The Friday List of Little or No Consequence #78

Once every twelve years ain't bad...
The Only 8 Instances Of Luxembourg Winning A Competitive International Match Since 1911

1. v Portugal (Won 4-2, World Cup qualifier, 1961)
2. v Netherlands (Won 2-1, European Championship qualifier, 1963)
3. v Turkey (Won 2-0, World Cup qualifier, 1972)
4. v Malta (Won 1-0, European Championship qualifier, 1995)
5. v Czech Republic (Won 1-0, European Championship qualifier, 1995)
6. v Malta (Won 1-0 (again), European Championship qualifier, 1995)
7. v Belarus (Won 1-0, European Championship qualifier, 2007)
8. v Switzerland (Won 2-1, World Cup qualifier, 2008)

Attention all England fans in the UK!

If you're one of the many millions of people that missed out on the chance to see England beat Croatia 4-1 last night, fear not.

You now have a chance to see extended highlights on terrestrial TV this evening, thanks to ITV1.

Mark Sharman, Director of ITV News and Sport said: "We’re pleased to have secured the highlights of last night’s 4-1 victory. We know there is a huge demand to watch England and we’re glad we can offer fans a chance to see the action."

ITV holds the rights to broadcast live coverage of all of England’s competitive home fixtures until 2012 beginning with England v Kazakhstan live on ITV1 on October 11.

The one hour highlights programme will be broadcast immediately after News at Ten at 10.35 pm tonight, so if you want to see England's greatest footballing victory since the 5-1 win over Germany seven years ago, follow your nose and check out ITV1 this evening.

You'd be a fool not to...

Weekend TV Preview: September 12th - 14th

Friday 12 September

19:30 Eintracht Frankfurt v Karlsruher SC, Bundesliga, Setanta Sports 1
Early signs are that these teams are aspiring to mid-table mediocrity which does not make this the most attractive of matches on paper. However, most of the Bundesliga is pretty well matched so those choosing to spend their Friday nights in could be rewarded with a decent game. Having said that, if you get a last minute text from a mate, go out.

Saturday 13 September

12:30 Motherwell v Celtic, Scottish Premier League, Setanta Sports 1
One of Glasgow's other derby games. Motherwell registered their first win in the last round against Hibernian and a packed Fir Park should generate a fiery atmosphere.

12:45 Liverpool v Manchester Utd, Premier League, Sky Sports 1, Sky Sports HD 1
Of course, the schedulers did not know this but thanks to the intervention of the Abu Dhabi United Group its now Grand Slam Saturday as the top four teams in England battle it out. This inter-city derby frequently disappoints, frankly, but will not be short of drama.

17:30 Manchester City v Chelsea, Premier League, Setanta Sports 1
Sky Sports' schedulers will be slightly miffed that they don't have the second half of Grand Slam Saturday. Setanta on the other hand can't believe their luck. Join Robinho and his gang as they play host the team he was supposed to be playing for. Just make sure he gets on the right coach after the game.

17:20 Derby County v Sheffield Utd, Championship, Sky Sports 1, Sky Sports HD1
Of course if you want to see actual car crashes there's probably a NASCAR race on somewhere. This should be better though. No safety cars.

19:00 Barcelona v Racing Santander, La Liga, Sky Sports Xtra
Hilarity ensued two weeks ago as both Barca and Real lost on the first day for the first time since 1865. Needless to say a can of whuppass is being shaken up at the Nou Camp as we speak.

20:00 Bordeaux v Marseille, Ligue 1, Setanta Sports 2
Two of France's better teams that aren't Lyon clash. Well worth a watch if you're in.

21:00 Sevilla v Sporting Gijon, La Liga, Sky Sports Xtra
These two teams have not played each other in the League for nearly a decade. Sevilla are not quite the same in the post-Ramos era but should expect to get their first victory this weekend.

22:20 Gremio v Goias, Brazilian Campeonatos, SportsXchange
Goias haven't beaten league leaders Gremio in their three previous attempts. This game is also available to watch online from the Sportsxchange website.

Sunday 14 September

13:30 Ajax v Roda JC, Eredivisie, Setanta Sports 1
Marco Van Basten's Ajax had a rotten start to the season with a defeat. Meanwhile Roda settled for a home point against Twente. This fixture usually throws up plenty of goals and aficionados of the game will be keen to see what the Amsterdam club can achieve under their new boss in a game that may prove more interesting than...

