Hull has a tough season
in front of them but no matter what happens from here they will always have
their first win to remember. Down 1-0 to an early Fulham goal at KC Stadium the
Tigers fought back with goals from Geovanni and Caleb Folan. Thirty-seven games
to go but Hull already have a win and a #### off their backs.
A week or so ago the
Football Association announced a program aimed at improving the on-field
discipline of players especially towards match officials. Despite the
complaints emanating from a couple of pundits over the weekend there is a sense
amongst fans in general that such an initiative is overdue.
Although the
program is aimed at all levels of the game in England a particular focus is
dissent in the Premiership. It may just
be a coincidence but the Premier League saw a substantial drop in cards issued
on the opening weekend compared with one year ago. Last year there was 35
yellow cards and one red issued – this weekend just past the total was 24
yellow and no reds.
Bundesliga newcomers 1899
Hoffenheim beat Energie Cottbus 3-0 to kick off the new season. Hoffenheim success
has come as a surprise to many in Germany and some see parallels with Gretna’s
rapid ascent in Scotland – and are concerned of a similar meltdown should the
wheels sheer off. Dominic Hinde explains Hoffenheim’s situation in the
September edition of “WSC When Saturday Comes.”
Hinde points out that less
than seven years ago Hoffenheim were playing two rungs below the regional
leagues in front of only a few hundred spectators. Little wonder when you
consider the village of Hoffenheim has a population of just over 3,000. The club’s
fortunes changed when a former player turned very successful business man called
Dietmar Hopp bought the club and started pumping money in. This season Hoffenheim
will groundshare with SV Waldhof Mannheim before moving to a new 30,000 seat
stadium sometime next year.
Belgium became a surprise
Olympic soccer semi-finalist on Saturday. Despite playing a man short for 63
minutes Belgium beat Italy 3-2 after falling behind 1-0 in the quarter final on
Saturday. In group play the Belgians lost their first match to Brazil 1-0 before
rebounding to beat host nation China 2-0 and New Zealand by the only goal of
the game. The referees have been kept busy whenever Belgium has played. In the
four games so far there have been seven red cards handed out – three to Belgian
players, two to China and one each to New Zealand and Italy.
Liverpool and Arsenal won
by single goals while Manchester United was held at home by Newcastle United.
On the other hand Chelsea demolished Portsmouth 4-0 with a magnificent display of
power, speed, passing, mobility and finishing. With full backs Bosingwa and
Ashley Cole being given free rein to get forward and Deco, Lampard and Mikel
controlling the midfield, Chelsea dominated the game and if it was not for
Portsmouth opting for a damage control strategy after the first thirty minutes
the scoreline would have been an absolute embarrassment.
Honourable mention – Newcastle
United showing great spirit and resilience at Old Trafford.
Best forgotten…..
It has been a bad week
for Manchester City. First there was the ongoing distraction of charges facing
owner Thaksin Shinawatra in his native Thailand; then came a 1-0 home loss to Danish side FC
Midtjylland in the UEFA Cup on Thursday. That was followed by Bulgarian striker
Valeri Bojinov who missed close to the entire 2007/08 season breaking down
during the warm up at Villa Park. It
seems likely that he will be out once again for an extended period after
damaging his Achilles. Finally Villa beat City 4-2. Mark Hughes must be hoping that
bad news comes in fours. Next Sunday City is at home to West Ham.
The pre-season was a
terrific time for Spurs but after their display at the Riverside on Saturday
they must be regretting that other teams are now playing for real. With points at stake Spurs were anemic for
large stretches of the match and badly outplayed and outfought by a more
spirited Boro squad. The poor performance was compounded by a strange decision
by manager Juande Ramos to start Dimitar Berbatov on the bench. The
apparent rationale was that with talk of an imminent transfer to Old Trafford
that the Bulgarian would not be focused. That’s fine except Ramos threw on the
striker on with twenty-five minutes left. Tough to understand what changed in
little over an hour apart from Ramos regretting his initial decision.
Best goals….
Gretar Steinsson gets the
benefit of the doubt with his cracking angled drive that put Bolton on the road
to a comfortable win over Premiership new boys Stoke City.
Two beautiful left footed
curling long range efforts. The first was by Geovanni for Hull against Fulham
and the second by David Dunn for Blackburn against Everton.
