Let's take a moment to reflect on the many different faces we've seen recently in World Cup qualifying action.

There's the good-old fashioned happy face, as seen (above), by Algerian keeper, Faouzi Chaouchi.

The "don't want you to see the tears" Face (Ukraine's Shevchenko)
The "I could give a shite if you see me cry, I'm a man and I have feelings" Face (Egypt's al-Hadary)
The "bish, I'll cut you" Face (Anyukov, Russia)
The "aggro-happy" Face (Pepe, Portugal)
The "my abs are overjoyed with emotion about this victory" Face (Perez, Uruguay)
And, our personal favourite, the "Who farted?

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Let's take a moment to reflect on the many different faces we've seen recently in World Cup qualifying action.

There's the good-old fashioned happy face, as seen (above), by Algerian keeper, Faouzi Chaouchi.

The "don't want you to see the tears" Face (Ukraine's Shevchenko)
The "I could give a shite if you see me cry, I'm a man and I have feelings" Face (Egypt's al-Hadary)
The "bish, I'll cut you" Face (Anyukov, Russia)
The "aggro-happy" Face (Pepe, Portugal)
The "my abs are overjoyed with emotion about this victory" Face (Perez, Uruguay)
And, our personal favourite, the "Who farted?

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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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Yesterday ended the long and difficult road that is World Cup qualifying. The 32-team field is set and while we won't know until next month what the groups are it does present a good time to discuss each team and how they got there.

(Note: I hope this is a start of many more World Cup posts going into next year.

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On a chilly night in Donetsk, the Greek National Team warmed the hearts of its supporters as Dimitrios Salpingidis netted a quality strike to post a 1-0 win over Ukraine at the Donbass Arena on Wednesday. After a score-less draw in Athens on Saturday, Greece secured their spot in next summer's Click to continue reading...

Before Adebayor, Robinho and the other eight strikers at City, there used to be Georgios Samaras. Although highly touted by Stuart Pearce, he failed to make an impact in the two years while at the club.

When Sven Goran Ericksson was made manager Samaras was confined mostly to the bench.

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Dimitris Salpigidis scored the only goal as Greece clinched a place at the 2010 World Cup courtesy of a narrow victory over Ukraine at the Donbass Arena in Donetsk.
Agony for Sheva... Click to continue reading...

We finally have all 32 countries who will be in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa!!!After the games played on November 18th, Portugal, Greece, Uruguay, France, Algeria, and Slovenia have qualified for the tournament. Here are the results:Bosnia 0 – 1 Portugal (agg. 0-2)Ukraine 0 – 1 Greece (agg. Click to continue reading...

Ireland aren't going! Neither is Gus Hiddink.
Could we bring him back....too late I guess!
Ronaldo should be there..if fit...but not the Ukraine's or Egyptians.
Still in the modern world if your country doesn't make it (Ireland) you can support the country you grew up in (England) the country you live in and love (Socceroos) or the countries you have visited, (NZ, USA, Germany, Japan, France, Greece, Italy etc etc,) or countries you'd like to see do well. Click to continue reading...

It will be talked about for a long time: a World Cup berth "handed" to France. Thierry's Henry helping hand assist (and a blown offside call) teed up William Gallas for the extra time clincher to leave Ireland feeling backhanded...... but that was hardly the only drama on hand.Earlier, Algeria, Greece and Slovenia procured invites to South Africa via upsets, with Portugal closing out a tidy sweep Click to continue reading...

No ramblings. No preamble. No time. Have to run out for work, so not too much time to marinate on the USMNT/Denmark game. You're getting bullet points. Enjoy. * Danish Tex Mex? Who would have figured? I'm sure salted cod and salsa make an excellent burrito combo. * Missed the first 15-odd minutes watching the ends of the Algeria/Egypt hate-cast and the Ukraine/Greece snooze-fest. Click to continue reading...

A solitary goal from Dimitris Salpigidis was enough to see Greece through to South Africa 2010.

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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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Ukraine and Greece head into the 2nd leg encounter after a goalless draw at Athens. Ukraine's' captain Andry Shevchenko knows that this is the last chance for him for a final World Cup appearance and it's the best occasion to earn the qualification berth in front of the home fans. A nerve tingling encounter awaits the [. Click to continue reading...

The UEFA 2010 World Cup Qualifying Playoff wraps up on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 with the second legs. Ukraine and Greece played a scoreless draw in the first leg so it will come down to the second leg. Who will advance to South Africa? Find out on our other site, Free Live Sports TV, which will be providing live coverage of the link below.

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They Think It's All Over... busts out some World Cup playoff predictions. Click to continue reading...

