Portugal arrived in Bosnia to a very hostile reception by Bosnian supporters. The Portuguese players were insulted, spit on and cursed at while Bosnian police did very little to ward of these fans upon Portugal's arrival. The team was delayed for over an hour by authorities as they checked passports and luggage.

The arrival of the Selecção at Sarajevo yesterday was met with threats, insult and spitting.

The stage has been set for anything but an enjoyable soccer match. I genuinely fear for what might happen to our players and supporters should we (as everyone expects) qualify for the world cup. Human life is certainly so much more valuable then a qualification to the world-cup.

Mention the word Wolves to most English football fans and we get an image of Gold and Black of Wolverhampton Wanderers! But this story is not of the boys from the Black Country, it's about a previously unheralded team from a city that Volkswagen built. That team is Wolfsburg, who are currently heading the Bundesliga table above Bavarian giants Bayern Munich, Hertha Berlin and Stuttgart, with just three games remaining.

Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz has announced his squad for the upcoming World Cup playoff against Bosnia coming up on November 14, 2009 and November 18, 2009.Goaltenders: Eduardo (Braga), Hilario (Chelsea), Rui Patricio (Sporting)Defenders: Pepe (Real Madrid), Miguel (Valencia), Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea), Bruno Alves (FC Porto), Rolando (FC Porto), Ricardo Costa (

Off a defender, off a post, in the net. Mr. Anelka took care of business away for France, making their trip to South Africa look pretty likely. As Jack posted earlier this week, Nico likes being the supporting striker, but that doesn't mean he doesn't like to let it rip on occasion.

Also in action today, Deco, Ricardo Carvalho, and Paulo Ferreira all played as Portugal won 1-0 against Bosnia, as Hilario, who won his first callup for Portugal, didn't make the bench.

Talented strikers from the former Yugoslavia are a valuable commodity in the Bundesliga this season. A wave of Yugo-nostalgia has spread across the German league and is following a trend of Soviet Chic in Germany. Matchday 19 highlighted the dependence many Bundesliga squads have on their striking stalwarts from nations that once belong to the Socialist [.

USA - Slovakia on Fox Soccer Channel and Galavision at 10am. MLS Eastern Conference final on World Cup Qualifying: New Zealand - Bahrain on Fox Soccer at 2am, Russia - Slovenia at 11am on Setanta, Greece - Ukraine at 1pm on Setanta, Portugal - Bosnia at 3:30pm on Setanta (8pm on ESPN Deportes). International friendlies: Brazil - England at 12pm on Fox Soccer, Argentina - Spain on ESPN Deportes at 2:30pm, Italy - Holland on.

2010 World Cup Qualifiers
European zone – UEFA
Group six: Second place race wide open as England goes clearThe WC qualifiers in the European zone have reached the halfway stage and England can already relish their presence in South Africa next year.

I am not quite sure how much of an audience an article about the German Bundesliga can get, but I will still give it a shot. After all, if there is one league that has continued to offer an air-tight title race throughout the year, it has to be the German first division. With two games to go, as many as four teams have a realistic chance of being crowned champions.

The players of the past at Newcastle are Michael Owen, Mark Viduka, Fabricio Coloccini and players of the future will be Nile Ranger, Andy Carroll and 16 year-old budding superstar Haris Vuckic. Haris Vuckic - great performances in Bosnia While Alan Shearer continues to negotiate with Mike Ashley, he will be no doubt be upbeat about some [.

Portsmouth keeper Asmir Begovic was on Full-Time on The Team 1040 last night to state pretty unequivocally that, while he was approached by Bosnia, Canada is where his future lies.

"I'm happy to stay with Canada, that's where I see my future... I've been approached by Bosnia. There were talks.

Setanta US has announced their schedule for the next few months of World Cup qualifying games it'll be showing on its networks for both Setanta US, Setanta Premium (the pub channel) and pay-per-view.

