Spain soar, Germany stutter in friendly action

November 19, 2009


Spain underscored their status as World Cup favourites on Wednesday by swatting Austria 5-1 away in an international friendly encounter, David Villa twice on target.

But three-times winners Germany, who Spain beat in the final of Euro 2008, had to rely on a last-gasp goal from Lukas Podolski to secure a 2-2 home draw with Ivory Coast.

Reigning world champions Italy saw a second string side come through 1-0 at home to a Sweden team missing star player Zlatan Ibrahimovic with central defender Giorgio Chiellini netting in Cesena.

While Portugal were coming through their playoff match against Bosnia to sneak through the backdoor into the World Cup finals the team that beat them to automatic qualification, Denmark, had to come from a goal down to beat the United States 3-1 at Aarhus.

Two other qualifiers, Holland and Paraguay, parted goalless in the Netherlands while Serbia ended a 27-match unbeaten South Korea run with striker Nikola Zigic on target with the only goal in their game at Fulham’s Craven Cottage.

African Nations Cup hosts Angola meanwhile parted 0-0 with a Ghana side missing key players Michael Essien, Sulley Muntari and Asamoah Gyan.

Spain endured a tough opening period at the Ernst Happel stadium in Vienna after Jakob Jantscher netted for the Austrians.

But inside three minutes Cesc Fabregas made things all-square and then Villa swooped on 21 minutes and again on the stroke of half-time to make it 3-1 and restore order for the furia roja, the Austrians caving in after the 27th-minute dismissal of Yasin Pehlivan.

Daniel Guiza and Pablo Hernandez scored within a minute of each other ten minutes into the second half as Vicente del Bosque’s fluid side ran away with the game.

“I’m delighted we keep on winning,” said Villa.

Germany’s meeting with Ivory Coast was a much closer affair with Seydoe Doumbia seemingly having won it with a late goal before Podolski, having netted a first-half penalty, struck at the death.

The fans in Gelsenkirchen first paid tribute to Hanover and Germany keeper Robert Enke after his suicide last week which has shocked the country.

“I was happy to be on the pitch at last because before the game our thoughts were with Robert,” said Podolski after Saturday’s Germany-Chile friendly was cancelled out of respect for Enke’s family.

Fans held a minute’s silence before kick-off in honour of Enke, who won his eighth cap in August to help Germany qualify for the finals.

Bremen’s Tim Wiese started in goal and Schalke’s Manuel Neuer took over.

Ivory Coast, who have also qualified for the World Cup, equalised Podolski’s opener when Neuer’s Schalke team-mate Heiko Westermann passed back to him and the 23-year-old goalkeeper made a hash of his clearance.

The ball slammed into the stomach of Arsenal defender Emmanuel Eboue and flew into the net.

Doumbia then made it 2-1 on 85 minutes before Podolski’s rescue act.

PARIS (AFP)

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France, Portugal face WC play-off test of nerve

November 14, 2009


The prospect of a World Cup without Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry will move a step closer if Portugal and France come unstuck in the first leg of their World Cup play-offs on Saturday.

Having failed to secure automatic qualification for the South Africa showpiece, Portugal must overcome Bosnia-Herzegovina while France face a stern test against Giovanni Trapattoni’s rejuvenated Republic of Ireland.

Both France and Portugal, who lost to the French in the 2006 semi-finals, have been hampered by injury, with Les Bleus deprived of the services of Franck Ribery and Portugal missing talismanic captain Ronaldo.

France coach Raymond Domenech, apparently immune to the welter of public criticism which has rained down on him for much of his tenure, insists the French will go through.

“I know my men are ready,” said Domenech, whose side face Ireland in Dublin on Saturday prior to the return leg in Paris next Wednesday.

“Any pressure is internal. If the players don’t feel it inside then there’s something wrong and they have no place here.”

Yet even as Domenech seeks to throw a protective arm around his squad he himself has been squarely in the firing line, coming in for criticism from the Irish and his own countrymen alike.

Ireland defender Richard Dunne, whose side went unbeaten in qualifying only to be pipped to automatic qualification from Group Eight by reigning champions Italy, insists that with the likes of Henry and Nicolas Anelka on board, France should already be through.

“Every time a tournament comes round, France have all these world-class players and then a man who seems intent on messing them up,” Dunne told The Guardian newspaper.

“And we know that if we can get in front, they probably have not got the man at the top to pull them back around.”

Domenech took time out to attend the Paris Masters tennis tournament this week and was promptly booed by fans when cameras picked him out in the crowd.

