/0)

Defenders:
Andrew BOYENS (New York Red Bulls - 14/0)
Tony LOCHHEAD (Wellington Phoenix - 19/0)
David MULLIGAN (Wellington Phoenix - 30/3)
Ryan NELSEN (Captain, Blackburn Rovers - 39/9)
Aaron SCOTT (Waitakere United - 5/0)
Ben SIGMUND (Wellington Phoenix - 10/1)
Ivan VICELICH (Auckland City - 70/7)

Midfielders:
Andy BARRON (Team Wellington - 12/1)
Leo BERTOS (Wellington Phoenix - 28/0)
Tim BROWN (Wellington Phoenix - 25/0)
Simon ELLIOTT (San Jose Earthquakes - 65/
Michael MCGLINCHEY (Central Coast Mariners - 1/0)

Forwards:
Rory FALLON (Plymouth Argyle - 1/1)
Chris KILLEN (Celtic - 24/17)
Shane SMELTZ (Gold Coast United - 29/17)
Chris WOOD (West Bromwich Albion - 3/0)

Wood and Killen return as Herbert has all his best players available, barring the suspended Glen Moss.

7 of us are going down to watch the return leg. Hope they can snatch a draw or win away because then the atmosphere will be electric for the home leg

hey mate, are you on facebook, I've got an invite for you

Some big results last night. Good to see the argie bargies mad it through!

Sorry Tony

Yup - Andrew Cozens

Once again teams that don't have qualified next to their name are ones that are in automatic qualifying spot as of right now but are not yet assured of qualification:

1. South Africa (Qualified as hosts)
2. Cameroon
3. Tunisia
4. Algeria
5. Ghana (Qualified 07/09/2009)
6. Ivory Coast (Qualified 10/10/2009)
7. Australia (Qualified 06/06/2009)
8. Japan (Qualified 06/06/2009)
9. South Korea (Qualified 06/06/2009)
10. North Korea (Qualified 17/06/2009)
11. Bahrain or New Zealand
12. Denmark (Qualified 10/10/2009)
13. Switzerland (Qualified 14/10/2009)
14. Slovakia (Qualified 14/10/2009)
15. Germany (Qualified 10/10/2009)
16. Spain (Qualified 09/09/2009)
17. England (Qualified 09/09/2009)
18. Serbia (Qualified 10/10/2009)
19. Italy (Qualified 10/10/2009)
20. Netherlands (Qualified 06/06/2009)
21-24. 4 teams from Portugal, Greece, Slovenia, Russia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Ukraine, France, Republic of Ireland
25. United States of America (Qualified 10/10/2009)
26. Mexico (Qualified 10/10/2009)
27. Honduras (Qualified 15/10/2009)
28. Costa Rica or Uruguay
29. Brazil (Qualified 05/09/2009)
30. Paraguay (Qualified 09/09/2009)
31. Chile (Qualified 10/10/2009)
32. Argentina (Qualified 14/10/2009)

Notable failures: Sweden, Croatia, Colombia, Nigeria, and Scotland... Could probably add Saudi Arabia in there too, as they've been at every World Cup since USA 94.

no Ibra for WC, what a shame!

lol

also Nigeria not being there, they usually provide some good entertainment

maybe Portugal next to miss out?

can't imagine a WC without CR9

The Irish were very upset that FIFA decided to seed the playoffs for the 4 remaining European slots but it won't be as bad as first thought now. The top 4 seeds will be Portugal, Greece, France, and Russia... While Russia is to be avoided because of the Hiddink factor, and they'll be praying for Greece really, drawing Portugal or France wouldn't be the end of the world like in any previous year. Essentially both teams have been shit, and not just a bit shit but awful, hence why they are both in the playoffs rather than winning an automatic spot. So barring getting Russia, Ireland still have a very good chance of qualifiying.

Not sure if that's a good thing though because I get sick of hearing about how brave the Irish were despite playing appalling football and generally losing the in the second round after scoring two goals in the whole tournament. Then you have to hear them fucking bleat on about the penalty they should have had or the free kick that never was...

well with Given in goal for the Irish they have a good chance of going through, a pretty decent keeper, if not world class, even though he does play for City in club level, I reckon he could help the team to get a clean sheet

Te Irish are fuckwits..... for reasons given by jono + others.... having said that I would like to see them qualify

I would also like to see France, Portugal and Russia get through. Nigeria can piss off no tears for them, and I would like to see Uruguay topple Costa Rica thnkx



anyone know how the actual cup draw is made in terms of seedings?