No major surprises. As usual, the England away match (this time, against Ukraine on October 10th) will only be available on Setanta Premium.

Here is an interview I did with Fire rookie midfielder Baggio Husidic prior to last Saturday's game against Real Salt Lake. Baggio, , who grew up in Libertyville and played at UIC, touched on a bunch of subjects in the interview including his play with the Fire this year and his early years spent in Bosnia, Germany and eventually Chicago.

Edin Dzeko is back with a bang! The Bosnia international striker, who spent most of the summer pushing for a dream move to AC Milan, has finally underlined his commitment to Wolfsburg with an outstanding decisive brace away to Schalke 04.

Here is the European World Cup qualifying playoff draw.
Matches & Scores:
1st Leg
-Sat Nov 14
Ireland v France
Portugal v Bosnia-Herzegovina
Greece v Ukraine
Russia v Slovenia
2nd Leg
-Wed Nov 18
France v Ireland
Bosnia-Herzegovina vPortugal
Ukraine v Greece
Slovenia v Russia

Probably not...which is a shame. It's got a really good goalscoring record against one of the top teams in the Premiership.

Anyway, here's the line up for the UEFA playoffs: all of them kick off at 7pm GMT on Saturday November 14th 2009.

Greece v Ukraine

Ireland v France

Portugal v Bosnia & Herzegovina

Russia v Slovenia

It's also worth noting that on the Saturday the second leg of the New Zealand/Bahrain (0-0) playoff kicks off at 7am GMT that Saturday and the first leg of Costa Rica v Uruguay kicks off an hour later than the European games.

Image via Wikipedia Although many have called it unfair, the seeding system adopted for the play off matches to decide the final four European teams that will make it to the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa, has produced four potentially exciting match ups. The two leg matches will be played on November 14th [.

Portugal get set for their first leg against Bosnia Saturday as they look to qualify for World Cup 2010. The Portuguese team has a few injuries and the lineup will be a bit different then we have been accustomed too during this qualify campaign. Ronaldo, Bosingwa and Pedro Mendes are all out. Carlos Quieroz will look to have the right starting lineup as the host Bosnia at the Estadio da Luz.

17 arrests for a match fixing scandal which affects 200 matches in nine European countries.

The matches include the Bundesliga second division, and the leagues in Belgium, Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia, Turkey, Hungary, Bosnia and Austria. 12 Europa matches and 3 CL matches are said to be manipulated this year, and it is unclear as to whether it is the group stage or qualifying rounds.

Despite the terrible WC qualifying campaign and despite everything else that's gone wrong, Argentina will be a top seed in the World Cup.

momento24.com

Argentina among top seeds in World Cup 2010

Finally, Argentina is one of the seeded teams in the upcoming 2010 World Cup, FIFA said today.

There has been quite a bit of rumour and speculation about the international fate of the as-yet-to-be-capped Canadian keeper Asmir Begovic.

Speculation that he might actually decide to play for Bosnia instead of Canada started swirling last month when the Bosnian coach in a Bosnian paper started tossing Begovic's name around and linking him with the Bonsian national side.

via Gettyimages

Cescy is disappointed that he didn't get to start against Belgium but fortunately, este vato has been catching up with episodes of My Little Pony and brimming with positivity. "I would like to play more, but I consider the decisions of Vicente Del Bosque and I respect them," he said yesterday.

Turkish national team had a disastrous score against Bosnia on an away game and lost its chances (I think) to qualify for World Cup 2010.
The team started well, but couldn't sustain its calmness during the game. As a result, they ended up losing their concentration and tactical discipline.

Valencia striker David Villa will miss Spain's final World Cup qualifying matches against Armenia and Bosnia later this month after tearing his right thigh muscle in a weekend league match, the club said Monday. The 27-year-old, the top scorer at Euro 2008 and currently the leading marksman in La Liga with .