USA - Denmark starts on ESPN Classic at 2:30pm and picking up on ESPN2 when their coverage of Ukraine - Greece (starts at 1pm) ends. ESPN Classic will show the entire game uninterrupted. GolTV has Italy - Sweden at 2:30pm. Setanta has Bosnia - Portugal at 2:40pm and Slovenia - Russia on Xtra at the same time (5pm on Setanta). Click to continue reading...

Donbass Arena opened on August 29th, 2009, and this week will host its first international and one of the biggest game's in Ukraine's history: the second-leg of their World Cup 2010 qualifier playoff against Greece. Ukraine are in great shape to qualify after a 0-0 draw in Athens this weekend.

The game could be taking place in no more beautiful setting.

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Will that be our kit come the 2010 World Cup? Put me in the "hopes so" category! What are your thoughts?
Speaking of the National Team. We will be hosting, along with Budweiser, watch parties for tomorrow's friendly at Denmark at both area 810 Zone locations. The match kicks off at 1:30 p. Click to continue reading...

Welcome to the World Cup party New Zealand, Nigeria and Cameroon!
Egypt scored a goal in the 5th minute of extra time against Algeria to keep its W.C. dream alive, it needed a 2-0 result. The rematch between the two teams is Wednesday in Sudan.
Here are the results of the UEFA playoff first legs: Russia 2-1 Slovenia, Ireland 0-1 France, Portugal 1-0 Bosnia, Ukraine 0-0 Greece. Click to continue reading...

Although this is the final stage of the World Cup 2010 qualifiers and there are no weak teams in the competition, Portugal and Russia were expected to have much easier jobs. They have minimal advantage before the return leg on Wednesday, but while Russia have a reason feel aggrieved, Portugal were more than lucky against Bosnia.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

U.S. men's national team midfielder Jose Francisco Torres will not play in Wednesday's friendly against Demmark after has been excused from the U.S. team's camp.

Torres was one of four new players called in to the U.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

U.S. men's national team midfielder Jose Francisco Torres will not play in Wednesday's friendly against Demmark after he was excused from the U.S. team's camp for personal reasons.

Torres was one of four new players called in to the U.

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Greece came under attack last night by a rampant Ukraine team looking to put the disappointment of several missed tournaments behind them and now they have it all to do on Wednesday night away from home too. I've gotta say, getting a result in the Ukraine will be harder than ... Click to continue reading...

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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Video Info:
14.11.2009 - FIFA World Cup Qualifiers
Greece - Ukraine 0:0

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New Zealand, Nigeria and Cameroon all joined the list of qualifiers today, whilst Russia, France and Portugal all won the first legs of their UEFA region playoff games. The only stalemate was the goalless draw in Athens between Greece and Ukraine; Costa Rica play Uruguay in the first leg of their playoff at 02:00 GMT on Sunday so we'll have news of what happened in that one bright and early tomorrow morning.

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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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Greece were unable to break down a solid Ukraine side in this Play-Off first leg.

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The UEFA 2010 World Cup Qualifying playoffs start with the first legs on Saturday, November 14, 2009. Free Live Sports TV will providing live coverage of the four matches at the following links below.

Russia v Slovenia LIVE UEFA 2010 World Cup Qualifying Playoff Saturday, November 14, 2009 16:00 GMT, 11:00 EST

Greece v Ukraine LIVE UEFA 2010 World Cup Qualifying Playoff Saturday, November 14, 2009 18:00 GMT, 13:00 EST

Portugal v Bosnia-Herzegovina LIVE UEFA 2010 World Cup Qualifying Playoff Saturday, November 14, 2009 20:30 GMT, 15:30 EST

Republic of Ireland v France LIVE UEFA 2010 World Cup Qualifying Playoff Saturday, November 14, 2009 20:00 GMT, 15:00 EST

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(*it's the opposite of Offside Rewind)

FRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty

Rather than looking back at the week that was, let's look forward to this weekend's World Cup qualifying games by linking up all the WorldCupBlog previews.

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With 23 nations already qualified for World Cup 2010, there are just nine places in South Africa still up for grabs. Three of those will be decided when African qualifying concludes next Wednesday. But that's a separate post. The six other qualifiers will be decided by playoffs, starting tomorrow.

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Misfiring striker Andriy Voronin has told of his determination to help Liverpool get this season back on track. Does he have anything to offer or is he a lost cause?
The Ukraine striker has yet to find the back of the net in eight games this season, and to be fair, hasn't even looked remotely like scoring. Click to continue reading...

The UEFA region has several qualifying matches in the next few days for the 2011 U-21 European Championships. This tournament is a chance for the future stars of each country to get experience on an international stage. On Friday, November 13, 2009, there are several matches including Hungary v Italy, Belgium v Ukraine, Â Spain v Finland, Northern Ireland v Germany, and Netherlands v Liechtenstein.

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