HUGE games on righh now. WHAT THE FUCK SKY TV. WE GET THE UKRAINE VS GREECE ANDS THATS IT@!@????

The Greeks are through anyway. Good job imo

YES!! The Irish have scored vs France and its 1-1 on aggregate @ halftime. Such a spiteful 1st leg arrrrgh why isnt this on the atmosphere must be electric

0-0 between Bosnia and Portugal so Portugal still have their 1-0 lead from the 1st leg

Slovenia have scored vs Russia! So they lead 1-0 at halftime 2-2 on aggregate so they lead by 1 away goal. HUGE. COME ON RUSSIA

Extra time France vs Ireland!!

Portugal have scored so they are through, Slovenia and Greece holding onto their leads.....

Unbelievable! So blatant!

Ireland should really have finished it in regular time though.

OMFG. Is it as blantent as it sounds Fizz?

Yup... v.obvious. The ball is crossing him and heading out, he puts up his hand and stops the ball then taps it again and onto his boot.

Scandalous!


Lesser things have caused a war.

Only the second leg of Costa Rica - Uruguay left to decide the final spot, Uruguay hold a 1-0 lead from the first leg and have home advantage now.

woah that was fucking terrible by henry jesus christ he actually used his hand to control it then went off to celebrate lol

Here's a clip of the cheating bastard:
http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/3951667/

Lol Ireland.

Holy shit that's EPIC cheatage!



gc.

Wonder if he will get banned? Will miss out on world cup, which is fair

So fkn huge. Not only is it epic cheating in an enourmous game. But the culprit is THIERRY HENRY. ie One of the absolute biggest names in the game.

I doubt he will get banned for the cup. But hey Henry.. an entire country, plus plenty of others, hates you for the rest of your life. Sick legacy for an amazing athlete

It's Thierry Henry so it was probably completely accidental, Thierry is as honest and epicly good guy as they come.

*Keeps straight face.*

henry has always been a huge cunt but always pretended like he did everything in the 'spirit of the game' and ethically etc

Henry is class when he has the ball

he's a fucking cheat when he handles it and says he's not the referee

next time Ireland play France, they should injure Henry quickly before he cheats again

^_^

\

you're just saying this cos he plays for your beloved club FC Barcelona...

It’s this, and the ridiculous displays of diving feigning injury and the culture of arguing with the ref that put me off being able to love football. I mean you watch your average European football tournament and there are more dives than a lesbian orgy.

For all the All Whites will ever achieve until they tackle this, in NZ it will forever be a secondary sport. We like our players unemotional, not talking back to the ref and keeping to fair play (or at least the appearance of, yes I know the fouling that takes place in the scrums and the ruck but at least the refs are mostly good at spotting it).

Oh come off it, this sort of blatant cheating goes unpunished in rugby in the time.

Final list of participants:

1. South Africa
2. Cameroon
3. Tunisia
4. Nigeria
5. Ghana
6. Ivory Coast
7. Australia
8. Japan
9. South Korea
10. North Korea
11. New Zealand
12. Denmark
13. Switzerland
14. Slovakia
15. Germany
16. Spain
17. England
18. Serbia
19. Italy
20. Netherlands
21. Portugal
22. Greece
23. Slovenia
24. France
25. United States of America
26. Mexico
27. Honduras
28. Uruguay
29. Brazil
30. Paraguay
31. Chile
32. Argentina

What are you talking about Greenie, the All Whites are some of the biggest choppers in world football. I think the bigger nations wont like to see NZ in their group purely cos they know they will get the krap kicked out of them

actually never mind. I completely misread your post lol.

Put up or shut up.

Rugby matches are won and lost on how often a team can get away with infringing at the breakdown, or their defense line being allowed to start ahead of the last feet.

this is a football forum not a rugby one ffs

Serious business!!!



