Weekend TV Preview: 14-21 November 2009

Saturday 21st November

11:00 Rubin Kazan v Zenith St Petersburg, Russian Premier Liga, ESPN
What better way to return to club football than by watching a potential domestic title decider? Yep, it's starting to get a bit parky in Russia and this is the penultimate round of the season. Rubin require a win against third placed Zenit to put the Championship beyond Spartak and claim their second successive crown.

12:45 Liverpool v Manchester City, Barclays Premier League, Sky Sports 1/HD1
And once the action in the Motherland is over, switch over to Google Botherers Sports 1 who are interrupting their usual schedule of pro-video evidence propaganda for a football match. And it's a huge match in terms of the fight to finish in that final Champions League spot. City may not have lost in seven matches but they've drawn their last five and the pressure is on Mark Hughes. Liverpool are there for the taking too.

17:20 Ipswich Town v Sheffield Wednesday, Championship, Sky Sports 1/HD1
Two teams whose respective clubs have money in the bank but are having trouble getting to grips with this most fractious of leagues. Roy Keane may win the Most Murderous Stare Competition but is having trouble winning football matches. Don't tell him I said that though as he's bigger than me.

17:30 Manchester Utd v Everton, Barclays Premier League, ESPN/HD
Thought I'd double-check the head-to-head on these two in recent years and I was right. United pretty much own this fixture. The last time Everton took so much as a point at Old Trafford was in 2004. However, The Toffees did beat United at Wembley the last time they met so perhaps... Nah who am I kidding? Worth watching if your a supporter otherwise go ahead and watch something else. The Dortmund v Mainz game will be somewhere on the Internets.

18:55 Real Madrid v Racing Santander, La Liga, Sky Sports 2/HD2
Second meets fourth from bottom. Expect a home win and a lot of wank about Cristiano Ronaldo.

19:45 Fiorentina v Parma, Serie A, ESPN
La Viola can overhaul Juventus with a win but have a massive game against Lyon during the week. They'll be grateful af the extra day's preparation, no doubt.

21:00 Athletic Bilbao v Barcelona, La Liga, Sky Sports 2/HD2
This is a bit more like it. A lively atmosphere is in store for the visit of the winners of everything last season. Bilbao are in eighth and Barca have the Champions League on their minds.

Sunday 22nd November

12:30 Dundee Utd v Celtic, Scottish Premier League, ESPN/HD
We keep hearing that the financial constraints of Rangers and Celtic are making Scottish football interesting. Yet a quick glance at the table reveals that the Old Firm are still at the top. It would be great if the home supporters unfurled a huge banner before the match saying "Don't forget, you're here forever."

13:30 Bolton Wanderers v Blackburn Rovers, Barclays Premier League, Sky Sports 1/HD1
Definitely falls into the 'Not Quite As Dull As It Looks' category. A rip-snorting local derby featuring Allardyce versus a re-imagined version of Allardyce. Sort of like Escape From New York v Escape From LA. Which team will be New York? Watch and find out.



16:00 Stoke City v Portsmouth, Barclays Premier League, Sky Sports 1/HD1
Another deceptively intriguing match. Both teams have bags of commitment and the away side will try to take it to Stoke for fear of being bullied. Having said that, if Stoke play with the sort of ambition they lacked at Hull two weekends ago this could be a walk over. Be interesting to see if Tuncay makes an appearance.

16:30 Hamburg v Bochum, Bundesliga, ESPN
Both teams are pretty awful. Hamburg's injury problems are hampering their progress while Bochum's lack of good players is sending them down with the Hertha.

17:55 Malaga v Zaragoza, La Liga, Sky Sports 2/HD2
Jermaine Does Malaga sounds like a Seventies soft porn movie but is in fact a football match. I'll leave you to decide which you'd rather watch.

19:45 Juventus v Udinese, Serie A, ESPN
Assuming Fiorentina take the points on Saturday, Juve will need to win this one to regain second spot. Udinese are looking at a fairly meaningless season.

01:30 (Monday morning) LA Galaxy v Real Salt Lake, MLS Cup Final, ESPN
The final game of the Major League Soccer ends in a grand final. Say what you like about the quality and interest of football in the US but all tickets are sold and an a lively atmosphere awaits the teams at Seattle's Qwest Field. The Galaxy are a poor side being carried by the excellent Landon Donovan and David Beckham. Real Salt Lake are a more solid if unspectacular unit who, much like New York last year, are surprise entrants in the Final. Unlike NY, they're a better team and the outcome of this match is not nailed on by any means. You'll be able to read all about this match in Chris Nee's excellent Football Americana on this very website.

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.

The SFA and the search for the next manager of Scotland

Now that the bunting has been torn down from between the tenements and the houses, and the last of the party revellers bundled into a taxi for the long ride home, the mandarins at the SFA find themselves in a situation that gets less unique with every tournament that passes Scottish football by.

Like many other blogs and newspapers, we published our own list of candidates yesterday over at Inside Left. Our list is fairly standard in that it contains the same names that appear on most other lists, and when we published it yesterday, we felt confident that whoever takes over at the helm will probably feature on our hit parade.

But the SFA should take a long, hard look in the mirror before they take a look at the CV’s.

