The 2010 South Africa world cup qualifiers thread

[Spazatao]

Originally Posted by _HighVoltage_

I think this is characteristic of the Italian Brazilian team - they always play really bad in the qualifications and the beginning stages of the tournament, but then something happens and they always get to the semi- or even the finals.

There, fixed!

By the way, 4x0 on Venezuela today. Kaka played superbly well and so did Adriano. If they play in the World Cup on such a good level, it'll be difficult not to reach the finals.

[Cellos88GT]

Originally Posted by avanti

Yeah, the ranking is pretty much a joke. As far as I see it Italy is reigning world champion and Spain is reigning European champion and they will be until until someone takes their place no matter what happens between tournaments.

The announcers on the Fox Soccer Channel out here have a complete hard on for Spain and never get tired of calling them the best team in the world.

Last I checked they weren't the one who won the last world cup...

[h-p]

Some believe that UEFA champion > FIFA champion. And then again, Italy lost to Spain in quarter finals, so it is not that far fetched.

In my opinion every tournament is its own, and then it doesn't matter if some team is "better" than the other.

[Alasondro Alegré]

Originally Posted by _HighVoltage_

Bulgaria is 15 in that list and that's only because we got to No 4 at the World Cup 1994, after that we have not achieved much.

Well, they've obviously done enough to warrant that position, because the ranking takes into account the last four years only (it used to be eight).

[Adunaphel]

^ And the rankings are based on much more than just national team performances.

[_HighVoltage_]

What else are they based on?
Honestly, I can't think of any Bulgarian football club that has achieved anything i the past....10 years maybe. The only thing that is making Bulgarian football famous right now is Dimitar Berbatov, who is currently kicking ass in Man Utd!
Anyways, next game is on October 15...we'll see how that goes. We're playing Georgia...it should be an easy victory.

[Salanax]

Aussies! Where are you? I just got back from the Australia vs Qatar match. Australia 4-0 Qatar HAPPY TIMES!!
Spent the whole match freezing my nuts off, rained pretty heavy before the match and I was down by the tunnel so got drenched and stayed that way until I towled off from a nice warm shower after an hour on the train. Match was delayed by half an hour and when they started you wouldn't have guessed there was standing water on the pitch not too long ago. Australia scored via Cahill in the ninth minute, followed by an obvious penalty not long after. 2 more in the second half just sealed the deal.
Sure you might say it's not a big deal since we already smashed them before in the campaign but I don't care it's still good to get such a convincing win. And sure you might say it wasn't their best performance and you'd be right, there are definitely some areas they can improve on, but we'll excuse that because of the soggy conditions.
The main point it WE WON!!

[vyllu]

Estonia 0:0 Turkey
We got our first point
I'm happy!

[avanti]

well, after yet an frustrating game and 2-1 against Montenegro i have come to the conclusion that there are no longer any weak teams in Europe, every game is difficult...

[Spazatao]

Brazil vs. Colombia today, at Maracanã stadium! But the entrance is bloody expensive... so I'm gonna watch it on TV anyway...

Adriano is suspended so our attack will have to rely on Robinho and Kaká. Hopefully, it will work!

[logifuse]

Originally Posted by Salanax

Aussies! Where are you? I just got back from the Australia vs Qatar match. Australia 4-0 Qatar HAPPY TIMES!!
Spent the whole match freezing my nuts off, rained pretty heavy before the match and I was down by the tunnel so got drenched and stayed that way until I towled off from a nice warm shower after an hour on the train. Match was delayed by half an hour and when they started you wouldn't have guessed there was standing water on the pitch not too long ago. Australia scored via Cahill in the ninth minute, followed by an obvious penalty not long after. 2 more in the second half just sealed the deal.
Sure you might say it's not a big deal since we already smashed them before in the campaign but I don't care it's still good to get such a convincing win. And sure you might say it wasn't their best performance and you'd be right, there are definitely some areas they can improve on, but we'll excuse that because of the soggy conditions.
The main point it WE WON!!

Seriously, if we haven't qualified with a game or two to go, then we should give up. Japan could only manage a 1-1 draw at home against Uzbekistan.

We could be qualified on the 1st of April if everything goes to plan (i.e. beat Bahrain & Japan away & Uzbekistan at home), but even without all those results, the last game against Japan at the MCG should be a dead rubber.

[Cobol74]

They allow Football on the MCG? How do they protect the pitch?

[logifuse]

Originally Posted by Cobol74

They allow Football on the MCG? How do they protect the pitch?

It doesn't have a permanent pitch any more - 6(8?) drop ins are dropped in after the AFL (Aussie Rules) grand final (end of Sept) & then removed at the end of the cricket season.

To be honest, it's a cricket ground in name only these days. It's an Aussie Rules ground (75+ matches a year) that has cricket over the summer.

[Whappeh]

How is the United States doing? Last I heard we layed a smack down on Cuba.

[avanti]

already qualified.

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/prelimi...921/index.html

[Whappeh]

Well that is exciting. Shame the US team doesn't get more love here in the States.

[efoolution]

Originally Posted by h-p

Some believe that UEFA champion > FIFA champion. [...]

Like me ...

In the World Cup you always have some weak teams ... in the European championship the teams are much closer together in terms of class and performance.

But ... I think that makes the World-cup more enjoyable and more fun. And you get bigger surprises. The "biggest" surprise at the Euro08 was that Turkey beat the Czech ... and that almost doesn´t count as surprise ...

[Mercury]

Originally Posted by efoolution

Like me ...

In the World Cup you always have some weak teams ... in the European championship the teams are much closer together in terms of class and performance.

But ... I think that makes the World-cup more enjoyable and more fun. And you get bigger surprises. The "biggest" surprise at the Euro08 was that Turkey beat the Czech ... and that almost doesn´t count as surprise ...

That's because every continent gets to send some teams to the world cup and the Asian teams and such are very weak teams to be sending to play against the best of the world.

I know we said the ranking is bollocks, which I agree with ofcourse, but if you take a look only 3 of the top 20 teams are not from Europe. That ofcourse makes the Euro a much closer competition than the World Cup and you barely see any big differences between teams. The World Cup always has some 6-0 shutouts and such, the likes of which are rare in the Euro.

So you can say the Euro is a better tournament competition wise, but without Brazil and Argentina it will never be the World Cup.

[Cellos88GT]

I'm glad Italy won. Based on that game I have to say that the european teams have really stepped their game up! I'm now more convinced then ever that the next world cup winner will be from Europe again. There is just too much good talent on that continent.

[Jocó]

Hungary is 2nd in the group, ahead of Portugal!

Nevermind, I'll be happy if we finish 5th in the end...