FWIW the Algerian team were attacked in Cairo prior to their 2-0 defeat in which Egypt were able to force the playoff.

Egypt has closed it's embassy in Algeria too.

Never me an Algerian, but they appear to be nutjobs based on the way they riot in France alone
(poor sample I know)




The herald did a great job of not explaining this today


Also....FIFA dismissed Irelands cry for a replay over night

Egypt are a bunch of sulking babas

get over it and better luck next time round

no need for violence and closing embassys

football can be that emotional at times

Honduras and El Salvador once went to war after a World Cup Qualifier, the Football War

Just a query for soccer fans:

What do you think would be an appropriate outcome over the France-Ireland match?

Do you think Henry should be censured/banned in some way?

Do you think it is basically in the same league as a ref missing an offside which results in a goal is it?

Surely the fact he handballed it (twice), deliberately is not undone by the fact he frankly admitted it and said sorry?

It would have quickly been undone if he admitted it on the field when the ref could've done something about it! But he knew full well that if he had admitted it in the game it would have meant his team would not have won that game.

He needs a ban, the ref needs disciplining, and the game needs reviewing (as is happening with regards to video reviews and extra officials).

Unfortunately, though, the game is over and it's tough luck for the Irish.



gc.

Video reviews can piss off. Maybe extra officials down by the goal in such high level important games are warranted.

Henry should probably receive some punishment. Can't be too harsh on the ref and linesman though. If their view is obscured by other players etc and they don't see it they can't really call it.

Ireland can bleat about it as much as they want, but they are not going to be at the World cup.

Why?



gc.

It would only be on dubious goals, which happens fuck all anyway. Plenty of rulings can be made easily by video review, and if there is a limit on the time they look at things, then it should revert back to ref's call IMO.

Should be the same with Rugby etc too.



gc.

Was watching Saints v Patriots the other day (yest maybe?) and was watching the challenges coming thick and fast and imagining how shit that would make football. Made me question my own position of wanting video refs a little. Even quick video ref decisions like we see in NRL would break up the game imo. Hard question unless you've recently been fucked over by a bad call

What I would like to see happen (altho i never will)...is the French to man up and lobby FIFA to take on the Irish in a penalty shoot out to decide the final place. Cos thats what would have *probably* happened had the goal been disallowed

The problem for the French is if they dont so something like that their World Cup will be completely tainted and I think they will fall at the 1st round A: Becaise everyone hates them and B: Cos the players themselves will just not be able to believe in their own cause

+ the penatly shoot out would be epic

What? More than the 2 minutes of dry humping after every goal? Or the 20 or more 30 second major injury stoppages which God always seems to cure shortly after?

Didn't Vinnie Jones once say something like "I wouldn't dive like that even if I'd been shot"

Video ref'ing will only exacerbate things, Rob. Celebrations are part of every decent sport and in football the extravagant ones, as opposed to other sports, can be accounted for by extra time. As are injuries (though I wil concede that dives detract hugely from the game) but video ref decisions will only add to total stoppages.

As it is, football has survived for years without video refs. We see enough players harrassing the ref over every decision as it is even though the almost never (I don't recall a ref changing his opinion without a touch judges input) change their decisions, and I can only see this worsening if he actually has the option of putting a decision up for video review.

As I said, a difficult call and one that could open a path down a shitty, slippery slope. I still believe that they have a place but the more I consider it, as must the powers that be, the more reasons I seem to find to keep with the status quo...

And as for Vinnie Jones, he's a dirty, cheating cunt anyway so anything he has to say means precisely fuck all

What do you think would be an appropriate outcome over the France-Ireland match?

The Irish to get over it and move on, tbf most have it's just idiots at the FAI and politicians who are still trying to change the impossible. Ireland got a penalty from a dubious foul (read dive) against Georgia in qualifying I didn';t see them offering to replay that match. If it was anyone other than Ireland in this situation no one would care, quite frankly the World Cup is a better place without their cancer football.

*I'm going to answer the questions in four separate posts due to my browser playing up.

Do you think Henry should be censured/banned in some way?

