Urgh, I forgot to change Cut of the Day until now... sorry!Anyway, here is the first decent highlight reel. I may switch it out if a better (or English language) clip surfaces.- Greg Seltzer

.World Cup qualifiers Europe (Group 1) Denmark 1 1 Portugal Hungary 1 2 Sweden World Cup qualifiers Europe (Group 2) Moldova 0 0 Luxembourg Israel 0 1 Latvia Switzerland 2 0 Greece World Cup qualifiers Europe (Group 3) Poland 1 1 Northern Ireland Slovakia 2 2 Czech Republic World Cup qualifiers [.

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World Cup qualifiers are back, and we take a look at games from five of the FIFA qualifying regions: Europe, South America, North and Central America, Asia and Africa. Some teams have already qualified, but who will join Holland, Japan, South and North Korea, Australia and hosts South Africa?

Big batch o' games this weekend. Here are some of the highlights.
-- Brazil dealt Argentina's qualifying hopes a blow with a big 3-1 win in Sao Paolo. Not sure how much longer The Maradona Experiment is going to last.
-- Over in Africa, Ghana sealed a trip to the big show, which is awesome because Michael Essien is a personal favorite.

Los problemas no terminan para los organizadores del mundial en Sudáfrica, primero los problemas por la falta de infraestructura que impedía terminar los estadios a tiempo, después debido a eso la huelga de trabajadores de construcción por la falta de pago y ahora surge un nuevo problema mas, algunos jugadores denominados crack están apunto de no asistir a dicho certamen el próximo año, el motivo; sus respectivos equipos no atraviesan por buen momento en las eliminatorias mundialistas.

What we know is that the Chelsea owner and a group of his finest friends the Daily Mail reckons more than 100, including former Blues boss and current Russia manager Guus Hiddink were in Tanzania last week to test their limits with a expedition up Africa's highest peak: Mount Kilimanjaro.

Now is where stories vary.

"The manager (Mark Hughes) is very quiet, he does his own thing and I spoke with him a few times through the summer about what was going on. He was of the opinion that City needed two players for every position and that was the way the squad was going to work.

'The last time I spoke to him was in Africa after I had found out some other stuff.

Ghana became the first African team to qualify out of the groups after beating Sudan in Accra 2-0.

But with Ghana clinching a place at World Cup 2010 last night, we now know 25% of the finals field. The Black Stars sealed the deal with a 2-0 win over Sudan.GHANA - SUDAN- HILIGHTSvon petebrown60- Greg Seltzer

Some moments are never meant to be forgotten. The entire world of football witnessed one such shocking moment a little less than two years ago in London. On a rainy evening at Wembley, hosts England were expected to advance to the finals of Euro 2008 with just a draw needed against visiting Croatia.

The Daily Mail has a story on big clubs exploiting young African talent.
Some are calling it the rape of Africa.
Go check it out.
Now some links:

• Some dude failed a drug test. [Times Online]
  
• Liverpool is poaching players now? [The Spoiler]
  
• Bilic says Three Lions are losing 'Englishness'?

The home continent of the 2010 World Cup is close to having its 5 qualifying sides defined for The Great Tournament. The 1st team to officially qualify is Ghana. The Black Stars defeated Sudan 2-0 at home to secure top spot in Group D. Goals by Inter midfielder Sulley Muntari & Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien sealed the victory.

With the commencement of the UEFA Champions League group stages this midweek, an important piece of news was relegated to the back of most reporting outlets. Perhaps another reason behind the lack of coverage for the story in question was the refusal, on part of most football lovers, to recollect any part of the uninspiring internationals break.

His inability to handle the red mist is legendary, but his professionalism with a project in Africa tells a different story.

The first of the five African qualifiers for World Cup 2010 is now known after Ghana got the vital three points they needed in their 2-0 win over Sudan yesterday.
The Ghanaians reached their second successive Finals with a fourth straight win to put them out of reach of second placed Mali in Group D.