Another great goal from
the Everton – Blackburn game. Yakubu’s header after Arteta floated a perfect
left footed cross beyond Paul Robinson in the Blackburn goal.
Ricardo Clark’s 35-yard
laser that gave Houston the lead against Real Salt Lake at 3-2.
Goal feast……
Houston Dynamo edged Real
Salt Lake by the odd goal in seven and in the process leapfrogged them and took
over top spot in the Western Conference of MLS. Six goals came in the first half
with Houston twice pegging RSL back before goals from Clark and Jaqua sent them
into at half time with a two goal lead. Kenny Deuchar pulled Real within a goal
with ten minutes left but that was as close as it would get.
Best Howlers……
What was Fulham’s left
back Paul Konchesky thinking? Caught in possession in his own penalty area by
Craig ####en with less than ten minutes to go the resulting goal cost his team a
point on the road on opening day.
Spurs’ Michael Dawson’s
all-round display against Boro made recently departed Younes Kabul look like
the reincarnation of Franco Baresi.
Best Players….
David Wheater of
Middlesbrough had a goal disallowed in the first half when the call could have
easily gone the other way. Even so Wheater scored the opener in the second half
and was a stand-out throughout the game playing at right back.
Ronnie O’Brien’s two
goals bookended a 4-0 destruction of the New England Revolution by the suddenly
red-hot San Jose Earthquakes. The first came from a volleyed lob into the far
corner and the second a fantastic left footed curler from just outside the Revolution
penalty area.
Gabriel Agbonlahor may
have been omitted from Fabio Capello’s England squad but this week he signed a
new contract and followed it up with his first senior first hat trick on Sunday.
The three goals came in less than ten minutes.
Stat facts
No defending Premiership
has lost on the opening day of the season. In sixteen games they have recorded
13 wins and 3 draws.
Villa’s win
over Manchester City was only their second over City in 12 Premiership matches and
City’s first loss in six visits to Villa Park.
New England lost 4-0 to
San Jose but also lost goalkeeper Matt Reis to injury after 55 minutes. This
ended a run of 7,795 consecutive MLS minutes played by Reis stretching back to
September 2005. The score was 1-0 when Reis left the match to be replaced by
Doug Warren.
San Jose Earthquakes is
now is unbeaten in their last five matches has won two games in a row for the
first time this season.
What was said….
From
Friday’s Globe and Mail
“PSG given green light to play in Carling Cup
Paris Saint-Germain will
be allowed to defend its Carling Cup title this season after a court annulled a
decision to ban the club because of racist behaviour by its supporters.”
Have I missed something?
Has the Coupe de la Ligue been
renamed after the English beer sponsored competition or is this a reverse form
of the 39th game?
Jeremy Wilson and the
impact of the credit crunch of the Premier League.
Gabriele Marcotti
describes how Fabio Capello is going about building the England team as World
Cup qualifying beckons.
Former PSG, Espanyol and
Betis coach Luis Fernandez resurfaces at Betar Jerusalem.
Coming up this week…..
A raft of meaningless international
friendly matches this Wednesday, and the Olympic tournament moves to the semi
final and then final stage. There is still the possibility of a rematch of the Olympic Final
of 1996 between Nigeria and Argentina. On Tuesday Nigeria will play Belgium
while Argentina plays Brazil. The final is on Saturday.
Most importantly the
first group stage of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying gets underway on Wednesday.
This stage is made up of three groups of four countries with the top two from
each group qualifying for a final group of six.
Group A continued It took Switzerland nine attempts before finally making it to the European Championships finals. That was back in 1996 and they followed with another appearance in Portugal four years ago.
How they qualified As a co-host the Swiss were spared the trauma of qualification.
The Coach Kobi Kuhn succeeded a raft of foreign coaches (Uli Stielike, Roy Hodgson, Gilbert Gress and Enzo Trossero) when he took over the Swiss national team duties seven years ago and when he retires after this tournament he will be replaced by German Ottmar Hitzfeld. Kuhn controversially installed Alexander Frei as captain in the spring of 2007 after a very public falling out with Johann Vogel.
Key Players Alexander Frei has spent a good part of this season injured and only recently returned to play for his club side Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga. If he can regain his sharpness for the summer tournament the Swiss may benefit from the enforced rest of their top striker.