No, the rules are what they are... He essentially committed an offense which carries a yellow card, nothing more. If they were to change the rules in future to introduce harsher retrospective penalties for such acts I would be in favour. But they need to think them through rather than do things in a knee jerks maonor, and deal with more pressing issues such as retrospectively punishing divers.

Do you think it is basically in the same league as a ref missing an offside which results in a goal is it?

No because in 99% of offside cases the player isn't deliberately offside.

Surely the fact he handballed it (twice), deliberately is not undone by the fact he frankly admitted it and said sorry?

No but I think it was an instinctive thing and he probably didn't fully realise what he had done until afterwards. The first touch may have even been accidental... I do believe he was genuinely sorry afterwards because of the sort of person he has come across as throughout his career.

As for video referees, I'll wait till I get home as I will end up writing far too much.

OK, a different way to look at it. How many times has a significant essentially cheating act altered the result of a game? Would those, on hindsight, have been spotted by a video ref in quick-smart time? Yes.

Would the concept of rewarding fair play, punishing non-sporting acts with an eye to the 'correct' result being arrived at be the general aim of the sport? Yes.

Why not limit it strictly to the five seconds of footage before a goal was struck and check every goal for acts of foul play? Or limit it to specific things like tripping, hand-balls etc?

Lastly, if video refs aren't used, how come Zinedine Zidane got send off in the last World Cup final? The ref didn't see it? He got told about it via radio by an official apparently. Did it result in the correct decidion? Yes.

I'm assuming that was one of the linesman. They are all wired up.

It was the fourth official that spotted the headbutt, no video involved at all.

The fourth officials role is to track of time, substitutions and so on.



Why not give this guy the power of video?

By the way. Because of the delay in Zidane being sent off it was alleged that the 4th official actually missed it also but saw it on the reply boards.

FIFA naturally deny this as it would break their own rules.

Alledgedly? So there's no actual evidence of this...

Other than the delay, no.

It matters not - he made a call which was a) the correct call and, b), resulted in the appropriate result - the send-off and Zidane's following non-participation in the penalty shoot-out.

Why video refs can cunt off

Firstly the emotional outpouring that follows a goal being scored eclipses anything in all of sport for both players and supporters alike. Nothing comes close in terms of sheer emotion, mainly because it is the sole method of scoring a) in a sport where scoring is infrequent, and b) in a sport that matters to more people than any other. Video referees will ruin this, as we would get the subdued celebration that plague rugby and league where everyone waits around for the video referee to make a call.

Secondly as much as you might say only for controversial goals football referees are under more pressure to get it right than any other officials in the world. We've all seen refs in rugby and league going up stairs for no apparent reason other than merely covering there own arses, despite having seen nothing to suggest they shouldn't award a try. I have lost count of the number of times a ref has gone upstairs with the instruction "Just check that last play to make sure there's nothing wrong with it?" Fuck off you cunt! If you didn't see anything wrong then give the try. Factor in football refs get a rough enough time from players crowding around them when they know full well they can't change the referees mind. Imagine how much worse that would be if players knew they could get the ref to check the replay? Refs would check everything because of either players demanding them to do so, or because they are scared of getting vilified for making the wrong decision (which would be seen as twice as bad if the option of a video replay was available). It wouldn't be long before everything was being checked.

Then we have the issue of how effective they actually are, in rugby they often tell us nothing. Made even worse on very rare occasions in Super 14 where a team playing in another country (eg Blues playing in Sydney) I've seen a call go upstairs only for angle to show anything conclusively, then right after the ref rules no try suddenly the conclusive angle emerges showing the ball being grounded. Or just an outright wrong decision, Tokyo anyone?

In league they are not allowed to rule on forward passes due to it being difficult to get a conclusive angle, what in football requires a conclusive angle? That's right offsides, so league tells us that it will not be particularly effective in making offside calls. Penalties? Even with the benefit of replays many of us can't agree on whether a penalty was fairly awarded or so getting a video ref to decide will create just as much controversy as there is now.

So video referees will ruin the emotion of a goal being scored and do so on a lot of goals, and might not actually lead to better decisions...

