This weekend was the World Cup qualifying climax in Africa, and there was plenty of qualification drama to go around. The winners of each of the five groups qualified for World Cup 2010, and everyone else missed out. But there was a pretty decent consolation prize for the ten second and third placed teams, as World Cup qualifying doubles as Africa Cup of Nations qualifying and the top three in each group qualified for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations (also known as the African Nations Cup, ACN and CAN) in Angola.

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AFC Wimbledon supporters tuck in.

Photo credit: mattcr on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.

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1. Photo Daily July 28 AFC Wimbledon Fan Takes a Stand Photo credit: szczels on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion photo pool.

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The FC United of Manchester radio crew.

Photo credit: FCUM photography on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.

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1. Photo Daily: FC United of Manchester's FA Cup Dream FCUM fans on the long road to Wembley, back in September.

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The Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates face-off in the Soweto Derby. It ended 0-0..

Photo credit: ndofaya on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.

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1. Photo Daily: Green Point Stadium, South Africa Green Point Stadium, one of the 2010 World Cup venues in South Africa, is almost complete.

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Our Manchester theme of the week continues, and United fans welcome City to their stadium with a not-so-subtle dig.

Photo credit: theandrewstewartshowiii on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.

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1. Photo Daily: Retford United vs.

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With only 3 weeks left in the Mexican Apertura regular season, we can be certain of one thing: we still have no idea who is going to make the liguilla. Some call it parity, others call it mediocrity. I call it chaos.
Only one team is assured of a post season birth: Toluca. Mexican futbol's cooky, crazy group system, though, offers no guarantees to the other teams that are in the top 8 slots of the table. Click to continue reading...

Hungary vs. Sweden, Puskás Ferenc Stadion, September 5th 2009. Sweden won the 2010 World Cup qualifier 2-1.

Photo credit: photoreti via the Pitch Invasion photo pool.

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1. Photo Daily: NK Maribor Fans Are Lonely Fans in Slovenia look lonely.

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Flying with passion.

Photo credit: hugojcardoso via the Pitch Invasion photo pool.

Related posts:

1. Photo daily 06.13.07 A Sea of Scarves The Pitch Invasion Flickr group page is growing rapidly, so it was hard to pick one out for today's featured.

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The only good thing about the weekend shakeout is that the Rapids still hold their playoff destiny in their hands. The problem is, they have been doing that for many weeks now and they still need a win in their final game on the road against arch rivals Salt Lake to achieve it. Gary Smith said a few weeks ago, from memory after the home tie against San Jose, that God forbid it would come down to another end of season climax with Salt Lake. Click to continue reading...

The FIFA U-20 World Cup Egypt 2009 reaches a mouth-watering climax on Friday when African champions Ghana and South American champions Brazil meet in the Final at Cairo International Stadium.

Friday 16 October, 12:30 pm LIVE on ESPN (local time)

The stakes
Both teams rated among the pre-tournament favourites, and both have fully lived up to their billing.

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The FIFA U-20 World Cup Egypt 2009 reaches a mouth-watering climax on Friday when African champions Ghana and South American champions Brazil meet in the Final at Cairo International Stadium.

Friday 16 October, 12:30 pm LIVE on ESPN (local time)

The stakes
Both teams rated among the pre-tournament favourites, and both have fully lived up to their billing.

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Goal.com's Peter Pedroncelli & Samm Audu take a close look at all the possible permutations as World Cup qualifying draws to a climax, and they find that some big names will miss out...
In trouble... Click to continue reading...

LIVE BLOG:
1714 - Southend have lost 1-0 to Oldham at Roots Hall...very disappointing. However the sun continues to shine at Chalkwell Park. Billy Bragg is bringing his busking session to a close. The food and drink stands are still selling and loads of people are taking a chance to look around Chalkwell Hall. Click to continue reading...

The big INTER MILAN & FC BARCELONA clash turned out to bean anti-climax with a 0-0 draw. Inter was conservative although disciplined in defence, while Barça tried but maintained respectall the time.One would like to write more but that was the whole storythroughout the whole 90 mins, everyone tried in an atmosphere ofmutual respect! Click to continue reading...

It seems strange that a team that has gained 22 points from a possible 24 is not yet guaranteed World Cup qualification. Whilst it is true that England, Netherlands and Spain have perfect qualification records, Germany might feel like they have also done enough already. In fact they face a tense climax to their qualification campaign. Click to continue reading...

Unless you were a fan of Real Madrid, Manchester City or a couple of other clubs dotted across the continent, this summer's transfer window was a major anti-climax, nowhere more so than at Liverpool FC.
Glen Johnson's arrival was a welcome improvement to the squad, but this was undoubtedly offset by the departure of Xabi Alonso. Click to continue reading...

Expect the Kosin to Persib rumours to increase with current first choice keeper Tema out injured for the start of the season.
To play in the up coming ISL season Thai international Kosin would need to be registered in Indonesia by 25 September.
With his Thai side Chonburi involved in a neck and neck title race with Muang Thong United that won't reach a climax until the middle of October how likely is it that the Sharks, as Chonburi are known, will release one of their biggest assets? Click to continue reading...