Arsenal’s Philippe Senderos’ frailties have been on show at the club level but he still has the confidence of his international coach. Tranquillo Barnetta of Bayer Leverkusen enjoyed an excellent 2006 World Cup in Germany although he did miss a penalty in the shoot-out loss to Ukraine.
Great Euro Memory Their European Championship finals debut came in 1996 when they held host country England to a 1-1 draw. England led from an Alan Shearer goal early in the game but with seven minutes left Stuart Pearce was called for a handball in the penalty box and Kubilay Turkyilmaz equalized from the spot.
Synopsis Switzerland comes into the tournament with all the advantages and disadvantages of co-hosting. No worries over qualifying but unrealistic expectations and few opportunities over the last two years for the team to be tested in competitive games.
The Swiss were knocked out of the 2006 World Cup without conceding a goal although how they achieved such a feat with Pascal Zuberbuhler in net can be considered as a modern-day miracle.
The team has mix of youth and experience although a number of players (Patrick Muller, Tranquillo Barnetta, and Frei) have struggled with injuries lately. Of the two host nations the Swiss have by far the better chance to move on to the last eight.
Coming Up in World Cup Qualifying Drawn in Group 2 with Greece, Israel, Moldova, Latvia and Luxembourg.
Turkey made their European Championship Finals debut in 1996 but lost all three games. Four years later they lost in the last eight to Portugal by a score of 2-0.
How they qualified It was topsy-turvy qualifying campaign for Turkey. Against all odds (including a ban on playing at home for part of the group stage) they started very well in Group C then hit a torrid streak at the midway point.
Just as they looked as if they had again blown their chance they recovered their nerve and finished seven points behind Greece and a point ahead of Norway. Hakan Sukur who has been left out of the squad for the finals was Turkey’s leading scorer with five goals. Tuncay Sanli and Nihat Kahveci each had three.
The Coach Fatih Terim is in charge at the Euros for a second time having helped Turkey to England in 1996. After the ’96 tournament and for the next four years Terim held a Midas-touch with league titles and a UEFA Cup coming his way while in charge of Galatasaray.
A move to Serie A with Fiorentina and then AC Milan did not prove to be nearly as successful and a return to Galatasaray failed to rekindle past glories. After failing to make it to the 2006 World Cup finals a place in the last eight is probably the minimum he needs to keep his job.
Key Players Nihat Kahveci has enjoyed a fantastic season with Villarreal in the Spanish league and looks to have put his injury woes behind. Small, mobile and with the instinct that only very good goal scorers have, Nihat could again become one of the most sought after strikers in Europe after this tournament.
Great Euro Memory At Euro 2000 the final group B match found co host Belgium needing only a draw against Turkey to move on to the knock out stage. Despite going into the match winless in five finals games Turkey shocked the home side with a goal on the stroke of half time from Hakan Sukur and with twenty minutes left the talismanic striker repeated the feat and Turkey moved on with Italy to the quarter final stage.
Synopsis Turkey and host nation Switzerland have “history” from a 2006 World Cup qualifying play-off game so when they face each other there might be fireworks. A hit-or-miss qualifying campaign makes it very difficult to assess Turkey’s chances. On top form they could be a great dark horse; on other days they may struggle to win a game.
Coming Up in World Cup Qualifying Drawn in Group 5 along with Spain, Belgium, Bosnia Herzegovina, Armenia and Estonia.
Over the next ten days the blog will be dedicated to the 2008 European Championships. Part 1 covers some of the history of the tournament and an outline of the groups, game-days, officials and some odds and ends. From there is will be a preview of two teams per day and on day ten will come the predictions.
History The idea of holding a European Championship came, like many other good sports ideas, from a Frenchman.
Henri Delaunay, who was head of the French FA, proposed a tournament for all European counties even before the first World Cup was held in 1930. However, it took until the formation of UEFA in Basle, Switzerland in June 1954 for the notion to take root.
Delaunay was appointed as UEFA’s first General Secretary but died in 1955. In recognition of his leadership and vision the European Championship trophy was named after him.
The tournament started out as the European Nations Cup in 1960 and consisted of group games with the winners moving on to a knock out round of eight. The winners at the quarter final stage would then play semi-finals and a final in the country of one of the final four.
This format continued until 1980 when all eight group winners competed in two groups with the group winners playing for the trophy and the two group runners up playing for bronze. Four years later in France a cross over semi final round was added and the format was maintained when West Germany hosted in 1988 and Sweden in 1992.
