Euro Qualifying
Here are the re-links for your convenience. Cheers.
2008 Euro Qualifying Saturday Preview: Group A
2008 Euro Qualifying Saturday Preview: Group B
2008 Euro Qualifying Saturday Preview: Group C
2008 Euro Qualifying Saturday Preview: Group D
2008 Euro Qualifying Saturday Preview: Group E
2008 Euro Qualifying Saturday Preview: Group F
2008 Euro Qualifying Saturday Preview: Group G
The biggest and really only significant match of this group is Spain at Denmark. Both teams need to
win this match if they hope to advance. Both sides will be missing key players due to injury as the
Danes will be without Daniel Agger and the Spanish, David Villa. Helping Denmark out will be the
return of Christian Poulsen and Spain should have ample firepower at forward to replace Villa,
though Torres is slightly hobbled.
Only two matches from this group on Saturday: England hosts Estonia and Israel travels to Croatia.
It's do or die time for the Israelis, if they lose this match they can kiss their qualifying hopes
good-bye. Even if they draw, there chances are slim. Too much has to happen for them to move on.
The good news is they'll be taking their strongest side to Zagreb, the bad news is Croatia is
better.
Unless Ireland pulls off a huge upset on Saturday when the Germans travel to Dublin, this group is
done. A draw is useless, they need the three points or else and they might just be able to do it.
Die Nationalelf will be without the services of Miroslav Klose, Michael Ballack, and Tim Borowski,
but still, they'll have Torsten Frings, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Christoph Metzelder, and Per
Mertesacker among others to keep Ireland from scoring.
Turkey has the most to gain this Saturday when they travel to Moldova. The Turks can take over sole
possession of second place in the group with a draw, but with a win and a Greece draw or loss,
could even find themselves on top. The problem is, even though Moldova sit at the bottom of the
group, they are still a formidable opponent at home having yet to lose by more than a goal there so
far.
All top three teams in the group are involved in must-win matches if they want to keep their
positions on the table. The most intriguing of the three matches is without a doubt the Ukraine at
Scotland. The Zhovto-Blakytni must win to have any chance of advancing though it looks mission
impossible anyhow, and the Tartan Army need the three points just to keep ahead of their nemeses,
Italy and France.
- The Denmark women's boss, Kenneth Heiner-Moller, has denied that he accused China of bug-spying.
The 36-year-old also refuted claims that he lodged a protest with FIFA about that matter.
Apparently, prior to a Denmark staff meeting the day before the team met China, two individuals
with cameras were caught behind a two-way mirror in the meeting room.
Following England's 3-0 victories over Israel and Russia, a lot of talk has emerged about who is
England's best side. With the emergence of Gareth Barry in midfield and the inclusion of Shaun
Wright-Phillips on the right, it has been brought to the forefront whether players who were
unavailable due to injury, most notably David Beckham and Frank Lampard have lost their spots.
France 0, Scotland 1. Felt weird writing that. Ths Scots definitely deserve to go through if they
can pull off at least a draw with Italy coming up in Glasgow. And if your looking for John Arne
Riise's signature strike versus Greece, go here. Cheers.
I apologize for not doing anymore updates, but at one point I was watching three matches at once
and way too occupied to even think about writing. I hope this summary of what occurred today
somewhat makes up for it.
Group A
Portugal never seems to learn, do they? An 88th minute strike by Serbian Marko Pantelić cost the
Portuguese two valuable points and possibly their Euro chances.
Norway 2, Greece 2
Wow, what a first half. As the score indicates, neither team is playing very solid defense. Norway
appears to be the more dominate side and probably should be ahead had Carew not squandered a
one-on-one with the Greek keeper. It was a tough angle though. This has been an intense affair so
far as nearly two 'disagreements' have occurred.
Greece has again taking the lead and again it was from the defender. After his initial vicious
header attempt on goal from a free kick well outside the box was saved, the six-foot-four Kyrgiakos
slammed the rebound that deflected off the bar with a diving kick. Though it looked like it bounced
off both a Norwegian defender and Håkon Opdal, the Norway keeper, it still easily found the back
of the net.
I will be posting this periodically as things happen, so keep checking back if you want to know
what's going on.
Greece 1, Norway 0
I'm watching this match so I'll probably be updating it more often. John Arne Riise almost went to
blows with a Greek player and two minutes later Greece scores on a corner. The ball crossed the net
unscathed an found a diving Sotirios Kyrgiakos who redirected it to the opposite side of the net
with a header, Greece 1-0.
If I had to pick two players on the England squad that it wouldn't bother me if they retired to a
life of gardening and never wore the Three Lions shirt again, I'd be hard up to get past Peter
Crouch and Emile Heskey.
Crouchy, despite his knack for scoring goals, is a turnover machine and because of his height tends
to have fouls called against him more often then not especially when playing balls in the air.
Group A
Portugal tries to redeem itself, Serbia fights for it's qualifying life, Poland travels to Finland
to battle for the top, & that other match
Group B
Les Bleus attempt to ruin the Scots' qualifying dreams, the Ukraine hosts the Azzurri with both
sides in desperate need of points, & Lithuania look to beat up on the Faroe Islands
Group C
The Greeks travel to Norway with group supremacy and who has the better mythological gods on the
line, Who's Hungary for some Turkey?