[Dirty Tackle] Mere days after trumpeting the decline of virals and return of quality ads, are we allowed to feature a viral? Sure, if it's got Zinedine Zidane starring as the prodigious Renaissance Man. Befitting half the French cinema enjoyed by these eyes, it takes eons for anything to happen before the climax comes and goes with [. Click to continue reading...

Even though this summer's transfer window is the biggest spending spree in the Premier League ever, the last day turned out to be an anti-climax especially for the big clubs. None of the Big Four or Manchester City bought any more player before yesterday's deadline. A record of over £460m were spent from the 1st of [. Click to continue reading...

Well if Carlsberg did a line in anti-climax then today's official statement would be a great start. A collective holding of breath over the weekend, enough to cause a Toon Army Tsunami on release, had us all exhaling in disappointment at the progress report announcing that....well there is no progress really, just another extension on [. Click to continue reading...

El Barça ha empezado la temporada como terminó la anterior: ganando títulos. En la repetición de la final de Copa, el equipo azulgrana ha derrotado al Athletic de Bilbao con el mismo futbol que nos tiene acostumbrados. Con el dominio absoluto del balón en todo momento, los de Guardiola impusieron sus condiciones todo el partido, con lo que finiquitaron lo que habían comenzado en Bilbao para llevarse la Supercopa.

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For a game much anticipated, the loss to Spurs could be summed as an anti-climax. There was always the feeling of something was wrong somewhere. It felt like Liverpool has weakened by quite a bit. Players throughout displayed a team without much cohesion and looked not ready for the season opener.

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Next up for Stevenage is the longest trip of the season and hopefully, like last season, the venue where Boro win their first 3 points of the season. The start of the season has been a bit of an anti-climax compared with the way we ended the last campaign. At the moment, two poor performances have yielded just two points against newly promoted opposition and a lot more was expected when the fixtures were announced.

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The Charity Shield might not be as important as a league game per se, historically it is a bit of an anti-climax and prove absolutely nothing about the destination of the Premier League title, but it is the customary curtain raiser to the Premier League and my balls are literally shaking with excitement here. Click to continue reading...

Soccerlens' Football League preview reaches its climax ahead of the big kick-off this weekend, with The Championship playing a starring role.

There's plenty of big names battling it out for a money-spinning place in the Premiership, so read for our views on who'll be mixing it with Manchester United next season, who'll be lowering themselves into League One, and our prediction for Newcastle's season.

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Man who secured dream move or man on deathbed? It is hardly a big secret that Xabi Alonso was desperate to join Real Madrid, but it seems his big move turned out to be a bit of an anti-climax. The ex-Liverpool midfielder could not even muster the trademark cheesy grin favoured by soon-to-be galacticos during the [. Click to continue reading...

The signing of Dimitar Berbatov concluded the most exciting final day of the transfer window United fans can remember. City had just become The Richest Club In The World (TM) and had a bid accepted for the man Sir Alex Ferguson had been chasing for over two years.

Sky Sports News kept giving updates, first with Mark Hughes beaming because he was meeting Berbatov later that day.

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Last week, saw the confederations Cup reach its climax with an exciting game seeing Brazil come from two goals down to beat the USA 3-2. The USA certainly impressed the worldwide audience by beating Spain and going close against the South American powerhouse. Perhaps their world ranking of 12 is merited.

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Every year, once the season ends, the rumors really start buzzing around our heads like a dark swarm of thirsty mosquitoes. And where we should wisely swat the nasty beasts away, the depth of our summer football boredom makes us strip off our shirts, hold out our arms, and beg them to land.

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FULL PICTURE GALLERY CAN BE FOUND HERE
The Leigh Folk Festival reaches its climax this weekend with a packed schedule of events around the town.
Longpier.com has been at the Leigh Library event today (Saturday) sampling the atmosphere and acts on stage.
The well supported Festival is in its 18th year, but has it really come of age? Click to continue reading...

Stability has a fragility. For the second successive season, Aston Villa finished sixth. Yet after spending much of the campaign apparently on the brink of a seismic advance into the top four, even that had the feel of an anti-climax. And even if a station in the top six suggested consolidation, Villa are now in grave danger of going backwards. Click to continue reading...

Need some help getting over last Wednesday? RoM is here for you...

Last time I did a post of this title and type, it was in considerably better circumstances. However, the need to look back in a calm and considered way at the (anti-)climax of our season is just as strong this time around.

I've set out below the main reasons why we lost in Rome.

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Protectors of the beautiful game win third European title 1. Dream final? Yep, it made me sleepy, so in that respect it lived up to its billing. But after so much hype, this was a big fat anti-climax - as...

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Burnley may have stolen quite a few headlines yesterday after securing a long-awaited promotion to the Barclays Premier League. However, Burnley's promotion really shouldn't be a newsflash to anyone, as the former Championship outfit already impressed big time during a dream run in the Carling Cup, which saw them eliminate Chelsea and Arsenal en route to a thrilling semifinal against Tottenham.

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After months of scintillating football, tremendous goals and a fair bit of controversy too, the Champions League reaches its climax in Rome on Wednesday but who could possibly take the crown of goal of the tournament?

The ball has hit the net a total of 327 times in Europe's premier club competition this season so there's certainly a fair few to choose from.

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