I'm in favour of instantaneous goal line technology that can tell a referee whether the ball has crossed the line or not. Also I like the idea of having additional refs around each penalty area watching for foul play that the ref and his assistants might miss, but only at international and European level. If you roll it out beyond the very top then you pull too many refs away from lower levels, but the way the international window and European scheduling works it can be implemented at those levels without having an adverse effect on lower levels.

ruin the emotion lol wtf

Yeah I reckon. Emotive response much?




If you ask me, football could do with a little less emotion anyhow.

^^ Heartless imo. Getting overly emotionally involved in football (even the xbox variety) 4 LYFE!

good post Jono

Also...I know football haters love to harp on about how players writh on the ground like they are dieing yet can sprint around seconds later. But if you have played 11 a side outdoor you will know that when some c*nt hacks your leg with a hard mass of leathr and studs it really does feel like the world is at an end, and yes.....the recovery time and your ability to run it off is quite remarkable

By less emotion you mean "less holliwood" aye ... fuck me what a lame sport when it comes to acting!

I've aso been suggesting for a few years that for diving they should get rid of the yellow card and just make it a free kick. Then after the match any incidents where the ref has given a free kick for diving are reviewed and if the player is guilty they are given a 3 match ban, then a 5 match for the second time, 10 for the third etc. By getting rid of the yellow card it would make refs more inclined to call a player up for diving because if he got it wrong it wouldn't result in a player being on a yellow for the rest of the match, which I'm sure is a reason referees seem reluctant to do so right now. This coul dbe extended to include incidents where a player successfully cons the ref by diving as well, at the highest level incidents are replayed so heavily during a match that it would be easy to identify where there was no contact. This way you can start to punish offenders without disrupting the game.

For clarities sake I would only punish incidents where there was no contact whatsoever or the diver initiates the contact. If you start trying to rule on incidents where a player goes down to easily it gets too difficult. As light contact on a player running at full speed is often enough to throw them off balance and cause them to fall.

Old S_Blatter seems to think FIFA will have a look according to the cunts at the Sun.



http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/2755506/FIFA-will-investigate-Thierry-Henrys-handball.html

live draw 6am, SS2 Sat

I'm so excited, then I'll book my package, who's coming to SA with me?

minty

Unless if course people just start diving in the box and earn penalty kicks which are in favour of the striker about 10:1 over the defending goalie.

Though we've all realized this since your first post in here, this comment makes clear that you have no business whatsoever giving your opinion on things football :>

I'll take it you don't watch how many already do it despite the potential yellow-card. Do you think more or less would do it if the card option was removed? It doesn't take a genius to guess it would rise. Especially if the odd one earned you a direct penalty attempt.

Hey - if you got pinged later on video evidence it'd usually be fine as any major final you'd have already won basically through sifty means.

Penalty kick success rate according to research by Castrol Performance Index.
-Successful penalty kick (74.7 %)
-Saved by goalkeeper (18.2 %)
-Shot missed the goal (3.5 %)
-Hit the woodwork (and not ended with goal) (3.6 %)

OK... 7.5:1 is the more accurate ratio. But it's still massively in favour of people who concentrate on getting PK through diving.

75% is 7.5:1 odds? I may be entirely wrong with my understanding of odds here but surely it's 3:1??

What teh hell RobW

Everybody knows that refs adopt much more conservative criterion when a foul's in the penalty box.

Also, as the house fag's pointed out, epic odds fail

Yes but the current system isn't working, a yellow card penlty is failing on two counts, players don't see it as enough of a deterent, and referees are reluctant to give them even in situations where not giving a penalty means they must have thought the player dived. SO by removing the immediate penalty referees would be able to make more diving calls as it would only be punished by a free kick, then if the decision is upheld after the game the player would receive a suspension that gets worse with each offence. The fact is the current yellow card for diving system is not working so I am suggesting a way that I believe would allow referees to make more calls while at the same time having genuine disincentives to players.

ITALY !_____________!

Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile

Group G: Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, Portugal

Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia

Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon

Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia Ghana

Group C: ENGLAND, United States, Algeria, Slovenia

Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France


wow pretty good draw for NZ imo.. def chance of getting through esp if they can get a point off italy..

group D and G = groups of fucking death jesus christ aus lucked out

eng get lucky with their group as do france not getting placed with a proper seeded team.

lol at spains group, must be nice