And L’Equipe sports daily picked up on criticism by depicting the Irish team lined up behind Domenech beneath the headline, ‘Their luck is him!’

Former Irish star Liam Brady, now an assistant to Trapattoni, says the men in green fear nobody.

“The pressure is on them more so than us, but we are both playing for a place in the World Cup finals, so it’s enormous,” he said.

“But if we were to carry a lead to Paris, the pressure would pile on them.”

French forward Sidney Govou shrugged off the mind games regarding Domenech.

“They (the critics) just want to put the pressure on – but it’s not him who’ll be out there on the pitch.”

For Portugal’s Deco, meanwhile, the loss of Ronaldo must not be allowed to weigh too heavily on Carlos Queiroz’s side.

“We have enough quality to plug the gap – we can’t use his absence as an excuse. We know it won’t be easy but we are confident,” the Chelsea midfielder insisted.

As France and Portugal seek redemption in the form of tickets to South Africa, 2004 European champions Greece also face a fight as they go up against Ukraine, who edged Croatia out of the runners-up spot in England’s group.

The inconsistent Greeks lost out in their group to Switzerland and have the perceived disadvantage of playing the second leg away.

Guus Hiddink’s Russia, who were unable to overhaul Germany in their group, host Slovenia.

“We should never underestimate Slovenia on any account,” Hiddink warned his Euro 2008 semi-finalists.

Outside Europe, New Zealand, who appeared in the 1982 finals, take on would-be debutants Bahrain in Wellington following a goalless draw in Manama in the opening leg, while Costa Rica meet Uruguay in San Jose on Sunday.

PARIS (AFP)

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Ferguson backs English clubs to excel in Europe

November 3, 2009


Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager of Manchester United, is adamant that English clubs will continue to dominate the latter stages of the Champions League this season.

England’s Premier League has supplied a finalist in each of the last five seasons – with United losing to Barcelona in European club football’s show-piece match in Rome in May – and three of the four semi-finalists for the past three.

But there have been suggestions the standard of English football is on the decline while Spanish giants Real Madrid have been spending lavishly on players in a bid to make sure they reach the Champions League final due to be played at their own Bernabeu Stadium next May.

Liverpool, United’s bitter English rivals, are struggling in their first round Champions League group but Ferguson said talk of the Premier League’s top teams being on the slide was premature.

“The English teams will be involved in the semi-finals again,” he said.

“They have been very dominant in the tournament for the last six or seven years. That is shown by the evidence of the latter stages and I think it will be the same this year.”

Ferguson added: “Obviously Barcelona are one of the favourites. You cannot dismiss them.

“But there is no question in my mind that the English teams will compete for the trophy.”

United will secure their place in the last 16 with two games to spare if they beat CSKA Moscow at Old Trafford later Tuesday.

Chelsea are equally well positioned after their opening three games, while Arsenal are also on course to reach the knockout stages.

By ontrast, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich are currently outside the automatic qualification spots, while AC Milan and Real Madrid have already lost matches in a group they were expected to dominate.

MANCHESTER, England (AFP)

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Argentina scrape into World Cup finals

October 15, 2009


Argentina scraped into the World Cup with a 1-0 win over Uruguay as Diego Maradona finally celebrated mission accomplished after a stumbling, lacklustre qualifying campaign.

The two-time champions needed a goal by substitute Mario Bolatti on Wednesday six minutes from time to earn the three points and secure the fourth and final qualifying spot from South America.

Brazil, Chile and Paraguay had already made sure of their places in the finals.

Uruguay finished in fifth and face a play-off against either Costa Rica or Honduras from the CONCACAF region to decide their World Cup fate.

In a poor match with few opportunities, the crucial moment here came when Uruguay were reduced to 10 men when Jose Martin Caceras was red-carded for a foul on Jonas Gutierrez.

From the ensuing free-kick, Juan Veron had a shot charged down, but Bolatti, on the field for just four minutes after replacing Gonzalo Higuain, reacted quickest to the loose ball to beat Nestor Muslera in the Uruguayan goal.

Maradona, who had used over 70 players since taking over a year ago, opted to leave Carlos Tevez on the bench alongside Martin Palermo, who grabbed the last-minute goal which saw off Peru on Saturday.

Uruguay, needing a win to make sure of automatic qualification, were on top early with Argentina unsurprisingly nervous and defender Gabriel Heinze picking up a booking after just nine minutes.

Andres Scotti almost gave the home side the lead at the famous Estadio Monumental, but his header slipped by Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero’s post.

