» 2010 World Cup Qualifiers

6 more qualify: 2010 World Cup in South Africa is complete.

Ana — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:06:15 +0000

No more. Done. Finito. Acabou. The fight for the 32 golden spots to play the most exciting football (and sports) tournament on the planet has ended. Some big ones almost did not manage. And some return after 24 years.

Today was the day for the last 6 squads to qualify. The brave (or lucky?) one were: Algeria, France, Slovenia, Portugal, Greece and Uruguay.

Algeria beat Egypt 1×0 and qualifies after 24 years. Last time the world saw Algerians playing World Cup football was in 1986.

France tied Northern Ireland 1×1 and Stade de France, with an illegal goal. The ball hit Henry’s hand inside the box and the referee refused to see it. Unfair. Very unfair.

Watch Henry’s handball.

Slovenia kicked a big one out of South Africa. They beat Russia 1×0 and sent home a team who was, in theory, supposed to be one of the great ones. Not only that, but this is the first time they ever qualify. Job well done!

Portugal had no problems to send Bosnia Herzegovina home. They beat them 1×0 today and made Cristiano Ronaldo a happier man. He will now be able to show off his everything (football, fashion, cockyness) in South Africa.

Greece beat Ukraine 0×1, in Donetsk, and came back to the World Cup. The Greek could not manage to qualify since 1994.

Uruguay tied Costa Rica 1×1 after winning 1×0, in Costa Rica, and took the last spot available. The 2-time World Champions can now breathe after a very tense match.

Here is the complete list of countries playing in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa: Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay, Mexico, USA, Honduras, Netherlands, Spain, England, Germany, Denmark, Serbia, France, Slovenia, Portugal, Greece, Italy, Slovakia, Switzerland, South Korea, North Korea, Japan, Australian, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon, Algeria, New Zealand and South Africa.

Cameroon and Nigeria going to South Africa.

Ana — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:38:59 +0000

Cameroon and Nigeria have guaranteed a spot in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa today. Cameroon beat Morroco 2-0 (second goal by Eto’o) and Nigeria beat Kenya 3 – 2.

So far 26 countries are going to South Africa next June: Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, Mexico, USA, Honduras, Netherlands, Spain, England, Germany, Denmark, Serbia, Italy, Slovakia, Switzerland, South Korea, North Korea, Japan, Australian, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon, New Zealand and South Africa.

6 spots remaining!

New Zealand in the World Cup!

Bruno Romani — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:37:11 +0000

Going against what this writer wanted, New Zealand became the 24th nation with a ticket for South Africa by beating Bahrain at home. The only goal of the match was scored by Rory Fallon in the final moments of the first-half. The first-leg of this playoff ended 0-0, which gave Bahrain the chance of qualifying with a draw different from the nil one. Bahrain had the chance of getting the 1-1 through a penalty in the beginning of the second-half. Sayed Mohamed took it, but keeper Mark Paston saved it, becoming the hero of the day. Bahrain one more time failed in the playoffs and Oceania will have a nation in the World Cup for the second time in a row (considering that Australia was Oceania in 06, but it is Asia now. Confusing, I know).

With New Zealand and Honduras in the same cup for the second time in history, it feels like it is 1982 again. Can we have Scotland, the Soviet Union and Tele Santana as well?

The last time New Zealand was in a cup, Zico gave them a lesson in football.

Photo: Europe’s Playoff for the World Cup

Bruno Romani — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:25:32 +0000

The matches will be:

Ireland – France
Portugal – Bosnia
Greece – Ukraine
Russia – Slovenia

Photo via The Offside

9 Spots in the World Cup for 19 Nations

Bruno Romani — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:38:40 +0000

23 nations are in the World Cup. That leaves 9 spots. And by November 18th, we will know who is going to have fun next summer and who only be playing friendlies. 19 nations are still alive. They are:

New Zealand, Bahrain, Costa Rica, Uruguay, France, Ireland, Portugal, Greece, Slovenia, Russia, Bosnia, Ireland, Ukraine, Cameroon, Gabon, Tunisia, Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt.

While the play-off matches in Europe will be decided on Monday, these are the matches that will decide the fate of the other nations:

New Zealand – Bahrain
Costa Rica – Uruguay/ Uruguay – Costa Rica
Morocco – Cameroon
Togo – Gabon
Kenya – Nigeria
Mozambique – Tunisia
Egypt – Algeria

Costa Rica on “How to Lose a Spot in the World Cup”

Bruno Romani — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:59:56 +0000

For 94 minutes, Costa Rica was on its third World Cup on a row. But the squad headed by Brazilian coach Rene Simoes provided another example of the saying “it’s over when it’s over.” The USA team, who started 2 goals behind the visitors, tied in the stoppage time. The goal by Bornstein turned Honduras into the 23rd country to qualify for the World Cup. It is the second time ever Honduras will be in the World Cup. The last time was in 1982.

