Best performances…..

Austria found a way to build on a better than expected European Championship (competitive without being threatening) by beating France 3-1. Ironically their next match is on Wednesday against Lithuania who also pulled of a fantastic result by beating Romani 3-0 in Bucharest.

Lithuania had lost the previous seven international matches versus Romania and this win is arguably the biggest in the country’s history. Lithuania have one won away from home on numerous occasions but none of the wins have come against a country of Romania’s calibre.

A huge 1-0 away win for Uruguay against Colombia. The Villarreal midfielder Sebastian Eguren scored in first 15 minutes as Uruguay leapfrogged Colombia. The win put Uruguay third on Saturday evening pending the Sunday match between Chile and Brazil.

Andy Murray’s four set win over Rafael Nadal at the USA Open. A fantastic match and I am in total awe of how hard these players hit the ball and how well they get around the court. Tennis is a game in which if you are not mentally strong you are nothing. It puts into perspective some of John Terry's comments about England's millionaires lacking confidence. Confidence comes from knowing that you can execute under pressure and that comes from exceptional technical skills that have been honed over time and perfected.

Way back in my teenage years tennis was one of my summer sports and I played poorly in a number of junior tournaments around Scotland. It wasn't until a few months ago that I found out that Andy Murray's mum is Judy (then) Erskine whose name I remember from that time as she played in a number of the same competitions. 


Best forgotten…..

Yes it was a win but by any criteria it was a labored and uninspired performance by England that needed two second half goals from Joe Cole to see off Andorra 2-0 in Barcelona.

The first forty five minutes of the home game against Paraguay was a nightmare for Argentina. Carlos Tevez picked up his second red card of World Cup qualifying but this only served to increase Argentina’s problems. Full back Gabriel Heinze had already put through his own goal and injured goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri in the process. The goalie had to be replaced and Heinze was substituted at the break. As it was a second half equalizer from Sergio Aguero salvaged a point.


Best goals….

Jason Garey had just set foot on the park and with his first touch he cushioned the ball and with his second he scored past Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis. It was the Columbus Crew’s third goal of the game in a match that would finish 4-0. It was the simplicity of the goal stood out. Chad Marshall broke up a Revolution attack in his own penalty area and played the ball forward. After a series of quick one touch passes the ball was played to the Crew’s Guillermo Barros Schelotto. As Schelotto attacked the Revolution defence Garey strayed offside forcing the Argentine to hold the ball. Eschewing an obvious pass out to the right Schelotto allowed Garey to get back onside before clipping a reverse pass to him.  Garey did the rest.
 
A beautifully weighted pass from Cesc Fabregas was played through to Spain’s David Villa. His first touch took him wide and beyond the Bosnia goalkeeper but as the Valencia striker reached the ball it looked as if the final angle was too acute. Nevertheless despite being only a matter of inches from the byline Villa stroked the ball into the net to give Spain the win and to make up for a first half penalty that he had missed.


Best Players….

Antonio di Natale had a couple of goals on the opening day of Serie A last weekend and followed up with another pair, this time for Italy in a 2-1 away win to Cyprus. The second goal finished off a neat move involving Gilardino, Del Piero and Camoranesi and came in the 90th minute.

The Ramon Nunez playing for Honduras against Canada was unrecognizable as the player that formerly lined up for FC Dallas and Chivas USA in MLS. During the first hour Nunez was a bundle of energy, creativity and finishing. He was a source of discomfort to the Canadian midfield and scored twice in a ten minute period at the start of the second after Canada had led 1-0 at the break.  The first goal he created from first running at the Canadian defence and moving the ball out to the left side. He then drifted towards the far post and unmarked gathered the return pass and slotted the ball home.

Austrian captain Andreas Ivanschitz set up the first two goals for his country through well delivered free kicks and he finished the job by scoring from the penalty spot to give Austria a 3-1 win over France.
   

Goal feast……

There were a total of twelve goals in the two CONCACAF Group 3 qualifying matches. Costa Rica thumped Suriname 7- 0 while El Salvador went nap on Haiti winning 5-0.


Biggest Howlers……

This one was not an on-field howler but well worth mentioning. Chivas goalkeeper Zack Thornton went down injured after a collision with Toronto FC’s Danny Dichio in the second half of Saturday’s MLS game. The referee called for the stretcher crew who then had to lift the 6’ 3” goalkeeper weighing a conservative 235 lbs. on to the carrier.

As the stretcher bearers turned at the corner flag it was patently obvious that Thornton’s attendants were struggling with their cargo. The camera then moved back to the action but only a few moments later CBC colour commentator and former Canadian captain Jas de Vos could not hold it in a moment longer.

Apparently the load had proved too much and the four man crew had dropped the Chivas keeper as they passed the bench area and it forced him to continue his trip to the dressing room under his own steam. 

It was a miserable day for French central defender Philippe Mexes against Austria. France conceded two goals from free kicks played high into the penalty box and down the middle. The other came from a penalty conceded by Mexes as he dragged down Janko in full view of the referee.  It was France’s first loss to Austria in nearly four decades.

New York Red Bulls’ Diego Jimenez sliced a clearance square across his own penalty area to a waiting Stephen King who scored the only goal of the game for Chicago Fire. I’m not sure what was more memorable – the awful clearance or match commentator Max Bretos who managed to work both “horror show” and “Stephen King” into the goal description.


Stat facts

Israel and Switzerland drew for the third straight game in World Cup qualifying. This time it was 2- 2 with Israel coming back from two goals down with 17 minutes to go. The Israeli fight back should have come as no surprise to the Swiss  as four years ago  Israel had to come from 2-1 down to draw. The Swiss also led 1-0 in the return game before giving up an equalizer.

It was France’s first loss to Austria in nearly 38 years.


What was said….


David Conn on the Manchester City takeover.


WSC comments on this week's problems and departures at Newcastle and West Ham.


Simon Barnes tests his law – “anyone who buys a football club will end up looking an #### within a year and a bloody fool within two”.


Ian Plenderleith looks at the opening of the NFL regular season and draws potential parallels with the Premiership.


Coming up this week…..

World Cup qualifiers continue with a more interesting schedule in Europe.  Some of matches that catch the eye include: Portugal vs. Denmark; Russia vs. Wales (replay of Euro 2004 play off won by Russia); Turkey vs. Belgium; Croatia vs. England; France vs. Serbia; and surprisingly Lithuania vs. Austria.

In CONCACAF qualifying Mexico and the USA have a chance to all but wrap up a spot in the final round with Canada and Trinidad and Tobago providing the visiting opposition.

The most crucial game in South America might be Chile vs. Colombia.