Lionel Messi, who has yet to shine under the Maradona regime despite his scene-stealing performances for Barcelona, attempted to catch out Muslera with a long distance free-kick.

The gusting win inside the stadium kept Muslera on his guard, but he gathered comfortably as Argentina desperately looked for their first win since 1976 in the Uruguayan capital.

The goalless half-time stalemate suited Argentina as Ecuador, the only other rivals for the last qualifying spot, were also being held 0-0 at the interval by Chile in Santiago.

The low-quality affair continued after the break with the first opening not coming until the 73rd minute when Diego Lugano headed wide from a pinpoint Diego Forlan free-kick.

Uruguay continued to press against an Argentine team happy to pack seven defenders behind the ball as the clock ticked down before Bolatti, in just his third international, put his country into the finals.

In Santiago, Chile took the lead against Ecuador thanks to a 51st-minute strike from Humberto Suazo.

Ecuador, who had Segundo Castilla sent-off, needed to win to keep their qualifying hopes alive.

Brazil were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Venezuela and they too finished with 10 men after Sao Paulo defender Miranda was red-carded.

Rock-bottom Peru completed their programme with a 1-0 win over Bolivia, who had defeated Brazil at the weekend, thanks to a second-half strike from Johan Fano.

It was Bolivia’s 38th qualifier away from their high-altitude fortress of La Paz without a win.

Fano, meanwhile, was later sent-off.

MONTEVIDEO (AFP)

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Is seeding the World Cup play-offs playing fair?

October 12, 2009


For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction and for every FIFA marketing slogan there is a subsequent decision that can make fans wonder if world football’s governing body is being serious.

“Fair Play Please” is the current favourite but how, exactly, does that square with the decision to make the European zone World Cup playoffs a seeded affair?

Nowhere in the acres of pre-qualifying regulations was there a suggestion that the playoffs would be seeded but now the good people of Zurich have realised that some of the biggest names in the game could be involved in the November home and away matches, the new rule has been presented as a fait accompli.

So the eight teams in the playoffs will be seeded according to their FIFA ranking — conveniently avoiding the prospect of France playing, say, Portugal and one of the continent’s big guns being forced to miss out.

Unsurprisingly, the decision was not welcomed by the likes of Ireland – into the playoffs but likely to be seeded in the “bottom half”.

Bosnia were too busy celebrating making the playoffs on Saturday to worry about their structure but wouldn’t they be right in thinking they deserve as much a chance of facing, say, Greece or Slovenia as Russia or France?

The nine group winners got their reward in automatic qualification. Shouldn’t the best eight second-place teams (Norway look set to be the unlucky ninth-best runners-up who will miss out altogether) be left to take their chances having, in some cases, overcome tough seeding in the group the first time round to make it this far?

The arrival of bright new teams, and the chance for unfamiliar players to make names for themselves on the biggest stage of all, help keep the World Cup fresh and exciting. If the rules just make it more likely that the Big Boys always make it, the worry must be that the game and the tournament will end up being the loser.

PHOTO: Ireland’s Liam Lawrence reacts after their 2010 World Cup qualifying soccer match against Italy at Croke Park Stadium in Dublin October 10, 2009. REUTERS/Darren Staples

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Swedish coach prepares farewell

October 11, 2009


Lars Lagerback announced Sunday he would step down as Sweden’s coach if as expected the Scandinavians fail to qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals.

Sweden lost 1-0 in Denmark on Saturday night and with Portugal beating Hungary 3-0 face elimination from Group One.

Lowly Malta would need to win or draw in Lisbon on Wednesday and Sweden to beat Albania to see Lagerback’s side reach the play-offs.

Lagerback told a press conference he and his deputy Roland Andersson would resign “whatever the result … either after the World Cup in South Africa, or after a play-off or after the Albania match,” on Wednesday.

Sweden have failed to even score in qualifiers against main rivals Denmark and Portugal and Lagerback, who has coached the national side since 2000, has come under increasing fire.

Former European champions Denmark secured automatic qualification for the 2010 finals after downing Sweden in Copenhagen. Sweden have 15 points, behind Portugal on 16.

Only group winners secure automatic qualification for the finals in South Africa next year, with the eight best group runners-up being forced into a two-leg play-off.

STOCKHOLM (AFP)

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Fabregas, Xavi among five Spanish to miss Bosnia match

October 11, 2009


Cesc Fabregas of Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder Xavi are among five Spanish internationals who will miss their final World Cup qualifier against Bosnia on Wednesday.