When England held the finals in 1996 the number of qualifiers expanded to sixteen countries and from that point onwards the competition became a cash cow for UEFA. It is now arguably the third most watched sporting event in the world after the FIFA World Cup and the Summer Olympics.
The Groups and Games Days Group A Switzerland, Czech Republic, Portugal and Turkey – June 7, 11, and 15.
Group B Austria, Croatia, Germany and Poland – June 8, 12 and 16.
Group C Romania, France, Italy and Netherlands – June 9, 13 and 17.
Group D Spain, Russia, Greece and Sweden – June 10, 14 and 18. Quarter Finals Winner A vs. Runner-Up B – June 19, Basle
Winner B vs. Runner-Up A – June 20, Vienna.
Winner C vs. Runner-Up D – June 21, Basel.
Winner D vs. Runner-Up C – June 22, Vienna.
Semi- Finals Winner A or Runner-Up B vs. Winner B or Runner-Up A – June 25, Basel. Winner C or Runner-Up D vs. Winner D or Runner-Up C – June 26, Vienna.
Final June 29, Vienna.
The Stadiums St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Capacity 42,500.
The Officials UEFA has assigned 12 referees and 24 assistants (plus eight fourth officials) to officiate the games. Each referee trio is made up of a referee and two assistant referees from the same country. The trios have worked together as teams over the last year.
Referee - Konrad Plautz (Austria); Assistants Egon Bereuter & Markus Mayr.
Returnees The Netherlands, France, Portugal, Spain, Czech Republic, Germany, Sweden, Russia, Switzerland, Croatia, Italy and Greece all appeared at the 2004 finals in Portugal. Missing from the 2004 line-up are Denmark, England, Bulgaria and Latvia.
Five coaches Luiz Felipe Scolari (Portugal), Lars Lagerback (Sweden), Karel Bruckner (Czech Republic), Kobi Kuhn (Switzerland) and Otto Rehhagel (Greece) return from 2004. Portugal, the Czech Republic and Greece all appeared in the last four in 2004.
MeanSucka - I know I may be late on this one - what do you think of Michael Owen saying that the England need to rethink psychological preparation for matches: "When fear takes over, you start to do things wrong and take the easy option which in our case is lumping the ball forward to the front men. I’m not absolving myself from blame… What must be addressed as much as anything is our psychological preparations."
Do you suspect that McClaren was playing a DVD of Shrek to motivate the team?
Bobby – As late as a Robbie Savage challenge. I think Owen has a point. The way England plays at times it does look like they are racked with fear. But fear can be generated from a number of sources and having a manager who was indecisive and seemed more concerned about his image would not have helped.
CIAO - Here is to MILAN!!! I hope they prove Marcotti wrong! Haven't writers yet learned not to write off Italians?
Bobby – I guess it stings more when it as an Italian writer writing off Milan.
CIAO - Can you please give us your early predictions for the EURO 2008?
Bobby – It is far too early to start looking at a crystal ball. I’ll keep my thoughts until next summer.
Getz76 - Is Sam Allardyce in trouble? I am completely indifferent on the topic and to me it looks like they are performing much like they were last season; was he expected to get to European competition in the first season?
Bobby – Yes. Newcastle fans are so frustrated after years of false dawns and a revolving manager’s door that they do probably have unrealistic expectations. However, having unrealistic expectations is one thing but I think you nailed it with your comment “to me it looks like they are performing much like they were last season.” With the money that has been spent – again – and to see a team that is no better must be soul-destroying.
CIAO - So I just search the World Cup in Wikipedia. 1930 was the first WC. Won by Uruguay, runner up was Argentina. Third place it listed as USA and 4th Yugoslavia. Is this correct? Was the US really 3rd?
Bobby – It was a thirteen tournament with one group of four and three groups of three. The USA was drawn in pool IV along with Paraguay and Belgium. The USA beat both 3-0. They lost 6-1 to Argentina in the semi final although they were only losing 1-0 at the half and conceded three goals in the last nine minutes of the match. I can’t find any record of a third place game so it they finished third it might have been due to a better goal average than Yugoslavia who had also lost 6-1 to Uruguay in the other semi.
European representation was limited to France, Yugoslavia, Romania, and Belgium – even at that they only decided to travel less than two months before the tournament. However, it would be unfair to make too much out of the few European teams that travelled given that Argentina and Uruguay had also contested the Olympic Final in ’28. Uruguay won both finals. The European teams that were missed the most were probably Austria, Scotland and England.
