World Cup Round-up: Play-offs Part 2

Africa

Arguably the headline match of the day was the special play-off match between Algeria and Egypt to decide the final World Cup qualifier from Africa.

Both teams had finished with identical records in Group 3 of the final qualifying round which led to this hastily-arranged one-off match in Sudan to decide the winner.

Sparks were predicted to fly and within a minute of the start they did when Portsmouth's Nadir Belhadj was booked for fouling Ahmed Al-Muhammadi. Three minutes later, Mourad Meghni's challenge on Egypt's captain Ahmed Hassan prompted a huge free-for-all which, fortunately, was quickly dispersed by the referee but led to a yellow card for Hassan.

Eventually the game simmered down somewhat as both teams tried their luck in front of their opponents' goal but just as Egypt were starting to look the more likely to score, Algeria pipped them to it. With five minutes of the first half remaining, Antar Yahia received the ball from a cross into the area and volleyed it in off the crossbar from a very tight angle.



The second half began with more great goalkeeping at either end to deny some fine efforts on goal but the longer the game went on, the nervier both sides looked. Either team could have scored but the Algerians swapped attacking tendencies for defensive ones and eventually held on to secure their first World Cup qualification since 1986.

Egypt, for all their African Nations Cup wins, must wait another four years to confirm their standing on the world stage. The only scant consolation for them must come in the fact that in the end only a single goal stopped them ending their 19-year wait to reach the Finals. Perhaps the thought of playing in Brazil in 2014 will spur them on that little bit more next time around...

Europe

The big news from Europe surrounds France's somewhat dubious qualification for South Africa 2010 following a 2-1 aggregate win over Ireland.

Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Ireland struck first at the Stade de France last night when Robbie Keane exposed a lapse of concentration in the French defence to slot home after 33 minutes. As in the first leg, both sides looked evenly matched and while France had played the faster, more aesthetically-pleasing football, it was often punctuated by some inaccurate passing. Ireland looked the more industrious but had lacked any real penetration up front until Keane's goal.

During the second half, both sides continued to battle away but the aggregate score remained 1-1 by the final whistle to send the game into extra time. Tired legs were the order of the day and gaps started to appear, one of which saw Nicolas Anelka dribble into the Irish penalty area before apparently being fouled. The referee remained convinced this was not the fact (and the replays showed Anelka had dived) and no penalty was given.

Finally it was William Gallas who broke the deadlock in the 103rd minute but only after Thierry Henry had handled the ball prior to setting up his team mate from close range. The entire Irish defence saw it, we, the television audience saw it, but referee Martin Hansson did not. The goal stood and with it France had avoided a repeat of their Bulgarian nightmare in qualifying for the 1994 World Cup by beating Ireland 2-1 on aggregate. Heartbreak for Trappatoni's men – some soul-searching to be done by Thierry Henry.

Elsewhere, Slovenia made use of their home advantage to overturn a 2-1 first leg defeat in Russia by winning 1-0 in Maribor. Zlatko Dedic, a possible contender for Man of the Match, grabbed the winner just before half time to leave Guus Hiddink's Russian side rueing the goal they conceded two minutes from time in the first leg.

Slovenia enjoyed less possession than their opponents in this second leg, but Russia looked ineffective up front. In the end, frustration and tension crept into their game and they finished the match with only nine men following the dismissal of Alexander Kerzhakov and Yuri Zhirkov.

Slovenia reach only their second World Cup Finals, then – a feat matched by Greece who ended up 1-0 winners over Ukraine last night. Alexei Mikhailichenko's men seemed to lack imagination in their tactics as Greece opted to counter-attack at pace whenever possible, the result of which was a Dimitrios Salpingidis winner in the 31st minute. Greece therefore head off to the Finals next year for only the second time in their history after their only previous encounter in 1994 where Maradona and Co. got in the way of further success.

Finally to Zenica where Bosnia-Herzegovina had it all to do as they attempted to reverse the 1-0 win gained by Portugal in the first leg of their play-off. Like Greece before, Portugal sat back and used the counter-attack as their choice of tactic and it worked well in the face of an ineffective Bosnian side.

The fate of the home side was sealed in the 56th minute when Porto midfielder Raul Meireles received a pass from Nani and calmly shot past Kenan Hasagic in the Bosnian goal to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. The Portuguese continued to defend solidly after that and when Sejad Salihovic was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 77th minute, the home side knew their chance to make history had effectively ended.

The game ended on a sour note as many of the Bosnian fans reacted aggressively to their team's defeat and the match was stopped for a short time as the officials noted objects being thrown onto the pitch. One of them appeared to have struck Roberto Rosetti, one of the referee's assistants, and for that the Bosnian FA can expect a heavy fine from FIFA.

For the Portuguese, however, their objective of qualifying for their third successive Finals was finally achieved, but who'd have put money on that given their very poor run at the start of their campaign? It's inconsequential to say it, perhaps, as Carlos Queiroz and his men now prepare for the honour of playing at the World Cup next June.

South America / North & Central America

The second leg of the tie between Uruguay and Costa Rica looked a formality on paper. Uruguay were returning to the Centenario Stadium with a 1-0 lead gained in Costa Rica and with home support their quest for a second and presumably conclusive goal would be a straight-forward affair.

The first half, however, gave hope to both sides and ended goalless. Junior Diaz saw a spectacular long range shot go just wide for The Ticos while Diego Forlan lost control of the ball with only the keeper to beat just before the interval.

The second half started with Uruguay looking the brighter of the two sides as they enjoyed the best of the early chances, yet it wasn't really until Sebastian Abreu came on as a substitute in the 65th minute that the home side really looked a more dangerous proposition. The 33-year-old striker who plays for Aris Thessaloniki in the Greek Super League almost scored with his first touch of the ball but made certain of it with his second.

'El Loco' (as he's known, like one in every three South American footballers) was in the right place at the right time to head in Andres Scotti's cross in the 70th minute. 'Game Over', so it seemed, but Uruguay's lead was to last only four minutes after Walter Centeno took advantage of some sloppy defending to put the ball in the net.

Sadly for Costa Rica, however, there was nothing left in the tank and Uruguay played out the rest of the match comfortably to qualify for the World Cup as 2-1 aggregate winners. It'll be their 11th appearance in the Finals and their fourth in the last seven attempts.

World Cup Round-up: Play-offs and more

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.e. they didn't score many (not any, as it turned out) and couldn't grab the win either. The final result was a 1-0 win to France, the goal coming from Nicolas Anelka whose 72nd minute goal took a big deflection off Sean St. Ledger and then Shay Given's left post.

The Irish will have a mountain to climb in Paris this Wednesday as draws seem to be their speciality these days, but a draw won't be good enough to swing this tie in their favour. Hard-working Giovanni Trapattoni's men might be, but they'll need to improve on their goalscoring capabilities if they're to reach South Africa next year.

In Lisbon, Portugal earned a 1-0 lead of their own to take into the second leg against Bosnia-Herzegovina this Wednesday. With Cristiano Ronaldo watching the match from the stands due to injury, Portugal had to rely on stand-in Nani along with other experienced players like Deco for support and it proved enough in the end – albeit only just.

