In case you missed the goal of the World Cup playoffs. Here it is. Antar Yahia's screamer in Sudan.
Relive the goal. Relive the celebrations. Be in no doubt: This is for 1982. This is for the players with the peppery hair and tears in their eyes. This is for the players who were robbed.

Algeria's Rafik MacSaifi celebrates against the auld enemy in Omdurman.

Will we see an All Whites Haka? The World Cup will be richer for the experience.
I had been keen on seeing Bahrain qualify. Bahrain were the sort of quick counter-attacking outfit capable of the odd 3-2 upset.
New Zealand inspire less confidence as Giant Killers.

Belated respect to the All Whites. New Zealand represent!
Bahrain's unexpected defeat leaves the Arab World with only one representative in South Africa. Sayef Mohammed Adnan's penalty miss in Wellington will have done more than just dampen the spirits on the Emir's beach.

Ireland was robbed. Pure and simple. My 8-year-old daughters watched the Henry hand ball with gaping eyes. One proffered: "Just like I do in basketball!" Her sister then deadpanned: "And he was offside on the pass." Children have an amazing way of stating the truth, don't they?
In his Hall of Shame acceptance speech, Thierry Henry said: "I will be honest, it was a hand ball.

(Davy expects African sides to edge traditional Latin and Continental powers, but fancies England for the Cup. Below he discusses the likely England squad, highlighting what he expects to be the historic contribution of England's black players.)
To be King in Africa, a useful prerequisite is to be a Black Prince.

Just as the football at the 2010 World Cup will be great, someone will make lots of money. It is not going to be local businesses for sure. This excellent 13 minute short documentary ("Trademark 2010″) for Dutch TV channel, VPRO, covers the fantasy that local people–small businesspeople, informal traders–will make money or get jobs during the tournament.

People living in poverty near Soccer City stadium outside Johannesburg battle police during anti-World Cup protests. Local residents demand houses rather than world-class stadiums.
Recommended reading: Ashwin Desai's The Poors and this article.

Keeping football real. Hundreds of older South African women play football after cleaning houses, cooking meals, or selling food along township's streets. 83-year-old Nora Makhubela, a survivor of eight strokes, told Reuters: "I pray every day to God to keep me alive until 2010. I would really love to watch the games," she said.

British football magazine FourFourTwo, just published (in the November issue) the list of the "100 Best Players in the World." The choices are based on the input of the magazine's journalists. Of course it will lead to all kinds of debate as "lists" are always subjective and don't mean anything beyond getting fans talking.

He ain't no Moses. But it's official. Carlos Alberto Parreira is back as Bafana coach through the 2010 World Cup. And laughing all the way to the bank, again.
This time, however, he'll have to deal with resentment in South Africa over his reappointment, particularly among those who believed the time was right for a local coach to get the nod.

Ireland v France: What ever happened to the "luck of the Irish"?
Portugal v Bosnia-Herzegovina: Corporate sponsors breathe huge sigh of relief Ronaldo is headed to South Africa.
Greece v Ukraine: Mediterraneans in the steppes in mid-November?

Bafana's Brazilian coach, Joel Santana, is out of a job. Pallid performances and pitiful results sunk the former Flamengo coach. "In the bigger picture and the interest of the country," said Mandla Mazibuko, SAFA vice-president, "he [Santana] realized while he was doing his best, his best was not good enough.

History was made in Cairo tonight. Ghana won the U20 after an exciting penalty shoot out against Brazil. I was privileged to witness the first African team to win the U20 World Cup. Match report and analysis to follow.

Argentina's 1-0 win in Montevideo ended her qualification telenovela. El Pibe's charges earned their ticket to South Africa on the sacred ground of Centenario stadium, where Uruguay defeated Argentina in the inaugural World Cup final in 1930. So Maradona, with all his contradictions and flaws, got the job done.