According to “The Story of the World Cup” by Brian Glanville (a book that every fan of international football would enjoy) the USA was actually seeded top in their pool. To quote Glanville – “At this time there was still professional football of a sort in the States, the rump of the attempt by such as Bethlehem Steel to put sports on its feet in the 1920s. The American team managed by Jack McColl of Brooklyn Wanderers, was made up largely of British and Scots pros: Alec Wood, James Gallacher, Andrew Auld, James Brown and Bart McGhee from Scotland, George Moorhouse from England. They were powerfully-built men whom the French players nicknamed the “shot-putters”.”
Gregz-Q1. Jamaica rehired Rene Simoes to try to recapture the '98 glory? Won't it be harder for him this time around? Q2. Which country from the CONCACAF region do you see having a good chance of qualifying for WC 2010 other than Mexico and the United States of course.
Bobby – Q1. I think it will be harder this time around. Greater expectations, CONCACAF is probably stronger than 10 years ago and they have a tough qualifying group.
Q2 Based on past performances you would have to give Costa Rica a nod as one of the countries with an excellent chance. On paper Honduras as a good squad but they have a habit of folding under pressure. Canada is in with a shout but they need to win at home and hope that a few of their more creative and attacking players stay healthy.
Milan4Ever - Is it just me or are there a lot more own goals being scored in football these days? Could it be because of the increased pace of the game or the extra pressure on defenders? or maybe even both..?
Bobby – Good question and the answer is yes and no. I went back to the last two seasons and compared the average goals scored in six of Europe’s domestic leagues with the average so far this season.
Here are the statistics by country and season (2008, 2007 and 2006).
England (2.66, 2.45, 2.48) Italy (2.52, 2.55, 2.61) Spain (2.68, 2.48, 2.46) France (2.24, 2.25, 2.13) Germany (2.76, 2.74, 2.81) Holland (3.19, 2.99, 2.98)
In some cases there are more goals being scored but in others less. There is nothing to indicate that any systemic type change leading to more goals is underway. What you might be seeing is more blow outs than normal. For example the Portsmouth/Reading and Everton/Sunderland games have increased the goal average by 0.10 based on these two results alone.
Pgaijar - Fantastic hearing about the development of football in India, earlier this year in January I was in India, and was surprised by the amount of cricket Indians watched. They took days off to watch a test match, and hopefully in the years to come India will embrace footy just as much as cricket. But one thing troubles me Bobby do you think corruption which has disrupted much of the development in India will cause problems?
Bobby – It doesn’t seem to have affected FIFA so India should be ok.
Indahaeri - There is an interesting story in Inter-Milan that is under the surface. It looks to me that there is lack of cooperation between Ibrahimovic and the new attackers that Inter signed this year.
As I watched the second half of Inter and Fiorentina this past weekend, I saw terse statements exchanged by Ibrahimovic and Suazo. I also see that Ibrahimovic seems to intentionally play better with Cruz than either with new big signings - Suazo or the Argentinian. I saw several times in that game when Ibrahimovic delayed passes to Suazo or slowed down leaving Suazo to hold the ball longer than supporting him (when Suazo had the ball).
Bobby – Ibrahimovic has always been a prickly character. I have trouble believing that a player intentionally plays better (or worse) depending on who he is playing with. Who is the big Argentine signing?
Craigy_f - Favour if you could; I have a point to prove - check out my Liverpool v Bolton game summary and give some indication of (in your opinion) of it's veracity and bias. You can just laugh at the second one!
Bobby – Let’s just say that you can’t be accused of seeing things through red-tinted glasses.
Wiegs9 – I was wondering if there are certain experience, successes or personality traits which might suggest someone would be good int'l manager for a bigger nation like Scotland, England or Ireland? I ask b/c it seems like success at a club doesn't necessarily equate to int'l success, though I wondered if you had seen any trends. Thanks!
Bobby – I don’t think there is necessarily an identikit that can be constructed as there will always be exceptions. But successful international managers tend to be older (check past winners of the World Cup and Euros) and have enjoyed some success at the club level.
The other international manager niche is coaches who graduate through the national system (working with age group teams) and work their way into a job after building trust along the way with players, the media, and the national associations. Media savvy is critical, as is the ability to get on with club managers.