Portugal had much of the possession throughout the match but could have won by a far higher margin had they been more efficient in the final third of the pitch. Eventually it was down to Porto defender Bruno Alves to get the winning goal in the 31st minute and though the Portuguese will be pleased to have stopped Bosnia-Herzegovina getting an away goal, they'll find it hard to retain that advantage in two days' time.

Everton's Dinyar Bilyaletdinov put Russia in the driving seat having scored either side of the interval in their game against Slovenia on Saturday. Guus Hiddink's side looked solid and professional for the greater part but crucially took their foot off the gas going into the closing minutes, allowing Nejc Pecnik to grab a vital away goal for the Slovenians.

Were it not for that lapse in concentration, Russia could have been home and dried heading into the second leg, but some fervent support and a gifted set of players in Slovenia could make their charge towards South Africa that bit more arduous.

Finally in Europe, Greece played Ukraine at the Olympic Stadium, Athens and the final score there was 0-0. It was, so we're told, quite a dull game with neither side showing many of the qualities needed to do well when the Finals roll around. We're optimistic that the second leg will be different, however, as Greece go on the attack in Kiev to get that valuable away goal advantage.

Asia / Oceania Play-Off (2nd Leg)

The Cake Tin was full, the scene was set and with it New Zealand and Bahrain played out Part 2 of their decider to see who'd take their place at the 2010 World Cup Finals.

Last month, the first leg of this tie finished 0-0 in what's generally being regarded as one of the dullest games seen by anyone in recent memory. Truth be known, this rematch could have ended up the same way but fortunately for the neutral onlooker, New Zealand came out looking like they wanted a holiday in South Africa next year more than their opponents.

In front of a 35,194 capacity crowd at the Westpac Stadium (or 'Cake Tin' as the locals call it), the All Whites came out on Saturday knowing that a goal for Bahrain would immediately give them the away goal advantage, therefore a goal of there own was vitally important. In the end (and after some good, positive football), Ricki Herbert's men took the lead just before half-time thanks to a header by Rory Fallon.

Herbert, who played for New Zealand the last time they qualified for the World Cup in 1982, had obviously organised his team to go in search of goals and to their credit they created several chances to improve on Fallon's opener. Only the crossbar and some good goalkeeping by Bahrain goalkeeper Sayed Jaffer prevented New Zealand extending their lead, but they were nearly made to rue their missed chances.

Five minutes into the second half, Tony Lochhead brought down Abdulla Ismaeel in the penalty area and Bahrain had their chance to equalise, but Sayed Mohamed Adnan's weak spot kick was easily saved by the excellent Mark Paston in the NZ goal.

From that point on, Bahrain looked like a team with little to offer in the way of decent attacking football and New Zealand were largely untroubled on their way to the final whistle. When it came, the stadium erupted as the All Whites celebrated qualification to only their second World Cup ever, and certainly on the basis of this match it was very well deserved.

South America / North & Central America Play-Off

Not much to say here, other than the fact that Uruguay travelled to Costa Rica and beat their opponents 1-0 in San Jose. Fenerbahce defender and Uruguayan captain Diego Lugano scored the only goal of the game in the 21st minute for the South Americans. Costa Rica, meanwhile, had to play much of the game with only ten men after Randall Azofeifa was sent off for a second bookable offence, but by that stage they were already a goal down and playing well below par.

The second leg is therefore all set to be an exhibition of Uruguayan defending and occasional counter-attacking when the chance arises as they aim to book their place among the final 32. Nothing short of a major upset is required if Costa Rica want to change all that.

Africa

Finally to the Dark Continent where we thought we'd establish the last three qualifying countries by the time Saturday's games were over. How wrong we were. We now know two of them while the third will remain a mystery until this Wednesday.

In Group A, Cameroon did what everyone expected and finished top of their group after a 2-0 win away to Morocco. It's strange to think that the Moroccans threw their hat into the ring when it came to the bidding rights for the 2010 World Cup, yet like the eventual winners South Africa, we now find them at something of a low ebb in their fortunes. Achille Webo and Samuel Eto'o were on hand with the goals to ensure Cameroon reach their sixth consecutive World Cup – a record for an African country.

Group B offered something extra in the way of suspense. Going into the final pair of games, Tunisia led the group but had to win their last game away to Mozambique in order to qualify. Nigeria, second in the group behind Tunisia, had to win in Kenya and hope for the best.

With eight minutes remaining in both games, Tunisia were holding out for a 0-0 while Nigeria had equalised for a second time in Nairobi to make it 2-2. Tunisia looked to be going through, but a minute later, it was all change. In Maputo, Dario had put the home side 1-0 up against the Tunisians while in Kenya, Obafemi Martins was scoring his second of the day and Nigeria's third to go 3-2 up. And that was the way it stayed until the final whistle went – Tunisia were out and Nigeria were through. An amazing turnaround in fortunes and one which sees Nigeria reach their fourth World Cup while the Tunisians are left with much soul-searching to do in the days to come.

And finally to Group C where Algeria and Egypt had a straight fight to the death to see who'd make the trip to the other end of the continent next summer. Before the game, Algeria led the group knowing that a three-goal defeat to the Egyptians would see their dreams end in tatters. Scoring even a single goal would be the first priority for Algeria while a 2-0 win to Egypt would see both teams end the campaign exactly level on points, goal difference, goals scored and on their head-to-head record.

Just three minutes after kick off, Wigan's Amr Zaki opened the scoring for Egypt in front of a boisterous home crowd. Algeria regained their composure and created several chances of their own but it was to little effect. The score remained 1-0 as the game wore on and it seemed Egypt's chances of bagging a vital second were slipping away. That was until the fifth minute of injury time at the end of the game when Emad Meteab popped up with almost the last kick of the game to end the match 2-0 to Egypt.

And so it was that both teams finished exactly level in the group, thereby forcing a replay in Sudan to be put in place for this Wednesday. Pretty remarkable stuff, and probably not the last of the amazing football we'll see between these two sides as the prospect of extra time and penalties looms large in two days' time.

World Cup Update: October 14th 2009

For Europe, South America and the CONCACAF region, yesterday saw the last chance for teams to grab an automatic qualifying place for the 2010 World Cup. It was also the last chance for some teams to claim a 'Get Out Of Jail Free' card - or a play-off place, as it's known in football circles.

Here's our round-up of all the important news from each of those regions…

South America
Almost without exception, the one key qualifier that everyone ranked above any other yesterday was between Uruguay and Argentina. The last time Argentina failed to qualify for the World Cup was 1970, but there was a very real chance that their luck would run against their bitter rivals from across the River Plate.

A lot was resting on the match - Uruguay needed to win as well to secure their spot in the Finals next year - but the result was too close to call. When the match got underway it was Uruguay, playing in front of a sizeable and partisan home crowd, that played out the first half more convincingly. Shots from Diego Forlan and Alvaro Pereira added to the tension in the Argentinean defence as Gabriel Heinze earned a booking for a rash tackle on Maxi Pereira.

Into the second half and with the game still goalless, the away team looked a little more purposeful but there was still little to choose between the two sides when Uruguay had Martin Caceres sent off for a second bookable offence. From the ensuing free kick, Juan Sebastian Veron ended up firing in a shot which pinballed around the area before falling into the path of Mario Bolatti who put the ball in the back of the net.