Fabregas has opted out for personal reasons while Xavi is among three players to have picked up injury niggles.

Fenerbahce striker Dani Guiza was injured on Friday while Sevilla central defender Carlos Marchena picked up an injury during Spain’s 2-1 defeat of group opponents Armenia on Saturday. Xavi also picked up a knee knjury in that game.

Barcelona defender Carles Puyol’s yellow card tally is reaching dangerous levels and so he has been rested while Fabregas is out for “serious” family reasons, according to the Spanish football federation.

Spain are the current European champions and have already secured automatic qualification for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.

MADRID (AFP)

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Domenech warns against French complacency

October 6, 2009


France coach Raymond Domenech on Monday warned his side not to take minnows the Faroe Islands too lightly prior to the World Cup qualifying match between the sides in Guingamp on Saturday.

With two matches to play in European qualifying group seven, France trail leaders Serbia by four points and look destined to miss out on an automatic qualification berth.

The play-offs, contested by the eight best runners-up from the nine European groups, appear to represent France’s only hope of making it to South Africa next summer but Domenech says nothing has been decided yet.

“I’ve heard it for a few weeks: ‘We will be in the play-offs,’” he said in a video diary on the French Football Federation website, before “reminding, notably the players, that first we have to beat the Faroe Islands”.

“It’s not a done deal. The players mustn’t turn up like a bunch of tourists, saying: ‘We’ve won, no problems’.”

France host Austria, four points behind them in third place, in their final qualifying match on October 14.

PARIS (AFP)

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Maradona heads to Europe, ducks crunch meeting

September 14, 2009


Under-fire Argentina coach Diego Maradona has travelled to Europe, thereby avoiding a crucial meeting on the poor performances of the national side, his personal doctor said on Monday.

“He left yesterday (Sunday) for a spa in Italy,” Alfredo Cahen told AFP.

“In order to respect his privacy, I cannot reveal the name of the town.”

Reports from other media sources claimed that Maradona was actually in Spain.

Maradona, 48, has seen two-time world champions Argentina slip to fifth in the South American qualifying standings for the 2010 World Cup, a place below the automatic qualification slots, after four defeats in their last five games.

His flight to Europe means the former hero of the national side will avoid a meeting scheduled to take place here on Monday involving Argentina general manager Carlos Bilardo and Julio Grondona, president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA) and vice-president of world governing body FIFA.

According to Argentine press reports, Grondona intended to ask Maradona to delegate more responsibility to Bilardo, who was the coach of Argentina in 1986 when Maradona captained the side to World Cup glory in Mexico.

Cahen underlined that Maradona’s trip to Europe “was planned a month ago to give him some exercise and a bit of rest for a week”.

“He’s not being hospitalised,” Cahen added. “He did some tests 10 or 12 days ago and the results were fine.”

Argentine daily La Nacion reported that Maradona had checked into a spa that he knows well in Merano, north-eastern Italy.

The sojourn had reportedly been booked in advance in expectation of positive results in Argentina’s last few matches.

Bilardo rallied to Maradona’s defence on Friday, declaring that only the arrival of “Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary” could justify his sacking.

Argentina host already-eliminated Peru on October 10 before travelling to neighbours Uruguay, who trail the ‘Albiceleste’ by a single point, four days later.

BUENOS AIRES (AFP)

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France boss Domenech gets vote of confidence

September 6, 2009


Under-fire French coach Raymond Domenech received the dreaded vote of confidence on Sunday, just hours after the 1998 world champions suffered another setback in their bid to reach the World Cup.

Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Romania in Paris left France, the 2006 runners-up, needing to beat Serbia in Belgrade on Wednesday to keep their hopes of automatic qualification alive.

“I repeat: yes, yes, yes. I have to say it three times. He has the job of qualifying us for the World Cup,” said French Football Federation (FFF) president Jean-Pierre Escalettes.

“And I repeat that even if we have to go into the play-offs, it’s still Raymond Domenech’s job.”

France’s desperate fight to finish top of their group has also been hit by injuries to playmaker Franck Ribery and defender Julien Escude, who scored an own goal in Saturday’s game.

“We don’t know whether they will be able to play on Wednesday,” said Domenech.

“We shall see, we generally wait a day after a match (Monday in this case) to take an overall analysis.”

Ribery, who has a calf problem, has endured an injury-plagued summer and has barely played for Bayern Munich this campaign.

He came on in the 57th minute against Romania without making much of an impression.

Serbia lead France by four points in Group Seven with just three matches remaining.

PARIS (AFP)

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