Sep 27 2008
All of the big four are still in the Carling Cup, and this late into the competition, you can expect each to smell the silver.
Today, the draw for the fourth round was released. Here are the match-ups with some brief comments, my wit willing: Continue Reading »
Sep 10 2008
Bojan Krkic is set to debut for Spain tonight.Bojan Krkic will soon be so popular that football fans will not know his last name, a paradoxical consequence of already being referred to as merely Bojan. When you are seventeen years old, already scoring goals for Barcelona and threatening to break into the European champion national team, more than two syllables to identify you is superfluous. If new Spain head coach Vincente Del Bosque has his way, the Bojan phenomenon will take another step forward in World Cup qualifying.
That’s because Del Bosque plans on getting Bojan some time today when the Spaniards face Armenia in qualifying tonight. It’s no secret (not even to the Armenians) that Spain is likely to win this qualifiers, and although it may be a bit assumptive to plan ahead after Spain only beat Bosnia 1-0 this weekend, Del Bosque will have Bojan on the bench, ready to play, should Spain perform as expected.
Sep 08 2008
Answering the Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard question is central to solving England’s problems.
I hinted at this in my article on England and France. Here’s what I said there:
I know a lot of people question whether England has the talent to return to their status as one of the world’s elite football nations, but I don’t. They have a few, isolated, tactical problems which are holding them back, and their unique footballing culture is only exasperating those problems, but on aggregate talent, there are few countries in the world which are clearly better than them.
Before getting on to the formation, I want to expound upon the comment on culture. Tim Vickery touched upon this last week on World Soccer Daily, but you don’t have to be a football savant like Vickery to see that England’s footballers are a reflection of their culture, where hard work, strength and toughness are the supreme values.
Sep 08 2008
On Wednesday, France head coach Raymond Domenech will be under a pressure from which England’s Fabio Capello will be free.
FIFA.com has an article about Wednesday’s World Cup Qualifiers for England and France. The headline: Ghosts of past haunt France and England. The headline hints at England’s troubles with Croatia - understandable, given how England was eliminated from Euro 2008 qualification - but what ghosts are haunting France. The article does not make it clear, making the title little more than a gimmick, but it still hints at similar importance for the countries’ Wednesday qualifiers. That, too, would be a strangely placed claim, as England’s visit to Zagreb and France hosting Serbia could not be any difference in terms of effect on the countries and their chances for South Africa.
Sep 08 2008
Qualification Process
Europe qualifies 13 teams to World Cup 2010 in South Africa. There are 53 countries in the confederation. They are divided into nine group - eight with six teams, one with five teams. The winners of each group qualify for the World Cup. The second place teams are then ranked 1 to 9 based on how they did against the top five teams of their group (this is how the five and six team groups are evened out for tiebreaker purposed). The ninth ranked team is eliminated. The other eight teams are paired off t play a two-leg tie, the winner of each qualifying for South Africa.
Group 6
| Ukraine | 1 | 0 | Belarus |
For ninety-three minutes, this match was scoreless and it looked as if Belarus would be the country to watch for as the challenger to England for second place in the group. But in the ninety-fourth minute, the Belarussians gave their hosts a penalty, which Andriy Shevchenko, who was subbed into the game in the 74th minute, converted.
| Andorra | 0 | 2 | England |
This was Andorra’s second qualifier, having already lost at Kaxakhstan 3-0 on August 20. That score puts this into some perspective, and although that result was in Kazakstan, England supporters have reason to be worried about only winning 2-0. Joe Cole had two second half goals after he came on at halftime for Stewart Downing.
| Croatia | 3 | 0 | Kazakstan |
The group favorites got off to a stron start, scoring in the thirteenth minute through Niko Kovac and never turning back. Luka Modric added a goal in the 36th minutes, and substitute Mladen Petric finished of the scoring in the 81st. It was a nondescript though dominant performance - the kind of result you would expect from a team who is favored in the group.
Group Standings
| Rank | Country | GP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Croatia | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | England | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Ukraine | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Kazakstan | 2 | 3 |
| 5 | Belarus | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | Andorra | 2 | 0 |
Where They Stand
On Wednesday, the two group favorites face off in Zagreb when England visits Croatia. If the Croats are going to be threatened during this qualifying process, that will the the time. On Saturday’s results, it looks like they are clearly the group’s best team, with England being the second-best side. The Ukraine will have a chance to temporarily take second place from the English, provided they can play better at Kazakstan than they did in hosting Belarus.
Sep 05 2008
Manchester United and England international Rio Ferdinand will miss Saturday’s World Cup Qualifier against Andorra with a back injury. Fabio Capello said that he will be the only player to miss the match with injury but should be available for next week’s match versus Croatia. Everton’s Joleon Lescott or West Ham United’s Matthew Upson will take Ferdinand’s place. Wes Brown could also be called upon to move in from the right, with Glen Johnson to take that position.
The nature of the back injury has been described as “stiffness.” It is unclear when Ferdinand suffered this injury. It is possible he has been playing with it at Manchester United. If so, the move to bench him may be precautionary.
Sep 04 2008
Kevin Keegan, today, made it official. He has resigned as manager of Newcastle United FC. This comes after a week of speculation as to whether he was still with the club. Word had leaked on Monday that he had been fired, a rumor the club later refused. With news outlets monitoring the team’s facility, noting Keegan’s parking spot had been empty all week, there w ere only so many secrets that could be kept. After releasing a statement through the League Manager’s Association today, Keegan made it official. Newcastle has lost their manager.
Continue Reading »
Sep 02 2008
The reaction to Fabio Capello’s naming Fulham central midfielder Jimmy Bullard to his 23-man World Cup qualifying squad for next week has been generally positive, though the reaciton should be “how did this happen?”
How did the England national team get to the point where Jimmy Bullard is a viable option?
Aug 29 2008
Owen Hargreaves had been expected to return to Manchester United’s lineup today against Zenit St. Petersburg in the UEFA Super Cup. Although Alex Ferguson was going to use the exhibition as an opportunity to get the England international some playing time, the midfielder has been ruled out of today’s match after his knee was deemed not ready for the match. Having already ruled himself out of England’s internationals next week, Hargreaves will have two more weeks to get fit for Manchester United’s trip to Anfield on August 13.
Aug 29 2008
Michael Ballack hurt his foot against Portsmouth on August 14 and had to leave the match. He played last week, though it seems he probably should not have, as Chelsea has sufficient depth to prevent aggrevating injuries, Now Ballack will be out for two weeks, missing Sunday’s match against Tottenham as well as Germany’s two World Cup qualifiers.
It is an injury which, like Steven Gerrard’s, seems convenient. Continue Reading »