I'd like to present an equation, with the solution to be determined as we move along through this little discussion; if you'd like to guess what the answer might be, be my guest. I'm willing to bet...

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The games didn't really have everything, did they? The results did some upsets, some heroics, a few of the expected teams going in but outside of the one game which forced a playoff (Egypt 2 Algeria 0), some of these games were completely zapped of the necessary drama.

(Not, of course, that one played in the Stade de France.

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It has been a bleak season for VfL Bochum. The club sits 17th in the table, switched coaches instead of fortunes and only had Hertha Berlin to cheer them up. A trip to the national team can be a welcome change of scene for the players. Bochum's central defender Anthar Yahia and their striker Zlatko Dedic chose to make the most of it by sending their nations to South Africa in a decisive World Cup playoff.

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The UEFA 2010 World Cup Qualifying Playoffs had their second legs on Wednesday, November 18, 2009. One of the match-ups was Slovenia v Russia 1-2 after the first leg. The Russians were the favorites but Slovenia did have an away goal. Who was able to win and advance to South Africa next summer? Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

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I've just heard the news that Russia have failed to qualify for the World Cup.
I suppose it's our fault for not giving Roman Pavlyuchenko enough playing time? I do wonder what 'the world's greatest manager', Hiddink, will do now (Chelsea anyone)?
Didn't it bug you the way the Dutchman went on last season, telling us all just how good Pavlyuchenko was? Click to continue reading...

(Editors note: This entry is from Richard Farley, who will soon have SB Nation's new World Cup blog up and running. Here's a great example of what you can expect regularly)

Wednesday, we will see the field for the 2010 World Cup field completed, with invitations to be handed-out after the six matches spanning Africa, Europe, South America and (by extension) Central America.

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Europe
With four places left to be filled, the eight best runners-up from the group stage took to the field on Saturday to kick-off the first leg of the European play-offs.
In Dublin, Ireland battled tenaciously against the visiting French team but somewhat frustrating played true to form, i. Click to continue reading...

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Nigeria, Cameroon and New Zealand all qualified for the 201 World Cup last weekend with key victories, leaving just six spots remaining as we head into the last day of qualifying for next summer's World Cup.

Here are the 26 teams that have already qualified for the 2010 World Cup:

Brazil, Spain, England, Argentina, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Cote d'Ivoire, USA, Mexico, Denmark, Paraguay, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Ghana, Chile, Serbia, Switzerland, Honduras, Slovakia and North Korea, South Africa, Nigeria, Cameroon and New Zealand

There are 12 teams vying for the remaining six spots.

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Nigeria, Cameroon and New Zealand all qualified for the 201 World Cup last weekend with key victories, leaving just six spots remaining as we head into the last day of qualifying for next summer's World Cup.

Here are the 26 teams that have already qualified for the 2010 World Cup:

Brazil, Spain, England, Argentina, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Cote d'Ivoire, USA, Mexico, Denmark, Paraguay, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Ghana, Chile, Serbia, Switzerland, Honduras, Slovakia and North Korea, South Africa, Nigeria, Cameroon and New Zealand

There are 12 teams vying for the remaining six spots.

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Yo se los venía diciendo desde que salió el sorteo para los repechajes. Las selecciones importantes no quedarán mal y calificaran a la Copa del Mundo.

Y eso es precisamente lo que sucedió el día de hoy en los repechajes europeos, en donde Francia, Portugal, Rusia y Ucrania se colocaron un poco más cerca de la justa mundalista a celebrarse en Sudáfrica 2010.

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by FRANCO PANIZO

Nine spots remain for the 2010 World Cup, and four of those will be decided through the UEFA playoffs, which are set to begin on Saturday.

Russia-Slovenia, Greece-Ukraine, Portugal-Bosnia Herzegovina and France-Ireland are the two-legged playoffs that will determine which remaining UEFA teams punch their tickets to South Africa next summer.

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Just weeks to go until the bubbly is uncorked and the drunken masses spill into messy versions of auld lang syne. We here at Footy Factor are celebrating the decade's end by honouring the best football teams, figures, matches and moments of the past 10 years.

First up...

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Russian ace wants to quit White Hart Lane.

Portsmouth Vs Tottenham Tickets Still Available!

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Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko is planning showdown talks with manager Harry Redknapp after the international break during which he will "insist" on being allowed to leave the club in January.

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Guus Hiddink's side are favourites to make it through the play-offs to South Africa, but his selection problems give Matjaz Kek hope of masterminding an upset.
Slovenia hoping for another play-off miracle against the might of Russia. Click to continue reading...

In partnership with Russian Football Now, EPL Talk presents the twelfth episode of RNF's podcast.

Russian football may have gotten off to a shaky start in the 2009-10 Champions League, but the last two weeks have seen a measure of redemption. On Tuesday, CSKA Moskva came within minutes of a historic win at Old Trafford, while Rubin continued to their improved form by taking a fourth point in two matches from Barcelona.

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Carlos Alberto Parreira

The recent re-appointment of Carlos Alberto Parreira as coach of South Africa, replacing fellow Brazilian Joel Santana who had been hired on Parreira's recommendation, ignited that perennial question: is a national team, particularly one on the periphery of world football, better served by a local or an outsider?