There's more trouble brewing for Serbian Soccer. The FIFA has decided ti fine the Serbian National Soccer Association 25,000 Swiss Francs over the latest incident at a Serbian/France World Cup Qualifying match. Rowdy fans decided to throw fire crackers and lighters onto the soccer pitch at French players.

A goal from Edin Dzeko and a second from Veded Ibisevic sealed a play off spot for Bosnia.

0-1 Dzeko

0-2 Ibisevic

Don't forget to check out Online Football Manager!

Video Info:
10.10.2009 - FIFA World Cup Qualifiers
Estland - Bosnia-Hercegovina 0:2
ESTONYA - BOSNA HERSEK 1. GOL (WWW.BOSNAKDUNYASI.COM)
von bosnakdunyasi
ESTONYA - BOSNA HERSEK 2. GOL (WWW.BOSNAKDUNYASI.COM)
von bosnakdunyasi

International breaks are the bane of a manager's life and never more was that evident in the weekend just gone – if anything, Rafa Benitez could not have scripted it to go any worse.
Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Dirk Kuyt all picked up injuries to some degree and with a crucial run of fixtures set to begin this Saturday, it goes without saying that all three men will be needed to play a part.

Spain made it an incredible 10 wins from 10 in their World Cup Qualifying Group.

0-1 Pique

0-2 Silva

0-3 Negredo

0-4 Negredo

Stuff to read while you watch the latest and greatest in Nike ads with Sir Cesc...... Once again: Martin Caceres is an idiot. (Dirty Tackle) Finding a star who would flop Sheva-style in the Prem. (EPL Offside) The worrisome increasing influence of Sir Alex. (Studs Up) The proposed Atlantic League really, really gaining steam.

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.

The game swill be played November 14th & 18th. Should be some tense battles.Ireland v France Portugal v Bosnia Greece v Ukraine Russia v Slovenia- Greg Seltzer

The matches will be:

Ireland France
Portugal Bosnia
Greece Ukraine
Russia Slovenia

Photo via The Offside

World Cup play-offs dominate the week. It's squeaky bum time for several countries around the world. We have the second leg in the Asia vs Oceania play off, the CONCACAF v South America showdown, and the games that will decide which European sides will join those already qualified. Our guest this week is Lilika, a Liverpool fan living in Japan.

Bruno Alves may be Portugal's Man of the Moment, but our sad and forgotten hero is Greaseano. He returned to training with the Pellegrini Pack yesterday, after witnessing his national team's narrow 1-0 victory over Bosnia. No one came to ask him if he wanted M&Ms during half time, so do forgive his bitterness.

(Summary is not available.)

At 2:45 today the Portuguese National Team (minus Cristiano Ronaldo) will square off against the Bosnians to defend their 1 goal aggregate advantage over the boys from the shores of the Adriatic. This is an interesting match because everyone on earth expects Portugal to be in the World Cup, but I think the Bosnians have other ideas.

Below is a list of teams with some quality players which will unfortunately miss the World Cup next summer:

Ireland- The Irish team may not be the most talented to miss out on qualification but certainly was unjustly eliminated by France. The Ireland squad is not as deep as other but has talented players such as Aiden McGeady who plays as a winger and/or forward for Celtic.

Sorry for the lack of updates on this, but MLS Fantasy is underway, and I truly suck (especially after missing this weeks deadline - what a dope!).

I am inches away from receiving a grand prize for the winners of this thing (and perhaps a midseason prize) so keep playing!

Here are your standings through three weeks:

1.

(1-0. Poli)
(2-0. Balotelli)
Una vittoria...poco convincente. Risultati di calcio importanti, ma prestazione così così. E' in questo modo che si può definire il successo ottenuto, ieri sera, a Novara dall'Under 21 di Casiraghi. Gli azzurrini hanno battuto un modesto Lussemburgo per due a zero, mettendo a segno due gol nei recuperi delle frazioni di gioco (che potete gustarvi nei video dei gol) e conquistando i primi tre punti della fase di qualificazione al prossimo europeo.