I seem to be backing up a lot of videos at the moment. Oh well, have more...It was mere consolation against Brazil, but Argentina's Jesús Dátolo will still remember his international debut for a very good reason.Denmark's Nicolas Bendtner shows both control and finishing against Portugal.Venezuela's Jose Manual Rey fires our free kick fix.

Six straight losses that is.Stoke midfielder Liam Lawrence's curling and dipping free kick on display below was the cause of their latest defeat. Liam's first international goal made it 1 - 0 for Ireland in a friendly played in Limerick and the 6th loss for S Africa.

Seldom has a talented football nation witnessed the kind of humiliation that the Czech Republic has suffered in the entire last year. In a World Cup qualification campaign where they were placed in perhaps the most competitive of groups alongside Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, and Northern Ireland, perfection was almost always essential for the Czechs.

The home continent of the 2010 World Cup is close to having its 5 qualifying sides defined for The Great Tournament. The 1st team to officially qualify is Ghana. The Black Stars defeated Sudan 2-0 at home to secure top spot in Group D. Goals by Inter midfielder Sulley Muntari & Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien sealed the victory.

Kenny Dalglish believes the club's new sponsorship deal will aid Rafa Benitez in his quest to bring silverware to Anfield.
Liverpool today announced the biggest commercial contract in its history, with Standard Chartered set to appear on our shirts for four years from 2010-11.
New club ambassador Dalglish claims the deal is another example of how the Reds are evolving on and off the pitch.

The imagined community of millions seems more real as a team of eleven named people.
- Eric Hobsbawn

One of the many intriguing things about a World Cup is the rare but vivid display of nationhood. When else do countries from all corners of the world have the chance to present themselves as one coherent entity?

You are missing a barnburner. It got even better after Paraguay had star defender Ronald Huth sent off. If you're away from a TV, here is the FIFA stream. You can also expect an update here with extended highlights (once I find some, of course).I'll open the On tap reading room for tomorrow's U.S. v Cameroon U-20 World Cup clash later on.

I'll be back in the morning to open up U.S. v Cameroon LIVE with a bit of commentary, my expected line-up and a prediction, later followed of course by the official line-ups, the game action filtered through my smarmy lens and the eventual highlight reel.With all that packed into tomorrow's post, I will simply usher everyone into the reading room.

I was held up too much to post about an hour ago, and the line-ups are now out. The U.S. (who seem to have switched to 4-4-2?) are listed by position and Cameroon by ordinal jersey number.Perk; Williams, Opara, Agbossoumonde, Flores, Arguez, Cruz, Jeffrey, Duka, Taylor, SheaBeyokol; Yaya, Fomen, Boumal, Owona, Teieku, Essengue, Tiko, Bapidit, Djousse, Akono EfaBack in a few with my usual prattle.

Another week of Premiership action is now in the books, and Thursday means one thing: it's time for the Thursday Throwdown from A to Z. Here we go...

A is for Anelka. Chelsea fans should be counting their lucky stars that both Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba are in spectacular form.

I was going to wait until Wednesday's former Wizards update for this, but decided it was too big of news to not touch on, on it's own. Former Wizard, Diego Gutierrez, is going to be receiving a big honor on Thursday. Gutierrez, who retired at the end of last season will be inducted into the Humanitarian Hall of Fame in Boise Idaho.

[Photo: NBC]I am extremely, extremely disappointed in your behavior, Michael Gary Scott. Very, very disappointed indeed...#1 - Delayed from yesterday by another publisher malfunction, my capsule preview for the Under-20 World Cup is now up. Hosts Egypt opened the proceedings last night with a thorough 4-1 rout of CONCACAF's Trinidad & Tobago.

Something to read while you enjoy Pablo Hernandez's juggletastic goal for Valencia vs Atletico Madrid this weekend: The Irish national team's new stadium. Eventually. (Pitch Invasion) Should MLS table-toppers be allowed to choose their playoff victims? (Prost Amerika Soccer) A Favre farewell (Hertha Berlin Offside) Football beats politics in Germany (BallSpiel) Brazil: The Next Generation (Brazil WCB) Is FIFA holding Africa [.