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Sir Alex Ferguson will try to add more depth to Manchester United squad this January as It is believed that the Scotsman is reopened talk with Valencia to sign Spain International striker David Villa.
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Two of the top European 2010 World Cup qualifyers being played this weekend are the Russia vs Germany match and the Portugal vs Hungary Match.

Russia vs Germany Preview

The clash between Russia and Germany at the Luzhniki Stadium on Saturday is probably the match of the weekend, with both sides desperate to secure the top spot in their group and avoid having to go to a play-off for a place in South Africa.

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On Friday, Guus Hiddink named his 23-man squad for Russia's final World Cup Qualifiers: October 10, hosting Germany (in Moscow) and October 14 in Azerbaijan.
If Russia came beat Germany in Moscow, they will almost certainly win UEFA's Group D (provided they can beat Azerbaijan). If they lose, the Azerbaijan match is meaningless, and they will head into UEFA's qualifying playoff. Click to continue reading...

While many of you are waiting for today's UEFA Champions League action to kick off, here are some more answers to questions submitted in the most recent Q&A.

It's a small batch, eleven answers to be exact. The topics range from the Columbus Crew, to future U.S. national team managers what's on my TIVO, to Chris Rolfe's impending departure from Chicago.

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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.

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Oh, hello! I, Richard Whittall, author of the semi-reasonable A More Splendid Life, will be taking over Sweeping duties this week until Tom returns from outer space.

Big Story

Yes, there was the stamping incident against Robin Van Persie which, from the replay, seems as deliberate as a split second reaction can be.

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So the old Club vs Country debate is back in the news again, as Arsene Wenger was in an irritable mood regarding Andrei Arshavin's appearance for Russia against Wales on Wednesday. The Arsenal midfielder has a groin problem, which he picked up when his club took on Man United a couple of weeks ago and [. Click to continue reading...

Harry Redknapp supports Arsenal!
Full Article

Harry Redknapp is associated intrinsically with West Ham United, so it was refreshing for Spurs fans to realise how much the White Hart Lane club are in his blood.

As a kid he trained with Spurs, met the club's greatest legend, Bill Nicholson and rubbed shoulders with the likes of Dave Mackay, John White, Danny Blanchflower and Cliff Jones.

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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...

Since England qualified for South Africa 2010 by belting Croatia at Wembley on Wednesday night the redtop tabloids have gone into nationalist overdrive as usual.

As a Welshman I confess to a tinge of envy. Russia's 3-1 win at the Millennium Stadium puts them through and killed off any lingering mathematical chance of Wales getting a play-off spot.

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Morning, it's a busy one so let's crack right into it.

Arsene's pre-match press conference took place yesterday instead of the Friday before a game but as usual he had plenty to say. Starting with injuries ahead of the weekend's game he said Andrei Arshavin would miss at least 3 games due to a recurrence of his groin injury.

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Andrei Arshavin is the latest injury casualty coming out of the international break as the Premier League sets to resume this weekend.
The Russian superstar aggravated a groin injury playing for Russia against Wales.
Arsenal, however, may be able to replace Arshavin with Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky - who could return from injury to slot into the Gunners' midfield. Click to continue reading...

Bob Bradley has far too many critics. Some people who believe the US is a big time program and should be led by the likes of Guus Hiddink, just do not get the realities of dysfunctional US Soccer Federation who blew the hiring of Jurgen Klinsmann for the simple fact that they are control freaks and do not take well to any type of criticism.

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After Tomas Rosicky announced he is ready to play for his national side despite not 100% fit, Russian midfielder Andrey Arshavin declared he has a good chance to face Wales on Saturday.

The Arsenal player, who scored a fabulous goal last Saturday against Manchester United said:

I definitely won't be ready to play against Liechtenstein.

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The latest tale from Bangkok has Peter Reid doing two jobs at the same time. The Bangkok Post is reporting that Reid wants to be assistant manager at Stoke City and then returning to Thailand after the TPL season has ended to take charge of the Thais in their crucial Asian Cup qualifying games against Singapore. Click to continue reading...

As seen on Sunday and reported here, Kevin Keegan will be ESPN's lead analyst on their Premier League coverage this season. He joins Ray Stubbs and Guus Hiddink for the American network's virginal attempt at English football coverage.

I would love it if he is good.

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How would you fill the sudden gaping lack of girly footballers in your life? Poor Guus Hiddink has been missing life at Chelsea. The sight of Didier Drogba straightening his hair after training, Frank Lampard topping up his fake tan and John Terry doing his nails has been missing from the Dutchman's daily existence. Click to continue reading...

How would you fill the sudden gaping lack of girly footballers in your life? Poor Guus Hiddink has been missing life at Chelsea. The sight of Didier Drogba straightening his hair after training, Frank Lampard topping up his fake tan and John Terry doing his nails has been missing from the Dutchman's daily existence. Click to continue reading...

Finally, the Barclays English Premier League season is one week away! Before the season kicks off officially, Manchester United and Chelsea will contest in the customary season opener known as the Community Shield.Although the Community Shield rarely attracts much attention, this season is a lot more different from other seasons. Click to continue reading...