With six minutes left on the clock, Argentina had picked up the decisive goal which earned them the three points they needed to claim fourth spot in the group. It means Diego Maradona will see his team play in South Africa next year, although many are already doubting whether he will be in charge when that happens.

Uruguay, meanwhile enter yet another inter-continental World Cup play-off, this time against Costa Rica (of which more later). They were able to claim fifth place in the South America table after the only other challengers, Ecuador, lost 1-0 away to Chile.

Elsewhere, Peru managed to claim only their third win in 18 matches when they beat Bolivia 1-0 while Colombia picked up a consolation 2-0 victory over Paraguay thanks to goals from Gustavo Ramos and Hugo Rodallega. Brazil played out a goalless draw against Venezuela but had Sao Paulo defender Miranda sent off after 56 minutes for elbowing Giancarlo Maldonaldo.

Full results and standings here.

North and Central America
As mentioned previously, it'll be Costa Rica that go into a play-off with Uruguay after they could only draw 2-2 with the United States. As we reported yesterday, Costa Rica had to win their match to snuff out any chance of Honduras grabbing the vital third spot in the table, but a 94th minute goal from Jonathan Bornstein pulled the plug on that happening.

The Ticos had been 2-0 up in the game against the already-qualified US thanks to a brace from Byran Ruiz in the first half, but the Americans pulled one back in the 72nd minute through Michael Bradley.

An eventful second half saw the US lose the services of Oguchi Onyewu with a knee injury that will keep him out of the side for several months. With seven minutes left on the clock, Bob Bradley's side were down to ten men having already used their full complement of subs, but remarkably in the last seconds of injury time Chivas USA midfielder Bornstein snuck into the area and headed in for 2-2.

That result denies Costa Rica an automatic qualification place in their third successive Finals and they must now face Uruguay over two legs on November 14th and 18th (the first leg taking place in Saprissa).

And they would have been off to South Africa already had it not been for Honduras who got the win they needed thanks to a 63rd minute goal by Carlos Pavon against El Salvador. It means Honduras finish third on goal difference ahead of Costa Rica to seal their first appearance at a World Cup since 1982. Well done to them.

In a largely inconsequential match to complete the action in North and Central America, Mexico drew 2-2 away to Trinidad & Tobago to finish as runners-up to the USA.

Full results and standings here.

Europe
Finally to Europe (and it's probably the first time we've said that in all the time we've been doing World Cup round-ups) where the final two automatic qualifiers were identified last night.

One of them was Switzerland who have led Group 2 almost from start to finish largely beyond our journalistic gaze as Group 2 has been arguably the least interesting of all the nine in the entire continent. That said, they finished top after a 0-0 draw at home to Israel while the runner-up spot went to Greece who finished one point adrift of the Swiss despite beating Luxembourg 2-1.

The other automatic qualifier on the night was Slovakia who finished two points clear of Slovenia in Group 3. The Slovakians claimed their victory thanks to an own goal in the third minute of their match in Poland. In blizzard conditions, Seweryn Gancarczyk deflected the ball into his own net early on to leave the visitors with the task of defending their lead for the remaining 87 minutes.

The fact that they did so efficiently meant Slovenia had to settle for the play-off spot despite beating San Marino 3-0. They'll go into the hat along with Portugal from Group 1 who finally completed a shaky campaign with a 4-0 win over Malta and Ukraine from Group 6, 6-0 winners in Andorra last night.

Full results and standings here.

So with all of the above taken into account along with the remaining play-offs and qualifiers to come in Africa next month, here's who's qualified for World Cup 2010 and who still has work to do:

Europe
Qualified: Denmark, Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany, Spain, England, Serbia, Italy and the Netherlands.
Play-offs: Portugal, Greece, Slovenia, Russia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ukraine, France and the Republic of Ireland.

The European play-offs will take place over two legs on November 14th and 18th and the winners of the four ties will progress to South Africa. The draw for the European play-offs takes place on Monday 19th October 2009.

South America
Qualified: Brazil, Paraguay, Chile and Argentina.
Play-off *: Uruguay

North and Central America
Qualified: USA, Mexico and Honduras
Play-off *: Costa Rica

Asia
Qualified: North Korea, South Korea, Australia and Japan.
Play-off **: Bahrain

Africa
Qualified: Ghana and Ivory Coast
Could yet qualify: Cameroon or Gabon, Tunisia or Nigeria and Algeria or Egypt

Oceania
Play-off **: New Zealand

More news on the 2010 World Cup qualifying competition next week...

World Cup Update Part 2: The rest of the world

Somewhat later than planned (for which we apologise), here's a round-up of last weekend's action from the World Cup qualifiers outside of Europe.

South America
With Brazil and Paraguay already in situ for a place in the 2010 World Cup Finals, it was Chile who were the next to take their chance by beating Colombia 4-2 in Medellin. Despite providing some tough opposition for most of the match, the Colombians were unable to fight back from Chile's brace of goals in the 71st and 78th minute from Jorge Valdivia and Fabian Orellana.

The result is a fitting cap on an excellent campaign for Marcelo Bielsa, the Argentinean coach of Chile who has seen his side pick up nine wins and three draws from their seventeen matches. Chile make their return to the World Cup having last competed in 1998 and will relish their billing as third-best team in South America ahead of Argentina who trail the Chileans by five points going into today's matches.

Speaking of Argentina, their faltering stumble gets ever worse having only just scraped a 2-1 win at home to Peru, easily the worst team so far in this qualifying campaign.

Diego Maradona's team selection raised a few eyebrows ahead of the match, Carlos Tevez and Atletico Madrid's Sergio Aguero being two players to start from the bench. Gonzalo Higuain of Real Madrid, however, was given his first cap and duly put Argentina in front three minutes into the second half and the score stayed at 1-0 until one minute from time.

Amid a torrential downpour, an increasingly nervy Argentina capitulated at the death when Hernan Rengifo scored a dramatic equaliser for Peru but remarkably this was not to be the final notable event of the match. Three minutes into injury time, Martin Palermo (making his first appearance for Argentina in ten years) side-footed in to put Argentina 2-1 up to seal the win… or so it seemed. Straight from the restart, Rainer Torres tried a shot from long distance which hit the Argentinean crossbar.

That, however, really was the last of the action in a remarkable match which just about keeps Argentina's hopes of qualifying alive. All now rests on their final match against bitter rivals Uruguay today, and the match is given all the more significance because Uruguay can also still qualify - as long as they beat Argentina.

Uruguay are just a point behind their opponents having beaten Ecuador 2-1 in Quito - a vital result for Oscar Tabarez and his team - but one which doesn't quite snuff out Ecaudor's chances of qualifying either. Put simply, if Uruguay beat Argentina by a reasonable margin and Ecuador beat Chile in the same fashion in Asuncion, Ecuador will gain the play-off spot while Argentina face the prospect of watching the 2010 World Cup from the comfort of their own homes. It's a long shot, but it could happen.

Elsewhere, Brazil finally lost their unbeaten run after a 2-1 defeat against Bolivia. As mentioned on the Sound of Football podcast this week, Bolivia have remarkably notched up victories against Argentina, Paraguay and now Brazil yet find themselves next to bottom in the qualifying table. As Graham rightly said, however, they, along with a predictable victory over bottom club Peru, were the only wins they've picked up, hence their current position.