In an ideal world, and in a recession when finding a job is not the easiest of challenges, the Scotland job should be one of those ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunities. It comes with a few perks. There’s a nice compensation package, travel to exotic locations and the opportunity to work with some of the brightest talents (sic) in the Scottish game.

In reality however, finding someone who is prepared to work with a limited talent pool and a governing body whose organisational skills couldn’t arrange a ride in a brothel is like the search for a piece of hay in a giant stack of needles.

Between Berti Vogts and now George Burley, the position of national manager has become, if you’ll excuse the oft-quoted cliche these last few days, a poisoned chalice. Constantly pilloried by the press and often left in the dark or the lurch by the SFA, who’d want to take this job on?

The job requires someone who can take on the suits at the SFA and who is willing to deal with the politics and Machiavellian machinations all the way up the greasy pole. Someone with a big gob and a tough skin. Unfortunately, the only candidate we can think of with the balls to pull that off, Graeme Souness, has put himself out of the running.

At a time when Scottish football is at a crossroads, the new manager needs to be an individual who has the vision and the clout to force the SFA to make changes needed to get the national team back on the road to respectability. And that is something that goes beyond picking the 22-man squad for every tournament – it’s about changing the youth setup, it’s about training and supporting a raft of new coaches to be deployed in schools and clubs around the country, it’s about getting the funds to improve the facilities at every club to foster a culture of ambition and success.

Does such a candidate exist? And would we be able to afford them?

The SFA is not a rich organisation, so the salary on offer to the lucky candidate is going to discount most of the names who currently ply their trade south of the border and who have appeared on some lists of successors: David Moyes, Roy Hodgson, Billie Davies, Alan Irvine and Steve Clarke, to name but a few.

Aside from the fact that none of these people would ever give up a relatively successful career in leagues that offer more challenge than the Scotland job would ever do, the amount of money we’d have to pay them to even join up would be prohibitive. The biscuit tin at the SFA is still very much in existence.

So where does that leave us?

It leaves us with candidates who certainly carry a degree of gravitas, and who, more importantly wont ask for too much money. Jim Jefferies can’t be on a whole lot, John Collins, Darren Ferguson and Jimmy Calderwood are all on the dole, so could be brought in relatively cheaply. Walter Smith probably doesn’t need the money anyway.

You then have to ask the question “would I want these people managing my squad?“.

Jim Jefferies has operated for years at a club with little funds or talent yet he’s been able to keep Kilmarnock in the league (just, on some occasions). Like Walter Smith, he’s a safe pair of hands, someone to steady the ship without really setting the heather alight.

John Collins would certainly keep the team fit, but his management skills leave a lot to be desired. He survived a mutiny during his time at Easter Road (they where not too happy with his constant team and formation changes), suggesting perhaps that his tactical nous and man-management qualities are open to question.

Jimmy Calderwood is a man who is often derided for his appearance and questionable media skill, but underneath the orange exterior you’ll find a canny manager who, like Jefferies, has a long track record of getting the best out of a pool of players with limited ability.

Darren ’son of Alex’ Ferguson is, was, an up-and-coming manager who also has experience with crappy squads. He led Peterborough to the Championship before leaving earlier this month after a run of poor results. He clearly has talent, but given the amount of work needed to get the national squad into shape, is he really up to it, even if he has the auldyin on the end of the phone. And would he want to be tainted with the Scotland post at the risk of putting him out of contention for any future English club management jobs?

Mind you, that could also be said for a candidate we see that can fulfill our requirements – Craig Levein.

The Dundee United manager has expressed an interest in the job and is currently doing the sort of thing at Tannadice that, on a broader scale, the Scotland setup requires: investment in youth and an overhaul of the youth academy and total control over all football-related activities. He’s getting results on the pitch with a largely Scottish squad, but would he want to risk the massive kudos he’s built up at United? He’s the bookies favourite, but we see him staying at United for a few more years to finish what he started.

Having thought about the situation for a few days now, I’ve come to the conclusion that while the quality of manager is important, the other issue facing the country is the august body of people who ultimately make the final hire or fire decision.

The Scottish Football Association, an 11-man strong board of cronies and hangers-on are aware changes needs to be made, but are unwilling to give up the cosy lifestyle or to invest the time in changing the very structure that keeps them in power.

This means that whichever candidate we get will more than likely be another meek and mild character, like Burley, who won’t rock the establishment boat too much. This is why you’ll never see Craig Levein get the job, no matter how much he says he wants it, because he would simply demand too much, too soon.

The concept of ‘the buck stops here’ is not one that seems to apply to SFA. For them, the buck stops one level below them. The men responsible for Burley’s appointment, those responsible for keeping him in a job when clearly the man was failing and those responsible for so much of the challenges facing the Scottish game need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and question the value of their own contribution to the national game.

Neither Chairman of the SFA George Peat, whose outbursts about Chris Uwelumo’s miss against Norway where particularly sickening and uncalled for, nor Gordon Smith, our erstwhile Chief Executive whose only contribution has been to change the rules to give Islam Feruz a game for Scotland, have made any real difference to the game north of the border, and both have presided over a period when the national side has become an object of ridicule and embarrassment.

While Burley, his reputation forged at successful spells at Derby, Southampton and Hearts forever damaged by his sacking earlier this week, is busy signing on, the leading lights of the SFA return to work, looking for the next man to carry the can for the institutional failings of the people who run the game.

Good luck to him, whoever it is.

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.