The Football Association of Ireland or FAI has officially submitted a request to replay the 2nd leg of the UEFA 2010 World Cup Qualifying Playoffs against France on Wednesday, November 18, 2009. The match ended in controversy as France scored in extra time on a goal from William Gallas. Thierry Henry clearly had a handball before passing to Gallas for the goal but it wasn't called by the referee.

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Arsenal defender William Gallas insists he did not see France teammate Thierry Henry handle the ball ahead of him poking home France's equaliser against the Republic of Ireland.
Barcelona striker Henry clearly handled the ball before setting up his former Arsenal team-mate William Gallas to head Les Bleus into the finals in South Africa next summer. Click to continue reading...

The Hand of the Frog
Thanks to the 50 + of you who participated in our World Cup Playoff Prediction Contest sponsored by Soccer Pro, and I'm pleased to announce our winners...
1st Place: Jon (wins a team jacket of his choice from Soccer Pro!)2nd Place: Daniel (wins an official World Cup replica ball! Click to continue reading...

You've got to feel sorry for the Republic of Ireland after last nights match where they were cruelly knocked out of the World Cup 2010 qualifiers thanks to a Thierry Henry handball.

Ireland went into the 2nd leg of the game 1-0 behind from a Nicolas Anelka goal in the first leg played at home last week, and went level in tonights game through Robbie Keane.

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Carlo Ancelotti closes in on Argentine sharp shooter.

Chelsea will push through a £40m deal for Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero it was reported today.

The Argentine international has been a long term target for the Stamford Bridge outfit and it would appear that a deal will finally go through in January.

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The final six World Cup 2010 places all get decided today, with the second legs of the four European playoffs and the CONMEBOL vs CONCACAF game, plus the special Algeria vs Egypt single game playoff for the final African qualifying spot.

It's all very very tight. The winners of these six ties get the the glory, the losers learn firsthand the meaning of the word "nearly".

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(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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Jogaram em Dublin, no Croke Park, pela repescagem européia, as seleções da Irlanda (34º no ranking da FIFA) e a seleção da França (9º no ranking da FIFA).
Antes desse jogo, as 2 seleções jogaram:
21-02-1928 – França 4x0 Irlanda (Amistoso)
23-05-1937 – França 0x2 Irlanda (Amistoso)
16-11-1952 – Irlanda 1x1 França (Amistoso)
04-10-1953 – Irlanda 3x5 França (Eliminatórias Copa do Mundo)
25-11-1953 – França 1x0 Irlanda (Eliminatórias Copa do Mundo)
15-11-1972 – Irlanda 2x1 França (Eliminatórias Copa do Mundo)
19-05-1973 – França 1x1 Irlanda (Eliminatórias Copa do Mundo)
17-11-1976 – França 2x0 Irlanda (Eliminatórias Copa do Mundo)
30-03-1977 – Irlanda 1x0 França (Eliminatórias Copa do Mundo)
28-10-1980 – França 2x0 Irlanda (Eliminatórias Copa do Mundo)
14-10-1981 – Irlanda 3x2 França (Eliminatórias Copa do Mundo)
07-02-1989 – Irlanda 0x0 França (Amistoso)
09-10-2004 – França 0x0 Irlanda ((Eliminatórias Copa do Mundo)
07-09-2005 – Irlanda 0x1 França (Eliminatórias Copa do Mundo)
O quarteto de arbitragem desse jogo, foi assim definido:
Referee: Felix BRYCH (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Thorsten SCHIFFNER (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Mark BORSCH (GER)
Fourth official: Michael WEINER (GER)
Aos 27 minutos do segundo tempo, Nicolas ANELKA, fez o único gol do jogo. Click to continue reading...

Saturday's demoralizing one-nil home loss to France in the first leg of their World Cup play-off sees the Republic of Ireland facing an uphill task to reach next summer's showpiece. As French fans start booking their flights to South Africa, the Irish faithful are left praying for a miracle.

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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...

Ireland go into their World Cup play-off second-leg with France at full strength with no injuries to report.
It is do-or-die for Giovanni Trapattoni's men as they prepare to fly to Paris on Tuesday trailing 1-0 from the first-leg at Croke Park.
Ireland performed admirably on Saturday but still fell to a deflected 72nd minute Nicolas Anelka strike, handing the French the initiative ahead of the return match on Wednesday. Click to continue reading...

France won the first leg of the World Cup playoff away to Ireland 1-0, but the tie is still up in the air.

France was the better team, but they weren't firing on all cylinders, and as a result, need to get a result in the second leg in Paris.

The formation didn't always hold it's shape, but it was something like this:

Gignac
Henry Gourcuff Anelka
A.

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The first legs of the European World Cup play-offs took place yesterday (Saturday) and Russia, Portugal and France all take slender advantages into their second legs.

Portugal managed to beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0 in Lisbon in their first leg. With Cristiano Ronaldo ruled out of the tie through injury the Portuguese had to rely on the likes of Simao Sabrosa, Liedson and Deco for their creative spark but all three were guilt of below-par performances.

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My hatred for Nicolas Anelka and his goal thieving ways have been well documented on this site, so this is an open invitation to Irish fans and Anelka hating fans alike, to join together and belittle the cheap-ass way he scores his goals and then celebrates them as though they ... Click to continue reading...

For once the luck of the Irish deserted them and Nicolas Anelka kept France on course for South Africa with a lucky second half goal...

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The four play-off games in the European qualification zone were all tight affairs with all left to play for in the second legs. France edged Ireland 1-0 at Croke Park in Dublin with a second half Nicolas Anelka goal.
In Lisbon, a Bruno Alves strike gives the Portuguese a slight advantage ahead of the return leg in Sarajevo. Click to continue reading...