Paraguay, meanwhile, won 2-1 away to Venezuela to draw level on points with Brazil but stay second in the table ahead of the final round of games which looks like this:

Peru v Bolivia (21:00 BST)
Brazil v Venezuela (23:00 BST)
Chile v Ecuador (23:00 BST)
Uruguay v Argentina (23:00 BST)
Paraguay v Colombia (01:00 Thursday BST)

Full results and table available here.

North and Central America
The USA and Mexico have claimed their places in South Africa next year with wins against Honduras and El Salvador respectively. The USA's 3-2 win was as much about the failing of Honduras to take their chances as it was about American determination to succeed. Honduras took the lead after 47 minutes through Julio de Leon but Conor Casey, chosen in preference to Jozy Altidore, equalised three minutes later.

Casey added a second in the 66th minute to put the Americans 2-1 up before Landon Donovan scored from a free kick five minutes later. De Leon, however, grabbed his and Honduras' second twelve minutes from the end and were it not for Carlos Pavon's penalty clearing the crossbar late on, they could have had a dramatic equaliser, but it was not to be. Bob Bradley's men held on to reach their sixth successive Finals - a wonderful achievement given the tough nature of the qualifying group.

Mexico, meanwhile, looked a different animal altogether from their Sven-era malaise as they beat El Salvador 4-1 at the Azteca. The win draws to an end El Salvador's hopes of getting to South Africa while Mexico claim second spot in the group, a point behind the US.

Costa Rica are almost there. They're currently third after an easy 4-1 win over Trinidad & Tobago but still need to beat the Americans in their final game to be assured of the last automatic place. A draw won't be enough if Honduras win away in El Salvador because of goal difference and could allow the Hondurans to go through instead.

Full results and table available here.

Africa
Joining Ghana in the Finals in 2010 will be the Ivory Coast who, thanks to a goal from Didier Drogba against Malawi, finish as winners of Group E. The match ended 1-1 and means Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast's main challengers in the group, cannot catch Drogba and Co. ahead of the last round of games next month.

Algeria are within touching distance of a place at the World Cup. Their 3-1 win over Rwanda in Group C leaves them three points ahead of African champions Egypt at the top going into the crucial decider between the two challengers in Egypt later today. A 2-0 win for Egypt over Algeria will mean both teams finish level on points and goal difference in the group, thereby leading to FIFA's officials checking the head-to-head record between the sides.

Algeria have already beaten Egypt 3-1 so far in the competition, therefore Egypt not only need to beat Algeria by two clear goals but also need to score at least three themselves to avoid any protracted arrangements for separating the two sides.

Elsewhere, Cameroon lead by a single point at the top of Group A after they beat Togo 3-0. Newcastle United's Geremi was on hand with the first of their goals to end any hopes of Emmanuel Adebayor getting to South Africa, but Cameroon must first beat bottom-placed Morocco if they're to get there themselves at the expense of Gabon. Form suggests this is very likely to take place.

Finally to Group B where Tunisia have almost wrapped up their campaign after a 1-0 win over Kenya at the weekend. With Nigeria beating Mozambique by the same scoreline, Tunisia must do likewise next month to keep Nigeria out of a second successive World Cup.

Full results and tables available here.

Asia / Oceania Play-Off
The first leg of the decider between Bahrain and New Zealand ended 0-0 and was a tentative affair, Bahrain once again playing cautiously and defensively while the All Whites used their prerogative as the away side to break on the counter-attack - both to little real effect.

There wasn't much to call between the two teams, so with the second leg switching to New Zealand in a month's time one can only assume the advantage lies with Bahrain thanks to the away goals rule. There's also the Arab team's ability to pull a result out of the bag under pressure as they showed in their recent Asia play-off against Saudi Arabia, so expect more fireworks of the same kind next month.

World Cup Update Part 1: Europe

The good ship World Cup is almost ready to set sail for South Africa and the penultimate round of qualifiers ensured eight more countries secured their berth for 2010. Here's how they got there starting off with our first update from

Europe
Reigning champions Italy confirmed they'll be defending their title next year, but only thanks to a last-minute equaliser by Alberto Gilardino in Dublin. Ireland almost took all three points against the Italians when Middlesbrough's Sean St Ledger put his side 2-1 up with three minutes to go, but the Juventus winger slotted the ball home in the 90th minute to see his side go through to the Finals automatically.

All is not lost for Ireland, however. With a little assistance from Cyprus who amazingly beat Bulgaria 4-1 (Dimitar Berbatov getting the goal for his team), Giovanni Trapattoni's men are now assured of a play-off place, if not a place in the Finals.

Germany, hosts last time around, showed they hadn't forgotten how to qualify the hard way when they beat Russia 1-0 in Moscow. Aiming to protect their record of never having been beaten in a World Cup qualifier away from home, the Germans were matched stride for stride by the Russians - the only other realistic qualifier from Group 4. In the end, a 35th minute goal from Miroslav Klose proved enough to send the Germans through and the Russians into the play-offs.

In Group 1, a goal from Jakob Poulsen eleven minutes from time gave Denmark a 1-0 win over Sweden and assured the Danes of a place at World Cup 2010. Sweden's defeat means they slip to third place in the group after Portugal moved up to second on the back of a 3-0 win over Hungary. Cristiano Ronaldo picked up an ankle injury in the match and looks set to miss their vital last match against Malta which they'll need to win to confirm a place in the play-offs.

Serbia are the other surprise qualifier from Europe. They're confirmed as Group 7 champions after a 5-0 thumping of Romania while France took their place in the play-offs by beating the Faroe Islands by the same scoreline. Andre-Pierre Gignac of Toulouse scored two of the goals, the others coming courtesy of Karim Benzema, William Gallas and Nicolas Anelka.

Elsewhere, Slovenia put Slovakia's party celebrations on hold in Group 3 by beating the leaders 2-0. With the Czech Republic doing likewise against Poland, it means Slovakia are assured of a play-off spot at the very least while the Czechs must beat Northern Ireland in their last match and hope Slovenia lose to San Marino if they're to go through. 'Unlikely' doesn't even come close.

Switzerland and Greece maintained positions one and two in Group 2 having won their respective games at the weekend. The Swiss cruised to a 3-0 victory over Luxembourg and the Greeks smashed Latvia 5-2 (four of their goals coming from Bayer Leverkusen striker Theofanis Gekas). Israel moved up to third in the group after beating Moldova 3-1, which effectively snuffs out any chance the Latvians have of qualifying in realistic terms.

All of that means Switzerland will get at least a play-off place although a draw against Israel in their last match will secure automatic qualification. If the Swiss lose and Greece beat Luxembourg, the Greeks will take top spot instead. We could go on talking about the numerous permutations, but needless to say a defeat for Israel will see their chances of qualifying end right there and then.

The remaining news from Saturday's action concerns teams aiming for play-off places. Ukraine's 1-0 defeat over England in Group 6 puts them in the best position for securing second spot with only a win against Andorra on Wednesday needed to stop Croatia getting it instead. In Group 5, however, Turkey lost the chance to get a play-off place after a 2-0 defeat away to Belgium. Second place instead goes to Bosnia-Herzegovina who beat Estonia 2-0 in Tallinn.