Iceland vs. Northern Ireland, Laugardalsvöllur - Reykjavik
Well, finally we have a group that doesn't have a guaranteed intense match, but that doesn't mean
there isn't any drama. In fact, if you look down the road, the top three teams in this group:
Sweden, Northern Ireland, and Spain, could all be tied with 19 points at the end of the day, and
all meet each other in future fixtures.
England vs. Russia, New Wembley - London
The Russians go to England in what is easily the match of the day for Group E. I originally thought
that this wasn't a must-win for the English, but now I'm beginning to have second thoughts. Neither
Russia nor Croatia have a very difficult schedule ahead of them, though the Croatians have to go to
London on the last day of qualifying.
Czech Republic vs. Republic of Ireland, Sparta Stadium - Prague
Continuing with the 'every group's got a cracker of a match' theme, we have the Irish traveling to
Prague with basically their Euro hopes on the line. A devastating Marek Cech equalizer in the 91st
minute of their Saturday tie with Slovakia could end up costing the Boys in Green their spot.
Norway vs. Greece, Ullevål - Oslo
Every group so far seems to have an incredible match and this one is no different. First place is
at stake and because Norway has a game in hand, it means much more to them. Leapfrogging the Greeks
means that the Turks home tie with Greece on October 17th will cost one or both of their opponents
points, essentially rendering the game-in-hand of their closest competitors useless.
France vs. Scotland, Parc des Princes - Paris
Les Bleus can put a little distant between themselves and the second place Scots here with a win in
Paris. In fact, it'd probably be a good idea if the did so, since even if Italy win, a French win
at the Faroe Islands in October would all but assure themselves advancement. Just don't expect the
Scots to make it too easy for them.
Portugal vs. Serbia, José Alvalade - Lisbon
Portugal did themselves no favors when they gifted Poland the 2-2 draw on Saturday. Though that
doesn't make this game a must-win since the remaining of their schedule is quite easy, they could
save themselves a lot of unwanted pressure by going ahead and getting the home win here. They
suffered no major injuries, but will be without defender Marco Caneira and striker Hélder Postiga
for this tie.
Just in case you missed it. Cheers.
One idiot's view of David Beckham and the Superliga Final
More proof that Steve McClaren is a plonker
Four reasons why a women's professional soccer league will fail, again
Why 'Teflon' Jack Warner hates England
Former US Soccer Legends: Eddy Hammel
One for the future: Dax McCarty
Heiling Hitler in the Czech Republic will cost you $10320
A match worth watching on Friday: Switzerland vs Chile What score did I predict?
Netherlands vs. Bulgaria, 1430 EST
Amsterdam Arena - Amsterdam
A win here for the Dutch puts them in a decent position to advance. Playing at home and having one
of the best squads in the world, you've got to think they'll pull it off, but with the Oranje, you
never know. They were unimpressive in their recent loss to Switzerland, but it was only a
meaningless friendly.
Sweden vs Denmark, 1430 EST
Råsunda - Solna
Despite a game-in-hand, the Danes are desperate for a win as they travel to Solna to take on the
group-leading Swedes. This is of course a rematch of the June 2nd fixture, when a fan came on the
field and attacked the ref, costing Denmark the match and potentially three points. Even a draw for
Denmark would keep their hopes alive as they play four of their remaining five matches at home.
There are three matches in this group tomorrow:
Malta vs. Turkey, 1230 EST
Ta' Qali - Ta' Qali
Moldova vs. Norway, 1300 EST
Zimbru - Chisinau
Hungary vs. Bosnia & Herzegovina, 0900 EST
Sóstói - Szekesfehervar
All three matches pit a team with a substantially better chance of qualifying then their host
country.
- Maradona and his 1986 World Cup-winning Argentina teammates have agreed to an unofficial rematch
with the English side that El Diego scored the 'Hand of God' goal against in the quarterfinals of
that competition. Peter Reid, a member of the English squad, had this to say:"This is our chance to
show what we can do and get a little bit of revenge." Sounds kind of sad to me, old men not being
able to let bygones be bygones.
Portugal vs Poland, Saturday, 1600 est
Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Lisbon
Cristiano Ronaldo and Euzebiusz "Ebi" Smolarek don't have a lot in common. True, they are both
attacking midfielders named after famous people, Ronaldo after Ronald Reagan and ironically
Smolarek after Portuguese great, Eusébio. They also both like to party, though Cristiano prefers
hookers and Ebi is a pot man, but what do expect from young, rich footballers?
The Rest
Japan 2, Cameroon 0
Russia 2, Poland 2 - the first two goals are great headers while the third goal by Poland's
Krzynowek is a screamer and the fourth is a cheeky finish
Ukraine 1, Uzbekistan 0 - Hladkiy
Ukraine 2, Uzbekistan 0 - Rotan
I couldn't find the Uzbekistan goal by Geynrih, but the final tally was the Ukraine 2-1.