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.

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France, Russia and Portugal posted crucial first-leg victories in their UEFA World Cup qualifying playoff matches, but all three still have plenty of work to do in the second legs to ensure qualifying for South Africa.

Nicolas Anelka scored in France's 1-0 win vs. Ireland in Dublin, giving the French the lead and an away goal in its match-up.

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France, Russia and Portugal posted crucial first-leg victories in their UEFA World Cup qualifying playoff matches, but all three still have plenty of work to do in the second legs to ensure qualifying for South Africa.

Nicolas Anelka scored in France's 1-0 win vs. Ireland in Dublin, giving the French the lead and an away goal in its match-up.

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Giovanni Trapattoni's Ireland side tried their hardest to come out of this first leg with something to show for their efforts but it was a hideously deflected shot from Nicolas Anelka that gave France the win at Croke Park.

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Ireland captain Robbie Keane has urged the team to become national heroes by beating France in the World Cup play-off.
Giovanni Trapattoni's side host France at Croke Park on Saturday before Wednesday's return leg in Paris.
"If you look on paper, they have got world-class players all over the pitch," said Keane. Click to continue reading...

Let battle commence.

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Republic of Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni has delayed finalising his team for Saturday's World Cup play-off first leg against France at Croke Park.

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Whenever it seems like Liverpool are on the verge of making a giant step forward, something always seems to go wrong and the opposite ends up happening. Why is that? ALEX MILLER looks at how history seems to be repeating itself once again.
So here we are then: Mid-November and we are already out of the title race; on the verge of being eliminated from the Champions League and already out of the Carling Cup. Click to continue reading...

In following with this week's pattern of posting hilarious pictures, photoshopped or no, we bring you this marvelous offering from the Sun. Luckily, the accompanying interview is not half bad. Thanks to reader Chelsea for the heads up.

Q: When Nicolas signed did you feel, Didier, you had to prove you were better?

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Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni is refusing to rest on his laurels as he plots France's World Cup downfall.
The 70-year-old Italian will lead Ireland into play-off battle with the 1998 winners, refusing to look back on all the success his distinguished career has brought him to date and concentrating only on what lies ahead. Click to continue reading...

Carlo Ancelotti has decided to name his starting 11 way ahead of the game tonight which is unusual and he has also taken the step of giving complete rest to John Terry, Petr Cech and Nicolas Anelka whereas Frank Lampard, Michael Essien and Didier Drogba will be on the bench. He said before tonight's game: "If I have the possibility to give rest to all the players who also have to play in their Click to continue reading...

Frank Lampard today hailed Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba as the best in the world!. Lampard said: "Nico has been fantastic all season. Along with Didier they are a great partnership," Lampard said. "He (Anelka) has tremendous pace and balance, particularly when he runs at defenders. "He is so cool, so we have two players who for me are the best at what they do in the world. Click to continue reading...

Was Wes Brown fouled by Drogba?

Manchester United should feel hard done by. A fine display and they are right to feel aggravated. Jonny Evans and Wes Brown were terrific while Darren Fletcher was United's best player, but it wasn't to be their day, as John Terry's header deep in the second half was enough to send Chelsea five points clear.

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From Stamford Bridge, Attendance 41,836 , Referee Martin Atkinson Chelsea 1 0 Manchester United

John Terry (76)

View Video Highlights Chelsea Team Statistics Manchester United 1 Goals 0 6 Shots On Target 2 3 Shots Off Target 9 3 Shots Blocked 7 0 Corners 7 1 Offsides 2 13 Fouls 15 3 Yellow Cards 3 0 Red Cards 0 46. Click to continue reading...

It was an electric atmosphere at Stamford Bridge as the top two clubs faced each other in the English Premier League. Chelsea hosted Manchester United in what was the most anticipated match so far in the 2009-10 season. Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

Chelsea beats Manchester United 1-0 Video Highlights

It was a quick pace to the match but neither team had any great chances in the first ten minutes.

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The Republic of Ireland will take on France in the World Cup play-offs which commence next weekend in what will be an intriguing clash between the shrewd Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni and the much-maligned French national team coach Raymond Domenech.

Trapattoni's record speaks for itself with successful spells almost everywhere he coached yet his most notable job prior to taking over Ireland ended in miserable failure with the Azzurri.

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France's do-or-die match against Ireland is just around the corner, with the first match taking place on November 14th in Ireland and the second taking place on the 18th at the Stade de France (boo...). I don't know about you guys, but I'll be praying extra hard that France don't screw up against a tough Irish team.

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Chelsea sealed qualification into the Champions League knockout stages with a 2-2 draw at Atletico with goals from Didier Drogba. FC Porto beat Apoel as they also clinched qualification and its now down to our game at their place to see who wins the group for the favourable draw when its made by UEFA. Click to continue reading...

Veteran pinpoints big failing.

Portsmouth Vs Liverpool Tickets Still Available!

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Jamie Carragher: Liverpool should have signed Nicolas Anelka

The Chelsea striker enjoyed a productive loan spell at Anfield under Gerard Houllier in 2001-02, but chose not to sign the Frenchman permanently, instead signing El Hadji Diouf was signed for £12 million.

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Frank Lampard today hailed Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba as the best in the world!. Lampard said: "Nico has been fantastic all season. Along with Didier they are a great partnership," Lampard said. "He (Anelka) has tremendous pace and balance, particularly when he runs at defenders. "He is so cool, so we have two players who for me are the best at what they do in the world" Nico gives

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