Full results and tables available here. More from the weekend's World Cup qualifiers coming soon...

World Cup Round-up (September 9 2009)

This Wednesday was a busy match day where the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers were concerned, so let's take a quick look at all the important news from around the globe...

Europe

And where better to start (from our point of view) than with news that England have qualified for their 13th World Cup Finals. Their 5-1 victory over Croatia not only took the aggregate score over the two games to 9-2, but also gives England a chance of being one of the few teams in the modern era to qualify with a 100% win record. Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard each picked up two goals with Wayne Rooney adding one of his own to secure a fourth successive Finals for the Three Lions.

Also qualifying from the European section are the European champions Spain who beat Estonia 3-0. Cesc Fabregas got his name on the scoresheet with the first of his team's goals, and the result means Spain also maintain their 100% record in Group 5.

Elsewhere, in Group 3 Slovakia know that a win in either of their two remaining games will be enough to see them through to South Africa next year. A convincing 2-0 win in Belfast now puts them within touching distance of a place at the Finals while Northern Ireland must hope that a win over the Czechs and other results going their way next month will help them get through too.

It's a similar story in Group 7 where Serbia now require a win in their final pair of games to go through, following a 1-1 draw against France on Wednesday. France looks likely to go through as runners-up although Austria could mathematically catch them up yet. Ironically both Austria and the French will face each other on the final match day in a month's time.

Italy also look likely to go through as winners of Group 8. They now have a four point lead over the Republic of Ireland having beaten Bulgaria 2-0. Fabio Grosso and Vincenzo Iaquinta were on hand to seal all three points and give the Irish a fighting chance of going through in second after Bulgaria were left five points behind Trappatoni's team with only six remaining.

Portugal's chances of going through look slightly better after they beat Hungary 1-0 in Budapest, but they're still only third in the table – level on points with Hungary and two points adrift of Sweden in second. Sweden's 1-0 win over Malta meant they're now three points behind the leaders Denmark.

While Scotland lost 1-0 to the Netherlands (thereby confirming their absence from next year's World Cup), Russia and Germany both won their games in Group 4 to ensure a thrilling climax is on the cards to decide who wins that group. Germany currently lead the Russians by a single point and both teams play each other on October 10th in Moscow, a match which will determine who gains automatic qualification and who enters the play-off stages.

South America

What were slight concerns last weekend are now full-blown worries for Diego Maradona, his team and the many thousands of Argentinean football fans after a 1-0 defeat to Paraguay.

Argentina's away form continues to elude them after Nelson Valdez grabbed the decisive goal 27 minutes into the game. It means Argentina have now lost four of their last five qualifiers and a slip to fifth spot in the table – and as many of you will know, the team that finishes fifth will go into a play-off with the fourth-best team in North and Central America. Paraguay, meanwhile, go up to second in the group and are now certain of their place in the Finals.

While Argentina laboured in vain, Brazil (who have already qualified) romped to a 4-2 over Chile who slip to third. The game featured two hat-tricks – one on each side – from Nilmar and Humberto Suazo, and despite the defeat, Chile can still qualify if they can pick up one more point in their last two games against Colombia and Ecuador.

Speaking of the latter, Ecuador got themselves into prime position by going up to fourth in the table after a 3-1 win in Bolivia. With Colombia losing by the same scoreline in Uruguay and Venezuela also winning 3-1 at home to Peru, it'll be any one from five that takes the decisive play-off spot when the competition ends next month.

North and Central America

...and it could be Costa Rica that they'll end up playing after another defeat for Rodrigo Kenton's men. Somewhat surprisingly it was lowly El Salvador who handed out a 1-0 injury time win to Costa Rica which leaves them in fourth place behind Honduras who lost 1-0 to Mexico. Cuauhtemoc Blanco's 76th minute penalty lifts his side up to second place, a point behind leaders USA and one in front of the Hondurans.

In yet another 1-0 scoreline, the US beat Trinidad and Tobago in Port of Spain. Ricardo Clark's 30-yard swerving shot was the difference between the two teams and secured the Americans a first away win in the competition since September 2008.

The penultimate round of games sees USA travel to Honduras while Mexico play host to El Salvador and Trinidad and Tobago pay a visit to Costa Rica.

Asia

The eagerly anticipated second leg of the Asian play-off took place on Wednesday and after Bahrain and Saudi Arabia could only draw 0-0 at the weekend, the advantage always looked to be with the latter on home soil for the rematch.

Ultimately, the opposite turned out to be true – dramatically so. With 90 minutes on the clock, the score stood at 1-1, thereby giving an away goal advantage to Bahrain. Just a minute into stoppage time, however, Hamad Al Montashari popped up to restore Saudi Arabia's lead as the home crowd went wild.

Sadly for them, there was another two minutes left to play – enough time for Bahrain to win a corner which substitute Ismail Abdullatif headed in to end the game at 2-2. The away goals victory means Saudi Arabia fail to qualify for the World Cup Finals for the first time since 1990 while Bahrain now head for another play-off – this time against Oceania champions New Zealand – the first leg of which will be on October 10th in Bahrain.

Africa

Finally to Africa where there was just one game on Wednesday. In Group A, Cameroon beat Gabon 2-1 (Samuel Eto'o scoring his side's second) to go top of the group by a single point ahead of the Gabonese.

World Cup Round-up: Part 4 - Africa

The first of the five African qualifiers for World Cup 2010 is now known after Ghana got the vital three points they needed in their 2-0 win over Sudan yesterday.

The Ghanaians reached their second successive Finals with a fourth straight win to put them out of reach of second placed Mali in Group D. Sulley Muntari and Michael Essien got the goals in another competent display for the Black Stars, and with Mali only able to draw 1-1 earlier in the day against Benin, Ghana now find themselves seven points clear at the top with only two games remaining.

The next team to reach the Finals should be Ivory Coast who, in real-world terms, are already there but for the technicality of a sizeable goal difference advantage. The Elephants increased their lead at the top of Group E to six points with a 5-0 thrashing of Burkino Faso on Saturday. Didier Drogba picked up two of the goals with Barcelona's Yaya Toure and Galatasaray's new signing Kader Keita getting one each.

That result means Burkino Faso have to win both their last two remaining games and hope that Ivory Coast lose theirs - and they have to bridge a goal difference of fifteen if they're to stand any chance of making it to South Africa next year. Don't hold your breath, folks…

Group A - the Group of Death where this qualifying campaign's concerned - remains wide open after Cameroon picked up their first win of the final round. Samuel Eto'o picked up his seventh goal of the qualifying stages as his side beat Gabon 2-0 at the weekend, and the two teams face each other again this Wednesday in a match Gabon must win to keep alive their chances in the group.

Elsewhere, Togo were denied their second win of the competition thanks to a late, late goal from QPR and Morocco's Adel Taarabt. The 1-1 scoreline means Morocco are bottom of the Group A table, one point behind Cameroon who have a game in hand, and they in turn are one point behind Togo in second who in turn are one point behind Gabon at the top. Hope you followed all that…

In Group B, the top two teams - Nigeria and Tunisia - fought out a 2-2 draw to leave things pretty much as you were after Mozambique got themselves off the bottom of the table with a 1-0 win over Kenya.