Ulsterson – I didn't get to watch the game yesterday (Work) so I was hoping someone could tell me why Evra was subbed in the 47th?
Bobby – It was reported as illness.
Henry14 - Q1 Don't you feel that Jose is a risk , okay the media wants him to be paid $12m and won't it be a risk that he is given a job and Barca, then and scoop him when the fa is sending money on his blue print of facilities and before World Cup.
Q2 Tottenham could be in bottom half by February, if you look at their fixture list what do you make of that fact.
Q3 Liverpool are playing well do you see them challenging for the title given they still have to go to Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd. and they lost all those games
Bobby – 1. Find me a manager who is a sure thing.
2. As so could three quaters of the Premiership.
3. I said at the beginning of the season that I could see a four-horse race and I stick by that.
Henry14 - Milan are a poor side.
Bobby – Perhaps but remember the same or similar was said last season around this time and they finished up as the Champions of Europe.
Euro 2008 qualifying is centre stage this weekend. The biggest game would appear to be in Prague with Germany - top of group D on goal difference - facing the Czech Republic. Slovakia, Cyprus, the Republic of Ireland and Wales will all be hoping to make up ground but I see this group as a two-horse race.
Greece and Turkey go head-to-head in another titanic Mediterranean struggle. Both countries have 100% records after three games and neither have conceded a goal so far. They also faced each other in 2006 World Cup qualifying and both games finished scoreless. Norway and Bosnia-Herzegovina sit third and fourth (Norway are three points behind the leaders and two ahead of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Bosnians have played a game more) and play each other in Oslo. Norway then plays Turkey in Istanbul on Wednesday so this group could be turned on its head by this time next week.
Group A may turn out to be the most competitive of the seven groups. Two of the 2006 World Cup finalists currently sit third and fourth – Poland and Portugal – behind group leaders Finland and second place Serbia. Portugal versus Belgium (5th place) looks to be a vital one for both sides. A win for the Portuguese would make sure that they remain in a strong position while a loss for Belgium would mean that they would have already dropped 11 points and that would leave them in an impossible position.
Italy has to wait until Wednesday when Scotland will travel to Bari. Group B leaders Scotland – how strange does that sound ? – will have new manager Alex McLeish in charge for the first time against Georgia. Although the game against Italy is the glamour tie, a win over Georgia at Hampden Park is much more important. France currently trail Scotland on goal difference and have to play away to Lithuania – a tricky task I would suggest.
In Group E all eyes are on Israel against England. Much as been made of the fact that Israel have lost only one of their last 14 competitive fixtures while also drawing with the likes of France, Switzerland, Russia, and the Republic of Ireland. The never-say-die spirit of the Israeli squad has seen them fight back a number of times over the last two seasons to #### draws as the seconds tick down. A draw may again be the outcome. The Israeli loss came at home in November when group leaders Croatia beat them 4-3 in Tel Aviv. Croatia are at home to Macedonia on Saturday.
Spain are currently sitting in fifth place in Group F and they have no margin for error when they face Denmark. The Danes are four points ahead of Spain and have yet to concede a goal in their first three games. The good news is that the Spanish have an outstanding record against the Danes. Since 1985, Spain have beaten Denmark five times, drawn once and lost only once. Sweden leads the group with a 100% record after four games and have a rest day this weekend. On Wednesday Sweden faces third Northern Ireland in Belfast. Norhern Ireland plays group whipping-boys Liechtenstein on Saturday.
In Group G the Netherlands and Romania is a battle of first versus third with both countries unbeaten. Second place Bulgaria are also unbeaten but don’t play until Wednesday when Albania are the opposition.
Romania have yet to win in eight friendly and competitive games against Holland, drawing two and losing six, while scoring just only once.
The focus was Euro qualifying this weekend and now we have another batch of game this Wednesday.
Group A I thought Serbia created the better chances and looked much brighter than a Belgian side that lacked pace – particularly in the midfield. A Wednesday tilt against Armenia who nicked a draw off of Finland should mean that Serbia will retain their top spot. Portugal travels to Poland and it is a must win for the Poles given that they have already dropped points at home to rivals Serbia and Finland.
Group B This group provided the shocker of the weekend, Scotland beating World Cup runners-up France. In my opinion the biggest result for Scotland since they went to Wembley and beat the reigning World Champions 3-2 in 1967. I would also say that this is the best result Scotland has ever achieved at Hampden Park.