Costa Rica will play the play-off against Uruguay.

End of qualifiers story: Brazil 0 – 0 Venezuela

Ana — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:57:29 +0000

It wasn’t the prettiest match in football history, nor was it supposed to be. Brazil had already qualified and Venezuela had almost no chances of qualifying (unless they beat Brazil 6-0 and Argentina beat Uruguay 9-0!), so it was what it was. Dunga did some experimenting and some things are definitely clear: Robinho should never come back, neither should Filipe Luiz, who plays anything but good football. Nilmar is becoming a good choice up front – fact. Maicon, Luis Fabiano and Kaká are absolute stars on this team and will make the difference in 2010. Brazil is lucky to have Julio Cesar.

The game started a bit boring with Venezuela closed on the back and trying to counter attack. The hype only came on the 20th minute with Maldonado almost scoring an Olympic goal for Venezuela. After that, Nilmar gave Kaká a good pass which resulted in a free kick very close to the goal. Luis Fabiano took it and showed Brazil has no man, whatsoever, who can properly take a free kick. Maicon created some good chances with Kaká and Luis Fabiano but nothing that made Venezuela’s net shake.

The second half brought new energy into the game and Brazil almost scored with Nilmar. After that it was Luis Fabiano’s turn to almost score: he hit the post on a header and Maicon got the rebound but Venezuela managed to take the ball out. Miranda got a red card on the 55th minute but Brazil was still a better squad even with 10 men on the pitch.

Luis Fabiano, our goal man, had plenty of opportunities to score, but if he didn’t miss it, Vega was always there to prevent the ball from going in. Dunga took Ramires and Filipe Luiz out to put Elano and Alex. Nothing much changed. With few minutes left in the game, Kaká had a brilliant moment and almost scored a beautiful goal. Did not happen.

Brazil finished first with 34 points. It’s all good.

Oh, one last thing: I still think Dunga should consider bringing Ronaldo (the original – now a bit fat – one) to the bench as a surprise element (I promise this is NOT a biased opinion of a Corinthians fan).

World Cup Qualifiers: Portugal still alive. Argentina qualifies.

Ana — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:09:52 +0000

Argentina is playing in South Africa. Maradona can breathe. The hermanos beat Uruguay 1 – 0 with a goal on the 84th minute by Bolatti. This ends Argentina’s war to qualify, as they take the 4th and last spot for a South American country. Uruguay will now go to play-offs (against Honduras or El Salvador), standing in the 5th spot.

Now going to Europe, Portugal is still alive and fighting for a spot in South Africa. Today they beat Malta by 4 – 0 and have a chance to qualify on the play-offs by playing either Ukraine, Republic of Ireland, Bosnia or Slovenia, depending on FIFA’s October ranking (which comes out this Friday). So even though some of us were thrilled not to have C. Ronaldo playing a World Cup, this is most likely not going to happen. Unless Portugal makes a big mess. Which then again could happen.

( France, by the way, is in the same situation as our fellow Portuguese friends.)

Now, another 2 European countries have a guaranteed spot in South Africa: Switzerland and Slovakia. Switzerland tied 0-0 with Israel and took the first spot on group 2. Slovakia beat Poland 1-0 and ended the qualifiers as first in group 3.

Here are the happy folks with a ticket to World Cup 2010:

NORTH AMERICA:
USA
Mexico

SOUTH AMERICA
Brazil
Paraguay
Chile
Argentina

AFRICA
Côte d’Ivoire
Ghana
South Africa

EUROPE
England
Netherlands
Spain
Denmark
Germany
Switzerland
Italy
Serbia
Slovakia

ASIA
Japan
Australia
North Korea
South Korea

Altitude 2 -1 Brazil

Bruno Romani — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 07:01:26 +0000

There’s nothing that can be demanded from Dunga and his players.

The team was already qualified, which turned the match against Bolivia into a open lab in the skies. The skies of La Paz took the reserve side of Brazil closer to hell than heaven. The 3600 meters above sea level suffocated the players. And no, I’m not opposed to games up there.

Julio Cesar suddenly became slower than the ball. Maicon lacked the energy to be the attacking piece so famous in around the world. The defense lost the tempo and heading a ball became a highly complex task. Two goals in two set-pieces expose all this.

There’s nothing too critical that can be said. But Nilmar and Daniel Alves deserve praise for running as if they were in Rio or Sao Paulo. Diego Tardelli moved well. And Alex and Diego Souza were tested. The mission was accomplished.

The bad news is that the 19 matches undefeated are in the past. And the 28 years without a victory in Bolivia for the World Cup qualifying remain. Those, however, are just details.

Video: Bolivia 2 – 1 Brazil

Bruno Romani — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 01:06:10 +0000

Video: Brazil 2 – 0 Oman