Similarly in Group C, the top two remained in situ as leaders Algeria beat Zambia 1-0 and Egypt defeated Rwanda by the same scoreline. Egypt stay three points behind Algeria as the two teams head for a big showdown against each other in mid-November which Egypt will have to win by a healthy score if they're to reach the Finals.

Full results and standings from the African qualifying zone available here.

World Cup Round-Up: Part 3 - CONCACAF / Asia

CONCACAF

In the North and Central American hexagonal, the top four teams appear to be decided - the question now is which three will gain the automatic qualification places?

The group table has an unfamiliar look with Honduras in top spot, level on thirteen points with the United States. Mexico have climbed to third after their disastrous start and are now a point behind the leaders, level on points with Costa Rica in fourth. A further seven points behind are El Salvador (5th) and Trinidad and Tobago (6th) who can now consider their campaigns all but over.

In the weekend matches, Honduras scored four for the second successive game, this time beating Trinidad & Tobago who could only manage one consolation goal five minutes from the end. Honduran stalwart Carlos Pavon took his international tally to 55 with two goals inside the first half hour. Amado Guevara and David Suazo added the other two in the second half to round off a comfortable win for Honduras who look a sure fire bet to reach the World Cup Finals for the first time since 1982.

The US team had to come from a goal down to beat El Salvador 2-1 in Utah on Sunday. Christian Castillo put the visitors in front just after half an hour had passed with a header that caught Tim Howard well off his line, but the hosts were back in the game just before half time. Clint Dempsey's diving header brilliantly converted Landon Donovan's free kick and it was the same source and set play that gave Hull City's Jozy Altidore the chance to head home in stoppage time at the end of the game.

Finally in San Jose, Mexico continued their amazing post-Sven transformation with a 3-0 win against Costa Rica. Giovani Dos Santos was the key man for the Mexicans following his stunning goal at the end of the first half before setting up Guillermo Franco and Andres Guardado in the second.

So the top four will now battle out a nervy last three fixtures in a bid to avoid fourth spot in the table which will lead to a play-off match against the fifth-best team in South America. This Wednesday's fixtures see El Salvador play host to Costa Rica, while the USA travel to Trinidad and Tobago and Mexico host Honduras.

Full results and standings from the CONCACAF qualifying zone available here.

Asia

While the four automatic qualifiers for South Africa 2010 are already known in Asia, there is a chance for one more team to go through via a play-off against the Oceania winners, New Zealand.

The team that gets to play them will be either Bahrain or Saudi Arabia who played the first leg of their own play-off on Saturday. The match in Manama finished goalless and was notable for Bahrain's inability to convert the many chances they had and Saudi Arabia's apparent willingness to play for a draw.

With the return leg due to be played in Riyadh on Wednesday, the Saudis will favour their chances of winning in front of a home crowd, but they'll have to do so without their star striker Naif Hazazi who is out for six months with a serious injury.

To be honest, we're not sure if the away goal rule will apply to this week's match, but if it does, Bahrain might be the better bet based on their lively performance on Saturday. That said, they too are desperately in need of someone up front that can put the ball in the net, so don't be surprised if penalties are called for on Wednesday.

World Cup Round-Up: Part 2 - South America

Brazil became the seventh team to book their place at the World Cup Finals next year with a convincing 3-1 win over Argentina yesterday.

Diego Maradona's team started off the game purposefully, roared on by the fervent Rosario crowd, but Brazil exposed their defensive frailties with two goals in a six-minute spell mid-way through the first half.

The first goal came from an Elano free kick which found Luisao unmarked and in acres of space. It would have been churlish of him not to take advantage of such poor marking in the box, and so he headed in perfectly to give the visitors the lead on 24 minutes.

Shortly after, another free kick gave Luis Fabiano the chance to score from close range as Argentina failed to clear a number of scrambled efforts in front of their goal. Into the second half, Argentina pressed on for a goal and with 66 minutes on the clock they got one courtesy of a superb long-range shot from Napoli's Jesus Datolo, but their joy would be short-lived.

Just two minutes later, Luis Fabiano scored his second and Brazil's third which effectively snuffed out any momentum the tiring Argentineans had gained. Brazil ran out as comfortable winners - surprisingly so in many ways - and became the first team to qualify from South America.

It was only Argentina's second ever home defeat in World Cup qualifying and they remain fourth in the group. (Only the top four are certain of going through to South Africa while fifth place guarantees a play-off against the fourth-best team from the CONCACAF region.) Though it's unlikely that Argentina will miss out on a place in the finals, their poor away form could give them reason to sweat all the way to the bitter end, and Maradona will be more than well aware of that.

Argentina's place looks all the more precarious as they're now five points adrift of Paraguay in third who returned to form with a 1-0 win over lowly Bolivia. Slavador Cabanas' penalty at the end of the first half proved to be the only high point for the home side, but it does mean that a win over Argentina on Wednesday will give Paraguay a golden ticket to the Finals next year too.

Chile remain in second place despite surprisingly failing to beat Venezuela in Santiago yesterday. Having taken the lead after 10 minutes through Bayer Leverkusen's Arturo Vidal, Venezuela hit back with two goals of their own in the closing exchanges of the first half. A left-footed drive from Rodrigo Millar ensured Chile had a share of the points on the night, but they'll be looking to improve when they meet Brazil on Wednesday.

Uruguay's shock 1-0 defeat to bottom-placed Peru means they now slip to seventh after Colombia beat Ecuador 2-0 to go sixth. Both Colombia's goals came in the last ten minutes and means they've now taken six points from the last six. A last ditch run of form may prove enough to catch Ecuador and Uruguay who have both seen their great starts fritter away, however another three points against Chile this week will be the litmus test of whether then can genuinely maintain their current head of steam.

Full results and standings from the South American qualifying zone available here.

World Cup Round-Up: Part 1 - Europe

As the World Cup qualifiers creep tantalisingly towards their conclusion, you can sense the growing excitement as teams from around the world step up their campaigns or crack under the pressure.

Yesterday's matches threw up some fascinating results, so let's take a check on the movers and shakers in the race for South Africa 2010.

Europe

Spain all but sealed their place in the finals last night with a 5-0 thrashing of Belgium in Group 5. It was one-way traffic throughout in La Coruna and the Spaniards could have had plenty more goals besides if it weren't for some poor finishing, not to mention some good goalkeeping on the part of Jean-François Gillet in the Belgian goal.

In fact it was Gillet who saved a David Villa penalty in the 22nd minute, but that was a rare high point for Belgium who capitulated in no uncertain terms under the weight of a relentless attack by the European champions.

The damage was done in the opening exchanges of the second half when Villa and Gerard Pique added two to David Silva's goal just before the break, but Silva and Villa went on to pick up a second goal each later in the half to complete a comprehensive win for Spain.

If Turkey can grab at least a draw against second-placed Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday, Vicente Del Bosque's side will know that a win at home to Estonia later in the evening will secure their spot in the Finals. You'd have to say that only the most unforeseen of disasters will prevent that happening now that Spain have won their seventh straight win in the qualifying competition.