As a footnote back in 1967 after Scotland beat England some Scottish supporters used the result to claim that it made Scotland World Champions. Some years later that spawned a website that takes a different view of who might be considered the World Champions using a boxing title holder and challenger format rather than the Sepp Blatter World Cup (Jack Warner and Sons. official ticketing agents).
You can check out past winners and I doubt you can guess who the current "alternative" World Champions actually are.
Thierry Henry believes that France will qualify and finish above Scotland – and the odds are very much in his favour. The win is of greater significance to Scotland than it is a blow to France. There is a long way to go but Walter Smith has achieved job 1 which is to make a small county like Scotland, one that can worry the big boys again.
Italy and France are poised to take advantage of Scotland’s very difficult trip to Kiev in two days time. Only two countries have ever beaten Ukraine in Kiev so even a split of the points would be considered a point gained.
Group C Excellent homes win for Greece over Norway and likewise for Turkey away to Hungary. The historic rivals have an opportunity to leapfrog Norway who is not scheduled to play this Wednesday. Turkey is “at home” to Moldova while Greece has a tricky fixture away to Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Bosnians have stumbled badly and largely failed to take advantage of what should have been a relatively easy start against Malta, Hungary and Moldova. A four point return is less than they would have expected.
Group D The worst tip of the weekend – Wales to beat Slovakia. – Oouuch! Wales may not be dead and buried but let us just say that the body is laid out, the top is on and the hammer and nails have been called for. A 5-1 loss at home to Slovakia was their worst result since 1908. They now face a Cypriot side that has lost 6-1 and won 5-2 so who knows what Wednesday’s match might hold.
Talking of dead and buried – Steve Staunton is under heavy attack by the Irish press after a horrible result against a country they had beaten in their last six competitive matches. It is looking bleak for the Irish who now have the most successful all-time European Championship “country” the Czech Republic, arriving next.
Simply put, the Republic of Ireland must win or they will be looking at the monumental task of 24 points from the remaining nine matches to qualify and that, quite frankly, is just not on. Germany is back in business when they travel to play Slovakia. A German win and it will be a sign that the top two are going to runaway with this group.
Group E Here we go again. European Champions in waiting after beating the might of Andorra 5-0 and then winning 1-0 away to Macedonia, now wailing and moaning sounds are coming from England fans after drawing 0-0 at home against a Macedonia side that might even have nicked the three points.
You would have thought that the World Cup performance would have been a lesson – one in a long line of lessons – that a couple of results, particularly against weaker opposition do not a champion make. Can you imagine England’s response if they had beaten San Marino 13-0 as Germany did last month?
Viewing results in some sort of realistic context is not something that comes easily to the English media – or fans for that matter. But if England had returned from Macedonia with a draw and then won at Old Trafford would it have been a disaster? It would not have been the best set of results but it would not have been a disaster either.
The first acid test for Steve McClaren comes when they face a very tough Croatian side in Zagreb. If England does win no doubt the bandwagon will kick into gear again.
Meanwhile two home draws was not the sort of start that Guus Hiddink was looking for and three home points versus Estonia is now a must for Russia.
Group F Spain is another country that has made an inau####ious start with back-to-back away losses to Northern Ireland and Sweden. To compound the problem Spain sits out this time around while Sweden looks to extend their 100% record when they are away to Iceland and Denmark hopes to consolidate their present second place standing against little Liechtenstein. Northern Ireland and Latvia link up in Belfast in a pivotal game.
Group G In group G it looks like a case of perm any two from three with Romania and the Netherlands tied at the top (Romania leads on goal difference) with Bulgaria two points behind but still unbeaten. Romania can watch the others on television as the Netherlands (home to Albania) and Bulgaria (away to Luxembourg) should pocket three points each. Slovenia and Belarus both need a win if they hope to keep within striking distance of the “big three”.
Later in the week I will take a look at the next round of the FA Cup and look at the Premiership so far.
I am the soccer analyst for the Fox Soccer Report and appear twice a week - every Monday and Friday at 10:00 EST. I have also been a regular contributor to the Fox Soccer Channel website since the summer of 2004. Over the last twenty years I have contributed to various radio and television programs throughout North America as well writing about the game for newspapers, magazines and websites.
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