13:30 Stoke City v Everton, Premier League, Sky Sports 1 / Sky Sports HD1
An early season curiosity featuring two teams unlikely to trouble the TV schedulers.

16:00 QPR v Southampton, Championship, Sky Sports 1 / Sky Sports HD1
The Championship is a league where both princes and paupers can rub shoulders as equals. Much is expected of Iain Dowie this year despite the fact that Rangers have not exactly been pulling up trees in the transfer market. The Saints would be just happy to escape the season with their skin intact.

18:00 Real Madrid v Numancia, La Liga, Sky Sports 1
The conquorers of Barca travel to the capital looking to complete a unique double... with predictable results.

20:00 Cruzeiro v Palmeiras, Brazilian Campeonatos, SportsXchange
The last time these two met Palmeiras put 5 (five) past their opponents. The time before Cruzeiro put 5 (five) past Palmeiras. Who will have the courage to break this vicious circle?

20:00 PSG v Nantes, Ligue 1, Setanta Sports 1
It's a measure of PSG's standing in recent years that when I looked for them in the table I started from the bottom. However, Paul Le Guen has slowly turned Paris' only top flight club around and can look forward to a decent season. Nantes on the other hand are rubbish.

20:00 Almeria v Valencia, La Liga, Sky Sports 1
'Come on you rambling boys of pleasure, and ladies of easy leisure, we must say adios until we see...'

World Cup 2010 Update: Europe (again)

Last night saw Part 2 of the September double-header taking place in the European World Cup 2010 qualifiers, so let's give you the low-down and the hoe-down on what went on across the continent…

Group 1
Two very late goals from Christian Poulsen and Daniel Jensen turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 victory for Denmark against Portugal last night. Carlos Queiroz's men looked to have secured all three points when a penalty from Chelsea's Deco went in four minutes from the end, but the Danes fought back to inflict Portugal's first World Cup qualifying defeat since 1996.

Portugal are now third in the group with Denmark second. Albania top the table following their 3-0 home win over Malta while Sweden take second position after they won 2-1 at home to Hungary.

Among the next fixtures to take place in Group 1 during October, Portugal visit Sweden in what is now a very important tie for Carlos Queiroz's men, while Denmark can expect an easier ride when they host Malta.

Group 2
In a result which could be a contender for 'Performance of the Night', Luxembourg pulled off a surprise 2-1 away win against Switzerland. Despite scoring for the second successive match, Blaise NKufo's equaliser proved insufficient as Fons Leweck grabbed a winner four minutes from the end.

Elsewhere, Greece went top of the group with their second win on-the-trot, this time 2-0 away to Latvia. The Greeks have a two point lead ahead of Israel who also won - 2-1 in Moldova. Latvia are third and Luxembourg are fourth, both three points behind Greece, while Switzerland slip to fifth with only one point taken from a possible six.

October 11th sees Israel taking on the mighty Luxembourg, with Switzerland facing another potential banana skin in the form of Latvia. Greece face Moldova in Piraeus.

Group 3
The Czech Republic got their campaign off to a frustratingly slow start following their goalless draw with Belfast. Both sides had their chances, but none were taken as Nigel Worthington's men earned a valuable point against the team sitting 24 places above them in the FIFA rankings.

Poland go top of the group on goal difference after they scraped through 2-0 in San Marino, while Slovenia had to endure a late fightback by Slovakia to secure the three points that take them up to second spot, level on four points with Poland. Slovakia are third, just ahead of the Czechs who have played one game less. Northern Ireland are fifth with one point so far.

The Czech Republic are on the road again next month, this time taking on the Poles in Chorzow, while Northern Ireland go to Slovenia and Slovakia go to San Marino.

Group 4
Miroslav Klose's hat-trick saved Germany's blushes after they drew 3-3 with Finland. The Finns led the match three times during the match and were all set for a famous victory before the Bayern Munich striker earned his side a share of the points with an equaliser seven minutes from time.

Germany top the table by a point ahead of Russia who needed a late goal from Pavel Pogrebnyak to put their game beyond the reach of Wales in Moscow. Cardiff City's Joe Ledley had put the Welsh back on level terms after Roman Pavlyuchenko's 22nd minute penalty, but the Russians fought back to win their opening tie and push Wales down to third in the table. Finland are fourth, level on one point with Azerbaijan and Leichtenstein who drew 0-0 last night.