In Group 3, Northern Ireland picked up a vital point in their 1-1 draw away to Poland last night. Nigel Worthington's men remain in second spot, just two points behind leaders Slovakia but crucially three points ahead of Poland and Slovenia with only a few games left to play. Northern Ireland looked to be taking all three points after Kyle Lafferty's well taken goal went in after 37 minutes, but somewhat under the cosh they conceded an equaliser with ten minutes remaining through Mariusz Lewandowski.

Slovakia and the Czech Republic played out a 2-2 draw yesterday, a result which leaves the Czechs fifth in their group and needing to win all three of their remaining games if they're to qualify. Northern Ireland, meanwhile, play Slovakia on Wednesday knowing that a win will put them top of the table with one game remaining.

In Group 1, Portugal returned to their faltering ways with a frustrating 1-1 draw against Denmark. Brazilian-born Liedson snatched the vital equaliser for Portugal with four minutes remaining after Arsenal's Nicklas Bendtner had put the Danes in front just before half time. Were it not for that, the Portuguese would be all but out of the running for a place in the finals. As it is, they now need to pick up at least four points from their next two games - both against Hungary - before ending their campaign with what should be a win at home to Malta in mid-October.

Denmark are now four points clear of the chasing pack, led by Hungary who lost 2-1 at home to third-placed Sweden.

In Group 4, Russia virtually cemented their spot as one of the best runners-up by easily beating Liechtenstein 3-0 - Tottenham's Roman Pavlyuchenko bagging a brace in the process. Russia remain in second place, five points ahead of Finland with three games left to play.

The race for the runners-up spot behind England in Group 6 is hotting up nicely after Croatia could only scrape a 1-0 win at home to Belarus while Ukraine thrashed Andorra 5-0. Andriy Shevchenko was one of three players to score from the penalty spot in Kiev and with a game in hand, that result means Croatia will need a favourable result against England on Wednesday just to stand a chance of finishing second in the group.

The Republic of Ireland remain unbeaten in Group 8 after a nervy 2-1 win in Cyprus. Kevin Doyle's fifth-minute strike was equalised on the half-hour mark, but it wasn't until Robbie Keane grabbed Ireland's second seven minutes from time that could think about picking up all three points.

Italy remain top of the group, one point ahead of the Irish and with a game in hand, following their scrappy 2-0 win in Georgia. Italy play host to third-placed Bulgaria on Wednesday while Ireland play their penultimate game at home to the Italians on October 10th. Though the Irish have a five point lead over Bulgaria, we're inclined to think that Bulgaria could pick up the points they need in their remaining games. That means Ireland's home tie against Montenegro on October 14th will be the one Trappatoni's men will really need to win, unless they can fashion a remarkable win over Italy, that is.

Elsewhere, Scotland picked up a valuable 2-0 win over Macedonia in Group 9 to keep alive their slim hopes of a place in South Africa. Scott Brown and James McFadden were on hand to secure the points for the Scots who were aided by the inability of challengers Norway to beat Iceland in their 1-1 draw in Reykjavik.

Despite their win, Scotland know their chances of qualifying could will be given a huge boost by beating the Netherlands in their last match on Wednesday. The Dutch are one of the small handful of teams to have already qualified - a fact the Scots will hope contributes to their hosts putting in a less than comprehensive performance this week.

Finally, the French suffered a setback last night as they could only muster a 1-1 draw at home to Romania in Group 7. Thierry Henry put France ahead on 48 minutes but a Julien Escude own goal eight minutes later leaves Raymond Domenech's side four points adrift of group leaders Serbia and four ahead of third-placed Austria. France face both sides in their last three games and will need to play better than they did yesterday if they're to qualify.

Full results and standings from the Europe qualifying zone available here.

UEFA Champions League Qualifiers Round Up

The road to the Champions League group stages is long and even more treacherous than Alberto Contador on the mountain stages of the Tour de France.

Of course some clubs are not required to join that road until it becomes a lot wider with tarmac, cat's eyes and those flashing signs warning you against bottle necks at Junction 11. Right now however, we are still at that dusty track stage of the competition where the title winners of leagues ranked between 50 and 53 compete in a two legged round with the reward of a place in the coveted third qualifying round at stake. You'd get pretty long odds on a lot of these teams making it to the big show so let's enjoy them while we can.

Despite what you might think, there are some pretty big names in this round. Last year's heroic underdogs BATE Borisov entered the competition at this stage. They would have made a bob or two from last season's exploits and if they've invested wisely the Belorussians will be confident that they can make a swift return. BATE eased their way past FC Makedonija Skopje from Macedonia 4-0 on aggregate.

Serbian giants Partizan Belgrade may also have their eye on trips to Turin or Madrid later in the year. They are comfortably through after a stonking 12-0 victory over two legs. The second leg finished 8-0 (Cleo scored a hat-trick) and was their biggest ever win in European football. All of which sounds really impressive until you realise that their opponents were Welsh champions Rhyl. Still, you can only beat what's in front of you I suppose.

Winners of the Best Club Name of the Round competition (if there were such a thing) are the Molodovan champions FC Sheriff of Tiraspol. In fact, they are early favorites for the same award in the next round since Inter Turku of Finland failed to shoot the Sheriff, losing out 2-0.

Another recent groupie are Levski of Sofia who, on paper, shouldn't have broken a sweat against the Andorran champions Sant Julia. And indeed they didn't on grass either. 9-0 was the final score. Maryan Ognyanov bagged a brace in the second leg which ended 5-0.

The Slovakian champions Slovan Bratislava are through after beating the Bosnians, Zrinjski. It finished 4-1 overall but Bratislava were a goal down after the first leg and had to pull out some stops to get through. Goals from Juraj Helenar and Gaucho settled the nerves after in the first 20 minutes.

There were some close games. Poland's Wisla Krakow could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to Levadia of Estonia in the first leg. The Tallinn club not only held on but manged a last minute winner from Vladislav Ivanov to render the away goal redundant and see the Estonians through.

Another nail-biter was in Kalmar, Sweden, where the Hungarians Debrecen squeaked through. They won the first leg 2-0 with goals by Jozsef Varga and Zoltan Kiss. Varga was on target in the second leg with a precious away goal. However Kalmar stormed back with three goals. It was tense but the Magyars hung on.

While the Swedes crashed out, their neighbours in Denmark are laughing up their sleeves after FC Kobenhavn progressed. Ndoye and Almeida were the goalscoring heroes over the two games for FCK as they demolished Mogren 12 (twelve) - 0.

Fans of rampant commercialism in football will be as delighted as the enemies of romance to hear that Red Bull Salzburg narrowly progressed to the next round at the expense of Bohemians.

The Irish club are strapped for cash and could really use a decent European run. It looked really good for them too after holding the Austrian giants to a 1-1 draw in Salzburg. It was all back to Dublin for the second leg and Bohs almost made it to a second round tie against Dinamo Zagreb. Tragically for them, Patrik Jezek scored for Salzburg with only three minutes on the clock. It finished 2-1 on aggregate. Gutted.

The third qualifying round takes place at the end of the month. This round features the runners-up from Scotland, Holland, Greece, Czech Republic and so on. SPAOTP will be sure to let you know what happens.

Full results are here. Third Qualifying round is here. The story of Red Bull/Austria-Salzburg is here.

World Cup 2010 Qualifying Report: Asia

Group 2

North Korea have become the fourth and final team from Asia to win an automatic qualification spot for World Cup 2010.

The North Koreans went into yesterday’s final round of matches in Group 2 already occupying second place behind South Korea and only needed a draw to confirm their place in South Africa next year.

After a competitive battle in near 40 degree heat, the Saudis were unable use their home advantage to break down a resolute North Korean defence and the game finished 0-0.

That draw means North Korea have confirmed only their second ever qualification to the World Cup Finals, the previous occasion being the famous campaign of 1966 which featured a famous win over Italy and an exciting 5-3 defeat against Portugal.

As for Saudi Arabia, they finish in third place which confirms their place in the play-off against the third-place team in Group 1, Bahrain. The winner of that match will go on to play Oceania champions New Zealand later in the year for a place in the Finals.

Iran started the day knowing that a win over South Korea in Seoul would have given them a great chance of taking second spot in the group but they could only draw 1-1. The Iranians, to their credit, took the lead after 52 minutes thanks to Masoud Shojaei but they struggled to extend their lead and when Park Ji Sung equalised with eight minutes remaining, they had little left to offer.

The North Koreans consequently went into their match knowing a draw would be good enough for them, and as Saudi coach Jose Peseiro said “[they] just came here to bag one point, and they did.”

So the North Koreans become the sixth team on the list for South Africa 2010 and complete a marvellous achievement in their country’s sporting history. Congratulations to them…

Group 1

Meanwhile in the altogether calmer waters of Group 1, the focus was also on third place. Australia and Japan had already taken the automatic qualification places, but it was up to Bahrain (placed third going into yesterday’s games) to earn the draw they need to enter the inter-group play-off.

That they did by beating bottom-of-the-group Uzbekistan 1-0 in Manama. Mahmood Abdulrahman’s 74th-minute strike came after an evenly balanced and tense opening to the game, but in truth the Uzbekis had offered little in the way of decent chances and were unable to find an equaliser when it mattered.

The margin of victory, though small, was good enough to see Bahrain through to a September play-off against previous Finalists Saudi Arabia and it looks to be a tough match to call. More news on that in a few months time.

Also for the record, Australia and Japan played in Melbourne yesterday. The match ended as a 2-1 win for the Aussies, both goals coming from Everton’s Tim Cahill in the second half after Tulio Tanaka had given Japan the lead after 39 minutes.

World Cup 2010 Qualifying Round-up

South America

Brazil and Paraguay continue to travel in opposite directions following the former's 2-1 win over the latter in Recife yesterday.

With heavy rain pouring down constantly throughout, Salvador Cabanas managed to put the away side in front from a deflected free kick after 25 minutes but Robinho volleyed in an equaliser just before half time. Four minutes into the second half, former Lyon striker Nilmar scrambled in a second and that's the way it ended.

Brazil therefore stay top of the qualifying group by a single point, but Paraguay slip to third after Chile notched up another impressive win, 4-0 at home to Bolivia. A brace from Udinese striker Alexis Sanchez and one each from Jean Beausejour and Marco Estrada mean Marcelo Bielsa's side are now second in the group, two points ahead of the Paraguayans.

And there was a big shock in Quito where Argentina crashed to a 2-0 defeat against Ecuador. "They didn't do anything in the first half," said coach Diego Maradona. "In the second half, they got a couple of rebounds and they scored two goals. If we had scored a goal, it would have finished the game off." The trouble for Argentina was that they didn't - Carlos Tevez had a penalty saved in the first half and Lionel Messi was also guilty of missing some decent chances.

Walter Ayovi, however, was not nearly so wasteful as he struck a brilliant 25-yard effort into the top right-hand corner with 18 minutes remaining. When Pablo Palacios added a second eleven minutes later, it was game over for Argentina.



That win lifts Ecuador up to fifth place above Uruguay who drew 2-2 with Venezuela. Colombia are seventh in the table after a 1-0 win over Peru who suffered their eighth straight defeat in qualifying.

Europe

England made it seven wins out of seven following a comfortable 6-0 defeat of Andorra at Wembley last night. Wayne Rooney and Jermaine Defoe provided two goals each while Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch picked up one apiece to leave England in with a chance of qualifying from Group 6 if they beat Croatia at Wembley in September.

Also in the same group, Ukraine beat Kazakhstan 2-1 thanks to two goals from Sergiy 'Cliff' Nazarenko. Kazakhstan had taken the lead after 19 minutes when Tanat Nusserbayev headed in but the Ukrainians (without star player and captain Andriy Shevchenko) battled back to go level on points with Croatia in third place.

In Group 4, Russia put the pressure back on leaders Germany with a convincing 3-0 win over Finland in Helsinki. With Guus Hiddink now devoid of any Chelsea commitments, his concentration was placed squarely on the Russian national team who are now just a point behind the Germans thanks to two goals from Dynamo Moscow forward Aleksandr Kerzhakov and one from Konstantin Zyrianov.

Elsewhere Sweden got their qualifying campaign back on track with a 4-0 win over Malta in Gothenburg. Kim Kallstrom and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were among the scorers as the Swedes drew level on points with Portugal in Group 1. In addition, the Dutch, who have already qualified from Group 9, reaffirmed their top billing with a 2-0 win at home to Norway while Macedonia beat Iceland 2-0 - both of which will give the Scots a little hope of getting the play-off berth in their group.

North and Central America

Javier Aguirre can finally celebrate a win for his Mexican side after a 2-1 victory at home to Trinidad and Tobago, but they didn't find it easy. Guillermo Franco scored after just one minute for El Tri, but with several chances missed the Soca Warriors equalised through Hayden Tinto at the end of the first half.



Three minutes into the second half, Oscar Rojas regained the lead for Mexico with a long-range effort and hung on uneasily for the win, although a return to third place in the group was prevented by a Honduran victory over El Salvador.

Carlos Pavon, Honduras' all-time leading scorer and star striker, hit the winning goal with a half-volley after just thirteen minutes in a bad tempered game that saw seven players receiving a yellow card. The win, however, means Honduras move up to third place in the hexagonal prior to an altogether more tricky game at home to group leaders Costa Rica in August. Also playing in Gameweek 6 are the United States who travel to Mexico and El Salvador who go to Trinidad and Tobago.

Asia

With three of the four automatic qualification places decided, the main focus in Asia now switches to Group 2 where the race for the remaining automatic spot is hotting up nicely.

While second-placed North Korea sat out yesterday's matches, Saudi Arabia drew level with them on points having fought out a tough 0-0 draw with South Korea. Iran picked up a vital 1-0 win over the UAE, who thus far have managed just one point from the 24 available, but their push for an automatic promotion place may have been left too late.

With North Korea and Saudi Arabia on 11 points and Iran on 10, Iran must beat South Korea in their final match next Wednesday and hope that Saudi Arabia and North Korea draw in order to go through. Anything less than a win for Iran will see their chance of gaining the third place play-off spot severely limited.

In Group 1, Bahrain lost 2-0 to Australia yesterday but remain on course for a play-off after Qatar could only draw 1-1 in Japan. That means Bahrain need only a draw in their final match against bottom-placed Uzbekistan next Wednesday to meet the team finishing third in Group 2.

The two-legged play-off for both of the third-placed teams will take place in early September and the winner of that will go on to play New Zealand in a further play-off nearer the end of the year.