Next month, it's the clash of the titans as Germany play Russia in Dortmund. Wales will be looking for a point at home to Liechtenstein while Finland look for their first win when Azerbaijan pay them a visit.

Group 5
European champions Spain had no trouble beating Armenia in Albacete last night. Two goals from David Villa and one each from Juan Capedvila and Marcos Senna mean the Spaniards maintain their 100% record in Group 5.

A resurgent Belgium took an impressive point from Turkey in Istanbul. Wesley Sonck was on hand again with the opening goal after 31 minutes, but former Newcastle midfielder Emre popped up with a penalty sixteen minutes from the end to ensure his side held onto second place in the table, just ahead of Belgium.

Top scorers of the night, however were Bosnia-Herzegovina who put seven past Estonia which leaves the latter in bottom spot, just behind Armenia who travel next to Belgium. In other fixtures next month, Turkey stay in Istanbul to play Bosnia-Herzegovina while Spain drop in on Estonia.

Group 6
Well whaddya know… England aren't a bunch of dismal lightweights after all. A 4-1 demolition of Croatia in Zagreb was just the ticket to get the Three Lions pointing in the right direction again and up to the top of Group 6 with maximum points. Theo Walcott was the hero of the hour with a hat-trick that oozed class, poise and skill, although we're only going on an eyewitness account as we haven't given our thirty pieces of silver to Setanta.

No matter - we now have Ukraine for company on six points as they followed up their recent win over Belarus with a 3-1 win in Kazakhstan. Serhiy Nazarenko (didn't he used to play darts?) scored two and Andriy Shevchenko got the other to seal a comfortable win.

Belarus were celebrating a 3-1 win of their own away to Andorra which sees them occupy third place in the table ahead of Croatia and Kazakhstan in fifth. That means next month's clash between Croatia and Ukraine is the one to watch, unless you're confident Theo Walcott will force Kazakhstan into an embarrassing submission at Wembley. It could happen…

Group 7
This group already has a slightly surreal edge to it. Take Austria, for example. First they beat France 3-1 on Saturday, then they go and lose 2-0 to Lithuania last night. France, on the other hand, lost surprisingly to Austria and then beat Serbia 2-0 with goals from Thierry Henry and Nicolas Anelka.

And we haven't finished with Lithuania yet. That win over Austria follows a 3-0 demolition of Romania last weekend. Romania are obviously not the force they once were: they could only manage a 1-0 win away to the Faroes last night.

Can you work it out? We can, but only with the use of a group table that shows Lithuania as the new force in world football, sitting proudly in top spot. Serbia are second on three points - the same amount as Austria in third, France in fourth and Romania in fifth.

All to play for, then, and October 11th's fixtures look distinctly mouth-watering as a result. Romania play host to France, Lithuania travel to Serbia while Austria go to the Faroe Islands. Not that we're expecting much to happen there, oh no.

Group 8
Daniele De Rossi scored twice as World Champions Italy beat Georgia 2-0 last night. The Italians now top the group with six points out of six, ahead of Ireland on four and Montenegro on two. Both teams played out a 0-0 stalemate in Podgorica, so that leaves Bulgaria in fourth position and Cyprus fifth although both teams are yet to play their second games. Georgia prop up the table with no points so far.

Two more games follow on Matchday 3: Italy face a tricky tie in Bulgaria where their 100% record could face a strong challenge, while Georgia could pick up their first point(s) when they play at home to Cyprus.

Group 9
Last but not least, John Heitinga and Rafael Van Der Vaart both scored in the second half to win their opening game away to Macedonia. Also playing were Scotland who finally got their first win under George Burley thanks to goals from Kirk Broadfoot and Barry Robson as they beat Iceland 2-1 in Reykjavik.

That much-needed win for the Scots lifts them up to third in the table behind Macedonia (2nd) and the Netherlands (1st), although all three teams are level on three points. Norway (4th) and Iceland (5th) trail the leading pack.

Burley's men can now look forward to the visit of Norway next month with a little more self-assuredness, but a tough match is in prospect for both teams. The Dutch, meanwhile, play host to Iceland.

Well that's all from Europe for now, but we welcome you to join us for our upcoming reports as we plough ever-onwards through this week's remaining World Cup qualifiers from around the globe.